How much, you ask? Six-figure incomes for freelancers are becoming common - the Web has a voracious appetite for words. However, to hit the freelancing heights, you'll have to treat your writing as a business, not as a hobby.

This means being business-like with your writing.

I'm often asked when you should consider going full time in your own writing business, so I've chosen five tips for you. If the tips make sense to you, and you take them to heart... you're ready.

1. Get some "nut" writing jobs

Your monthly "nut" is the amount of income it takes to keep you afloat. Your nut includes your mortgage, all expenses including insurance, credit card bills, and assorted expenditures like the cost of entertainment.

So your nut-jobs are those steady writing jobs which pay the bills. You may have several steady magazine or Web writing jobs, or you may be under contract to a publisher or to several copywriting clients. Whatever - your nut jobs are steady writing jobs, and they're vital.

2. Stash away a year's worth of income

You love writing, otherwise you wouldn't consider a freelance writing home business. However, when your income depends on it, writing can be tricky. It all depends on the productivity skills you've developed. Usually, developing high productivity takes time, because writing is a muscle - the more you do, the more you can do.

Therefore, I strongly recommend that before you start your business, you stash away a full year's worth of income.

Writing as a business means writing on demand. You'll need to train yourself to write when you should be writing. You'll also need to train the rest of your household that your writing hours are just for writing, not for picking the kids up from school, or running errands.

3. Write faster - make more money

The higher your productivity, the higher your income. You can't sit back. Words are money, so you need the ability to write a lot of words, whether you feel like it or not.

With the right training, you can double and triple your writing output, and hence your income. But you can't be self-indulgent or temperamental. If a client wants a rewrite in 24 hours, or wants a 1500 word article tomorrow, that's what the clients gets, even if you go without sleep.

That said...

4. Realize that you can say NO - make it your favorite word, and use it often

When your writing is a business, it means that you'll say NO a lot. You say NO to invitations to dinner, if they conflict with work. You also say no to clients.

The ability to refuse work you're offered is vital. If the client's budget is low, refuse. If the client quibbles about paying a retainer, refuse. If you're not sure how long the research for a job will take, refuse. Your time is all you have. Guard your time like a lion guards its cubs.

5. Take a marketing course

Marketing is essential to your writing business. Few writers are natural-born marketers. Choose night school, or distant learning, but take a marketing course. No writing business survives without marketing.

So there you have five tips which will help you to run a successful freelance writing business. These days, your opportunities are unlimited: take them, and prosper.