As freelancers, we all want more lovely leads coming to us - right? Enquiries popping into our inbox. Potential clients approaching us on social media. Ringing us straight from Google. And if things have been at bit barren in your business lately, we've got a heap of great things to try to get things moving again.

Ever thought of using a virtual assistant (VA)? This week on the podcast, Rachel Smith and Lynne Testoni chat with Fiona Campbell, who runs Thought Penny, an Australian team of VAs, as well as the VA Lead Network. Fiona talks about why you might not need a VA and how to automate your processes instead, all about opportunity cost and how to find the perfect assistant for your creative business. We cover:

• How to be more efficient with your time
• Automating processes
• When you don't need a VA
• Types of projects a VA might help with
• How to choose the right VA

About Fiona Campbell

Fiona is a Newcastle-based automation consultant, who leveraged 13 years of experience providing executive assistance and business management services, to CEOs, marketing directors, consultants and small business owners, to establish Thought Penny and the VA Lead Network.

Thought Penny now supports a solid client base ranging from professional services to the creative, with an Australian team (they’re in NSW, QLD, WA and VIC) of virtual assistants (VAs), business automation experts, graphic designers, website developers and copywriters.

With Thought Penny’s VA team in high demand, the VA Lead Network was born to help business owners find Australian virtual assistants with the right skills and experience for their needs when the Thought Penny team aren’t available.

Find Fiona at https://thoughtpenny.com.au/

Freelancers are essentially small businesses - even if we don't typically think of ourselves that way. And this episode with journalist and community manager Lucy Kippist, sheds so much light on being a small business AND working with other small businesses. We chat to Lucy about:

• Tips she learned from successful business owners
• Mistakes we commonly make along the freelance journey
• The differences between men and women business owners
• Getting customers / clients, and building a community
• How writers can add value to small business owners
• The productivity tips and systems that work for her

And much more!

Find out more about Lucy

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucykippist 

Mums'n'Co: https://www.mumsandco.com.au/ 

Making the bulk of your living from magazine commissions is a rarity for most freelancers these days, with many of us mixing it up with content marketing, copywriting and corporate work. But writer and author David Smiedt still works mainly for magazines and other media outlets. He's currently contributing editor at GQ Australia, list editor at escape.com.au and a columnist at The Rake and Home Beautiful. Plus, he's a stand-up comic!

In this episode, we talk to David about:

• How he started out in his career - and the request that saw him writing for Lisa Wilkinson at CLEO while he was still at uni
• How being known for a comic tone and style has helped him maintain a living writing for magazines when many other writers have had to branch out into other areas
• Why he views himself as an artisan, like a plumber or carpenter, rather than an artist - and why that's helped him stay on many editors' speed dial for so long
• How writing regular columns are his bread and butter, and how he percolates his ideas 
• How he sets rates and determines which jobs to turn down
• His tips for new freelancers or those starting out
• And lots more!

Where to find David

Website davidsmiedt.com.au

Twitter twitter.com/Dsmiedt 

His work: authory.com/davidsmiedt 

Becoming disillusioned with a staff job has been the springboard for many a freelance journey, including that of US-based healthcare writer Melanie Padgett Powers. In this week's episode, Mel chats to us about what prompted her to start her own writing and editing business, and how her fab podcast, Deliberate Freelancer, soon followed. Tune in to find out:

- How Melanie lost an anchor client during the pandemic and what she tried to picked up thousands of dollars in new business

- What she learned from a podcast series she did on Six Figure Freelancers, and the lessons she kept in her own business

- The power of the freelance posse: why we're not competitors and how having a freelance community can be hugely valuable

- How insightful time-tracking has been to her business 

- Why she's 'deliberate' in setting her monthly income goal, and how she runs her business and markets her business

- Why she doesn't use an hourly rate but negotiates value-based pricing, and what that actually looks like when quoting

And much more!

Freelance writer Lindy Alexander didn’t start out as a writer, but she has carved out a $100K+ freelance writing business that’s made her the envy of freelancers everywhere. We chat to her about how she started, some of her systems and processes, and her tips for success. Listen in to find out:

• How Lindy moved from being a social worker and AUSLAN interpreter to becoming a hugely successful freelancer
• What prompted Lindy to share her earnings, successes and strategies (and what made people start taking notice)
• Her tips on finding high-paying clients 
• How being a generalist can save you in tough times (like a pandemic)
• Her tips to taking on a lot of work each month and getting it done
• The momentum happening in the ‘edupreneur’ space and how Lindy’s coaching evolved into courses
• The mistakes you can make when putting a course together
• Mixing writing work with running courses
• How to pitch and make more money
• Her tips for journalists moving into freelancing
• Mistakes she sees freelancers make over and over
• And much more!

Resources + where to find Lindy

The Freelancer’s Year Lindy’s blog and free training on how to double your income through freelance writing (go to the courses tab) https://thefreelancersyear.com/ 

Hello Audio To create a private podcast stream for course participants https://www.helloaudio.fm/ 

Source Tracker Keep all your experts and sources in one place with this Rachel’s List tool (one of Lindy’s favourites) https://www.rachelslist.com.au/toolkit/product/expert-tracker/ 

VIDEO Masterclass: Pitching! Secrets from editors in print, digital and custom media, plus a special presentation from Lindy Alexander on how to pitch your services to corporate clients https://www.rachelslist.com.au/toolkit/product/video-masterclass-pitching-secrets-from-editors-in-print-digital-and-custom-media-plus-how-to-pitch-your-services-to-corporate-clients/ 

Freelancer Q&A: Meet Lindy Alexander https://www.rachelslist.com.au/blog/freelancer-qa-meet-lindy-alexander/ 

This week Rachel and Lynne talk with Belinda Weaver, cohost of the Hot Copy podcast and copywriter extraordinaire about how she created a successful freelance copywriting career, created a supportive community for copywriters and developed courses for those wishing to learn the trade or upskill.

We chat about things such as: how copywriters can command higher rates, how to write faster and her advice to anyone wishing to have a career in copywriting. So much great information!

About Belinda WeaverBelinda Weaver helps people write copy that makes them money. Whether it's teaching copywriters how to run successful businesses or business owners how to write more effective copy Belinda has courses, coaching and mentoring that builds skills and confidence.

Belinda is an Aussie living in California with her pug, two daughters and husband (listed in order of neediness). She is obsessed with Doctor Who, English murder mysteries and making the perfect lemon curd.

Find Belinda at https://copywritematters.com/; or follow her on Instagram @copywritematters

The goal for any freelancer is to have a full pipeline, working on projects that interest and excite you. Melbourne-based writer Shane Cubis is doing just that - and in our continuing series of successful freelancers, he chats to us about his very interesting career trajectory - which has included editing the notorious P mags, writing for The Chaser and in recent years, working for clients that range from start-ups to universities. In this episode we talk about...

• What editing 'the P mags' taught him
• Who he's written for, and how he gets clients
• How he's carved out a writing niche for his humour / specific tone of voice
• Digital tools he uses a lot, and why freelancers shouldn't balk at learning new programs
• His tips for writers starting out (including why you shouldn't fear slow patches)
• What to do if you want to flex your funny bone as a writer
• And much more!

Where to find/follow Shane (and yes, you should)

Website www.kneejerkbohemia.com Twitter @cubisia and Instagram @cubisia

Earning a decent living as a freelancer is within your reach - but how? In this jam-packed episode of tips, info and strategies, we talk to Melbourne-based freelancer Carrie Hutchinson about how she has carved out a thriving freelance career across print magazines, copywriting clients and corporate gigs, with a particular focus on travel and lifestyle. We cover:

- The pros and cons of working with overseas clients (including payment issues or onboarding)

- How Carrie picks up clients, gets ongoing work and why working with friends can actually be a good thing

- Why marketing isn't a huge part of finding work for Carrie, but her tips on getting work quickly if she needs it

- The importance of always being professional because often clients can circle back years later and offer you work

- Why you shouldn't be nervous about editors moving on to other publications (and how it can actually double your workload)

- What Carrie charges per hour, how she works it into her project fee and the clients she might charge slightly less for. Also, the formula she's used for figuring out her hourly rate

- Carrie's freelance routine, why she doesn't sit at her desk for 8 hours a day, and why it's important to set boundaries with clients

- What she's learned from freelancing in regards to confidence, valuing what you do, knowing your worth and not letting clients put you down or undermine you (remember that you're the boss)

- How she mixes up her work with big projects and small ones

- Buying property as a freelancer - how Carrie's done it

- The freelance resources, courses, communities Carrie feels are worth paying for to help her in her work

- Her top tips for freelancers who are starting out

More resources

• Calculate your hourly rate
• Carrie's editing fundamentals masterclass

Where to find Carrie

• LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/carrie-hutchinson-b91b9220/
• Email: carrie @ copygirl.com.au
• Twitter: @ozcopygirl

After living overseas for many years, returning home and facing the prospect of freelancing with no contacts and no local experience can be extremely tough. Jessica Mudditt, author of Our Home in Myanmar, did just that - and in this episode we chat about:

- How Jess's new book came about, and what it's like watching Myanmar's crisis unfold from afar after living there for years - Building a freelance business from the ground up after leaving Asia and returning to Australia, and how she did it - How her life has changed since - she's now a single mum to two little girls and juggles freelancing around them - Finding clients and her tips on working with overseas clients And much more. 

For more info on Jess

Buy her book, Our Home in Myanmar Follow her on Twitter or Facebook Visit her online portfolio