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Freelance Writers Den Review

12 things to know about Carol Tice's premium course and community

Freelance Writers Den
4.0/5 4.02
Beth CaseyMarc McLean Joshua McNitt3 Reviews | Rate This Course

This is the ultimate Freelance Writers Den review.

Freelance Writers Den is a course and community created by Carol Tice. You may know her from her blog Make a Living Writing. My team and I signed up for FWD and researched it thoroughly. You’ll find all our insights below.

(Have you taken this course? Add your rating!)

If you’re eager to learn…

  • If Freelance Writers Den can help you make money online
  • How it compares to other freelance writing programs
  • The pros and cons of Freelance Writers Den
  • If Carol Tice is legit
  • The different pricing options

Then definitely keep reading.

Freelance Writers Den – Key Points
  About

Carol Tice’s popular freelance writing course and community.

💰  Price

$40/month or $400/year (more info)

😍  Pros

Good student ratings, rather comprehensive, Carol Tice seems legit, tons of bonuses.

😩  Cons

So much content it can be overwhelming and tough to navigate, recurring membership fees, forum not as active as expected.

  Verdict

Worthwhile to improve your freelance writing game, if only for a month or two.

Overall Rating
4.0/5 4.03

Jump to…

About the Author

Niall Doherty

Hey, I’m Niall Doherty.

I quit my last 9-to-5 job back in 2010.

Since then, I’ve earned my living online in various ways. Over the last 4 years (through 2023) I’ve earned $842,000 from my laptop.

I’m on a mission to accurately rate and review all the best online business courses. My team and I are spending many hours investigating these courses and getting feedback from real students.

All that to say: we know a thing or two about such courses and making money online.

How does Freelance Writers Den help you make money?

Freelance Writers Den is a course and community that aims to help you make a living as a freelance writer.

A freelance writer usually writes articles or blog posts for the web. Freelance writing can also entail writing for print magazines, books, email newsletters, etc.

As a freelancer you would be running your own business. Clients would hire you to work on various writing projects.

The official word from FWD…

the Den is the best value in online learning for freelance writers! Whether you need to learn better-paying types of writing or to hone your marketing chops, the Den has the training you need.

Apparently there are more than 1200 paid members of Freelance Writers Den at any one time. Once you sign up, you have access to that community for help and feedback.

Who is Freelance Writers Den for?

Freelance Writers Den seems to sell itself as a platform for freelance writers of all experience levels.

As Carol explains on the course’s about page…

freelance writers den review course about page

IMO, the training indeed seems well suited for everyone. Beginners will likely find it a good place to learn about writing due to the bootcamps, while advanced writers may use it to learn a few new tricks or to find work.

In other words, if you’re not making a lot of money from writing already, chances are that you’ll find Freelance Writers Den quite useful.

Does Carol Tice have a good reputation?

Yes.

During my research of Carol Tice and Freelance Writers Den, I didn’t find any criticism for the training and its creator. 

It seems Carol has been actively writing as a freelancer for more than 10 years, and has built up an impressive following and scores of testimonials.

You can see many testimonials from FWD students on the testimonials page.

The only things that give me pause are the somewhat old-looking interface and the fact that none of the testimonials are dated. This makes me wonder if newer students are still getting good results from the training 😕

Nevertheless, most of the training provided within Freelance Writers Den is quite evergreen, so I’m happy to give it a pass here.

The only nitpick I have with Carol and FWD is the “waiting list” you have to sign up for to access the training. It’s not really a waiting list at all, as they invite you to join the training as soon as you give them your email address.

Are Freelance Writers Den students getting results?

I found a fair amount of Freelance Writers Den students reporting impressive results.

For example…

freelance writers den review student results
freelance writers den review student testimonials
freelance writers den review student reviews

There are also some vague testimonials to be found, but I was surprised by the number of success stories that laid out specifics, such as money earned. For many people, the money made from the training greatly exceeds the membership fee.

As mentioned, I didn’t find dates for any of the success stories, but I didn’t find that alarming. My impression is that the training still proves effective for most people who put in the work consistently.

How much does Freelance Writers Den cost?

The listed price for Freelance Writers Den is $40 per month. You can also pay $400 per year.

So long as you keep paying the membership fee, you get access to all the latest updates and bootcamps.

There is at least one upsell for Freelance Writers Den called Freelance Writers Den 2X Income Accelerator.

Best I can tell, the upsell is intended for advanced writers, aiming to help them further increase their income. Access to a Slack group of current students and graduates is included. The listed price is $699, but you can also pay in three installments of $250.

Freelance Writers Den Discount?

I looked for a coupon code, but I wasn’t able to find any that were currently valid.

My guess is that you’re best off joining Carol’s mailing list or following her blog, Make a Living Writing. If she ever offers a discount or promotion, you’ll likely hear about it via those channels.

Refund Policy

The sales page for Freelance Writers Den specifies a 7-day “no questions asked” money-back guarantee…

Not sure if the Den is for you? You can join and try it out for a week. If you find it’s not a fit, just let us know.

We will cheerfully refund your money! We only want Den members who are thrilled to be here.

And if you forget to cancel the next payment before you get charged, you still have 48 hours to request a refund…

Don’t want to stay on? No problem — you’re free to cancel at any time. (If you forget, just tell us within 48 hours of your payment and we’ll refund you.)

This is a nice gesture that I haven’t seen with many other courses.

Also, I haven’t seen anyone reporting issues getting a refund from Freelance Writers Den, so they seem to follow through on their promises here.

How is Freelance Writers Den structured?

Here’s what Freelance Writers Den looks like once you’re logged in…

freelance writers den review dashboard

As you can see, there’s a lot in there!

So much, in fact, that I often got lost while trying to find my way around. The Learning Tracks section makes it a bit easier to get started, but ultimately I found the navigation and layout of everything to be somewhat chaotic and confusing.

My recommendation, if you decide to join Freelance Writers Den, is to spend some time exploring the different sections initially. There is a lot of good stuff there once you know how to access it. The amount of material is tough to beat.

Many of the lessons are in video format. There are also many webinars and podcasts where Carol teaches about good writing.

Also, most of the webinars and podcasts here – if not all of them – are downloadable. This is unusual for a recurring membership site, but I appreciate that they allow students to do this and consume the training material in their own time.

I found FWD’s forum better designed than the rest of the platform. It seems the forum is intended to act as both a private community and a place where you can ask for feedback on your work.

It’s split into a number of subforums, which is handy. There is a decent amount of activity in the forums, but I wouldn’t say that any of them are bustling with new posts…

freelance writers den review forum activity

While the forum is a bit quieter than expected – especially given that there are apparently 1200+ paid members of FWD at any one time – the moderators do a good job of responding to posts. I don’t recall seeing a single post or question that didn’t receive a reply.

That said, it looks like Carol Tice herself is rarely seen posting in the forums nowadays.

Green Lights 🟢 

Here are a few things to like about Freelance Writers Den…

  • Most students seem to rate the course and community highly.
  • 7-day “no questions asked” money-back guarantee.
  • Several courses in one, covers a lot of ground.
  • Carol Tice walks her talk.
  • Tons of bonuses and templates provided.
  • Relatively low price to try it out for a month.

Red Flags 🚩 

A few things about Freelance Writers Den that might give you pause…

  • Recurring monthly (or annual) expense to keep access to the training.
  • So much content it can be overwhelming, and not always easy to find your way around.
  • Some parts of the training haven’t been updated for several years.
  • Carol doesn’t seem to be very active in the forums.
  • Weird “waiting list” to access the training (you don’t have to wait at all).

Other things you should know

  • You’ll have access to a variety of helpful downloads inside the training, including all of the video and audio lessons, video slides, transcripts, etc.

Should you join Freelance Writers Den?

From what I’ve seen, the vast majority of people who sign up for Freelance Writers Den end up happy with their purchase.

If you don’t mind taking the time to get to know FWD early on, it looks to be a solid investment. Carol Tice seems like the real deal, and I also liked the amount of lessons and bonuses provided.

Although it’s quite inexpensive to access Freelance Writers Den and try it out for a month, it can get quite pricey if you stick with it for the long haul. I suspect that many members may start and stop their membership as needed.

Personally, I’m happy to recommend Freelance Writers Den to anyone looking to improve their freelance writing game, if only for a month or two.

Freelance Writers Den – Key Points
  About

Carol Tice’s popular freelance writing course and community.

💰  Price

$40/month or $400/year (more info)

😍  Pros

Good student ratings, rather comprehensive, Carol Tice seems legit, tons of bonuses.

😩  Cons

So much content it can be overwhelming and tough to navigate, recurring membership fees, forum not as active as expected.

  Verdict

Worthwhile to improve your freelance writing game, if only for a month or two.

Overall Rating
4.0/5 4.04

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Your Thoughts on Freelance Writers Den

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Student Reviews of Freelance Writers Den

Rate This Course
Beth Casey
  • Validated Reviewer 10
  • Verified Student 11
  • Review Info 12
5.0/5
November 11, 2022
Earnings 2
more than expected
Following Training 3
for more than 2 years

Great Resource for New Freelancers and Those Looking to Level Up

The Freelance Writer’s Den has been an exceptional resource to support my growing career as a freelance writer and copywriter. There are many resources available to help freelancers get started and advance their careers.

The pre-recorded boot camps offered are a wonderful addition and highly valuable. Many are available for free to subscribing members. However, you get more value when you pay for a new boot camp as it comes out (before it publishes for other members to view for free) because you get early access and live Zoom group webinars, and sometimes they hold contests and challenges for members during the live training only.

One thing I would like is to have more boot camps focused on how-to copywriting specifics: website content/landing pages, advertorials, direct mail, advertisements, sales letters, business plans, product labels/packaging, etc.

Pros and Cons

  • Lots of high-value resources
  • Members-only forum where you can get your questions answered
  • Jobs posted in the forum
  • The website could use a more extensive jobs board
  • Specific copywriting lessons could be introduced
more ratings
Implementation 4
about what I expected
Presentation 5
5.0/5
Usefulness 6
5.0/5
Community 7
5.0/5
Support 8
5.0/5
Value For Money 9
5.0/5
Marc McLean
  • Validated Reviewer 21
  • Verified Student 22
  • Review Info 23
5.0/5
November 9, 2022
Earnings 13
more than expected
Following Training 14
for 1 to 6 months

A no-brainer for any freelance writer

I’ve taken several freelance writing online courses which were over-priced and under-delivered.

What drew me to the Freelance Writers Den was the huge amount of resources – including several mini online courses – for a very reasonable monthly price.

I learned a lot about marketing my services, particularly on LinkedIn, and how to properly optimize my profile so that clients could find me, rather than me chasing them all the time. The advice I could access from highly-experienced freelancers like Carol Tice and others in the forum was also a big bonus.

Pros and Cons

  • Community
  • Course materials
  • Expert LinkedIn guidance
  • The online forum could have been a bit more active
more ratings
Implementation 15
about what I expected
Presentation 16
5.0/5
Usefulness 17
5.0/5
Community 18
5.0/5
Support 19
5.0/5
Value For Money 20
5.0/5
Joshua McNitt
  • Validated Reviewer 32
  • Verified Student 33
  • Review Info 34
5.0/5
November 6, 2022
Earnings 24
more than expected
Following Training 25
for 6 to 12 months

A great course for all experience levels

I signed up for the Freelance Writers Den to make a career shift and honestly love it. There is so much information from how to write effective articles, to pitching methodology, and most importantly how to run a freelance business.

I had to suspend my membership to catch up on all the writing work I managed to land (one long-term client and a few one-off gigs). I expect to start Freelance Writers Den again over the winter to level up my skills further.

Pros and Cons

  • Homework is graded by staff even on courses that are not actively being held.
  • Fantastic and supportive community.
  • Pricing is better than some other courses I've looked at.
  • It can take a moment to orient oneself in the forums.
more ratings
Implementation 26
easier than expected
Presentation 27
4.0/5
Usefulness 28
4.0/5
Community 29
5.0/5
Support 30
5.0/5
Value For Money 31
5.0/5
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