What you’ll learn from Aaron’s story
What I do
My name is Aaron and I am a freelance journalist specialising mainly in finance, living in Paris. I write articles for a variety of websites like NerdWallet Australia, Yahoo Finance, Insider Guides, Money.com.au and more.
I tend to write content that helps explain financial topics like stock market investing, property ownership and investing or personal finance/savings targeted to the everyday Aussie who might be trying to learn a little bit more and make smart decisions with their money. I work on average about 20-30 hours per week.
Getting started
I graduated from university in Brisbane in 2021 with a journalism degree and worked for about a year for a finance website called savings.com.au. It was a great experience and I learnt so much during the time and was fortunate to have two awesome bosses who supported me alot.
But after almost 2 years of lockdowns and inability to travel, I felt I needed to make up for lost time in a way and knew I wanted to live in Europe. I had visited when I was 19 on a backpacking holiday and always knew I wanted to move here long-term, as the model of grinding away at casual jobs for a year to pay for a 1-2 month trip didn’t seem like a sustainable pattern for me.
I also knew I wanted to study a Masters in documentary film (my biggest passion) and found a program in Berlin, so I had a way to sort of combine these goals into one experience. When I left my job I reached out to a few people I had met in the industry about freelancing but I really knew nothing about how it worked. I was referred by someone to a website called Fabulate that connects freelance writers with clients and managed to get one job writing for a finance website. Fabulate works a bit like airtasker or Fiverr but to make an account you have to be referred by a professional in your industry so all the profiles on there are reputable.
On fabulate, a company found my profile - saw my experience as a finance journalist and contacted me to write for them as they established a new website. This was very lucky as usually on these kinds of platforms, you have to pitch for each individual job. But in total I wrote about 40 articles for them and made close to $20,000 over the first 5-6 months.
This was my only income for that period and 80% of what I made that first year, but it really showed me that it was possible to make money remotely with my skill set. One thing I must say helped me was the fact I had worked for a year already in the industry, and because I am a journalist, companies could see my work on savings.com.au basically as a resume, which helped me land other jobs in the future. I imagine starting out as a freelancer with no industry experience would have made it much more difficult to land that first client.
Work life balance
During that time I was travelling/working in the US and Europe before my degree began in Berlin and I was naively enjoying my newfound freedom.
At the end of 2021 however this first client stopped giving me work and it was a taste of reality. Freelance writing is an amazing job but just as I have the flexibility to live my life, the companies that pay you have the freedom to simply stop giving you work and they really don’t owe you an explanation. It’s a very transactional and sometimes impersonal experience. Because all the work was through a third party website connecting me to the company I worked for, there was also another degree of separation so I couldn’t really contact anyone to ask why they had stopped sending me work. It was a rude awakening! And I am a sensitive soul so I took it very personally.
With some distance I realised that the website was a new one and was essentially trying to build a database of articles so when it went live, they had enough content to start and their in-house team took care of content after that. What I have learnt from working for all different kinds of people and companies now is that losing a client really isn’t a reflection of your work, or your capabilities, it's just part of the world of remote/freelance work. Some companies put aside a budget to employ a freelancer and when that budget is up, so are you! The important thing is to try and work for more than one, so that you aren’t entirely dependent on one employer who at any time (and within their rights) can stop giving you work.
You also have to think about holistically the pros and cons of freelance work to a traditional salaried position. With that salary comes a contract and security, paid leave etc. so if that’s what you want, then freelancing can be difficult as it's full of ups and downs, particularly at the beginning.
Early lessons
For me, a salaried position at a company also comes with expected work hours, office days and little ability to travel and set your own schedule, which for me are things I value strongly right now. It’s not to say one or the other is better, but maybe consider which one aligns more with what you want from life and what you need. I am also extremely privileged, I don’t have children to care for or dependent family members etc. so if I don’t earn any money one month it only impacts me. (and now I am way off topic)
A harsh truth that I think is also important to be transparent about is I haven’t taken any time off work since June 2022, for two years I have been writing for various clients to keep myself going. At the same time, I never work a 40+ hour week, and now earn about the same as I did at my grad job, working a lot less hours, and get to live in Paris.
To summarise, when I left Australia I hoped to make it work freelancing, but was realistic to the high possibility I would need to work at a cafe or bar etc through my studies to support myself. I came overseas with a good amount of savings which I dug into a lot at the beginning. Since finishing my degree last year I have obviously had a lot more time to work and have been able to increase my earnings and now see freelancing as my career rather than just a hustle to get me through uni.
Landing clients
Key learnings were to invest more time reaching out to possible clients, try to always keep more than one client at a time (sometimes I have written for 4 or 5 clients in one month). You really have to hustle to find work at the start and be willing to step outside your specialisation. For me, I work in a niche field (Australian Finance) and so I am aware of the main companies and websites that provide content in this field. I usually will reach out to editors, other authors and heads of content on LinkedIn at these various publications to just see if they even work with freelancers, and if so, reinforce that I would be interested in writing for them.
It’s important to have your published work on LinkedIn, a website or somewhere easily accessible because the first thing they will do is look you up to see if your writing style and ability matches what they are looking for. Many clients have also just messaged me on LinkedIn because they searched for “freelance journalist” “Finance Journalist” etc. and my profile has come up.
I am by no means a LinkedIn expert but I definitely think it's important to have your work as links on your profile. Freelancing isn’t like working in a company in person, clients are less interested in your personality, ability to work in a team, etc. and in a more cutthroat way, they just want to see you can do the work to a high standard, and deliver it on time. Most of my “interviews” have been just a quick phone call with a client where they ask a bit about me and my experience and then I start working for them.
I also have had to learn on the fly about operating as a sole trader with an ABN, how to invoice, at times chase people up for invoices, spend time doing calls and interviews that didn’t lead to paid work, do my taxes, and put a price on what I can offer.
Many people ask you for your hourly rates, expected pay per word or article, and at the beginning it can be really hard to know what the right answer is to these questions, especially when you don’t have the money to really turn down low paying jobs.
Large companies will often have a predetermined pay rate for freelance writers. However, if you are asked, one thing I found helpful was this pay scale report published by Rachel’s List. It gives a range of what is considered fair for the type of work you are doing. It is also a document I have referenced to show clients I don’t just simply make up a number out of thin air.
The question of pay is something I find very challenging to navigate, as you want to put value on your work, and be compensated fairly. I will say it’s better to be strong in your position of what you think is fair for the work you are being asked to do, and if the client says no, you can reassess yourself if you want to do it, rather than lowball yourself and wish you had quoted more.
I think my goals at the start were to simply stay afloat financially, and with more time and experience I have realised how to think about my job less as a freelancer and more like I am running my own business. It’s helped me not just look at pay as a simple transaction of time for money, and consider more how much I need to invest in being organised, following up with potential jobs, networking and trying to make my current situation more long-term sustainable and profitable. I think most of this is learning as you go and I still have a lot of learning to do!
Income and work life
Right now I live in Paris and work from home. I have been thinking about going to a coworking space but for now I am efficient and comfortable working from my apartment most days. In the last two years I have always worked from my apartment, unless I am travelling then it’s an Airbnb/ a cafe or wherever I can find.
I find one of the biggest advantages to freelancing for me is the flexibility it gives me to pursue other interests. I am a documentary filmmaker and with my girlfriend, have shot several short projects over the last two years. Freelancing allows me the flexibility to work more for a period of time to free up my schedule later. For example, I have one client that sends me a batch of 8 articles to complete each month. If I have travel or shooting coming up, I could get all this work done in the first 2 and a half weeks of that month, by working more than usual, but then have 10 days with no work at all. At the end of that month I get paid the same, regardless of when I completed the work during that period.
I would describe my lifestyle as pretty relaxed, I prefer when I am not busy and have time to pursue other interests outside of work. For example I play AFL, am trying to learn French, enjoy going to the gym, and spending time with my Girlfriend.
A typical day would be to wake up at 8:30am, have a quick breakfast and go to the gym. Then I work in the mornings for a few hours from home, have a break for lunch, then depending on my workload either work again in the afternoon for a couple of hours, or get outside and do something active. Right now I live in Paris, so I am trying to experience the city as much as I can.
It’s always changing, but right now I have one main client that gives me batches of long articles on a monthly basis, so I enjoy chipping away and doing two per week, whilst filtering in some quicker news articles I get often, but kind of randomly assigned from other clients. I would say I work on average about 20-30 hours per week.
My favourite part of working remotely (I imagine similar to many other freelancers) is the flexibility to set my own schedule. One of my strengths would be that when I am “working” I can really focus in and get alot done in a couple of hours. When I worked in a 9-5 job in an office I found that I struggled to be consistently focussed and “working” for an entire 8 or 9 hour day.
Now, I try to be efficient and smash through one or two hours of solid work and when I feel myself starting to procrastinate or lose focus, take a break, go outside and reset. I find that now I use my time more effectively and still get the same amount, if not more work done in less hours, because I am truly working within that dedicated time.
More broadly, from a life perspective, it has allowed me to live in Europe for the last two years, the first of which I was studying a Masters in Berlin, and given me the financial and life freedom to travel and work simultaneously.
Lastly on the topic of work, I would say I actually genuinely enjoy what I do. I love to write (hence this bible length response) and when I started I barely knew anything about these topics (finance, economics etc). But it has allowed me to learn so much and make better decisions with my money, and every month I learn more as I am assigned new topics to research and write about. I also feel I am genuinely helping others do the same in some small way. (shoutout Savings.com.au, Dom Beattie and Harrison Astbury for giving me a chance as a fresh uni graduate!)
Income transparency
I usually get paid per article which can range from $100 for a short, simple piece to $800-$900 for a long, research based piece. A short piece might take me anywhere from 1-4 hours. A long piece could be 8-12 hours of work usually spread out over a few days.
I have been freelancing for two years now and my month to month pay can really vary, but right now, based on the current companies and workload I have I get $5,000-$6,000 AUD per month. One thing I really want to do is be transparent about the ups and downs, as I also experienced many months with little to no pay.
What’s next?
My plans for the next months/years is a very good question I have barely thought about. Definitely a weakness of mine is not projecting myself too far down the track. But I think setting myself up with a freelance visa in Portugal or Spain for a bit more security in Europe long term would be something I will try and do in the next year.
In June I will travel to Martinique with my girlfriend where we will be shooting the early stages of our next documentary and then in July I will be in Spain with some friends from Australia.
A huge advantage of freelance work is the flexibility it gives me. My girlfriend and I continue to shoot documentaries together and my current work setup allows me to not need to request time off or build up leave. As long as I can manage my own schedule and workload I can work while I am travelling, or like I explained work more in advance to free up time to shoot a documentary over a week or two.
I am not against going back to an office but for now I am happy with my life. One thing I would love to do is work at a University teaching a bit about freelancing and how it works. When I was at uni I had no idea it was a possibility and I think it would be great to introduce this to journalism degrees in Australia as it's something I think many Journalists will do at some point in their career.
In terms of bucket list, just continue to travel Europe and shoot documentaries and tell stories about interesting people.
Advice to future freelancers
One big piece of advice is that some companies are really set up post-covid for streamlined work with freelancers (Shout out NerdWallet Australia for being the best company to work with)
They have an organised system of contracts, invoicing and payment that makes it really easy to work for. Then there are other small businesses or disorganised clients who are very sporadic with their pay cycles and it can be frustrating to chase people for money, or when they want work to be done and you haven’t had any reassurance of payment. This is a really hard part about freelancing as you can feel strung along. I have certainly learnt the hard way some people want work done in a short turnaround but really don’t have the resources or structure within their company to get you paid within a reasonable time frame. It’s exhausting to chase people for money and makes you realise the importance of finding good companies to work for. But at the same time when you are just starting out, you are so desperate for work you sometimes sacrifice your own boundaries.
I don’t know what the advice is in that rant but I guess it’s something to be aware of and think about before you start.
Another aspect I wish I had known before I started was all the work that comes outside of actually writing articles- there’s the transaction of my skill/work for money and then there’s the admin side which also needs to be considered. You need to invoice, keep track of your income and expenses for tax time, email clients, pitch stories, organise your schedule, contact potential future clients etc. These tasks all take a lot of time and at the beginning you are also learning a lot of these skills.
Another piece of advice would be to set yourself up with savings before you quit your job and go to remote work. I really had to dig into my savings while I lived in Berlin as I was studying full time and freelancing just as much as I could and without some solid savings behind me I wouldn’t have been able to make it work. I think an important message is being realistic about how much money you will make at the beginning. Of course it depends on your skillset, experience etc but it's unlikely you’ll have consistent income at the beginning.
Speaking from my experience, I think it’s realistic to prepare yourself financially to not make any money for the first 3-6 months, and if you do find clients in that initial period, it might not be enough to support you. During my first year, there was a period of about 3 months where I had only one client and they paid about $70-100 per article, and I was doing one a week. So during this time my income was maybe $400 a month while my rent alone in Berlin was $1000 a month AUD.
The last thing I would like to say for anyone who has had a spare 3 hours to read this entire manifesto, is that it's unlikely you will earn the same money freelancing in your first year/s as you would at a full time job. It can be tempting to simply compare income and pick the safe option. But there is also a value in quality of life that I think is a narrative our consumerist/capitalist media and society likes to squash.
I earnt $20,000-$30,000 less in my first year freelancing ($30,000 total) than I would have at my grad job, but I spent a year living in Berlin, travelling Europe and meeting unique people in international settings. These are all things that I personally value more than money, and I think a lot of other people do too.
In my opinion, moving cities/countries, travelling and freelancing is a big challenge, but one that doesn’t have a lot of risk. If you try it for 3 months, 6 months a year, and it really doesn’t work out, chances are you will be back in your home town/city working a similar job to the one you had before, but have experienced some cool places, and met some interesting people and hopefully have some good stories to share!
I think not putting too much pressure on yourself is important, and if you try remote work/freelancing, you don’t enjoy it, that’s also completely fine and maybe you go back to a salary job with a newfound appreciation for the great parts that come with a regular paycheck and security too!
If anyone ever wants to chat more I am an open book and happy to meet new people, especially if you’re considering remote work! I think there’s enough to go around for everyone and always happy to share as much as I can to help people with some questions that I wish I’d had the answers to when I moved away!
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