The struggle when I started my freelance writing service business looked like this:
- I was fascinated with crafting words that accurately conveyed a message.
- I hadn’t extensively studied journalism or entertainment writing because those weren’t career paths I wanted to pursue.
- I knew that offering basic content writing services for businesses — filling up pages with words — would not pay high rates.
And I completely understood why filling up pages with words was not valued. Nothing is worse than paying for a service that doesn’t produce results.
When writers charge low fees for content writing that doesn’t persuade prospects to take action, two dangerous things happen:
- It’s difficult to support yourself through your writing services.
- Your clients don’t make new sales.
If a client thinks that the money they paid you was a waste because they didn’t make it back in sales, they’ll view you as interchangeable with any other writer — and there’s probably someone else who charges even less than you for a comparable lack of results.
This situation perpetuates the cycle of writers thinking that making a living off of their craft is unrealistic and businesses devaluing writers because they aren’t familiar with the power of the right words.
When clients see what the right words can do, though, everything changes.
Smart businesses value copywriting
To end the disappointing cycle, you need to offer the proper balance of content marketing and copywriting.
“Copy’s for closers.�
Once I learned about copywriting, my writing business benefitted in two main ways:
- I was able to write copy that persuaded people to hire me.
- I had a skill set that justified competitive rates and delivered a return on investment for clients.
If the work you do for a client makes them a profit that exceeds the cost of paying you, everyone wins. You get paid what you’re worth and they are happy to pay high rates for your services.
Copyblogger’s Certification program teaches you how to be the kind of writer that businesses value.
If you’re interested in joining our list of Certified Content Marketers who we recommend to businesses, make sure to add your email address at the end of this post. You’ll be the first to know when the program reopens to new students.
3 resources to help you take control of your writing career
If you’re anything like I was, you’re looking for enjoyable, artistic writing work, but you’re also disciplined and practical.
So, you’re asking yourself questions like:
- What types of new clients would I like to retain in the next year?
- Am I open to learning new skills to attract those types of clients?
- How can I prioritize the different steps I need to take?
You may even be thinking about possibilities down the road like becoming a different type of entrepreneur or joining a larger organization. (I joined the Copyblogger team after running my freelance business for six years.)
Here are three resources that will help you bridge the gap between the writing career you have now and the one you want in the near future.
7 Real-World Ways to Think Like an Artist for Better Content Marketing
Somewhere along the line, we got the idea that marketing was another word for lies. Don’t buy it.
Smart marketers don’t accept the excuse of “It’s just marketing� to hide the truth or produce crummy work that benefits no one.
Wise marketers embrace art as integral to what they do, as much as strategy and execution are.
5 Writing Techniques that Stir Your Audience to Action
Emotion moves us to act.
In fact, the Latin root for the word emotion means “to move,� because emotions motivate what we do. We don’t necessarily want to make them seethe with anger or burst into tears, though.
The goal is not necessarily to get someone to feel, but rather to want — and to act on that want.
How to Run a Sustainable Writing Business (Where the Backbone of Success Is Simply … You)
The success of a writing business depends on so much more than your ability to write.
It’s often difficult to balance writing for your existing clients and attracting new clients. Consequently, your writing income may vary at different times throughout the year and the work you love to do never quite feels sustainable.
Whether you’re just starting your writing business, or you’ve been building it for a while and are hoping to make it more financially secure, these 15 tips support a healthy, productive solopreneur venture.
Writers: Looking for even more proven ways to position yourself for greater success?
Our Certified Content Marketer training is a powerful tool that helps you learn new writing strategies and position your business for greater success.
We’ll be reopening the program to new students very shortly — add your email address below to get all the details. Registration will be open for a limited time, so procrastination is not advised. 🙂
Reader Comments (4)
Hi Stefanie,
It was powerful reading for me. 🙂
I am an engineer, but I want to direct my career in Content writing. You shared all the facts only like we don’t get enough money for writing, but things have changed now. I have seen many of my friends are making good money out of content writing job. It’s really a respectable job.
Introducing Certification in Content writing is an innovative idea.
Thanks for this wonderful post.
Avinash
Like you say Stefanie, nothing is worse than paying for a service that doesn’t produce results. As a copywriter, it is so vital to make an impact and become almost indispensable to your client. There is no doubting that the tools from within this article will help you to do just that.
Thanks for such an enjoyable, engaging post.
Great article, Stephanie.
Does this positioning change at all when thinking about content marketing? An individual article doesn’t directly lead to a sale, but it might be building a relationship.
I’m not talking about filler content, of course. But when it comes to content that is designed to educate, entertain, or build authority, do you ever worry that the client will say, “This is leading to more sales.”?
That’s a great question, Joshua.
It sounds like it’s a matter of managing client expectations for a project and giving them markers that measure the success (or failure) of your efforts.
Since content marketing is a long-game of building relationships over time — through educating, entertaining, and building authority, as you mentioned — it’s important to set and communicate goals.
For example, the goal for the content marketing strategy that you’re implementing may be to grow the number of subscribers on your client’s email list. You can project how much the list will grow in 3 or 6 months, for instance, then the client can measure the success of your strategy based on the results she sees at those times.
Your strategy to get more email subscribers would use a combination of content marketing and copywriting.
More email subscribers means more prospects when it’s time to make a direct offer — so a larger email list could indicate the success of a certain content marketing campaign.
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