Freelancing is for suckers. 1 critical reason to create content instead.
Back in the fall, I created my first Kindle Direct Publishing product that I really believed in.
I’d made a couple things before, sure, and I thought they were pretty good.
But at the end of the day I was trying to hack a niche instead of creating something I would personally value.
That all changed when I published a productivity tool called The Power To-Do List (affiliate link), a one-page solution that helped me focus my scattered mind and 2X-3X my output in all key aspects of my life.
I was so damn excited about this KDP project, and I figured everyone else would be too.
People always ask how I’ve written close to 600 articles on the blog site Medium.com, published 50 YouTube videos, and created other products while juggling a full-time job, daily workouts, and a busy family.
“THIS THING!” I’d tell them.
And yet, for the first few months, it drew nothing but crickets.
Then, earlier this month, something started to happen.
And it serves as the perfect example for this post, in which I’ll explain why freelancing should be your last resort and why the math will almost always favor publishing your own content.
Let’s discuss.
How to increase your pay every single day
So as I mentioned, my enthusiasm didn’t translate into sales.
I only had a handful, and they were to a couple of people I knew personally.
It took me about 4 hours to design and publish the book and it made about $20 in the first three months.
So from October to early January, my hourly wage for my work on that project was about $5.00.
Wowee.
But when Medium glitched out in early January and torched writers’ pay, I suddenly had a lot of incentive to expand my content business to other platforms.
Not only did I start publishing posts here on Substack, I also used the notes feature to tell people about my little Kindle Direct Publishing book I’d almost forgotten about.
Well, it turns out that people were interested after all.
I was just doing a crappy job of letting people know about it.
Here’s what my KDP earnings look like this month, based solely on sales of the Power To-Do List.
Now you may scoff at a $71 return, but give me a second to explain why you shouldn’t be so dismissive.
In total, the Power To-Do list has returned $91.17 over its now four-month lifespan.
Again, this thing took me 4 hours to make.
So while my hourly wage for creating it was $5.00 last month, this month I can say I’ve earned $22.79 per hour for the same project (plus I spent that time creating something I love and I’m excited about).
Doesn’t that sound better than earning $15/hour for, say, working at McDonald’s?
And the beauty is that the earning power of this piece of content is just warming up and is theoretically infinite.
The $1,000/hour story
Let’s look at an even more extreme example of content creation’s advantage over freelancing.
My top earning story over at Medium.com this month is this one about the most depressed state in America. It has paid me $188.51 this month alone.
Big whoop, right?
Well, hang on.
I actually published this story back on Oct. 28, 2024, and it is currently (*checks watch*), January 29, 2025.
And while the $188 is nice, it’s a small fraction of what the story has paid me since I published it.
From the moment I jot down a headline idea, draw a quick outline, and write and illustrate a piece, it takes me about 1 hour to publish a post.
So as of this moment, my hourly wage for this story is … $1,101.90!
And that hourly wage will go up tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that.
What would I have been paid to write this blog post for someone else? Fifty bucks?
And that doesn’t include the time and headache of finding and dealing with clients, making requested changes, etc., etc., etc.
So you can see the power of owning your content rather than throwing 800 words into the freelance void in exchange for a small, one-time pittance.
The only time I would choose freelancing over owned content
Now sometimes you just need to make a buck and it’ll make sense to write for someone else.
But in my humble opinion, the only freelance job you should take is one where the proposed content is so niche that it would have little-to-no potential to earn handsomely if you published it yourself.
Treat everything else you make like a little rental property: build it on your little corner of the internet and then collect your royalties over the months and years to come.
(Friends, thanks for reading! Want to support my work and improve your life for less than $10? Grab the Power To-Do list using my affiliate link here!)
Do you think freelancing is a dead end?
What’s your best-earning piece of content?
Let me know in the comments!
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Every time I think of getting into freelancing, I read an article like this.
I'm not a fan of freelancing, either.
If needs must, then sure. But as a long-term solution? No.