As the name implies, technical writers need to balance two sets of skills: the technical capacity to understand systems, and the communication skills required to pass that explanation on to readers. When they decide to go freelance (as opposed to working as a full-time employee), they also need solid business skills on top of all that.
Here’s a breakdown of how to become a freelance technical writer, including how to budget, charge clients, and more.
Freelance Technical Writers Need Solid Business and Budget Skills
When you’re a freelance technical writer, you’re in charge of your own payroll, marketing, and other functions that your company would handle if you were a full-time employee. As you figure out how much to charge clients, you also need to take personal factors such as taxes and your health insurance into account.
Some freelance technical writers opt to charge clients by the word or hour; others have a per-project rate, especially if they work on complicated assignments and/or have a long-term relationship with a client. Payment model can also vary by your specialization; for instance, whitepaper writers usually charge by the whitepaper, whereas technical writers writing articles for corporate blogs might opt for an hourly or per-word rate.
(Quick tip: If you’re just getting into the technical writing game, always make sure the contract clearly delineates the allowed number of rewrites/revisions to a work. You don’t want to be stuck endlessly revising a project, especially for a bigger client where multiple stakeholders may have differing opinions on content.)
Whatever model you’re embracing, you need to make sure that your monthly payouts cover:
- Your health insurance
- Business-related expenses (such as travel and internet costs)
- Taxes (which can vary wildly between states and metro areas)
- Your life (mortgage, food, gas, and more)
Designing a budget is helpful before launching a full-time career as a freelance technical writer. But how much should technical writers actually charge clients? The short answer: it depends.
How Much Should Freelance Technical Writers Charge Clients?
According to Glassdoor, which crowdsources its salary information, freelance technical writers earn an average salary of $77,395. That can vary wildly according to a writer’s experience, specializations, and location; for instance, Indeed pegs the average technical writer salary in New York at $49.28 per hour, while it’s $42.69 in Austin, TX.
You can use sites such as Indeed to calculate a “baseline” local rate. Analyze whether that rate aligns with your budget, and feel free to raise it according to your unique experience and skills.
Always keep in mind that smaller companies might not be able to pay a higher rate for bigger, longer projects; enterprise-size clients, on the other hand, are more capable of meeting your numbers. You can negotiate accordingly—for instance, consider offering discounts to smaller companies if they’re willing to engage in a longer-term contract.
What Skills Do Freelance Technical Writers Need?
Freelance technical writers must have a solid grasp of project management, time management, and sales skills in order to effectively juggle their work and land new clients. They must also have the ability to quickly grasp complex concepts and boil them down in ways that make sense even to non-technically inclined people.
Jenna Resnick, senior unit manager, technology recruiting services at LaSalle Network, says it's important for technical writers have knowledge of the topic they are writing about. “That can comes from practical, on the job experience, or educating themselves on the topic through self-study, coursework or certifications,” she explains.
She points out there is no educational background or degree that one absolutely needs to become a technical writer. “Technical writers may have a background as a business analyst or process analyst,” Resnick says. :I have noticed many technical writers may have a BA in any language they will be creating documentation in.”
On the writing side, clarity and precision are essential—and that’s something you learn from practice, not necessarily through a formal degree program.
Jason Wodicka, principal engineering advocate at Karat, agrees technical writing can be more open to nontraditional educational backgrounds than other professional fields. “That said, having a degree can help open doors with companies that use higher education as a screening criterion, even though this criterion is often unfair,” they say.
Fortunately, a wide range of degrees tend to be applicable; for instance, most technical degrees or writing-affiliated degrees tend to be accepted.
What Do Freelance Technical Writers Need to Know About Potential Clients?
One great thing about the freelance life: you can choose your clients. “Many freelance writers I know have talked about the liberating experience of deciding a certain project simply wasn’t where they wanted to put their time and energy, which can be harder to do in a corporate setting,” Wodicka points out.
With that liberation, however, comes a high degree of responsibility: freelance technical writers must clarify project particulars with clients, manage deadlines and workload, and run a small business. “If you’re not comfortable with those, consider whether you might find a hybrid approach by joining a software consultancy, tackling technical writing for client projects on a freelance basis, but having the structure of an administrative team to help manage the projects,” Wodicka says.
From Resnick's perspective, time management is a critical skill for technical writers pursuing a freelance career: “Managing the workload of multiple clients can be demanding, so it’s important to manage time effectively, and appropriately allocate the right amount of time on a weekly basis to ensure deliverables are hit.”
Two key attributes are communication and the ability to manage expectations: for example, the ability to effectively communicate to the client what can realistically be done in the given timeline, so expectations are managed.
In addition, Resnick recommends creating different types of documents and documenting processes on new technologies, which will help broaden your skillset: “Demonstrate initiative by learning new technologies through certification programs and self-study to enhance marketability.”
Do Freelance Technical Writers Need a Portfolio?
The short answer: “Yes.” A professional portfolio (such as a website demonstrating your past work) is essential to land clients.
Resnick notes many companies will ask for work samples, emphasizing the need for a robust portfolio; if you can’t put your pieces on a website, consider a PDF, which you can easily email, or even paper. “If it’s allowed, keep copies of work samples to share with future employers and remove the company name,” she advises. “You can also create sample documentation to show future employers if your company is not comfortable with you saving the work you have done for them.”
Resnick says freelancing allows technical writers the flexibility to work with multiple clients at a time. “Oftentimes, technical writers are needed on a contract basis, but companies may not have enough work to give a contractor 40 hours worth of work per week,” she says.
With that in mind, your portfolio should ideally show off your range, from technical manuals to website copy. Show that you can be plugged into pretty much any project and succeed.
From Wodicka's perspective, the key to having a successful career as a freelance technical writer is adaptability and a seamless prose style. “When something simply makes sense with just a thoughtfully worded sentence of explanation, it can feel like the work of a writer is invisible—but in technical writing, that’s often the greatest success possible," Wodicka says. "Learn to meet your readers where they are and share in their successes."
