Working more isn’t always the best way to get a higher income. While freelance writers can work with any client from around the world, no one can work 24/7. You will likely cater to a limited number of clients or projects because you can only work for a limited time.
That said, how can you grow your freelance business despite time constraints? Here’s what you need to do:
After you’ve grown your freelance business, you’ll eventually reach a stage when you become overwhelmed by the number of projects and clients. An easy solution is to outsource administrative tasks to make more time.
Find a virtual assistant to handle invoicing, pitching, bookkeeping, or social media. These tasks take up a big chunk of your schedule even if they are not a big part of your business. For instance, following-up invoices and tracking payments for multiple projects can take a few hours per month.
Getting published on Entrepreneur or Forbes is not the only way to prove your credibility. Veteran freelance writers have opted to create downloadable products like ebooks, email templates, and whitepapers that are relevant to their target clients or industries. These resources prove their wealth of knowledge and experience to potential clients.
For instance, Danny Iny - founder of Firepole Marketing - offered free ebooks which later became Amazon bestsellers. While he didn’t gain any profit, these resources helped him attract an audience that paid $250,000 for his teaching, consulting and coaching work.
There’s only so much work you can take before you start feeling the burnout. Once demand starts to pile up you should consider raising your service rates. Some freelance writers have opted to increase the price of their services by systematically raising rates between short-term and long-term clients.
“For short-term clients, I raised my rates over time simply through demand. Once I hit the point where I am constantly filling my availability at my current rate, I raise my rates for new clients until I am once again filling my availability at the new rate, and then I raise them again, and so on,” says copywriter and content strategist Jacob McMillen in an interview with Foundr.
Here’s an email from Foundr that shows how you can ask for a raise:
Once you’ve mastered some freelance skills, you can make extra money by sharing your success and teaching others. Lauren Holliday went from an unemployed waitress to a high-earning full-stack marketer within months. She has gained fame by creating courses so that others can replicate her success.
Jorden Roper has made a steady freelance writing income by teaching freelancers how to attract more clients through her email marketing course.
The trick to increasing your freelance businesses’ value is by marketing yourself as an expert through courses and downloadable products. Once you’ve attracted a consistent client base, consider outsourcing administrative tasks or raising your rates on Fiverr.
You can also network with other like-minded professionals to help grow your business and efficiently handle a diverse workload.