High-income Business Writing: Freelance Writing | Copywriting | Content Writing | How To Freelance

Running a freelance business becomes exponentially more challenging when you don’t have the support of your friends and family. In this episode, I share 10 practical tips that will help you if you’re in this situation.

Podcast guest Alex Nerney explains why adding a blog to your freelance writing business is a great way to supplement your writing income and add more predictability to your business.

Following up with prospects is the activity writers dread the most — topped only by prospecting.  It feels odd and unnatural. We worry that we’re bothering people or being disrespectful.   And then we start crafting crazy stories in our head.   We imagine that the prospect is mad at us or shocked at our fees. “They think we’re a fraud!” “They never want to speak with us again!”  But the vast majority of time, this isn’t what’s going on with prospects at all.  I spent years in corporate sales and following up with prospects was a big part of my job.   It wasn’t easy, and I never particularly enjoyed it.   So I understand why you don’t like it much either.  I never completely perfected the art of following up in those years. But I do have some ideas that will make the whole process a lot easier. 

For the past two years, Liz Farr has been writing bylined articles for trade publications and content platforms to generate inbound leads and land great new clients — while also getting paid.

It’s hard to find businesses that don’t use some form of content marketing. That’s a big shift from even five years ago. But as its popularity has grown, the fees for content marketing projects have suffered. Upwork and other job platforms have gotten better and more popular. You even have AI technology entering the writing fray. All these factors have combined to create a situation where many clients want content NOW... and they want it cheap! Does that mean that we all need to start looking for a new way to make a living? Not at all! In this week’s podcast, I address one element of the solution: bundling and productizing your service offerings.

Most of us leave a ton of money on the table when quoting client work. This is no small thing! Commanding 20-40% more per project could have a huge impact on your business and your life. Think of the freedom it would give you! So what’s stopping us from asking for more? In this episode, I’m going to show you how to put your value on the table. Because by providing context for your quote, you can greatly influence the prospect’s response.

Many introverted writers resist marketing their services and avoid doing what they need to do to grow their businesses. Does that mean you’re doomed to fail as a self-employed writer if you’re an introvert? Not at all. My guest this week is Winnie Anderson, a coach for introverted service-based professionals, as well as the host of The Courageous Entrepreneur podcast.  She teaches people how to resolve the tug-of-war between needing to stand out but not wanting to stand out. In this episode, she explains why so many writers resist taking consistent action to stand out, and to do it in a way that feels good to them.

Content marketing has officially gone mainstream. It’s a “must do” for most businesses in today’s trust economy. While this increased demand has created huge opportunities for writers, it has also commoditized a lot of our work and given rise to content mills and rock-bottom fees. We’re not doomed. But to succeed, writers have to become a higher-value resource for their clients. In this episode, I speak with Sonia Simone, founding partner of Copyblogger Media (now Rainmaker Digital) and seasoned content marketer. In the course of our conversation, she shares how you can position yourself as a strategic partner and build stronger relationships with clients.

Have you ever had a prospect ask for an in-person coffee meeting shortly after connecting? You’ve barely gotten past “hello” and they already want to put something in your calendar! This raises a red flag for me. In this podcast, I reveal a two-stage process you can use to evaluate requests for face-to-face meetings. This process is a great way to protect your time and energy — without discouraging good clients.

  Today’s podcast guest provides a classic illustration of the benefits of going deeper with existing clients. Her name is Lindy Alexander. Lindy started freelancing full time in 2017. By the end of that year, she grossed more than $100,000 in income! Even more remarkable: in 2018 she scaled back her hours to part-time and maintained the same income level. In this episode, she explains how she did it. It’s an amazing story I think you’ll really enjoy, regardless of where you are in your journey.

Do you ever get so busy that you forget to invest in yourself? It’s one of the pitfalls of being self-employed. There’s only so much time every week., right? Then again, if you don’t take time to “feed the goose,” you’ll soon have no golden eggs. My guest for today’s podcast has seen both sides of this problem. Liz Sheffield is a freelance writer with a background in human resources. As an HR professional, she understands the benefits of taking time to improve your knowledge and skills. And as a freelancer, she understands the challenges we face in finding the time and resources to do this consistently. In this episode, she explains why she’s a huge proponent of investing in yourself and your freelance business, and how you can do it without wasting your time or money.

I’m just going to come right out and say it. Search engine optimization (SEO) has a horrible reputation. For years, SEO companies scammed clients with big promises of boosting their search engine rankings, only to fall short or fail altogether. Even now, information on this subject continues to be confusing, contradictory and misleading. For this episode, to learn what SEO best practices you should implement for your own website, I wanted to talk to someone who doesn’t do SEO for a living, but who’s had good success with SEO nonetheless. And I found that person in Matt Olpinski. Matt is a freelance UX designer who boosted his own search engine rankings like crazy with some simple adjustments. Adjustments you can make on your own website, even if you don’t have a lot of technical knowledge. Listen in to find out how...

Casey Hibbard is one of the best case study writers in North America. She’s literally written hundreds of case studies for dozens of companies. Many of them big names you’d recognize. On the occasion of her 20-year business anniversary, I asked Casey to come on the show and share some of the most important lessons she’s learned about writing powerful case studies. In this interview, she shares 5 specific tips that will make you a stronger case study writer… and help you command higher fees for these projects.

Most commercial writers see themselves as just that: a commercial writer.  They describe themselves as writers. And they pitch themselves as writers.  Nothing wrong with that! But that’s not the only way to make a living as a freelance commercial writer or copywriter.   In this episode, you’ll hear from Maureen Farmer, founder of Word Right Executive Career Management. Much of what she does for clients involves writing, but she packages her services differently. As a result, her clients view her more as a strategic resource than a writer — and are willing to pay her accordingly. Find out why...

I firmly believe that habits are the key to successful execution. Execution is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to making positive changes in our lives. And habits are THE most important element in execution. A few months ago, I had James Clear on the show to talk about his new book . And one of the things that really stood out for me is his discussion of identity. Specifically, how your habits shape your identity — and how your identity shapes your habits.   In this episode, I take a closer look at this concept … and explain how you can leverage your identity to make new habits stick.

When you’re in a leadership position, the people you lead sometimes put you on a pedestal. They think you have everything figured out. That you have no flaws. No struggles. I’m in a leadership position in that people often look to me for ideas, advice and mentorship. But let me tell you ... I’m not perfect by any means. I have my own struggles and imperfections. And in this episode, I come clean on 9 of those things...

This is an exciting time to be alive. The opportunity to make a great living as a self-employed professional has never been better. Changing economic trends, shifting attitudes toward self-employment, cheap technology, and the ability to leverage talent from around the world have all combined to make this opportunity possible. My guest for this week’s podcast has been tracking these changes for years. Her name is Elaine Pofeldt, and she’s the author of the book The Million-Dollar One-Person Business (Random House, 2018). In this episode, Elaine introduces us to some of the people behind these million-dollar solo businesses.

I’ve found that maintaining a high level of productivity is one of the top challenges we face as self-employed professionals. Chris Bailey is an expert who will share a different take on the topic. In this episode, Chris brings some fresh perspectives to this discussion. Perspectives I don’t often hear. He also describes how to drastically reduce distractions and improve your productivity with a few simple changes...

November 2017, I dedicated a podcast episode to the topic of alternative healthcare insurance options. A year later, in this episode, I circle back to the topic. I asked my listeners to share their experiences with healthy indemnity plans and/or medical cost sharing over the past 12 months — both good and bad. The feedback I received was enlightening … and might help you with your own healthcare coverage decision making...

One of the things I focus on with my coaching clients is improving their productivity. Because if you can’t get your work done efficiently, you’re going to struggle. You won’t meet your full earning potential. And you’ll be stressed and unhappy. My guest for this podcast episode is Jordan Baker, a personal productivity expert and the creator of , an auto-scheduling calendar app. You’ll walk away from this conversation with practical ideas that will help you get your most important things done—without stress or drama...