Down below I bust the common myth that "freelancers can't earn a lot and don't have a predictable source of income.” Keep reading to see how this common myth of freelancers not earning a lot is simply not true so you can see what your earning potential would be in this industry and what the reality of earning a living as a freelancer is like. Instead of getting into specific details of how much freelancers earn, I will share five freelance earnings stats to give you an idea about how much freelancers make and three success stories to show you that making $6k+ a month through freelancing is not impossible.

• Debunking The Freelance Earning Myth
• 5 Freelance Earnings Stats
• #1-Freelance Success Story
• #2-Freelance Success Story
• #3-Freelance Success Story
  

Debunking The Freelance Earnings Myth

There are many myths associated with freelancing that often will hold aspiring people back from pursuing freelancing as their career full-time. This is why I am here to shed some light on the benefits of the lucrative side to freelancers. First off, there’s no definite answer to how freelancers get paid or how much you can make as a freelancer because it depends on your services, how many hours you're putting in, the amount of experience you have, and the type of skills you’ve developed over-time. As long as you stick with building long-term clients, build out your foundations, be consistent and focus on providing in-demand services to your clients, you will not have to worry about having enough money for bills again. Freelancing lets you decide the rate you’ll charge for your work, and when you work with a good client, they will be more than happy to pay you what you’re worth and even give you referrals (which is highly encouraged to try and get from every client you work with). The truth is, the only limit in earning more money as a freelancer, is yourself. We are in the digital era where earning money online is easily accessible to anyone who takes advantage of providing an in-demand service. Millions of people are discovering that they do not identify with working a traditional job, so they have turned to freelance as a full-time or part-time career. 

With the rise of freelancing more and more people are now exploring more flexible employment options beyond the 9-to-5 world, primarily for the flexible work-life balance and benefits that freelancing offers. However, there are still some who still ponder leaving their current 9-5 stressful jobs to go out on their own but are unable to do so out of fear of losing their job security, not getting paid on time, or letting deep-rooted limiting beliefs hold them back. They also might even have heard some of these false freelancing myths that “you can’t earn a lot” and this can hold back people from ever trying out to see if freelancing is a good fit for them or not. 

While others are still pondering if they want to try freelancing, the independent workforce has fueled a surge in the freelancing industry. People are discovering the massive benefits and financial potential that freelancing offers (including business owners and freelancers). The way the workforce is hiring has changed. Business owners are now being more open to hiring freelancers to do tasks for them instead of hiring an employee. This helps cut costs and gives freelancers the opportunity for more work opportunities from home.

Since working from home is now a more popular choice, you now have the freedom to be able to work for yourself, or work remotely as a freelancer. You don’t have to convert to an in-person office space any longer. The reason freelancing is soaring in popularity is that it can change so many people's lives. Once you escape the trap of a 9 to 5, you can start leveraging multiple streams of income and instead of getting paid from one employer for every hour you work, you can work for as many clients as you want and get paid for the value you provide, rather than getting paid for your time. You also will get paid more as a freelancer than your regular 9-5 job. This is because your earning potential as a freelancer is never capped. You are in control of how much you earn. Check out Upwork’s freelance forward's new studies  to see how freelancing yearly earnings are in the TRILLIONS and continuing to grow. 

Now is the time to start freelancing part-time or full-time because experts are predicting that freelance work is only going to continue to increase. The shift towards eCommerce and online-based work has continued to exponentially accelerate the demand for quality freelance talent. That demand gives many freelancers the ability to earn tenfold what they could ever earn at their corporate job. If you're good at freelancing and working for yourself there is no limit to how much you can grow as a profitable freelancer. 

5 Freelance Earnings Stats:

• “The majority (60%) of freelancers who left traditional employment now earn more - Almost one in four (23%) said they quit a job with an employer in order to freelance. Of those who earn more, 78% indicated they earned more freelancing within a year or less.”- Upwork

• “50% of freelancers say they would not quit freelancing and take a traditional job with an employer -- no matter how much it paid”- Upwork

•  “Technology is making it easier to find freelance work (73% of freelancers agree,  compared to 69% in 2014)  3 in 4 non-freelancers are open to doing additional work outside their primary jobs to earn more money”- Upwork

• “31% of freelancers earn $75,000+ a year. Freelancing can be an excellent source of income. In fact, one-third of US freelancers earn $75,000 or more which is up from 16% in 2014.” - 99-Firms Stat

• “Freelancers who left their traditional job earn more. According to the freelance statistics for 2020, 1 in 4 freelancers had left their job to start freelancing. 60% of them are earning more than when they had an employer. For 24% of them, it took less than six months to start earning more while for 33% this happened immediately.”- 99-Firms Stat
  

#1 Freelance Story Success 

Who? Alex Fasulo is a 28-year-old girl making $378k a year as a Fiverr freelancer. She doubled her income overnight at age 25 making $15k per month on Fiverr the first year. 

How did she become successful? Before she became a profitable freelance writer on Fiverr, she first started posting on Fiverr a few days later after quitting her job. That same night, she went home and opened up to 5 gig offers on Fiverr. In just a few days, she discovered she was going to be able to make it as a full-time freelancer! After she gained an interest in her press release gig she started charging $15. Once she posted online, it sparked a fire in her and she saw that she is as capable of earning fifteen-twenty dollars a day and that she didn’t have to go back to a job she hated. Later after she started getting gigs on Fiverr, Alex decided to expand her earnings and go bigger by asking herself “what if I could earn one hundred dollars a day?” As she continued to provide services on Fiverr as a freelance writer working full-time remotely and providing e-books and blog posts for $1,000 for an Ebook, she started to advance in success. In May 2020 she made over $36,000 that month. Now she is making three thousand dollars per month and can cover all of her bills. If you want to see the full-story I made a reaction video on her click here to watch. 

Her 'why' for freelancing: Before becoming a freelancer in 2016, Alex worked in PR and made $36,000 a year. She felt out of place in this corporate job and was so unhappy with her job. Alex was tired of only having enough money to pay the bills and she found out that the corporate world just wasn't for her. She knew there was another way that fit her creative personality better and her earning potential better. She only had enough money in my bank account to cover her bills for three months. So she decided something needs to change, and that she can not keep doing this cycle, and decided to ditch the 9 to 5 for a life of freelancing. She wanted to be able to work on her own business and to be able to travel as much as she wants with no schedule or money restrictions. 

Alex’s entrepreneur journey after ditching the 9 to 5 work schedule and being able to work on her own business and travel as much as she wants is truly inspiring and the same reason as to why I chose to freelance to unlock my freedom too!

#2 Freelance Story Success

Who? Joel Young is a 34-year-old and a dad of two who made $1.5+ million off his side hustle on Fiverr. He is a well known popular success story on Fiverr. 

How? Joel went on Fiverr and offered voice-over services. Within one month, he made $400 doing voice-over gigs for $5 each. Over one year, he made $34,000 shooting videos, voice-overs, testimonial videos, and explainer animation videos. His wife has also started helping with the business. He started making so much money from his services on Fiverr and was able to pay off the family’s debt after 18 months. Now since selling his first service, Young has made more than $1.5 million in income on the Fiverr platform.” quote by CNBC Make It. 

His 'why' for Freelancing: Joel Young was a former musician and pastor at his local church. He needed additional voice-over work done for him for his video project at church. He hired a professional and then saw the guy was charging $5-$10 each. His wife said that he could do voice-overs and that he already has his voice and a microphone to get started! He also was 50k deep in medical debt and needed a way to pay all of those hospital bills off. Joel quoted his reason for going freelancing: “It was honestly only just the stability and the freedom that I concentrated on. It was about what this way of life meant to my family, what freedom would enable us to do. This is an amount of money that would have taken me decades to earn without this platform.”-Joel stated. Freelancing and going on Fiverr was the solution for Joel and his family to get out of debt and evolved into a lucrative side hustle. The summer of 2014 was when Joel realized he was making more money freelancing than he had been as a minister job at church, and his side business officially turned into his full-time career.

This is an inspiring story that showed a determined family man making ends meet and finding a profitable side hustle that turned into his only hustle all by simply using his voice, a microphone, and his laptop. Joel Young is a great example that shows how you don’t need fancy equipment, professional skills, or voice acting lessons to get started making a significant income through this platform! Fiverr gives everyday people the ability to create a lucrative side hustle that can even replace their current job. There are hundreds of success stories of people who can earn 6-7 figures on Fiverr just like Joel did. 

Who? Morgon Overholt is a successful freelancer who has been on Upwork for two years and makes $200k a year as a graphic designer and does print media and Ad direction.

How? On her first week on Upwork, she charged $20/hour but started raising that rate and has been increasing her rate up ever since. She quotes “Over 75% of my work today comes from ongoing contracts and relationships.” The majority of her income comes from her two main revenue streams. She quotes “Half of my work comes from contacts I’ve procured on my own, mostly by word of mouth, and the other half comes from a freelance website called Upwork.” She stated that “you won’t become a six-figure freelancer overnight but nothing is worth having in life that comes easy.” She quotes: “It would have been all too easy for me to throw in the towel when I didn’t win a single job during my first week on Upwork but I made it my mission to build a stellar Upwork reputation and make freelancing a full-time career and it paid off.”

Her 'why' for Freelancing: Morgon quotes that she is freelancing because: “The biggest factor that I can contribute to my success as a freelancer is the chip on my shoulder from years of office politics in the corporate arena. I worked myself to death only to be told I was too aggressive, too ambitious, and too impatient regularly.” She stated, “I would have done anything to avoid going back to that life.” Morgon knew that freelancing was the best route for her and that she could never go back to working a typical job again. 

Morgon’s story is easy to relate to and I think many others can relate to wanting to freelance instead of working the typical 9-5 job too. Her story is inspirational and shows the capability that earning money on Upwork can be a very lucrative career. Upwork is a very trustworthy freelance platform that gives freelancers the ability to create a profitable side hustle or full-time job that can even replace their current job. There are many more success stories of people who can earn 6 figures or more on Upwork just like Morgon did. 

- Paul Mendes

 Founder of Profitable Freelancer