How to Make Money Online? Is blogging better than freelance writing?

what's best blogging or freelancing for solopreneurs and blogpreneurs

Blogging or freelancing which is a profitable online business to start?

This blog post is for freelancers and bloggers, who can’t figure out what’s the best way to make money online. Also for people who want to start blogging or freelance business. Especially for freelance writers and bloggers because they do one thing in common which is “write articles to earn money online”.

I am comparing bloggers and freelancers who just started their careers. People who are earning from Google Adsense monetization and freelancing such as writing articles, logo designing, etc.

I have earned four figures ($$$$) in 2-3 months from writing blog posts for other businesses. I have many friends who are working on sites like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, etc. I have worked as a freelancer content writer too.

I am blogging for many years and I am quite knowledgeable about blogging. I have earned quite well through my blogs and my Youtube channel. The primary source of my income is Google Adsense.

So without further ado, I would like to throw some color on today’s topic “What’s the best way to start an online business and what is best freelancing or blogging?”. I am going to compare blogging and freelancing on the following parameters,

  • Short-term Vs Long-term
  • Time & Freedom
  • Security and reliability
  • Business model and road-map
  • Earning Potential
  • Qualification and Skills
  • Investment
  • Credibility and Branding and networking
  • Hard work, Challenges, and Motivation

Why start blogging or freelancing?

     Opportunity to work from home

Blogging and freelancing give you freedom and flexibility to work from home or anywhere.  You are flexible to work part-time while doing your 9-5 job. You can complete your articles/projects from your hotel room, restaurant, or, while you are traveling.

It adds an extra income stream and helps you in increasing your bank balance.

If we compare blogging and freelancing, blogging gives you more freedom compared to Freeeelancing – Oh! I just made a mistake but it’s my blog and I have the freedom to do whatever I want to do. 🙂

If I would have done this while writing a client article, they would have asked me to edit it. Freelancing has some limitations on freedom and flexibility such as deadlines, formats, quality, etc.

     Opportunity to start your own business 

If you want to leave your boring 9-5 job and want to build an online freelancing or blogging business, you can start working part-time. You can leave your 9-5 job, once you feel you are earning enough.

Before we get started, I would like to explain a few terminologies to novice bloggers and freelancers.

What is Google Adsense

AdSense (Google AdSense) is an advertising placement service by Google. The program is designed for website publishers who want to display targeted text, video, or image advertisements on website pages and earn money when site visitors view or click the ads. Source – Webopedia

We are just scraping the surface here, the Google Adsense earnings depend on various factors. But just to simplify it – It depends on the traffic you are getting. The more traffic you get the more money you generate.


What is blogging and what do blog and blogger mean?

What is a blog?  

According to Dictionary.com, a blog means – a website containing a writer’s or group of writers’ own experiences, observations, opinions, etc., and often having images and links to other websites.

What is blogging?

Blogging is maintaining or adding new entries to a blog.

Blogging is a medium to express your thoughts by writing blog posts. It could be about your hobbies, daily routine, opinions, reviews, etc. Blogging is more than writing articles, to manage your blog effectively you require more than writing skills.

What is Blogger?

Blogger is a person who maintains a blog and earns money from blogging.

You can earn by monetizing your blog through affiliate marketing, CPA offers, and your own products, and services. Many bloggers cover a niche,  they write about a specific topic they are knowledgeable about.

What are the pros and cons of blogging  

Blogging is not just about writing and posting blog posts. I need to perform different tasks to keep my blog in momentum. For example, I need to write blog posts, promote my blog posts, research upcoming topics, social media scheduling, network, backlinking, etc etc.

Short-term Vs Long-term

Advantage – Blogging is a long-term income source

Blogging is better than freelancing because it’s a passive income source. You can earn money through various methods while you are sleeping. Once your blog is set up it’s generating money 24/7 – 360 days. You can enjoy your vacations and earn money from your blog.

A blog is like launching a rocket, once it is in space you just need to keep it in momentum (maintain it). You have to maintain the quality of the content and keep your brand value intact to retain your readership.

So when it comes to choosing between short-term income goals versus long-term income goals blogging can give you a long-term passive income source but you have to work hard to launch your heavy rocket with a lot of hard work and dedication to keep its momentum.

So in conclusion blogging is a long-term passive income source. Freelancing is a short-term income source.

Time & Freedom

Advantage – A successful blog gives you freedom

Blogging is hard in the beginning but once your blog builds an audience and readership, you have time and freedom to work at your pace. You can blog monthly or focus on the core areas of your blog. You just need to maintain your blog quality to keep your audience engaged.

Disadvantage – Blogging takes a lot of time

Blogging needs hard-word and patience. It’s not like you start blogging and post your first blog post and it will get rank tomorrow. It takes time to get your website ranked. Your consistency makes or breaks your blog, if you are not consistent then your blog suffers.

Security and reliability

Disadvantage – Blogging is not secure

Is blogging secure? There are plenty of reasons why blogging is not secure as freelancing. Search engines can penalize your blogs, you have many competitors, and your affiliates and ad networks can ban you. However,

I don’t think blogging is completely insecure but it is not reliable as freelancing.

Is a blog a reliable source of income? Your traffic does not reflect your earnings. As I said before your Adsense earning depends on various factors. Your blog can be one of those blog exceptional blogs that get a ton of traffic but do not earn a ton of money. 

Blogging also gives you full control but your earning is unpredictable you can earn $12 a day or you can earn $100 a day. You have no control over what kind of ads you are showing on your blog, when your accounts going to get terminated, the terms and conditions of monetization, etc.

Business model and road-map

Disadvantage – Blogging is not a business

Is blogging a business?

Blogging is not a business it is just a way to express your thoughts. Ad networks and affiliates share a percentage of their revenue with bloggers. They are paying bloggers to show their ads on their blogs.

Advantage – Blog helps in lead generation

Blogging can support your business website to get more exposure and increase your search engine visibility. Your blog can be part of your content marketing strategy, as people love to stay connected with industry trends and explore the latest happenings. Your blog can serve their needs and generate potential customer leads.

Blogging Earning Potential

Advantage – Multi-Stream, unlimited earning potential

There are multiple ways to monetize your blog. You can earn from various methodologies you can add multiple ad networks, you can accept guests, and sponsored posts and you can also add affiliate products to get commission on sales.

Disadvantage – Low to zero income in the beginning

One of the biggest disadvantages of blogging is, that it does not pay immediately. Many bloggers start blogging to earn money from Google Adsense because they read on other blogs how easy it is. But the reality is many bloggers don’t earn a single penny from their blog in the beginning. 

Qualification and Skills

Advantage – No qualification and skills required

When you read about me, you will get know I don’t have any formal education in computers, writing, and web development. You don’t need any formal education to start your blogging or freelancing business.

Disadvantage – The learning curve and skill development

This is contradictory to the above point, but let me explain.

You can easily start a basic blog on WordPress on blogger.com but the internet is a very competitive and noisy place, you have to stand out from the crowd. For that, you have to learn and improve your blogging skills.

Blogging requires different skills such as writing, digital marketing, search engine optimization, social media marketing, keyword research, designing, basic HTML, etc, etc.

Investment

Disadvantage – Blogging needs investment

There are two types of investments, time investment, and money investment. Blogging needs both, time and money. To start your website or blog your need to invest money to purchase hosting and domain name

As I said before, blogging has a learning curve and you need to invest time to learn to blog.

Advantage – It adds dimensions to your life.

In order to maintain your blog, you learn a lot of things. As a blogger, you need to take care of multiple things. You need to wear lots of hats, you have to be a content writer, an editor, a designer, a marketer, and so on. You work on yourself to become a better blogger, writer and content creator, etc.

You get better at time management and productivity.

Branding, Credibility, and Networking

Advantage – You become a personal brand

It increases your credibility in the marketplace and helps you to get exposure. When you build an authority blog, people start trusting you. People buy products and services you recommend. People purchase your products and services.

You get connected with other bloggers and influencers. It increases your network among like-minded people. It helps to increase your networking and your network is your “Net worth”. Your network helps you to grow yourself.

Hard work, Challenges, and Motivation

Disadvantage – Blogging is challenging and needs hard-work

Being a blogger and solopreneur, I feel very overwhelmed when I think about the tasks I need to perform. Blogging requires hard work every day to get traffic from search engines and social media. In the beginning, blogging gives you less money and more work. The initial days of your blogging are difficult and challenging.

Blogging is more challenging than a freelancing career.

Disadvantage – Blogging requires self-motivation (Discipline, habits, time management, productivity)

Blogging needs hard work, dedication, and patience. Initially, you don’t get traffic and money, you need to self-motivate to get going even if you are not seeing any result. It needs inner motivation to stay focused on the journey.

Your low traffic and earning demoralize but you need to firm on your blogging goals.

What is freelancing and what do freelancer and freelance mean?

What is a freelancer?

According to Dictionary.com, a freelancer is a person who works as a writer, designer, performer, or the like, selling work or services by the hour, day, job, etc., rather than working on a regular salary basis for one employer.

Freelance means – I am working for different companies at different times rather than being permanently employed by one company. It means you are working online remotely for a different employer.

What are freelance businesses and services?

A freelance business is a business where a team of people or a person works remotely for multiple clients. A team or a person can offer writing, designing, bookkeeping, data entry, and any other services on an hourly or fixed rate basis.

What are freelance blogger (writer) and freelance blogging (writing)?

Whenever I blog it’s whether for my blog or for my client’s blog. If I blog for my blog I would be a blogger and whenever I write for my clients, I would be a freelance blogger.

I work as a content writer for a business anonymously. Writing blog posts anonymously for a business is called Ghostwriting because people don’t know the real writer of a blog post.

What are the pros and cons of freelancing (freelance writing)

Today businesses are looking for article writers to increase their search engine visibility.  They are hiring freelancer bloggers and content writers.

Freelancing gives you upfront money from your clients to work on projects. Blogging gives you a return on what you have created already the return could be 0 or it could be more than what you have worked.

Short-term Vs Long-term

Disadvantage – Freelancing is short-term and no passive earning source

You work and you get paid. Just like you are working for a company. If you can’t give results your boss terminates you, just like that in freelancing your client discontinues your services. You may get many projects to line up but the money you are making depends on the amount of work you do.

Blogging gives your earnings when you are not working. Your blog traffic gives your commission from ad and affiliate networks when you are not on your desk.

Advantage – You get money whenever you need it

Contradictory to the above statement and the flip side of the coin is, you get money whenever you need it. For example, you need $100. You just need to write 10 articles for $10 or you can write a single article for $100.

Freelancing could be a short-term income stream. Just like you are working part-time in your spare time.

Considering the time factor I think freelancing is more money in less time because you are working for money and it’s a business you are not getting revenue share from any ad network such as Google Adsense.

Time & Freedom

Disadvantage – Freedom of expression and creativity

As a freelancer, you may feel the final result is best but your client may not like it. You have to think like your client in order to fulfill their requirement. You are bound to work according to your client’s requirements and you can’t get creative or express your own thoughts.

Disadvantage – No time for self-improvement, hobbies, and social life

As you get instant money, you feel tempted to increase your clients to earn more money. You give no time for your family, friends, hobbies, and self-improvement.

Security and reliability

Advantage – Freelancing is secure and reliable

There are plenty of job opportunities in the marketplace where you can convert your skills into money. You just need to approach your potential clients with the right pitch. Freelancing gives you security and reliability you can rely on freelancing sources and earn from things you can do. 

You have to earn the client’s trust before you start working on their project. Your examples, demos, and experience help you to grab freelancing projects. Your qualitative work gives assurance to clients and keeps your business stable.

If you are a newbie, start outreaching out or if needed give free services to get the ball rolling. Once you earn the client’s trust you get recurring freelancing tasks.

Once you establish yourself as a professional freelancer blogger or company, you have a business that can give you more reliability because you have the scope to find new clients and utilize your networking and get more work.

Disadvantage – Need to deal with bad clients which don’t pay

Your big client can ditch you if they get an alternative. Some clients don’t pay or discontinue their subscription without prior notice. If you rely on one client you may feel insecure. 

Note:- It is always advised to take a 50% upfront payment.

Business model and road-map

Is freelancing a business? yes, it is.

Advantage – Freelancing is a business

Freelancing is a business where you work and get paid. Blogging is not exactly a business but it is content that helps you in increasing your search engine visibility.

Freelancing also gives you a sense of being an entrepreneur. You have clients and work to do, you may have a team to work on your client’s project. You can start your business alone and become a solopreneur.

On the other hand, I think blogging is not a business. You are just monetizing your blog/Website, in simple words, you are leasing your Website/blog space for a third-party ads network. On the other hand freelancing, you have a business model you have business strategies to acquire new clients, you have strategies to increase your branding and make your clients happy.

Disadvantage – It’s a serious business 

It is a serious business, just like an offline business. You have clients, they expect their services within a specific time period without compromising the quality. You have to deliver services on time to keep your business going.

Freelancing Earning Potential

Advantage – It is lucrative 

It has enormous earning potential, you need more clients and a workforce to complete the tasks.

The best thing about freelancing is, that you can make your earning goals tangible, for example, if you want to earn $1000/month and you charge $10 per article, you need 100 article orders. It could be one client or it could be 10 clients.

Tangible goals are easy to achieve because you can work accordingly.

When it comes to blogging you never know what’s your earnings. It totally depends on the traffic you are getting.

Advantage – You choose your value

It’s up to you what value you decide for yourself. It could be $1 per hour or it could be $10 per hour. So it’s easy to conclude freelancing gives you a lot more control over how much you are going to make.

Advantage – You keep 100% of your earning

Compared to blogging freelancing gives 100% money, you need to give taxes and service charges. In blogging, you get a share of the commission from third parties.

Freelancing is a good way to earn money because you work for money and you get it as soon as the work is complete.

Disadvantage – Fixed earning

Your rates are fixed and that’s why you put a limit on your earnings. When compared with blogging, blogging gives you infinite income opportunities.

Qualification and Skills

Advantage – You don’t need to be professional when you are getting started

Sites like Upwork, Fiverr, People per hour, Guru, Freelancer, etc are born because people want to outsource their tedious tasks at affordable prices. They are seeking people to do their bookkeeping, data entry, small designing, and writing tasks.

That’s why when you are starting you don’t need to be professional. You must have basic knowledge about the services you are offering. You can design a simple logo, you can write short articles or product descriptions, you can edit audio/videos, you can handle the company’s social media handles, and there and plenty of freelancing gigs anyone can get when they are starting their freelancing journey.

Disadvantage – You need qualifications and experience to get high-paying clients

On freelancing websites profiles with more ratings, qualifications, and experience get exposure. High-paying clients investigate their qualifications, experience, work samples, etc before handing out any project. That’s why to get high-paying freelancing jobs you need higher qualifications and experience.

Investment

Advantage – To start your freelancing business you don’t need money to invest

One of the best things about freelancing is, that we don’t need to invest money to get started. You can open an account on Freelancer.com, Fiverr, Upwork, PeoplePerHour, SEOClerks, etc and you are ready to earn money online.

Credibility, Branding & Networking

Disadvantage – You don’t have scope to increase your credibility and branding

What is a ghostwriter – A ghostwriter is a person who is hired to author books, manuscripts, screenplays, speeches, articles, songs, blog posts, stories, reports, white papers, or other texts that are officially credited to another person.

Clients use their own pen name or company name to publish articles written by you. You write for money for clients and you sign an agreement to not reveal that you have written the content, this is known as ghostwriting. Source

Disadvantage – Limited Networking

You get connected with a few people mostly with your clients and their referrals.

Hard work, Challenges, and Motivation

Disadvantage – Competition among freelancers (Bidding)

This is one of the biggest reasons I don’t like freelancing websites.

Freelancers are working at a very low price to get the job. Companies are willing to pay high prices but because freelancers are working at a very low rate they are using this opportunity to get their jobs done at a very low price.

Because qualified freelancers and freelancing companies are working at a very low price, it’s becoming harder to get jobs for newbies. Although it doesn’t make any sense to work at a dirt cheap price novice freelancers don’t have any option to enter the marketplace.

You need complete various factors. Even your nationality plays a vital role, for example – if you are from Asian country clients are always concerned about your English comprehension as it’s not your first language. They always prefer native English speakers.

Advantage – Freelancing is easy compared to blogging

Freelancers have few tasks to perform compared to bloggers. You can feel relaxed when you don’t have any work or you have enough work lined up.

You have lesser worries in comparison with blogging. You are always in control because you have limited tasks to perform.

Freelancing is more controllable because you have control over how much you want to earn, how much you are worth, which clients you want to work with, how much time you require for project completion, etc.

Disadvantage – Freelancing is boring and monotonous

Over time because of continuous freelance writing on the same topic or same type of projects, freelancing feel like work. You don’t enjoy it because of the monotonous and boring routine.

Disadvantage – Bad boss Issues and you are still working for someone else

If you are starting freelancing to get rid of your boss/job, then freelancing could be tougher. As a freelancer, you have to satisfy your clients. You need to deal with clients who don’t understand what problems you are facing. Clients always insist on the deadlines and want the work completed anyhow. The work you do must be professional and high-quality.

Advantage – Freelancing motivates you

Ever wondered, Why are freelance workers more motivated?

It is motivating because you are earning money from your work. As a freelancer, you are getting money upfront, and you are feeling motivated to work more and more to increase your client base, increase your portfolio, satisfy your clients, and want to finish the work asap.

Blogging doesn’t show earnings and results in the beginning and that’s why many bloggers feel demotivated and quit blogging.

We always want instant results that’s why freelancers feel motivated to work because they work for money and they get it upfront or on project completion.


Who earns more bloggers or freelancers?

I would say both earn because how much you want to charge your clients is up to you and how you monetize your blog is up to you.

Blogging – you can simply rely on Google Adsense or monetize your blog through various methods. You can accept guest blogs and sponsored posts but I am thinking about Google Adsense and the earnings from Google Adsense.

Freelancing – you can hire a team or work with high-paying clients only. You can charge $10 or $100 per hour.

Bloggers’ earnings increase gradually if they keep blogging and increase traffic. It increases earning from 0 to 100 and 100 to 1000 how much time it will take to jump from 1 to 100 and from 100 to 1000 totally depends on the hard work they do.

Freelancing can be stable earning source. You have limited time and limited clients but if you are giving quality then you can charge more and earn more than bloggers.

How to make your decision

If you confused about whether you should write for your own blog or freelance for other bloggers? Ask the following questions to yourself, (let me know your answers in the comment)

  • What do you want to achieve in your life?
  • Do you have to want to achieve it in the short-term or long-term?
  • Do you have money and time to invest?
  • What resources and skills do you have?

You can evaluate yourself and decide, what’s the best way to make money online.

Conclusion

You have two choices work for yourself (your blog) or work as a freelancer (writer) for other bloggers (businesses).

Here is my take – If you want to build a long-term earning source then you should be blogging and if you want a short-term earning source you should freelance.

The best way to build your online business is to freelance while you are blogging. You can freelance to earn money and invest it in blogging, self-development, marketing courses, business development tools, etc.

What would you choose, freelancing or blogging? let me know in the comment and share this post to help your blogger and freelancer friends.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *