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

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...

As a freelance professional, your habits and systems will directly determine your level of success and happiness.  But how do you develop and sustain the right habits? Are there tricks and strategies for doing that successfully? That’s the topic of this episode. My guest is James Clear, an expert in the field of behavioral science and habit transformation ... and author of the book Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones James thinks about these topics day and night. He’s spent years applying the science of habits to everyday situations you and I face regularly in our businesses. I think you’ll find his tips and strategies fascinating and helpful!

I had a friend who was married to a lawyer. She joked that when she was having trouble falling asleep, she’d ask her husband to talk about copyright law. Apparently, it worked way better (and faster) than taking a melatonin supplement. ;-) In all seriousness, copyright law is an important topic when you’re a freelancer writing for clients. For this podcast episode, I’ve brought in Internet business lawyer Richard Chapo to give us the scoop on how we can protect ourselves from the most common (and avoidable!) copyright pitfalls. As dull as this topic can be, Richard makes it interesting, relevant and engaging. He also illustrates many of his points with specific and useful examples, which I found extremely helpful. So I urge you to give this episode a listen.

You can earn a very handsome income working on “transactional” assignments for clients. But for some writers, this model starts to get old. And they often wonder if there’s a better way of doing things. That’s exactly what happened to my guest. Maggie Patterson was making a very good living as a freelance writer. But she was burning out. So she began to offer more comprehensive services that included her own proprietary processes. The idea took hold. In a big way. In this episode, Maggie explains how she transitioned from the traditional freelance model to an agency model … and how she uses it to differentiate her business and deliver more value to clients.

In this episode, I’m covering a topic that’s extremely relevant and practical for a big part of my audience: How introverts can turn more prospects into clients. My guest is . Matthew is an internationally award-winning blogger and contributor to CEO, Entrepreneur, and Top Sales World Magazine. He is a recurring guest on FOX and NBC, and has appeared on top-rated podcasts including Entrepreneur on Fire and Eventual Millionaire. He’s the author of the bestseller The Introvert’s Edge: How the Quiet and Shy Can Outsell Anyone, and he has five multimillion-dollar business success stories to his name, all before the age of thirty. This is solid stuff. Check it out...

Should you give your clients a gift? If so, when is the best time to do this? And what should you give them? Holidays? At the end of your first project? Some other time? This episode is a great conversation with my colleague Sarah Greesonbach on this topic. Sarah gave me some great ideas for how make this decision ... which clients you should put on your list ... and how to give gifts that make a huge impact without spending more than $20 or $30. She’s a true gift-giving master!  In this interview, she explains when to consider giving clients gifts (hint: there are other great opportunities outside the holidays) ... which clients you should give gifts to ... how to do it right ... and how to pick gifts that will make a big impact without spending more than $20 or $30.

I love to look for patterns. And recently I’ve been looking for patterns as I’ve talked with coaching clients and peers who’ve reached the six-figure income level. Through those conversations, some interesting patterns emerged. In this episode, I give you a peek into those patterns—because they’ll give you a good idea of what six-figure writers do differently when compared to lower-income writers...

LinkedIn has quickly become one of the most effective marketing tools for writers and copywriters. But one of the downsides of this social platform is that it can feel overwhelming. How should you use it? Where should you start? How should you search for prospects inside? And how do you connect with them?   My guest for this episode is Chrissie Wywrot. Chrissie works with clients on their LinkedIn profile and strategy, as well as their online brand, to establish them as experts and resources in their fields. She has a very simple process she uses to get the most out of LinkedIn. Listen in to get the details...

Having a well-defined target audience is a critical first step to freelance success. But it doesn’t end there. Because once you’ve identified your audience you now need to find some prospects to contact. That’s where many writers get stuck. If you’re in that situation now (or if you’ve ever been there), you’re going to get a ton out of this week’s podcast episode. My guest is the brilliant Jennifer Gregory. In this interview, Jennifer details her three-step “Audience First” method for finding potential clients. Her approach is both simple AND incredibly effective — and it’s something you can start using right away.

Interesting fact... The biggest reason writers become (and stay) self-employed is freedom and flexibility — not money. Unfortunately, way too many freelance writers are worse off today than they were when traditionally employed. Too many are struggling to earn a good living. Or they’re working with bad clients on projects they hate. Or they’re working longer hours than they ever have. That’s not freedom! How can you turn that around? It all starts by setting some “standards” for your business. And in this episode, I explain exactly how to do that.

When it comes to pricing, the most common question I get is, “How much should I charge for _________?” But no one has ever asked me, “What should my floor rate be?” In other words, the bare minimum you should be charging on any given project to make sure you cover your full costs as a freelancer. I’m not a fan of that kind of thinking. But there’s one exception. And that’s when you want to know and understand what your “all in” expenses are ... so you can make better overall pricing decisions. Knowing your “all in” expenses can bring some serious clarity to your pricing decisions. It can help you negotiate better and feel much more confident about quoting higher fees. In this week’s episode my colleague Robert McGuire from Nation1099 will show you how to calculate your own number. And he explains why knowing this is so important—regardless of where you are in your writing business or how much you currently earn.