Cartoon by Alina Bradford

I read a lot of freelance writing tip blogs. One major thing that I notice is the "You only have to write six articles each day to make a living as a freelance writer!" mantra. At the end of the blog post there's always several comments saying, "Oh wow! It's so simple! I can't wait to get started with my new career!"

Hold your horses there, Newbie.

Times have changed. There used to be a time when you could log onto sites like BrightHub or Demand Studios, knock out six articles in a couple hours and be done for the day. That freelancing world no longer exists. Content sites are tightening up their requirements for articles, requiring writers to do extensive research. This takes more time, and eventually lowering your pay rate. Six articles per day isn't a realistic goal.

Besides, do you really want to write six articles, day in and day out, for years? Can you say super nova burn out?

Also, many content sites are also turning to experts for their articles. For example, Bestcovery requires its writers to only write articles on subjects that they have in-depth experience with. This doesn't mean you can write about the subject if you've written about the subject before. No, you have to have some form of degree or job history that cover's the subject's basics.

Now, I don't mean to discourage new writers, just inject a little bit of reality. Don't expect to be able to pay your bills with content sites. Aim higher.