Market in 2021 Like a Freelance Boss

A few weekends ago, I sat down to tally up my invoices for 2020 and pay that final self-employment tax installment. It’s an exercise that used to fill me with untold amounts of angst. I loathe figuring taxes. I never get the percentage right no matter how high I estimate.

This year, I still owed a sizable chunk, but it wasn’t solely because of my inability to estimate. It was because I made more this year than in previous years.

A lot more. As in “Holy shit!” more. Which means I’m definitely screwed when it comes to that final tax bill. But even that fact won’t wipe the smile off my face.

Mind you, I was no slouch prior to 2020. I was bringing in just shy of double what I made at a nine-to-five, though once you take out the taxes and all the expenses, it was probably more like $18-20K more. But this year was phenomenal. I came close to tripling what I made at the magazine editing job.

That tells you two things:

• I was grossly underpaid at that job
• I must have done something right in 2020

Both are true.

The one you care about, though, is the second point. What I did right is exactly what you can do right this year. You, my writer friend, can own this year, even starting now, in late January.

Here’s what I did that made a difference:

Stayed in front of clients.

It would have been easy to curl up in a corner and let the fear take hold for a few weeks. I didn’t have a few weeks. I had clients who needed my help, so while I was helping them, I was reaching out to other clients at the same time. How were they, and what could I do to alleviate their workloads a bit? It was that small gesture, genuine at its core, that netted me work where I didn’t think work was to be had. It did something more important, though — it cemented relationships. That, to me, is the goal.

Increased my proactive approach.

I became their right arm in many cases. I had to. These are people who are working from home, most of them for the first time, and the work is piling on as the husband, partner, kids, craziness is exploding around them. These are people who need someone to take the load off, even if just for one project, one day, one hour. So I became the idea generator, the project developer, the work-from-home support staff, the coordinator, and anything else they needed me to be.

I pitched like crazy ideas that would help them meet goals. I wrote so much last year I was burned out by October. But I kept writing (and I kept my weekends to myself for my own sanity). I upped my game in terms of how interactive I was going to be with clients. That meant assuming the role of team member and letting that guide my actions. I was there to help the team. So I did what I could to reach those goals.

Said ‘no’ more often.

There were so many projects and new clients I could have taken on. I didn’t. I didn’t have time, and I knew one more thing might bring the whole balancing act down on top of me. And having been burned in the past by my own ambitious enthusiasm, I was eager to keep happy the clients in front of me.

I turned down a total of four new clients in just the last three months of the year. I had to. They deserved a writer who had the time available to concentrate fully on what they needed. That wasn’t me in that moment. Do I regret it? Only when January started slowly (it always does). But I know it was the right decision for everyone.

Organized like mad.

I’m a freak for organizing anyway, but even I stepped it up. The next workday was mapped out before I walked away from the computer every night. I knew before I got up from this chair what I was going to be doing and when. That meant I could switch off completely at night and not 1) check email on my phone, 2) obsess, 3) forget something, or 4) have my back to the wall should an emergency situation erupt. With COVID, that last point was the crux of why I bothered doing this to such detail. We remain healthy, but too many around us have been ravaged by it (and a few, sadly, have succumbed to it).

[bctt tweet=”Prepping for an emergency right now is an essential part of our #freelancewriting world.” username=”LoriWidmer”]

Picked smarter brains.

When my own ideas weren’t really working, I looked up the food chain to some of the most successful people I know. I watched and listened. I learned plenty just doing that. Most of the takeaways from doing this little exercise are things that helped me earn more almost immediately. I found them online, in my in box, in forums. I saw how they answered questions, what they were talking about (versus the 187th thread about “how much should I charge?”), and who they were connecting with. I read through portfolios and profiles. Then I emulated the hell out of them. That translated into better negotiations and a better client pool.

Networked my entire freelance career.

Yea, it took some time to build name recognition and get in front of people, but I’m working in an industry that is known to get the memo a bit later than other industries. Conservative industries do, and that’s fine. It just means you have to work harder at it.

That networking meant I wasn’t marketing as much as I have in previous years. This year, as Joy Drohan can attest to, my marketing was limited. I don’t think I sent a dozen letters of introduction, whereas in previous years, it was my bread-and-butter marketing method. But networking meant those clients were now reaching out to me. Not all were a good fit, but they found me.

Kept on learning.

I will never stop learning. Everything I think I knew even a year ago has changed. Every successful person around me is inspiration. The same can be true for you.

It all starts right now. Your networking is already there — you have friends, right? You follow companies or client prospects on social media, right? That’s the foundation.

Start looking for those freelancers who aren’t shouting from the rooftops about how fabulous they are and how you can be too, for the right price. Instead, look for the ones who are showing themselves to be true successful freelancers in all they say and do.

Say no to garbage. You’re better than that. And stop asking about how much to charge — figure out what you want to make for the time you’ll put in to the project. Charge that.

None of this is rocket science. It’s common sense. If you do any or all of this, consistently, things will improve. It’s probably the only surefire statement anyone can make about freelancing:

[bctt tweet=”Consistent trying makes for a stronger #freelancewriting business.” username=”LoriWidmer”]

That’s in you. Right now. So go make that happen.

Writers, how did your game change in 2020? What successes are you bringing forward?
How will your approach change this year?