In memory of Robert Allen. The original version of this post was a 30-day $5,000 freelance writing challenge that Robert ran on the blog back in 2018, documenting his journey from zero clients to $9,000 in booked work. Robert passed away a few years ago, but the framework he documented — and the case studies he shared — still help freelancers find their footing today. I’ve rebuilt this post into a complete 2026 ultimate guide while preserving his most valuable lessons in his honor. — Ryan
If you’re thinking about starting a freelance writing career in 2026, the landscape has changed more in the last two years than it did in the previous decade. AI commoditized the bottom of the market. Specialist expertise pays better than ever. The middle squeezed. Income ranges shifted by tier. The business side (LLC, taxes, contracts, deliverability) matters more than ever.
This is the complete 2026 ultimate guide. I’ll cover what realistically pays now and what doesn’t, how much you can actually expect to earn (with honest ranges by experience tier), the business and tax setup most new freelance writers skip until it’s too late, and an 8-step framework to land your first paid client and grow from there.
The short version: freelance writing isn’t dead. The lazy version of it is. Pick a niche, build real expertise, and you can build a $50K-$200K+ side or full-time income within 12-24 months. Here’s how.
How AI Has Changed Freelance Writing in 2026
Let’s start with the elephant in the inbox. AI didn’t kill freelance writing, but it killed a specific tier of it — and reshaped everything around what survived.
What got commoditized
- Generic blog posts. Clients who used to pay $50-$150 for a 1,500 word general-audience blog post now generate that themselves with ChatGPT in 10 minutes. That tier of work is largely gone.
- Basic SEO content. The “10 best X for Y” listicle that powered a lot of content mills in 2018-2022 is now produced by AI at near-zero marginal cost. Google’s helpful content updates also penalized this tier specifically, so the SEO upside collapsed too.
- Volume-based generalist work. “Write 20 articles a month at $100 each” gigs essentially evaporated. The math doesn’t work when AI handles the volume.
What got more valuable
- Specialist expertise. B2B SaaS writers, healthcare copywriters, finance content specialists, technical writers, and other subject-matter experts command higher rates than ever. AI raised the floor on basic content, which made expertise the differentiator.
- Original reporting and interviews. Case studies, expert interviews, original research, and anything built on real-world conversations are what AI cannot replicate. These now command premium rates.
- Strategy and editorial direction. Content strategy, brand voice development, editorial planning, and writing that requires judgment all moved up in value because they depend on human decision-making, not just output.
- First-person experience writing. Reviews, “how I did X” pieces, lived-experience content. AI cannot fake the parts that come from actually doing the thing. Both readers and AI search engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews) preferentially cite content with strong human authority signals — which is exactly what expertise-driven freelance writing produces.
The short version: becoming a freelance writer in 2026 means picking a direction. The generalist commodity tier is gone. Specialist expertise is more valuable than it’s been in a decade. The honest path forward is to specialize early, build real authority, and use AI as an accelerant for the boring parts — not as a replacement for your voice.
How Much Can a Freelance Writer Make in 2026?
The honest answer is “it depends, and the range is wider than ever.” Here are realistic 2026 income ranges by experience tier and specialization. These are the numbers I see freelance writers actually hitting — not the inflated claims you find on freelance influencer YouTube.
Beginner Freelance Writer (first 0-12 months)
- Per-word rate: $0.05 to $0.15 (yes, really — the bottom of the market collapsed)
- Per-project rate: $75 to $400 for a 1,000-1,500 word blog post in a non-specialized niche
- Monthly income (side hustle, 10-15 hours/week): $0-$1,500 for the first 3-6 months, ramping to $1,000-$3,000/month by month 9-12 once you have 2-3 repeat clients
- Reality check: The first paid client is the hardest. Most freelance writers earn under $500 total in their first three months. Don’t quit a day job based on month-1 numbers.
Mid-Tier Specialist (1-3 years in)
- Per-word rate: $0.20 to $0.75 for specialized niches (B2B SaaS, finance, healthcare, technical)
- Per-project rate: $500 to $2,500 per long-form piece in a specialty
- Monthly income (full-time, 30-40 hours/week): $4,000-$10,000/month
- Retainer rates: $2,000-$8,000/month per client for 2-4 deliverables monthly
Top-Tier Specialist / Strategy Work (3+ years)
- Per-word rate: $1.00 to $3.00+ for specialty long-form, white papers, thought leadership
- Per-project rate: $3,000-$10,000+ per white paper, case study series, or strategic content piece
- Hourly (strategy/consulting work): $150-$500/hour
- Monthly income (full-time): $10,000-$25,000+/month for top specialists with strong client books
- Annual income range: $120,000-$300,000+ for top freelance writers in specialty niches. The very top of the market (content strategy directors, name-brand B2B copywriters) earns $300K-$500K+ a year.
The honest caveats
- These numbers assume full-time freelance work after the ramp. Side hustlers working 10-15 hours a week scale proportionally — typically $1,500-$4,000/month after the first year.
- Income is rarely smooth. Most freelance writers hit a “feast or famine” cycle in years 1-2. A $10,000 month followed by a $2,000 month is normal until you have a stable retainer base.
- Taxes and benefits eat real income. Self-employment tax (15.3% in the US) plus federal/state income tax means you’re typically taking home 65-75% of your gross. Account for this when you compare freelance rates to a salaried job — a $100K/year salary is roughly equivalent to $130K-$140K freelance gross.
- The expertise premium is real. A generalist freelance writer might top out at $50K-$70K/year. A specialist in B2B SaaS, finance, or healthcare can hit $150K-$250K in the same hours. Specialization is the highest-ROI decision a new freelance writer makes.
Step 1: Pick Your Niche (the Single Biggest Decision)
If you only do one thing differently from most beginning freelance writers, it’s this: specialize from day one. The freelance writers earning $150K+ in 2026 are almost universally specialists. The ones stuck at $30K-$50K are almost universally generalists. Same hours, very different income.
The best niche for you sits at the intersection of three things:
- What you already know. Existing domain knowledge or a previous career is a huge advantage. Engineers writing for engineering companies, nurses writing for healthcare brands, finance pros writing for fintech — these are the highest-leverage starts.
- What clients pay for. B2B SaaS, fintech, cybersecurity, healthcare, legal, and finance pay 2-5x what consumer lifestyle or general-audience blog content pays.
- What you can stand to do for years. Specialization compounds — but only if you actually keep doing it. Pick something you find genuinely interesting, not just lucrative.
The 2026 niches I see paying best for freelance writers: B2B SaaS, fintech, AI/ML technical writing, cybersecurity, healthcare/medical, legal, sustainability/ESG, real estate investing, and developer content. If you have any background in those areas, that’s where to start. See my full guide on picking a niche for the deeper framework.
Step 2: Build Your Portfolio (Even Without Paying Clients)
The chicken-and-egg problem most beginning freelance writers face: you need samples to land clients, but you need clients to produce samples. The solve is to publish 5-8 strong pieces in your niche on your own, before any client asks for samples.
- Your own blog or Medium. The fastest start. Pick 5-8 specific topics in your niche and write the best version of each one you can. These become your portfolio.
- LinkedIn long-form posts. Especially good for B2B niches. Companies hiring B2B writers check your LinkedIn anyway.
- Guest posts on smaller niche sites. Lower bar to entry than mainstream publications, and the bylines build credibility fast.
- Strategic free work (limited). One or two unpaid case studies for organizations you genuinely admire can produce portfolio pieces that punch above their weight. Set a hard limit — never do open-ended free work as a tactic.
Quality matters far more than volume. Five excellent niche pieces will outperform thirty mediocre ones. Treat each portfolio sample like a paying client commissioned it — that’s the bar.
Step 3: Find Your First Clients
Most beginning freelance writers fail here. Not because they’re bad writers, but because they default to job boards and content mills — exactly the lowest-paying, hardest-to-stand-out channels in 2026. The actual best client-finding channels:
- Cold email. Still the highest-ROI outreach channel for freelance writers, but the 2026 playbook is different from 2018. AI-personalized mass outreach gets filtered as spam. Real personalization, multi-channel sequences (email + LinkedIn), and proper inbox warming win. Full playbook in my cold email templates for freelancers guide — the templates there have generated $110,000+ in client work.
- LinkedIn engagement. Comment substantively on posts from people in your target niche for 30-60 days. Real engagement (not generic “great post!” comments) builds visibility, and DMs after that warm context convert dramatically better than cold cold outreach.
- Referrals from existing clients. Once you have one or two clients, every project ends with “do you know anyone else who might need writing help?” This becomes the dominant source of new work by year 2.
- SolidGigs and similar curated job boards. Higher-quality than Upwork or Fiverr, with vetted opportunities delivered weekly. SolidGigs is the one I’ve recommended for years.
- Specialty job boards. Superpath (B2B content), Peak Freelance, ProBlogger Jobs, and niche-specific boards (e.g., Built In for tech, AngelList for startups) tend to have better fits than general freelance marketplaces.
Case study: The Facebook comment that turned into a $1,500 client
One of the best examples in this guide comes from Robert Allen’s original 2018 challenge documented on this blog. Robert was scrolling Facebook when he saw a successful entrepreneur comment about needing help fixing his webinar funnels. Most freelancers would scroll past. Robert sent a personalized email with the subject line “Need webinar funnel help?” — referencing the specific Facebook comment, demonstrating relevant expertise (he used the term “PLF” — Product Launch Formula — to signal industry familiarity), and offering to hop on a 5-minute call.
The response came the next day. Before the call, Robert opted into every webinar funnel on the prospect’s site so he had hands-on familiarity with what they were actually running. He went into the call prepared, asked sharp questions, and followed up with a hyper-specific proposal broken down week-by-week — including a confident price (“For a project like this, I’d be honored to let you test me out for $1,500”). No haggling. The client accepted as-is.
The principle that mattered: real personalization, real preparation, and a confident proposal beat volume-based outreach every time — and it’s even more true in 2026, when AI-personalized mass outreach is everywhere and easy to spot. Robert’s technique still works because it’s built on doing the work most freelancers skip.
Step 4: Pitch & Close the Deal
Once a prospect responds to your outreach, the pitch process matters more than most beginners realize. Three principles that consistently land paid work:
- Do real work before the call. If they have a podcast, listen to two episodes. If they have a blog, read their last 5 posts. If they have a webinar funnel, opt into it. Going into a sales call with specific, concrete observations about what they’re doing well and where they could improve separates you from 95% of freelance writers.
- Send a proposal within 24 hours of the call. The longer you wait, the colder the prospect gets. A 24-hour turnaround signals professionalism and momentum.
- Price confidently, not hourly. “For a project like this, my fee is $X” closes better than “I charge $Y per hour.” Project-based pricing also lets you capture the value of expertise instead of trading time for money.
The proposal itself should be short (1-2 pages), specific (week-by-week deliverables), and end with a clear next step (signature, deposit, kickoff date). Avoid the temptation to over-explain or add long bios — the client already knows you’re qualified or they wouldn’t be reading the proposal.
Step 5: Do the Work (Workflow + AI Integration)
Once you’ve landed a client, the work itself becomes the foundation of everything that follows — referrals, repeat business, rate increases. Most freelance writers underestimate how much workflow systems matter compared to raw writing talent.
The 2026 freelance writing workflow
- Brief and align first. Get a clear brief in writing before you start drafting. Target word count, outline, key sources, success criteria. Misalignment at the brief stage causes 80% of client friction.
- Research deeply. Real research is the differentiator in the AI era. Interviews, original data, niche-specific examples — these are what AI cannot replicate and what clients pay for.
- Outline before drafting. A solid outline cuts draft time in half and prevents the structural problems that trigger heavy revisions.
- Draft in your own voice. Do not let AI draft for you. Clients in 2026 are increasingly skilled at spotting AI tells, and you’re being paid for the parts AI can’t produce — voice, opinion, real expertise.
- Edit ruthlessly. Self-edit pass first, then run through a tool like my free grammar fixer or paraphrase tool for polish, then a final human read. AI is great for editing, not drafting.
Where AI actually helps
- Research summarization. Feeding a long source document into ChatGPT or Claude and asking for a structured summary saves real time. Verify the facts yourself before using them.
- Outlining and structure. AI can produce a serviceable outline you then heavily edit. Useful when you’re staring at a blank page.
- Editing and polish. Tools like my grammar fixer, paraphrase tool, and RightBlogger are tuned to clean drafts without flattening voice.
- Brainstorming subject lines, headlines, alternate framings. AI is good at producing 20 options quickly, even if you only use one.
The rule: use AI to do more of your work faster — never to replace yourself. The freelance writers winning in 2026 produce more, better work using AI as an accelerant. The ones being replaced are the ones who tried to outsource their voice to a chatbot.
Step 6: Set Your Rates (Per-Word, Per-Project, Retainer)
Pricing is where new freelance writers leave the most money on the table. Three pricing models, and when to use each:
Per-word pricing
Simple, transparent, easy to compare. Best for one-off pieces with clear word counts. The downside: it caps your earnings at time spent. Range in 2026: $0.05-$3.00+ per word depending on niche and experience tier (see income ranges section above).
Per-project pricing
Better for capturing the value of expertise. A specialist can produce a tight 1,200-word B2B post in 4 hours that delivers more value than a generalist’s 3,000-word post in 10 hours — and per-project pricing reflects that. Always price projects, not hours, once you have 1-2 specialty references.
Retainer pricing
The end goal. A monthly retainer for 2-4 deliverables means predictable income and far less time spent on sales. Mid-tier specialists charge $2,000-$8,000/month per retainer client. Top-tier specialists charge $8,000-$20,000/month. Two or three solid retainers is the path to stable full-time freelance income.
Raising rates
Raise rates annually with existing clients, and bake the increase into new client pricing first. The conversation: “Starting [next quarter], my rate for new work will be $X — I wanted to give you notice in advance.” Most good clients accept this without pushback. The ones who fight every raise are usually the ones not worth keeping anyway.
Step 7: Run the Business Side (LLC, Taxes, Contracts, Accounting)
Most freelance writing guides skip this section. That’s a mistake — the business side is what separates a serious freelance career from a perpetual side hustle that never quite works out. Here’s the realistic 2026 setup.
Sole proprietor vs. LLC
Sole proprietor is the default and totally fine for the first year while you’re testing the waters. No paperwork required, just report income on Schedule C of your personal taxes. The downside: no liability protection between your personal assets and your business.
An LLC (single-member or multi-member) becomes worth it once you’re earning consistent income (~$30K+/year), working with larger clients, or want personal asset protection. Costs roughly $50-$500 to file depending on your state, plus annual reporting fees. Most freelance writers I know form an LLC in year 2.
S-Corp election (a tax classification, not a separate entity) becomes worth considering at around $80K-$100K+ in annual freelance income. It can reduce self-employment tax meaningfully, but adds payroll and accounting complexity. Talk to a CPA before electing — the breakeven point varies by state and personal situation.
Taxes (the part nobody warns you about)
- Self-employment tax is 15.3%. This is on top of regular income tax. It covers Social Security and Medicare — you’re paying both the employee and employer portions yourself.
- Quarterly estimated taxes. The IRS expects you to pay taxes throughout the year, not just at filing. Set aside 25-30% of every payment for taxes immediately, and pay quarterly. Missing this is the #1 mistake new freelance writers make.
- Deductible expenses. Home office (square footage method), business software, internet and phone (business-use portion), professional development, business travel, and health insurance premiums are all deductible. Track these all year, not just at tax time.
- Hire a CPA at $30K+/year. A good freelance-savvy CPA pays for themselves several times over once your income is real. Don’t DIY freelance taxes past the first year or two.
Contracts (don’t skip these)
Every paid project should have a signed contract or statement of work. The basics that matter:
- Scope. What you’re delivering, word count, format, revisions included.
- Payment terms. 50% upfront for projects over $1,000 is standard. Net 15 or net 30 for retainers. Late fees if you want them (they help).
- Kill fee. What you get paid if the client cancels mid-project. 50% is standard if work has started.
- Ownership and rights. When the client owns the work (usually on full payment). Whether you can use the piece in your portfolio.
- Revisions. How many included, what counts as a revision vs. a rewrite. This is where most scope creep happens.
Templates like Bonsai, AND.CO, or HelloSign make this fast. There’s also good free freelance contract templates available — see my freelance contract guide for the full breakdown.
Invoicing and getting paid
- Use real invoicing software. FreshBooks, Bonsai, Wave (free), or QuickBooks Self-Employed. Word doc invoices look amateurish and get lost.
- Net 15 or net 30 payment terms. Net 60 is fine for enterprise clients but cash-flow-deadly for new freelancers. Don’t accept net 60 unless the rate makes up for it.
- Late fees. 1.5% per month on overdue invoices is standard. Most clients pay faster when this is in the contract.
- Always follow up. Don’t assume an unpaid invoice is in the mail. A polite “checking in on this invoice” email the day after due date works. So does a more direct one a week later.
Health insurance, retirement, and the safety net
The least sexy but most important part of going full-time freelance. ACA marketplace plans are the default option for individual coverage. Solo 401(k) or SEP-IRA accounts let you set aside significant retirement savings (often $30K-$60K+/year) and reduce taxable income at the same time. Emergency fund of 6-12 months of expenses is the freelance equivalent of job security.
None of this is exciting. All of it is what separates freelance writing as a stable career from freelance writing as a fragile gig that crashes the first slow month.
Step 8: Scale Beyond Your First Clients
Once you have 2-3 paying clients and a stable income floor, the game shifts from finding clients to choosing better ones. Three moves that compound over time:
- Ask every client for referrals. Not in a desperate way — just at natural moments. “I’m looking to take on one or two more clients like you. Anyone come to mind?” This becomes the dominant lead source by year 2.
- Raise rates annually. Existing clients accept reasonable increases. Use the increase to either earn more or work less for the same income.
- Build owned audience channels. A newsletter, a podcast, a blog under your own name. Even modest reach (a few thousand subscribers) shifts the dynamic — clients start coming to you. See my full guide on starting a blog for the foundation.
- Fire your worst clients. Once you’re full, replace your bottom 20% with better work. Most freelance writers don’t do this and stay capped at the rate their worst client pays.
- Productize where you can. Templates, courses, consulting packages, retainer products — turning your expertise into something you can sell repeatedly is how you eventually break the time-for-money ceiling.
Tools of the Trade in 2026
You don’t need much to freelance. A laptop, decent internet, and the discipline to show up. That said, a handful of tools genuinely make the work easier:
- Google Workspace. Docs, Drive, Calendar. Free up to a point, $6/month for the business tier. Sharing documents with clients is the default; Word docs feel dated.
- Grammarly or my free grammar fixer. Catches the small errors that erode trust.
- RightBlogger. The AI writing platform I co-founded for bloggers and freelance writers — research, outlining, drafting assistance, editing, and SEO tools in one place. Tuned to produce drafts that don’t look AI-generated, so it’s safe for client work in the AI era.
- Zoom or Google Meet. Client calls. Zoom’s recording feature is useful for capturing notes on briefs.
- FreshBooks, Bonsai, or Wave. Invoicing and basic accounting. Bonsai also handles contracts.
- Notion or Obsidian. Personal knowledge management — research notes, client briefs, idea capture. The freelance writers with serious portfolios all have some version of this system.
- SolidGigs. Curated freelance job board. Sends a vetted weekly list so you don’t spend hours sifting Upwork.
- A real CRM like Close or HubSpot. Once you’re juggling 5+ active conversations, a CRM keeps the pipeline clean.
- LastPass or 1Password. You will accumulate dozens of client logins. Password manager is non-negotiable.
Freelance Writing FAQ
Is freelance writing still viable as a career in 2026?
Yes — but in a more specialized form than it was even a few years ago. Generic blog writing has been commoditized by AI, while specialist expertise (B2B SaaS, finance, healthcare, technical, strategy) pays better than ever. The freelance writers earning $100K-$300K+/year in 2026 are almost all specialists in a specific niche. The ones stuck at $30K-$50K are usually trying to be generalists.
How long until I can make a full-time income from freelance writing?
Realistically 12-24 months of consistent work to replace a full-time salary, assuming you’re starting from zero clients and zero published portfolio pieces. Specialists with existing domain expertise (engineers, nurses, finance pros switching to freelance writing in their field) often compress that to 6-12 months because they skip the “build basic credibility” phase. The first paid client is the hardest milestone — referrals and repeat work start compounding from there.
Should I use AI to write client work?
For research, outlining, and editing — yes (with disclosure if the client asks). For producing the actual draft from scratch — no, almost never. Clients in 2026 are increasingly skilled at spotting AI-generated content, and you’re being paid for the parts AI can’t produce. Tools like my free grammar fixer, paraphrase tool, and RightBlogger are designed for the supportive role AI should play in a freelance writer’s workflow.
Do I need an LLC to freelance write?
Not in year 1. Sole proprietor (no paperwork, file Schedule C with personal taxes) is fine while you’re proving the income is real. Form an LLC in year 2 if your annual income hits $30K+ — it’s cheap insurance for personal asset protection. Consider S-Corp election around $80K-$100K+ in annual freelance income for the self-employment tax savings, but talk to a CPA first because the math varies by state.
What’s the best niche for new freelance writers in 2026?
The best niche is one you already have domain knowledge in. Engineers writing for engineering companies, healthcare workers writing for medical brands, finance pros writing fintech content — these specialists earn 2-5x what generalists earn. If you don’t have an existing specialty, the highest-paying B2B niches in 2026 are SaaS, fintech, cybersecurity, AI/ML technical writing, healthcare, legal, and sustainability/ESG. Avoid generic lifestyle, parenting, and travel blog content — those segments have been most heavily commoditized by AI.
How do I find my first paid freelance writing client?
Cold email remains the highest-ROI channel for finding your first paid client. The 2026 playbook is different from 2018 — AI-personalized mass outreach gets filtered as spam now, so real personalization, proper inbox warming, and multi-channel sequences (email + LinkedIn) win. The full updated playbook is in my cold email templates for freelancers guide, including the templates that have generated $110,000+ in actual client work.
How much should I charge as a beginner freelance writer?
Beginner freelance writers in 2026 typically charge $0.05-$0.15 per word for general niches and $0.10-$0.30 per word for specialty niches. Per-project rates run $75-$400 for a 1,000-1,500 word post in a non-specialty, $300-$1,000+ in a specialty. Don’t go below these floors — work at $0.02-$0.04 per word usually loses money once you account for unpaid time. Raise rates after every 5-10 finished projects.
Final Thoughts
Freelance writing in 2026 is harder to start than it was a decade ago and more lucrative once you’re in. The bar got higher — generic content has been commoditized by AI, and the days of “anyone can write a blog post for $50” are gone. But specialist expertise, original reporting, and real authority have all become more valuable, not less. If you’re willing to specialize, do the business-side work most freelance writers skip, and put in the 12-24 months it takes to build real momentum, freelance writing is still one of the highest-leverage careers you can start on the side.
If you want the next steps: the cold email templates for freelancers guide covers the outreach playbook in detail (those templates have generated $110,000+ in real freelance work). The how to become a freelance writer guide goes deeper on the early-stage process. For the tools side, my free grammar fixer and paraphrase tool handle the editing pass, and RightBlogger is the full AI writing platform I built for freelance writers and bloggers who want to use AI as an accelerant without sacrificing voice.
One last note. The original $5,000 Freelance Writing Challenge that this post was built around in 2018 was Robert Allen’s — a friend, a sharp copywriter, and someone whose work helped a lot of new freelance writers find their footing. Robert passed away a few years ago. The case study in this guide (the Facebook comment that turned into a $1,500 client) is preserved from his original challenge. Thanks for everything, Robert.
Ready to Start Your Freelance Writing Career?
Check out my cold email templates for freelancers guide for the outreach playbook that landed $110,000+ in client work.
317 replies to “How to Start a Freelance Writing Career in 2026: The Ultimate Guide”
Hello, Robert! I have been working as a writer in a very informal way and I have had to face this challenge while I have a full-time job and a child to attend. My biggest challenge is to find quality clients and deal with those who want to pay 12 dollars a month. I currently work for a website with adult content that pays me only 12 dollars for the descriptions and titles of their videos (I work on 42 videos daily). I feel exhausted and I really need your help to improve my career. My native language is Spanish (I’m from Venezuela) but I try to find income in dollars, which allows me to survive in the terrible economic situation in my country, with up to 3000% inflation. I read this post and I feel different, I feel that you give me hope … thanks for this initiative! I will be very attentive to the updates of your challenge.
Thanks for your comment Marly and kudos to you for balancing your passion for writing with all of that. I definitely think you’ll get value out of this. But I’ll go ahead and say niche selection will be huge for you.
You have an incredible skill (speaking spanish ) and if you leverage that, I’m confident you get to the level of income you desire.
Keep me posted on how you’re liking the challenge and I’m excited for you!
Cool challenge. Good luck in making it happen.
Thanks Bruce!
Hey Robert!
What a great challenge. I’m excited to read more about your process and what you learn along the way.
What I’m most interested in: how do you avoid shooting in the dark?
As in, what knowledge, frameworks, marketing insights, etc does someone need to know to confidently hand over their writing…not just cross their fingers it might-maybe-possibly make an impact on the client’s business/bottom-line.
Thanks and enjoy your journey!
Hey Laura!
The fact that you’re even asking this question tells me you might have done some freelancing before and you’re pretty advanced! (Am I right?)
I’ll definitely show you more about this, but the simple answer is (1) getting lots of details, examples and facts in that initial meeting with your client. You want to know what kind of copy they like and don’t like. And shape your writing to that.
And (2) you never want to just send all your copy over at once at the end of a project. Try to collaborate as much as possible.
Send early drafts. Put together outlines and have them leave notes. And get their feedback on the projects you start on throughout the whole thing.
That way you don’t send it all over and they ask you to redo the whole thing.
Hope that helps!
Will be posting more about this, too!
Hey!
I’ve freelanced for a few months but haven’t hit the one year mark yet. That question comes from wanting to be “so good they can’t ignore you” and, in other jobs, I’ve noticed that positively affecting a client’s bottom-line is a real good way to get attention and word of mouth.
Thanks for taking time to provide some great initial feedback – looking forward to seeing what else you can teach us all!
This is so interesting and fun! Thanks for doing it and sharing your experiences and insights. I have a pretty decent freelance business going but I’m always looking to find ways to grab those clients that can pay a premium amount. I have an amount I charge per hour, but I find it difficult to “bid out” bigger jobs, like running a complete social media program, writing all new website content and blogging 4 times a month. It’s so difficult to know “how much that would be.” Thanks again!
You got it Judy! Part of it is getting out of just the hourly mode. Once you have a good sense of the value you create for you clients, this is actually easy to break out of.
I’ll show you more about this, if you think that’d be helpful!
Thanks!
Thank you Robert & Ryan for doing this, perfect timing as well. My main challenge would be finding clients. Please provide the exact process to getting quality clients.
You got it Mircea 💪
Hi Rob!
I’m a freelance visual designer from Austin, TX. I specialize in merchandising consulting, floor planning and window displays for smaller local boutiques and businesses that do not have the structure for a permenant visual team in their stores. I just took the jump, going part time at my steady job to pursue my dreams and it has been scary but amazing.
I’ll be grinding out with you this month, I would love to make $5K also haha.
Best of luck!
Christy
Hey Christy!
So cool! Even though it’s a different service, I think you’ll get a lot of value out of the client finding process.
Let me know!
Regardless, mad respect to you for making the jump!
Thank you so much, Robert Allen, for your comprehensive expound to us concerning Freelancing. I would like you to help me find a client and also teach me the righting process. You will then have saved me so much. Looking forward to your reply. Thank you so much.
Kipchumba thanks for the note! Stay tuned – I’ll do my best to cover this in depth!
Thank you! This is a great initiative. Even if I don’t win the prize, the value over the 30 days will be enough. I live in a stagnant economy in Barbados and am trying to find clients internationally (also). All three above apply to me and finding a simple cost-effective website.
I’ll be following!
Am quite excited!!!!
You got it Michelle!
Thanks for your support!
Hey Robert! This challenge seems like such a great idea. I’ve always wanted to do something like this myself but never find enough courage or motivation, for many reasons.
I’ve worked in the writing business a couple of times and my main issue I would guess is finding clients. I’m brain-dead when it comes to using social media, not because it’s hard but because I just don’t connect well with it (twitter, facebook, etc.) so that puts me at a standoff when it comes to effectively attracting clients.
But I’ll definitely be following your endeavor with great interest!
All the best and good luck!
Thank you Omar!
In a lot ways, I’m the same. I don’t use a ton of social media or even a website for many of my freelance clients.
I’ll show you why in the first update.
Thank you greatly for being open of the “how” in all of this. I look forward to followING and gaining skills to take my freelancing to the level of what you are creating.
You got it Danell!
Hey. This sounds very exciting. Will be following closely. I would love to know more about the writing process. That’s one area where I tend to struggle the most.
Will do! Thanks Fatima!
finding clients
Definitely finding clients for me.
Though reading your story has got me pumped up to try this challenge for myself.
It’s not gonna be easy though, and I might fail.
But what the heck!
NICE! Go for it Arshad! You can do it!
Count me in! Not only do I plan to follow along, but also jump in alongside you. My biggest challenge is finding client.s I am a freelance writer who was working fora single client that pulled the plug in November 2017. I’ve been struggling ever since to rebuild that base. Will be interested to hear the ways you’re finding clients to tryout myself. And will also be willing to share what I learn adapting your strategies to my situation.
Ready, set, go!
BOOM! YES! You can do it Liz!
Hey Allen and Ryan,
What a timing guys… I think we are on the same boat. Coz It’s been just 2 weeks since I started working part-time for a freelance writer and I help him get high-quality clients.
So of course, I would love to know how you reach out to high-quality clients and get them sign a contract with you. Plus I will also use your techniques to kickstart my own freelance writing career.
Let’s see how things goes.
Thanks
Amit
That’s awesome Amit!
It’s hard to choose just ONE thing out of the three but having to do so… it would definitely be the writing process. Where to start, what to start with… the list goes on and on!
Charging what I deserve is a big struggle.
I’m at the stage of telling myself, “You really need to build your client list and reputation, so it’s worth accepting gigs for less.” But that just lowers your pricing from the beginning and gives you a longer latter to climb. Is it better to put out a standard rate sheet or try to get a feel for what the client really needs and how much they will pay? The first may ensure you only attract clients willing to pay a certain amount, but the second may help you earn more because the client was willing to pay more in the first place.
I’m going to challenge myself to earn $2000 over the next 30 days and follow along closely for the blueprint! Good luck to everyone else here too!
Go Meg! You got this. I’ll have a lot notes on this in the first update. But quick thing, I don’t think rate sheets are the best way to go. One of the most powerful things you can do is find out the value that you’re creating for your client (or tell them what that value is), then charge that and wayy over-deliver.
So the first step is to pause and think about that. Are you writing articles that generate leads for your client? How much are those leads worth? How many leads will you generate?
That’s how stop feeling like a commodity and start charging what you’re really worth.
Hi Robert, I’m very curious to see how this plays out! I’m a freelance legal translator from Belgium and just quit my job as an in-house translator in January to grow my own translation business (had been moonlighting for a few years).
Although my craft is slightly different (translation), there are definitely things I can learn by watching you take on this challenge.
The biggest challenge in my country is finding clients that treat translators with respect and that understand the difference between speaking a few languages and translating them. I think all creative professions have to deal with that. Good luck with the challenge!
Totally agree! Pay close attention to anything related to finding clients and niching down. I think you’ll be able to get some insights from that!
I am interested to your offers pls send me the details
Liji
Hi Rob
Although I have been doing research on freelance writing and the like for a very long time, I never got to start.
So, I guess there is no better time than now.All three thus would be of help to me.But,chosing only one,I would say-the writing process.Starting at the “Alpha”.
Regards and good luck.
Noted! Thanks Mark!