YouTube Scripts as an Income Stream for Freelance Writers

The world is incredibly visual these days, and YouTube is on fire. Is there a way for YouTube scripting to become a part of your income? Enough writers say yes to seriously consider adding the income stream to your freelance offerings.

Fulltime YouTube jobs are uncommon which makes the gigs open to freelance. YouTube scripts can pay in terms of an hourly rate (average $30/hour and up), a finished per minute rate (average $50/minute), a per word rate (think 7 cents a word), or a line-item in a larger package.

(How Much Should Writers Charge?)

Of course, your acceptance or declination of this rate will depend on any of the following: 

Top earners can almost double those rates, but their portfolios are strong and their client base reputable. Avoid accepting a low rate unless on a trial basis. There’s nothing wrong with starting at the average rate, especially if you have been freelancing in any capacity for a reasonable period of time or can show success as a writer.

Like any kind of freelance writing, you have options in finding work.

You can go the safe route and watch job boards. Sign up for email or text notices when jobs become available. A smattering of said boards includes:

You’ll want to follow a list of potential customers, maybe even a couple of dream customers, in hope that they’ll post openings, or you can develop an organic relationship with them, pitching when the timing feels right. To do this, used Twitter’s advanced search engine and type in keyword phrasing like: 

Start following those entities and click Twitter’s heart icon to shortlist and save your favorites. Be even more organized by consolidating these new Twitter follows in a private repository list.

This doesn’t work nearly as well on Facebook. You’ll find job boards, but they are full of writers like you, and the noise of how-to-be-a-freelancer tends to drown out the real opportunities.

That’s right. Look at existing YouTube videos and note the types of businesses already using them, which also mean they embrace YouTube writers. Rely heavily on your niche, if you have one, to show you understand the subject matter.

However, you can also pitch their competition that might not be so active on YouTube, offering them a need they might not realize they had. Mention their competitors’ YouTube channels as the measure to meet . . . or exceed.

Not only do educational groups appreciate YouTube scripts, but they also desire videos for the classroom, Zoom education, and webinars. For example, Reading Rockets is a national public media literacy initiative, and their site provides a lengthy list of children’s author and illustrator interviews, to give you one idea. I Love Libraries, part of the American Library Association, is another. Any organization with an educational arm loves online video material.

There’s nothing wrong with looking at freelance scriptwriters’ portfolios online to note for whom they’ve written scripts. Take time to study their YouTube videos and analyze what they made work well. Find these writers with a simple search of “video script” AND “freelance writer” or variations of the same. Scroll past all the job boards.

You can learn from those who have gone before you. You not only run across copywriters who offer scripts to businesses, but they also post articles justifying to potential customers how they can benefit from video . . . which you can learn from in pitching your own work. TestyEdits.com is such an example.

You can also pitch to these successful script writers, asking if you can work with or for them. They often have more work coming their way than they can handle, and, once you convince them your value, they might slip work your way.

Like in any other profession, reach out to people and entities you already have a relationship with. Does your brother-in-law work for a heating and air-conditioner company? Does your dentist have a website but no video? Would a candidate for school board hire you for their campaign? Who do the local businesses use as a videographer, with whom you can collaborate?

Start with the chamber of commerce. Note local ads. Especially target those you’ve done business with, beginning with the lead that you use and love their product or service, showing your familiarity with their work. Don’t overlook connections right under your nose.

Authors seek YouTube videos as well. Because they wrote a book doesn’t mean they wish to write their own marketing video, and the right book trailer can be an important catalyst for sales. YouTube videos for authors consist of interviews, book reviews, trailers, how-to guides, and classroom lessons. While self-published authors hire for themselves, don’t overlook traditional publishers, libraries, and literary groups, all of which use the heck out of video options.

Very few writers solicit themselves as straight video script writers to the corporate world. Instead, they fall under the titles of copywriter, B2B writer, UX writer, or SEO writer, offering a whole cadre of services such as:

As a matter of fact, Content Marketer is becoming a common job announcement by entities seeking material for hire. A more fine-tuned definition would be a person who creates valuable content to attract and convert prospects into customers. At its widest interpretation, the Content Marketer researches data, creates material, and strategically coordinates the material produced. At its narrowest, the person writes copy.

(4 Key Places for Writers to Find Those First Freelance Clients.)

But you could also hire yourself out as an expert in videography. By either partnering with someone with production skills or hiring yourself to a production company, you can choose to retain your tight-niche status. Film-14 is a such service that creates trailers.

The wider your reach, however, the greater the odds of landing work. The COVID environment generated a major embracement of remote work, which likewise generated a greater need not only for freelance writers, but for content marketers. Diversifying your skills can maximize potential.

Pitch to the inexperienced—They have not utilized videos in their marketing, education, etc., so you’d like to offer them your services to improve their promotional reach.

Pitch to the experienced—They already utilize videos, and it’s up to you to prove how you can provide them a better, different, or more lucrative product at a reasonable price.

The world revolves around phones, notepads, and computers. In this fast-paced life, more and more material is presented for viewers versus readers, and the savvy freelancer learns how to incorporate scripting into their menu of skills to offer potential clients.