Freelance Writing: How I Made $20 an Hour on iWriter This Month

Exactly 30 days ago, I started a freelance writing experiment by signing up for iWriter.com and thought I would share what I’ve learned, the pros and cons, and my best tips for finding success on the platform.

It’s hard as a freelance writer to make what you are worth, I get that.

Choosing to write for a website such as iWriter doesn’t help unless you work the system. When you work the system and use it to your advantage it does have it’s advantages, especially if you are new or struggling to find freelance writing jobs, or want to make a little supplemental income.

Some of the links on my website are affiliate links, which means, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

What is iWriter?

iWriter is a platform where businesses or blogs request articles be ghostwritten by one of the writers on the platform. To become a writer for iWriter you do need to apply and submit a sample writing piece. They have 4 levels of writers and writing projects – Standard, Premium, Elite, and Elite Plus. I read that everyone starts out at Standard, but thankfully I started out at the Elite level. I’m lead to believe that they judge your application sample piece as more than just a yes or no guideline.

I don’t think I would have continued with this experiment if I had to start at the bottom level and work my way up, because, honestly, the pay at other levels is pennies.

How Was I Able to Make $20 per Hour?

Here is the thing, even at the Elite level, you aren’t paid much for articles. So, with that in mind, I only chose articles that:

1. Were on topics that I enjoyed writing about and required little to no research. For me, this was topics from blogging, marketing, SEO, pets, and fashion.
2. I only chose writing projects that were under 1000 words, and generally only chose ones that were 500 or 700-word articles. The reason? Less research time! The pay increase for 1500+ articles just isn’t worth the additional research needed.
3. I only wrote articles where the client had a history of reviews, a good approval rating (meaning fewer revisions and they were easy to work with!) and the article at hand had a clear objective/outline.

Every article, including writing and running through Grammarly Premium took me less than 30 minutes each because I made sure that the above fit me and my writing skills. That means I made approximately $20 per hour.

I’ve also had a few clients give me a tip for a really well-written article, which is a nice bonus. Several others have sent me more article requests via special assignments, which means I make a little bit more money.

Now, keep in mind that this is at the Elite level. If I had started at the Standard or Premium levels, it would NOT be worth it, not even a little bit. For me to get to the top level, Elite Plus, I need to have 6 more 5-star feedbacks left (for a total of 40). Then, I can accept those level of projects for even more money. From what I hear, they are harder to grab jobs for though, because there is much more competition between Elite Plus level writers vs. the number of jobs at that pay level.

 

 

The Pros of iWriter:

• Lots of jobs at the Premium and Elite levels for you to choose from
• 9/10 clients I’ve worked with have been amazing! Just make sure to read their feedback and approval rate before writing an article for them, though!
• You are paid every 2 weeks via PayPal
• You need to be able to work and write quickly to make it worth it

The Cons of iWriter:

• If you start off at the Standard or Premium levels, it can take a long time before you can even start to take jobs that could be worth the time investment
• You are ghostwriting. That means you can’t use any of your articles for your portfolio (but it’s still great for experience and increasing your writing abilities!)

Have you tried writing for iWriter before? What was your experience with the platform? Share in the comments below!