As 2025 nears its conclusion, I thought I’d share an update on the ambitious annual targets I set in December.
Transparency Is Good for All
Before I start, I want to reiterate my belief that financial transparency is good for all of us. Sharing is caring.
When I started as freelance iGaming writer, I had no idea of my worth. And it’s become screamingly obvious since I first created my Fiverr account in June 2020 that I was undercharging for too long.
I’m not bragging when I discuss my earnings as a freelance writer – there are many doing far, far better than me. But in those early days, I lacked a mentor. I’d have loved someone to tell me what to charge, and how to build my own brand and move away from freelancing platforms.
The more information we all share, the less likely we are to be ripped off. Knowing the true value of your work is vital, and if we all discuss pricing, it should lift the floor for everyone.
My 2025 Targets
Okay, let’s get into it. When I shared my 2024 earnings, I also set three targets for 2025:
Let’s start with the good news: I had no problem meeting the last two goals.
I’ve worked much less than last year, where I was consistently pulling six-day weeks, often for 10–12 hours at a time. I set up a spreadsheet to manage my time like an employee, and I’ve stuck pretty closely to it.
Of course, the whole point of ditching my corporate career was for a better work-life balance, so I’m still flexible. If I feel like working on what is a scheduled day off, I do. I’ll just take a different day off next week when I’m tired.
The financial side, however, has not been good.
Actual Figures
I’m going to share some actual numbers in this post. When I’ve written about this before, I’ve been vague, using graphs to illustrate progress, but removing exact figures – stuff like that.
Looking back, I don’t really know why, as it’s not hard to work things out from the wider context. So for this post, I might as well go all-in.
The target was six-figures in GBP. This felt tough, but not unrealistic – I was already doing close to those numbers, so I just had to increase my rates slightly and reduce the time spent working.
Unravelling Quickly
January got me off to a flier, bringing in just over £9,000. However, in February, I argued my way into losing my second-biggest client.
Actually, I just pushed back against some stupid feedback.
I’d been working with them for a year, writing poker, casino and a little sports betting content. I’d never had anything but lovely comments from six or seven different editors. So I thought I had enough goodwill in the bank to call out this one bit of pointless feedback that was wasting everyone’s time.
I’ll concede I did it with an unnecessary attitude, for which I later apologised. But my point was valid, and I stand by it.
A few days earlier, I’d stopped working with a smaller client. I’d been looking to get out of that gig anyway, as the briefs were too fiddly. But the timing was horrendous – had it been the other way around, I wouldn’t have left that project.
A few weeks later, I completed the disaster hat-trick (disastrick?) when my main client unexpectedly suspended a project. I’d gone from regularly making £8,000–£10,000 a month, to literally no work at all.
Emotional Roller Coaster
It was clear by the end of February I’d miss my ambitious targets. There was no margin for error to begin with. Losing so much work so quickly was already too much – I knew I’d blown it.
The rest of the quarter was spent using my new vacation allowance, and trying to get over losing my two main clients. Honestly, I didn’t really snap out of my low mood until May, when my main casino content client returned. That guy pays $0.15 per word for priority access to my services.
The damage to my annual target was already done, but I’d realigned my expectations, and things were normal by July. That month I made £8,425 and I was feeling good again.
But being positive was an error. In August, my biggest client disappeared again, and is yet to return. As a result, I produced my lowest monthly figure since July 2021. For context, that was only my second full month as a freelancer, having left my “proper” job in mid-May.
All I really had in August was my sports betting content for OddsNews, plus whatever dribs and drabs came in from Upwork and Fiverr, which I basically abandoned years ago.
Depressing stuff.
In September and October, I bounced back to some extent, with figures of £5,389 and £5,987. But I’m currently having a quiet November, and I expect I’ll pull in something around the £4,500 mark. I’ve lost another casino content client this month, but I still project a figure of around £6,000 for December.
Reflections
Obviously I’m guessing at the last six weeks of the year, but I expect a final annual figure of about £66,000.
This is a complete disaster compared to my £100,000 target.
However, it’s important to zoom out. That’s still a great living – especially for someone with no kids who’s based mostly in the Philippines.
I’m obviously not complaining about “only” pulling in those numbers. Especially at a time when AI-generated content is threatening us writers. But it remains true that I missed my target by miles. I think it’s important to be honest, and not just talk about the good times.
It seems I’m returning to my 2022 and 2023 figures, which were £67,684 and £62,201. So last year was probably a fluke, rather than the norm.
2026 Goals?
I think I’ll wait a month before setting my 2026 goals, but it’s fair to say I’m not shooting for six-figures again. I hit my working and vacation targets, and I’ve quite enjoyed not burning out the way I did in November 2024.
There have been other positives, too. Having accidentally become pigeon-holed as a casino writer recently, I found myself producing sportsbook content again.
I managed a couple of trips to the UK this year, spending time with family – I haven’t done enough of that in recent years. There was also a month in Switzerland, watching the Lionesses do Lionesses things, and the saga of rescuing and homing a kitten!
I wonder what ups and downs 2026 has in store?