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In my State of Freelancing Survey, I asked writers a few weeks back what they were doing to make their businesses successful this year and into the future.
I’ve listed my key takeaways, followed by quotes from other freelancers.
Marketing, marketing, and more are common themes.
- This year, I began a new tradition of sending monthly emails to all my clients to let them know that I am available and ask them to send work. This has led to me getting a lot of extra work. Quarterly, I check in with old clients and warm leads and have seen many of them take on new projects. The secret is to make it feel like a routine, regular check-ins with a gentle touch.
- No matter how busy I get, I will not stop marketing!
- I’m trying to target and increase my marketing in order to be more selective about my clients. I’m very busy at the moment, but I have some work that isn’t in my preferred niche. While I concentrate on marketing, I’m trying my best to highlight the value that I can bring, which AI cannot. For example, almost all of the writing I do comes from interviews, not just internet research. Currently, humans are better at doing this.
- I plan to create a few packages in 2024 so that new clients can say yes more easily to smaller projects. I’m planning to create some packages for 2024 to make it easier for new clients to say yes to smaller projects.
Many people place a high priority on social media, particularly LinkedIn.
- I now spend 15-20 minutes a day cultivating and building contacts. I have also started posting content to LinkedIn and Instagram.
- I’ve increased my activity on LinkedIn, where most of my past freelance work has come from. I am making more connections on LinkedIn, sending out LOIs, and participating in more LI discussions (e.g., replying to other people’s posts, and posting more content).
- It’s more important than ever to nurture relationships today, with LinkedIn marketing, and the move towards building stronger relationships in sales. It is cheaper to keep a client over time than to lose them and spam irrelevant prospects with LOIs. The goal is to reach as many companies as possible, but I need to find a way to make it more personal. It’s about a shift in strategy.
- I keep in constant contact with editors and publications all year round. I am active on LinkedIn, and I send a link to every article I have written. This keeps me in their minds for future recommendations.
Many authors shared that they were focusing their efforts on existing clients.
- I will continue to deliver excellent work within deadlines and make my clients’ lives easier. I strive to provide value to my clients through well-written and clean copy and to make it easy for them to work with me.
- I will make life easier for my client by being pleasant to deal with, doing solid work, and always looking for higher-level clients, such as larger companies or agencies that have bigger budgets.
- Continue to provide excellent service for your existing clients. Nurture relationships with them, and connect with potential clients via LinkedIn or referrals.
- Keep existing clients satisfied and seek to increase the amount of money they give me.
- My focus is on providing value to my client and doing my best. This strategy is my best way to ensure that I maintain my client relationships, improve my reputation and secure future work.
Ed Gandia is working with a number of writers to help them focus their businesses.
- This month, I’m taking a 21-day course on marketing with Ed Gandia to create a framework for my business and develop habits so that I don’t feel overwhelmed.
- Ed Gandia’s “Business-Building Toolkit“ classes and your AI course were all very helpful. ).
- Take Ed Gandia’s Elevate Course.
- I want to do half of my business as copywriting, and the other half in “copythinking”, which is planning and strategy. Too many people need to have a strategy or plan for what they are going to do. Ed Gandia is my business coach, and he has pushed strategy as a service. That’s going to be a major part of my company in 2024.
Several writers have written about the current changes in their lives.
- Just trying to keep afloat. I gave birth to my baby in April and took three months of maternity leave. Just recently, I started my business again, but only part-time. I made $11K for September!
- My goals this year and in the future will probably be outside the norm because I am planning to phase out my retirement. My goal for this year was to work less but give back more to the industry. I achieved both, and my income increased significantly. In 2024, I will do the same.
This year, many writers will be trying out new ideas for their businesses.
- This allows me to increase my total income while freeing up more time for my websites and manuscripts. I can increase my income and have more time to work on my website or manuscript.
- This year, I began tracking the amount of money that each client earned from quarter to quarter and over time. I’m going to have to revisit some of those relationships.
- I hired someone to assist me with the administrative tasks in my business. After just one month, I’ve already noticed a positive difference. I feel more energetic to write.
- I redesigned my portfolio website, rachelsmith.com.au. I receive so many compliments about it from clients and other freelancers. I can tell that it is working as a digital shopfront. I split up my portfolio (one page per niche) and optimised every page so that I would appear for different keywords, such as lifestyle writer or business writer. I have also been more proactive in seeking out overflow work from my network if the fit seems right.
- I hosted a large conference linked to my podcast. This has opened up many doors. It brought brand awareness to a new level and sent new companies to the jobs board. I have also met a number of new editors/content directors, some of whom are offering me work or setting up meetings. While that event was a lot of work, I believe it helped me ‘futureproof my business’.
- I decided to expand my website beyond just writing grants. I now offer a publishing service and travel advice, including book-themed trips to different countries. I created nonprofit classes, and I am trying to convince my former clients to join long-term support for a nominal fee.
- I have diversified my sources of income… Substacking and consulting account for 30% of my current income.
- I am exploring more niches. I am also focusing on thought leadership rather than SEO (as AI is taking over this field), and I’m using earned media to differentiate.
How will you set up your freelance writing business to be successful in 2024?
