Where Im Writing and How Im Doing It

March has been a great month for my business. I thought Id let my readers know a little bit about how my writing business is going. This year started off with a bang! I launched my new writer website design and immediately received queries for my writing. While not every query landed a writing job, it did confirm that my inbound marketing tactics were working. If youre looking to land a few clients for your freelance writing business, you might want to look at: Freelance Writing Jobs for Newbies: Landing Your First Client 6 Foolproof Marketing Tips to Help You Become a Better Freelance Writer 7 Guaranteed Ways to Write Faster and Get More Clients Where Im Writing In January I secured one writing client, Twtrland, and two eBook designs. I really enjoy graphic designs (as you can tell by my feature images on my blog posts), so when I had a fellow freelance writer ask me to make an eBook for her course, I jumped at the opportunity. She graciously referred me to one of her clients and I was able to design an eBook for the anticipated food company. February was a busy month. Not only was I writing for my clients, I had family appointments and obligations. I managed to keep my blog afloat with some freelance writer interviews and was able to pick up two more clients. Go We Love It  is a lifestyle website that provides a variety of topics on a daily basis. I provide  2-3 posts a month depending on my content schedule. I enjoy stretching my writer wings and being able to explore a variety of topics that interest me. In my Confessions of a Freelance Interview, I mentioned that I signed up for Tom Ewers Paid to Blog Job Board. I signed up for one month to see if it would help me land more clients. Unfortunately it did not. Most of the job ads were from Craigslist, meaning the pay was below my minimum rate. I was, however, able to land one client, The Meal Prep. The Meal Prep is a food delivery service for people who are too busy to cook healthy meals. Im really enjoying writing about healthy eating options and I have a lot of flexibility on what topics I end up writing. Currently Im writing 4 posts a month. This month, March, brought me four  more  clients all of them acquired within one week! I know, thats a lot in  a short amount of time. Something also new happened two out of the  four writing jobs are for  ghostwriting clients. I landed ghostwriting gigs  for one professional blogger and one other blogger. Im in the process of writing up my posts for them. These are my first ghostwriting clients and Im learning that even though I cant promote my content, Im being well compensated for being anonymous. I also picked up another writing gig with a visual effects company called Visualaz. This client was actually a referral from another freelance writer.  This freelance writer  connected with me via LinkedIn and  when she was approached by Visualaz for content services, she ended up referring me. I asked her why she referred me over her other network of freelance writers and she told me it was  because of my author bio. On LinkedIn, you have a space next to your name  for a title that tells everyone who you are and what you do. My title is, Freelance Writer and Blogger for Hire. She saw that I was seeking work and she referred me. My last client I secured in March is The Allergy Kit. The Allergy Kit is the first of its kind. Its actually a  treatment for allergies. It is a unique product and part of my writing task  is to try this kit and journal my progress on their blog. Im excited to give it a try as I do have a milk intolerance and am susceptible to the ill effects of wheat (inflammation, weight gain, mood swings etc). Im slotted for 4 posts a month. On top of my paid clients, I contribute content on two websites. I am a contributor for FreelancerFAQs (and I recently acquired the domain from Alicia Rades, making me the owner), which is a great resource for new and aspiring freelance writers. We answer the questions you ask. It doesnt take a lot out of my schedule as I only write one post a month and the length is variable. So far, Ive written three: How Do I Set Myself Apart From Other Freelance Writers? How Do I Make More Money As A Freelance Writer? Are You Hitting a Home Run With Your Pitch Letter? I also contribute digital marketing content for Tweak Your Biz. Tweak Your Biz is an online business community that welcomes guest contributors. I provide 1- 1,000 word blog post every 30-60 days. Here is my first post: How to Build a Powerful Blog That Will Drive Traffic It looks like my plate is almost full! Currently I have 8 clients. So, how am I  juggling all of my client work? How Im Doing It This may seem like a lot of client work, in actuality it isnt a lot of writing. Many of these clients want shorter, more concise posts of no more than 500 words, while other clients want posts less frequently, but in the 1,000-1,5000 word length. Still other clients are on a as needed basis and only contact me when they want content. As I just landed four new clients, I will see how this will fit in my content schedule, but I do have some organizational systems and productivity techniques  to keep me from missing deadlines. Here is what Im doing to get my writing done: 1. Excel Sheet I have a running sheet of my on-going clients and their requirements. On it I also have a spot for deadlines and submission dates to help me see which writing task I need to do first. Since each of my clients pay me a different rate (depending on length, topic, and if its ghostwritten among other things), I have an excel sheet cataloguing: What my clients pay   me When my clients pay me How they pay me When  I receive payment This helps to see if my business is growing, stalling or declining. Currently, January was a good month, but February slowed down. March, however, is busy and I will see some growth in my business. 2. iCloud Calendar My calendar on my laptop comes in handy for not only client work, but for my family appointments. Each family member has a color so its easy to see what needs to be done. I use my calendar to  mark Google Hangout times, interviews and long-term deadlines. Its always good to have multiple places to mark your deadlines if you suddenly have many clients. Im not sure how other calendar systems work, but with mine I usually get a reminder a day or two before the actual due date and this has been a blessing if Im knee-deep in  a clients writing task. 3. My To-Do Lists What freelance writer doesnt have a to-do list? Im not one for technology when it comes to my checklist. I prefer the old pen and paper approach for my day-to-day tasks. I have a notebook for each client and this is where I write down necessary information such as their brand message and voice for their content. I also write down topics and an outline for each post I write. I also have a notebook for my blog and have a running list of the many topics I plan to cover. On top of this, I have my weekly calendar where I highlight deadlines and write notes. For example, Ive written posts in advance for clients and I note of when a post is published to make sure to link it on a future post that will be published. 4. Work on One Client a Day Before I had multiple clients, I would work on one or two clients at a time. So, in the afternoon, I would work on clients A work and in the evening, I would switch focus and write for client B. I was able to get the work done, but I found it would take me 3 or 4 days to complete my work for one client. With my new clients, I knew this wasnt going to fly for my business. There would be no way for me to write for 5-8 different clients and meet my deadlines. So, after  doing a little bit of research on productivity, I found if I did one simple thing  Ã‚  it would increase my  workflow. What is it? Its spending one day on one client. Since landing new clients, I found  that if I devote the entire day to one client I: End up writing more Able to better represent my clients brand and brand message when I can focus whole-hardheartedly on their content Can often complete their months   content needs in less time than if I worked on several clients at one time   Loving My Writing Business In the world of freelance writing, you can have dry spells where you havent any  clients and are desperate for client work at any price. Then, there will be times where you have too much writing tasks and you suddenly are desperate to drop a few clients to get some breathing room. Thats the life of a freelance writer. Youll have great months and poor months, but as long as you are seeing positive growth, youre going in the right direction. Ideally, you want to have soo much work you have  to arbitrage it out, but that can be a headache all by itself. Luckily, for me, Im enjoying consistent work on a daily basis. If youre a freelance writer, whats on your plate currently and how are you handling it? I want to hear from you! Oh, and dont forget, sharing is caring. Please Pin this!