Create Clientless Revenue Streams and Live Your Dream Life
By Jen Phillips April

When you first start making an income as a freelance writer, it feels freeing.

You literally put your fingers to a keyboard and cha-ching: You can turn your typing into money.

It sounds like magic.

As a freelance writer, you can work from anywhere you want … poolside from the Caribbean, ski lodges, your kid’s ball practice … Wherever you are, you can write and get paid.

That location flexibility is part of what drew me to the business back around 2009.

It’s a major perk.

Yet, there comes a point in every freelancer’s life when they start thinking about alternate revenue streams.

I mean, freelancing is great, but there are only so many hours in the day. You have other responsibilities and things you want to do with your life besides work … even when that work is fun and flexible.

Plus, if you want to take time off from client work, you don’t get paid.

Which brings us to clientless revenue.

Many freelance writers I know talk about or have explored clientless revenue streams in some capacity. From digital downloads to recorded courses to print-on-demand and affiliate marketing, there are multiple ways to supplement your freelance income or replace it entirely.

The appeal is obvious.

When you’re not dependent on trading your hours for dollars, what’s available to you?

Would you upgrade your lifestyle?

Stash away thousands for retirement?

Travel more without worrying about tying yourself to the computer?

What could a clientless income do for you if the money kept flowing no matter what you did? Set it up right, and you could build an asset that keeps giving for years to come. Maybe even one you could sell in the future.

So let’s take a look at some of the clientless opportunities open to writers …

Types of Clientless Revenue Streams for Writers

Each of these tried-and-true income producers doesn’t require much to get started. An hour or two a week can help you lay the groundwork and start building an income that doesn’t require clients.

1. Moneymaking Websites

If you’ve ever thought about starting a website about one of your passions, you can turn it into a moneymaking website. On everything from dog health to coffee, thousands of people have created informative websites where they share their knowledge and, in exchange, make money. Revenue most often flows from ads and affiliate sales.

One success story is copywriter Nick Usborne. He’s made over $500,000 with his site, CoffeeDetective.com. He’s even had offers to buy it, and someday he may consider one. For now, it’s a solid monthly revenue stream for him.

Besides the money, a moneymaking website can improve your writing and digital marketing skills because you gain hands-on experience in how to grow traffic and make sales.

2. Self-Publishing/E-books

It’s no secret that publishing a book is a great way to establish yourself as an expert. But the old, traditional way of getting a publisher and a contract isn’t easy. Even if you can put together a winning book proposal, you still have to do all your own marketing, and they take a percentage of the sales. Why not cut out the middleman and go straight to the reader?

Tons of people have done it, including legendary copywriter Bob Bly. He’s built a library of e-books and other information products and consistently makes money from them. Like a moneymaking website, e-books can continue making money … even years later.

3. Email Marketing

Ben Settle is one of the pioneers of the “clientless copywriting business.” He crafted a recognizable email writing style and now makes his money writing emails that sell.

Part of his income comes from selling books, newsletters, and courses. These days, he says he “works” maybe 10 minutes a day and makes over six figures a year, year after year.

I know another copywriter who sends a daily email and periodically offers training — live or recorded. Like Settle, he claims to be lazy and spends a lot of his time playing video games, yet his annual income is north of $200,000.

If you want to take this approach, you’ll focus on building an engaged email list and making relevant offers. You can sell other people’s products (affiliate marketing) or create your own.

4. Blogging

When Holly Hanna wanted a flexible opportunity to make money so she could stay home with her daughter, she was disappointed by the number of scammy opportunities she encountered. The more she researched, the more she realized there were a lot of people in her position.

To help those people find legitimate “work from home” jobs, she started the Work at Home Woman. She credits Nick Usborne’s Money-Making Websites program with teaching her the fundamentals of digital marketing. She followed his program — and then ran with it in a huge way!

Now she runs her website and makes six figures year after year, all from home without clients.

5. Substack (or other newsletters with ads)

Substack is “the” current darling of marketers everywhere. An email marketing platform, it lets you charge for access to your newsletter and sell ads also. American historian Heather Cox Richardson publishes a daily essay on Substack about the state of American democracy in the modern era, and reports have it she’s raking in $5 million a year. For a history professor!

6. Courses

E-learning is one of the fastest-growing markets out there. We’re talking a nearly BILLION-dollar-a-day industry. The concept is simple: Teach people what you know in an organized way with lessons and worksheets.

For example, “Miss Excel” is on track to break seven figures this year. She teaches people how to use Excel and makes it fun. Another example is Katie Kimball, a former schoolteacher whose kids-focused cooking course has made up to $53,000 in a single week!

The beauty of all these clientless income streams is you can start today and build them up over time using skills you already have.

You already know freelancing is a terrific way to make a living. It makes sense to add an additional revenue stream that can run in the background and set you up for success in the future.

Your copywriting skills set you up perfectly for all of these options. And there’s no limit to what you could earn — without needing to report to clients!

Learn how you can build greater wealth from your writing skills — with zero clients. Check out the details here.