The other day I stumbled upon a real gem of a post in a Facebook group, the Copywriter Café. Some of you may know this group as one of the most valuable FREE online resources for copywriters.
The entire WriteWorldwide team is – in fact – members of the Copywriter Cafe. If you want to join this group, follow the above link. We don’t run it so we can’t guarantee access, but if copywriting and writing is your thing, and you’re a genuine person who wants to help other writers and copywriters, the chances are good that the founder Steve Roller will let you in.
Okay, back to that post.
I came across a Facebook post from aspiring writer – Thalana Hunter (and yes she agreed to being mentioned here). She poured her heart and soul into a Facebook post, laying bare her dreams, fears, as well as obstacles holding her back from starting a freelance writing business.
While Thalana’s story is unique, I’m sure her story and struggles will resonate with many of you who are struggling to start your writing business.
Maybe you’re scared and have no clue what you’re doing? Perhaps you don’t know how to find clients? Or maybe, just maybe, all the conflicting advice online is causing overwhelm and making it increasingly hard to choose what course of action to take?
Regardless of your situation, it’s possible to dig yourself out of the hole you’re in.
And, that’s why in today’s post I want to share her exact words (yes, again, she agreed saying “If my situation can help others, then why not.”) and also my advice on what she can do to get her writing business going. Who knows, maybe this advice will help you?
Thalana’s Facebook Post Detailing Her Struggles with Starting a Freelance Writing Business
I apologise in advance for the long post.
I have a confession to make, one that’s hard to make on an online platform.
I’m stuck.
I’m working as a bilingual proofreader at an advertising agency. I love my job and the people I’m working with. However, this is not the kind of life I want for the next 40 years. There are late nights occasionally (which I don’t mind) but add traffic to your travels and you find yourself exhausted.
Cape Town is one of the most congested cities in South Africa. Some days it takes us two hours to get to work. Without traffic, you can complete this route in 40mins.
Our public transport is unreliable and my fiance has been robbed on the train. Twice. So public transport is not an option for us.
This is pushing my desire to start a freelancing business on the side, now more than ever. I really want to. I really need to. It’s my dream.
But I’m also scared. Some days I know I’m good enough, other days I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing.
I need to get a few clients before I can quit my full-time job at the agency. But I don’t know where to now.
I’ve got template documents for pitches, quotes and invoices. I’ve started collaborations on LinkedIn and Facebook. I even sent emails to people I used to work with/for. Some of them came back to me (even if it was a few weeks later) with potential projects. But nothing realises. I just can’t seem to get to the “what are your fees?” stage, even when I follow up politely.
This is very frustrating.
What makes it harder is the conflicting advice from social media and the rest of the internet.
Some say you absolutely need a website. Others say you don’t, just a portfolio/writing sample, which I have.
Then I have a person telling me: “How can you write your own portfolio?”
Clients/customers, unfortunately, are only interested in what others have said about your work.
Then some advise that you can find potential long-term clients on bidding websites like Upwork. Others say don’t do it, rather stick to cold mailing.
Do I suck it up and dive into content mills/bidding websites just to get some samples and client feedback?
Or do I send hundreds of cold emails and shout “fly my minions, fly”?
I guess I need a mentor, as Steve mentioned. But who?
I don’t want to spend more money on courses.
I feel like I’ve put so much fuel into this and yet I just can’t seem to get lift-off.
I need someone to nudge me in the right direction.
Thanks for reading guys.
There’s a lot going on here – and that’s part of the problem – but more on that later.
My Advice to Thalana on How to Start a Freelance Writing Business
Dear Thalana,
You clearly know what you want and have the drive to get it. I can see that you’re willing to put in the work: You’re collaborating on LinkedIn and Facebook, contacting old work colleagues, and researching different ways to get started.
These are all positives that will give you an edge as you build your business. Keep that in mind because many people want things handed to them on a silver platter.
As for feeling scared – that’s perfectly normal when you’re starting out, especially when you’re venturing into the unknown. It’s also normal to feel like you have no idea what you’re doing when you’re starting. Many – I’d actually like to say most – writers feel like this when they’re starting.
Hell, I also felt like that when I started writing over 18 months ago. Everything was new.
I had no clue how to get clients.
I wasn’t sure how to go about building my business.
I even frequented the job boards on ProBlogger.
I was all over the place. Some days things would run like clockwork and I’d look back on my day and feel like I achieved a lot. Other days I felt lost and the thought of ‘What Next” lingered.
But this all changed when I stumbled across a strategy by professional blogger Bamidele Onibalusi who provided a step-by-step roadmap for building a writing business from scratch as a total beginner. I decided to COMMIT to that roadmap.
I followed the steps, took action, and within a few short months I had a business and was earning well. In fact, only five months after following the strategy I made $1840 in a single month.
You can see where I’m going with this…So my advice is the following:
1. STOP Reading The Advice Online
You’ve done enough reading. In fact, you’ve done so much reading that you’re totally overwhelmed by all the contradictory advice. This overwhelm is stopping you from making a choice because you fear you’ll make the wrong one.
The truth? You will always find different advice online.
Hell, loads of the content on WriteWorldwide contradicts other advice on the internet such as whether you should select a niche (I’m a firm believer that you don’t have to choose a niche when you start writing). In fact, for newbies it’s such a stumbling block that I tell those who are struggling to start by not selecting one).
And you know what, that’s okay! There are many different ways of skinning a cat – no one way is better than the other.
2. Choose ONE Overall Strategy
But at some point, you have to take a leap of faith and decide how YOU are going to get to where you want to be. No one can make that decision for you. While I’m certainly not going to force a strategy on you, I will suggest one that has worked for myself.
Bamidele recently interviewed me for his new book How They Started, which provides a breakdown of hour four writers went from 0 to four figures in monthly income.
If you do decide to use the strategy I’m going to share with you – grab that book as it compliments what I’m about to tell you.
Bamidele asked me what I would do if I were to start again. While I share the full details in my post How to Become a Well-Paid Freelance Writer, here’s a recap in four steps:
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- Build Your Foundation: Decide on your positioning, choose a rate, build a writer’s website and update your social media channels.
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- Build social proof: Select and pitch a few major publications to increase your perceived value in the eyes of potential prospects.
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- Build a prospect list: Target websites as well as writers to build a prospect list fast (learn more about the latter technique here: How to Land Freelance Writing Jobs Online, Fast)
- Cold pitch those publications using a proven cold pitch and follow-up with the 3-7-7 formula.
3. Take Action
The final step once you’ve chosen your roadmap is to take action and put in the work. I’d love to tell you that things will be plain sailing from this point on, but that would be a lie.
You will continue to face struggles. There will continue to be difficult days.
Days when you feel you’re not achieving what you set out to achieve.
Days when you’ll feel like quitting.
Days when self-doubt will rear its little head.
But you know what? When you combine the desire to succeed (which you have), with a roadmap, and action, you will eventually succeed. It’s only a matter of time.
Over to You (Yes, You the Reader!):
What are you struggling with? Share in the comments below, and we’ll answer your questions or even write a post about it.
P.S. Thalana is currently busy creating her site, but feel free to visit her Facebook business page – Naturally Write – to get in contact.
This post sounds like me in a nutshell. I look at the online advice, I have dozens of books, I’ve built a website, etc. I’m terrified to dive in. What if I’m not doing it right? What if I tried a different approach? What is the correct approach? Do I read one of the dozens of books I have to increase my knowledge or do I just jump in and get started? How do I separate my time between learning, writing, prospecting, etc.? I could go on but you get my point. I’ve been sitting stalemate for almost 2 years terrified. A mentor would be fantastic but I’m not even sure where to find one of those either.
Hi Julia,
Thanks for your comment and honesty.
Would the above advice then not apply to you? Have you chosen a strategy and stuck to it? As for mentors they are everywhere, and often you choose them without them even knowing it. For me, Bamidele was that mentor at the start of my career.
So, I’ll ask you: Who do you admire? Also when you say mentor…are you referring to someone who helps you along the way? Or someone you silently follow?
You don’t have to re-invent the wheel. Rather, find what other successful writers have done and “copy” their strategies. If certain aspects don’t work, adjust, and continue. At some point, you’re just going to have to get going and stop over analysing everything. Because you’re really over thinking it all.
Feel free to drop me an email if you have any further questions – nick@nickdarlington.com.
Cheers,
Nick
Hi Nick,
Thanks for this thoughtful post.I must admit that even though I haven’t taken the leap yet,I feel my confidence levels are rapidly rising.I’ve for a long time worked for content mills but I feel the urge to break free.Also,how do you manage to keep yourself motivated for long periods of time?
Regards,
Trevor.
Hi Trevor,
Thanks for your comment. The above strategy will help you break free, as long as you put in the work. So, give it a try and let us know how it goes.
As for staying motivated. Firstly you need to acknowledge that you can’t be motivated all the time- it’s impossible. I sometimes have days when I struggle to write and for the past months, it has been especially difficult. But, I’ve found that if mix things up and do something else such as marketing or even studying I rekindle that motivation. Overall I just remember why I started writing for a living in the first place. By holding on to that it puts things in perspective. I’d much rather be writing (which I love) and working for myself than going to an office each day and sitting in traffic.
Cheers,
Nick
Nice and educative post. I am currently same problem. I have registered for several freelance website but nothing to show up. I even posted one day on my Twitter account, asking how to get freelance job. I probably don’t know to get started. I have a blog that I teach people on Android programming but no comments. I’m just …
Hi Rex,
Thanks for your comment. Why don’t you give the strategy (that’s outlined in the post) a try and share the results with us? Having a strategy is important.
Cheers,
Nick
Great post Nick! I have gone through the things Thalana mentioned and more. I am using Bamidele’s strategy but I’m yet to get any big publication for social proof. I’m yet to get clients either. I’ll take your advice here to heart and work on it.
Hi Ade,
Thank you. Just a few quick questions:
1) How many publications have you reached out to for social proof?
2) What email template/pitch are you using?
If you’re putting in a lot of work and not seeing results, something may be wrong. Perhaps it’s your pitch?
Cheers,
Nick
Awesome advice Nick. Although I hate to admit it, this is actually my second attempt at freelance writing. When I first started out I just got frustrated when all my pitches got zero replies.
And to be honest, I didn’t follow the roadmap, it just sounded like so much work trying to get featured in top publications. A few months after failing, I couldn’t help but regret, I knew I didn’t give it nearly enough as I should.
So here I am, creating 2,000+ words post daily as samples to reach larger publications.
This time, I won’t quit.
Hi Lenny,
There’s no shame in that. I remember committing to writing – I set myself I challenge -and guess what? Nothing happened. The main reason was that I didn’t have a strategy. But that all changed when I came across Bamidele’s “Earn Your First $1,000 Challenge” That gave was the strategy I needed. I put in the work -and as they say -the rest is history. If you (also) put in the work this time around, you will see results. Be patient and keep at it. Most people give up to early because they want fast results.
Cheers,
Nick
Thanks for this great article. My problem is I do think I dont have what it takes to be a writer. I do think I need to read more books to improve my grammar before starting writing . I dont even know what to write on if I want to start writing.
HI Abduljaleel,
Thanks for your comment. Well, you’re on the right track because you know what to improve. As for what to write about, well, what do you enjoy? What are your interests? Take time to actually think about it. You can also just get going. I mean, when I started I just went for it and wrote about a whole bunch of topics. I quickly found out what I enjoyed and what I didn’t.
Cheers,
Nick
My biggest struggle is actually writing articles. When I try to write an article, usually I simply search on Google, find some blog posts, reddit and quora answers and Ultimately end up combining those sources and rewriting existing content. But I don’t want to rewrite content, I want to write real unique and authoritative content that add real value. How can I write that type of content WITHOUT rewriting existing content? Please remember I have no experience with any niche. So when I come up with a niche, I read a lot about it. But still, I end up with rewriting existing content, can’t make it unique or authoritative. Please help.
Hi Sayed,
I can’t give you a magic bullet here but I can give you some advice:
1) Before you start reading material on the topic, write down everything you know about the topic. Just get it out on the paper and see how far that carries you. Try put together a rough outline from that.
2) When researching there’s nothing wrong with pulling information from various sources into a new, original article that combines all that information. The problem, though is where you end up copying and using that information word-for-word or simply rewriting existing content. I’ll let you in on a secret, I struggled with what you are talking about too and I still do struggle with it today. What I do, though, is formulate my own outline, with key points from articles I’ve read (if my knowledge on the topic is limited). I then write it in my words and try add my own unique spin on it.
3) Practise, practise, practise! Write for yourself and also on different topics. Stop worrying about trying to be authoritative. That will come by doing.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Nick
Hello Nick.
This is one honest post I have come across in a very long time. I agree that the Internet is bit overwhelming when you wish to seek an advice over the career of your interest. Like every other freelance writer, I too struggled on the freelancing front, after having my first child. But I continued posting my job interest on writer’s requirement posts, and lucky for me, I got really good clients. So yes, social media pitching did work for me.
Hi Priyanka,
Thanks for your comment.
I can only imagine how difficult it is freelancing while looking after a child.
But, you seem to have pulled it off. Keep it up!
Best,
Nick
Hallo Nick,
I relate to this, I have been struggling to get clients for months now.
I’m a freelance video editor.
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your comment. I’m curious, what methods have you been using to find clients?
Best,
Nick