Freelance Writing Guide #1

Hey everyone.

I’m Craig, and I’ve been freelance writing since 2021, and in that time, I’ve managed to earn over six figures.

The reason I’ve started this newsletter is to help other freelance writers. Before I started writing, I was in IT. But suffering from poor mental health due to a toxic workspace and the pressure of having a baby made me take the leap into the writing world.

I hope this newsletter will inspire and help anyone that’s just starting or has been freelancing writing for a number of years.

Let’s crush our dreams together.

Craig

Tweet of the Week

Oliver shares important tips to succeed on Upwork. Your profile is the first place clients get to see who you are. You should put the time in to create a quality profile that shows your personality and the value you can offer your customers.

One tip for crafting a great profile is to look at some top-rated freelancers on UpWork by making a client profile and see what they have in common. You can then create a framework for yourself.

Some of the things I’ve noticed in top-performing accounts are:

• Quality profile images: You want a clear image with just you (no group photo) and a great big smile.

• SEO optimized terms: If you are an SEO writer, including terms like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and SurferSEO makes your profile more visible when clients search these terms./

• What you can do for your customers: List what you can do for clients. Including your steps will show them you know what you’re doing and how you’re going to get them results.

Touching on the second point from Oliver’s tweet, I believe you should never stop looking for new clients. Even if you have a full calendar, you should ABL.

Always Be Looking.

Looking for clients is a muscle you need to keep exercising. If you're in the unfortunate position of losing a client, you don’t want to spend time figuring out how to get another. You want a practiced system where you know exactly what to do to get results.

Oliver’s third point mentions outreach and general networking with other freelancers. Sending emails can be a pain, but one way to make sure you have success is rather than send out cold emails, send out lukewarm emails. Lukewarm emails are emails sent to companies that have already hired freelance writers. You’re making life harder for yourself, pitching to a business that doesn’t have a blog or has in-house content writers.

For networking, I’m part of a few communities that set up intro calls with other members. I found these communities from speaking to other freelance writers I know and asking for recommendations. A simple Google search (“Freelance writers Slack”) can also help you find these communities. For all these intro calls, I join all of them so I get to make friends with cool freelance writers.

This Week Winning Subject Line

I’ve sent out over 50 emails to potential clients this week. And this was my winning subject line you could swipe and use for your own cold outreach :)

Do you want a word or two?

Quick tip

You should always speak about the value you can deliver to your clients. For real, talking about how you managed to write ten posts a month, that you’ve eaten 100 hot dogs in 5 mins, or that you enjoy anal sunning at the weekends isn’t interesting to your clients.

You only have a moment to try and make an impact. You're an interruption in their life, so make it meaningful and impactful.

In copywriting, there’s a concept called WITFM. It stands for what’s in it for me. This should be the perspective to remember when reaching out to potential clients.

How can you show them you can add value? You could show them you have five years of experience in their industry. Or you’ve got a 5% conversion rate on your article. Think about what your clients want the most, then speak about how you can help them achieve that. What I do

If you made it this far, you are a writer legend. Feel free to reply to this email to say hello or tell me the biggest problem you have as a freelance writer so I can answer it in future newsletters. I read and personally answer all replies. So don’t be shy.

Have a brilliant week, and I hope you crush it.

Craig