In this Writing Wednesday episode, I go over how to make consistent money every month as a writer. I struggled with this at the beginning of my freelance content writing journey, and I want you to speed up your own success with these tips!

How Content Writing Generates You Steady Income

I believe the easiest and fastest way to make money online as a writer is to become a content writer. Here are four tips to make a dependable income as a freelance content writer:

1. Blog WritingBlog clients usually follow a monthly posting schedule which means work will be consistent and dependable. 

2. Clarify a Schedule with ClientsKnowing how to plan for your month, helps you execute on writing projects more efficiently and meet deadlines.

3. Have a Roster of Clients  Diversify your income and continually send out pitches!

4. Drop Loser ClientsIf a client is making you frustrated, affecting your energy levels or your sanity, it’s time to drop them. 

5. Raise Your RatesIf you're a good writer and even better freelancer, people will pay a higher rate. Don’t be afraid to do this step!

To learn how to make your first $1,000 writing, visit: www.inspireyoursuccess.com/1k

To learn more about working together visit www.inspireyoursuccess.com/coach

In today’s Monday with Michael episode today’s episode, I talk about the importance of investing in yourself, how I invested over $35,000 in my own freelance writing business and personal development and then provide some easy strategies for you to get started on your own path to success. 

Why You Aren't Getting the Results You Want

Most people want unbelievable results but are not putting in the work to obtain those results. You must pursue investing in yourself, otherwise you are going to stay exactly where you are at. When you invest in yourself and upgrade your skills, those will make a huge impact not only in your business but life. 

The best investment you can make is an investment in yourself.

Warren Buffet How to Stop the Scarcity Mindset

When you flip the switch from thinking everything is an expense to thinking everything is an investment, you will begin to achieve immeasurable results. In my own life this has led to new business networking opportunities, being featured on podcasts, meeting millionaires and making more money in my freelance writing business. You must have the mindset that if you are getting better, then your business is going to get better. 

How to Invest in Yourself

Here are a few ways that I have found helpful when investing in myself and my freelance writing business:

• Online Courses
• Personal Development Seminar
• Group Coaching
• Mastermind Classes
• Audiobooks
• Podcasts

If you don’t invest in yourself, you are going to keep having the same results. Once you invest in yourself, your mindset will shift, and you will find that ‘success leaves clues’ and your freelance business will soar!

Do you want to learn how to leave your 9-5, travel the world, and impact people all over the world with your writing?

If so, I think you will love this inspirational interview with Anthony Moore. 

Anthony Moore is an author and coach, focusing on personal development and self-improvement. He has an M.A. in Psychology and is the author of What Extraordinary People Know (2019).    His incredible story shows what is possible if you believe in yourself. It also makes it more and more clear that you don't have to sit around in a 9-5 job you hate anymore.    Use Anthony's success to take your life and business to the next level by following your passions! Resources Mentioned in the Show

Check out the resources mentioned in this show:

• Read his outstanding work on Medium
• Learn more about getting started freelance writing
• Launch your freelance writing career in 90 days with “Freelance to 5K“

In this Writing Wednesday episode, I cover the seven most commonly asked questions about freelance writing, so I can help you take action and start making money as a writer. Freelance Writing FAQ's

Answers to the most frequently asked questions about freelance writing including what it takes to be a freelance writer, how you get started and how you get paid! 

1. How much do you get paid as a freelance writer and how do clients pay you?  This varies depending how much you charge and how many clients you have; I have got paid as little as $650 / month and as much as $20,000 a month. You should invoice clients. I have used Freshbooks, Quickbooks and also Paypal Business.

Episode 44: What is Freelance Writing? How to Get Paid to Write Online January 5, 2020 Read More » Best Freelance Writing Jobs Online For Beginners: 50+ Ways To Find Paid Online Writing Jobs October 18, 2018 Read More »

3. What do I write about?

I write about personal development, digital marketing and golf. Find a niche to write about that you are passionate about and start writing about it!

4. How do I find clients?There are many ways to find clients including cold pitching, Medium, social media, Upwork and job boards. 5. Can I Write and Blog? It can be hard to really focus on gaining momentum on one or the other if you try to do both!

6. Do I Need a Writing Website?Yes; you need a place to show off your writing work and build authority as a writer.

7. How do I Stay Confident and Overcome Imposter Syndrome?This is will be a battle you will fight constantly, but you have to resolute to keep going. 

 

Ready to start freelance writing but want to speed up your success? Then work with me 1:1 to launch and scale quickly! 

Fill out this short survey to learn more about working together: inspireyoursuccess.com/coach 

In this episode of Monday's with Michael, I talk about how you can have the mindset of a successful freelance writer. This episode is full of tips to jumpstart your Monday motivation.

Why You Need to Master Your Mindset

At the end of the day, if you don’t have the right mindset, if you don’t really believe you are going to make this whole freelancing, solopreneur writing thing work, you’re probably not going to make it work. That is how powerful the mind is when it comes to creating reality based on your beliefs. 

As Henry Ford said, “He who thinks he can, and he who thinks he can’t are both right”. That is the power of mindset!

How to Develop a World Class Mindset

You must always be aware of what is going on between the ears. Follow these tips:

• Reframe Failure
• Develop Persistent and Consistent Action Towards Your Goals
• Cling to the Belief that You Can Do It

If you can cultivate belief in yourself, some unbelievable things will start to happen!

Your Success Is Inevitable That is the motto that you should live by – it’s the motto I live by!

•  Just Don’t Hustle, Take Action
• Fail Your Way to Success

Success might not happen overnight, but it is not going to happen just sitting on the couch either! You have to work on yourself, you have to take action and you have to stay patient and just believe that your success is inevitable. Are You Ready to Start Your Freelance Writing Career?

If you are ready to take the next step and launch your freelance writing career, I would love to help you build momentum!FREE TRAINING - 3 Ways to Land Freelance Writing Clients: inspireyoursuccess.com/training

Apply for 1:1 Coaching with Michael: inspireyoursuccess.com/coach

In today's guest interview, I had the opportunity to interview Lisa Cumes. She went from $0 to $125K in her first year freelancing on Upwork and has rapidly scaled her business since leaving the 9-5.

Lisa's secret weapon was to get potential clients on a Zoom call. Doing this allowed her personality to shine through, and in business people like to work with people they like and trust! She scaled her business and so can you!

• Set Big Goals 
• Understand What Motivates You
• Set up a Proven Process and then Invite Clients into that Process
• Listen to What Your Clients are Asking For 
• Have a Growth Mindset

Double down on your strengths and watch your writing business soar.    --

Lisa is a freelance copywriter and StoryBrand Guide who has built a 6 figure, online copywriting business, over the past 2 years. Last year, she shifted and scaled her business by bringing on a team of other copywriters to help more businesses and personal brands simplify their message and launch their mission.  Find out more about her copywriting business at Simple Story Solutions.

She also has a passion for helping freelancers stop hustling and start building thriving full time businesses. As a mom of 3 kids, she knows how to navigate mommy guilt, actually be productive working from home and coaches other freelancers through The Copywriter Coach with online courses, coaching and free webinars. 

In today's episode of writing, Wednesday, we cover exactly how you should price your freelance writing rates even if you're a beginner. 

Once you get freelance writing clients, you need to learn how to actually charge them and what kind of rates to charge them. 

There is not set standard for the freelance writing industry but how you price yourself has a direct impact on:

• your total income
• your rate per hour
• your happiness

If you price yourself to low, you might quickly become jaded and give up on your goal to become a freelance writer or just experience burn out. I don't want you do that!   

There are five ways that I like to think about freelance writing rates:

1. 1. Hourly I don't recommend this strategy, unless you really feel passionate about the writing gig and want to get your foot in the door!
   2. Per Word I think is one of the best ways to charge as it allows you to scale your income. Most clients are very familiar with this type of content writing rate structure.
   3. Tiered Pricing I use this model of freelance writing pricing often. I have 3 packages (tiers): intro, basic and premium and the pay matches the output on my end.
   4. Fixed Rate Go into a fixed rate contract carefully. Find out all that will be required of you, how long that will take and determine if the pay outweighs the work put in!
   5. Retainer Retainer freelance writing usually applies to more novice writers. In a retainer model, you paid a set amount every week (or two weeks, monthly etc) for a certain amount of deliverables. 

Don't let clients push you around. Go into conversations knowing what your rate is, what you are willing to do at that rate, and they will respect you more and you will actually get paid good money to be a writer.

Listen to these episodes to give you more insight into pricing structure!

In this Monday with Michael episode, we talk about overwhelm versus busyness and go over five tangible action steps to keep your freelance business moving forward. 

  The Difference Between Being Overwhelmed and Being Busy

It really all comes down to planning. Being busy is a good thing if it’s moving towards your goals.

Being overwhelmed on the other hand  usually leads to ‘shutdown’ and you tend to stop doing what you need to do. When you are overwhelmed, your calendar starts to feel like it’s just ‘stuff to get done’; when you are busy though, that same calendar is attacked with a purpose of getting things done in a systematic way. 

5 Tips to Stop the Overwhelmed Feeling

When you are building a business the last thing you want to do is halt your progress! Here are tips to stop you from feeling overwhelmed:

1. Schedule Less I recommend to schedule only 3 things in a day!
2.  Start Using the 80/20 Rule 20% of everything that you do in life or your business produces 80% of the results.
3. Start Self Care Recharging RitualsBecome self aware enough to recognize when you need to rest and when you need to charge through.
4. Write in a JournalThe act of physically writing something will help you gain clarity.
5.  Celebrate Your Wins! Let your brain recognize the reward of a job well done.

In this Writing Wednesday episode, I go over 7 reasons no one is hiring you as a freelance writer. I recently published an article on Medium with this same topic and it really resonated with my writing audience, because without clients, you can't have a thriving writing business. 

Freelance writing is as simple as finding a niche, getting clients, writing content, invoicing and then repeating that whole process. To be successful you need to increase your pitch ratio and win more clients and it starts with not making these mistakes!

Mistake #1: Your scared and afraid of rejection Understand that each time you get a “NO” (or no response) from pitching clients, you are one step closer to getting a YES. This is why you need to pitch clients consistently because without pitching you will not get enough clients who say 'yes'. 

Mistake #2: You don't have a writing website If you don't have a writing website, it is harder for potential clients to take you seriously. This is the first lesson I teach all my students in my writing course! A writing website helps clients know, like and trust you.

Freelance writing is as simple as finding a niche, getting clients, writing content, invoicing and then repeating that whole process. To be successful you need increase your pitch ratio and win more clients and it starts with not making these mistakes!

Mistake #3: You Don't Follow Up with ClientsTrack your pitches and job board submissions in a Google sheet so you can follow up, this will help you stand out in the crowd of freelance writer applications. 

Mistake #4: You Aren't Using Social Media (Correctly)I landed a client from my business Instagram in December of 2018. 12 months later, I have earned over $35,000 working together. Watch my video here to learn the exact steps I took to land a client on Instagram. Learn how to use social media strategically and post relevant content to your niche that will attract potential clients. Here are 21 social media tips for freelance writers that I posted on Medium.

Mistake #5: You Become Complacent If you want new (and higher-paying clients), you have to keep setting goals so that you can attract new clients. Mistake #6: You Have Only One Writing NicheIf you’re not getting enough clients, don’t be afraid to change your niche or simply add another one. Almost every niche in the world needs writers so why not have a second one about something you are passionate about?

Mistake #7: Your Pitch Is Boring Instead of sending the same pitch template over and over, make sure that you customize it. Let your personality shine through so you can stand out among the sea of other writers.

Making money as a freelance writer is all about getting clients! Master these tips to be successful. 

In this Monday with Michael, I talk about how I overcame loneliness as a freelancer and provide some actionable steps for you to not feel the same way.

One of our basic desires as humans is connection. When I worked my 9-5 I was surrounded by people to talk with and even though I didn't realize it at the time, those mundane conversations and meetings provide connection.

When I left my job in May 2017, it was very exciting to create my own schedule, not shower to noon and experience all that freedom of doing what I wanted to do! At the same time though, I was suffering in silence and battling thoughts that I wasn't good enough. This spiraled into thinking I wasn't worthy enough to go out to eat, rent an office or hang out at a coffee shop.

Things had to change! 

What to Do if You Feel Lonely as a Freelancer​

1. Take the Myers Briggs Personality Test

I have felt more energized in the last 6 - 8 months because I have made it a point to get out and be with people. This all started with taking a personality test, realizing I was an extrovert and then finding ways to connect with other people through group fitness classes. The upside of this has been that I am more productive when I am in my office getting work done!

2. Stay in Touch with Your Circle of Friends and Family

It's easy to be 'out of sight, out of mind' when you work from home but it is very important to be intentional and stay connected with those whom you care about and who care about you! Make the time to grab dinner or a movie with a friend. 

It may feel counterproductive to go out rather than stay at home 'working'; but in reality, most people are not more productive than 24 - 30 hours per week. I have found that I am more productive in my work life when I have created a balance of work/play in my personal life.

Earn your first $1,000 as a writer here -- inspireyoursuccess.com/1k