Hi Reader,

Happy Friday!

I spent five days last week in the British countryside and hooooo it was much needed. March was CHAOTIC for me. I sold my flat, bought a house, took on a huge content management project, and still had my regular client load to bear.

I'm glad it's almost over, but I'm excited about what's next: a big renovation project, more content management opportunities, and even more resources for freelancers 😉

Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to this week:

👉 I wrote 3 pieces for clients (Klaviyo and Shopify)

👉 I created new briefs for a client I'm content managing for

👉 I sent March's invoices

⏱ Approx hours spent on client work this week: ~16

⏱ Approx hours spent on non-client work: ~2

💰 Total revenue this week: £2,250

Friday Freelance Tip​​ ✨ ​

It’s really easy to feel stagnant and get complacent as a freelancer.

Once we’ve landed a couple of clients and have a somewhat steady stream of work, we don’t want to rock the boat in case we lose everything.

But I see a ton of freelancers getting comfy in that rut. And, when that happens, it can lead to two things:

1. You start hating your job
2. You hit a roadblock and struggle to move past it (some freelancers end up going back to employment)

​
But over the past 10 years, I’ve felt stuck in a rut more times than I can shake a stick at. Every year, at least twice (sometimes thrice), I think “What the heck am I doing? Do I want to do this anymore? Why does everything feel meh?”.

And this is when I know I’m stuck in a rut.

It usually happens when my client roster has been the same for months, I’m working on similar projects, and I have nothing exciting on the horizon.

The thing with freelancing is, we don’t have someone pushing us to do more and be better. It feels “safe” when we have a recurring schedule of clients. Predictability is GREAT, right? But why would we choose to feel stagnant when we can choose to feel unstagnant (is that a word?).

When you start to feel comfy in that rut? THAT’S when things need to change. And, unfortunately, as our own bosses, we’re the only person who can make those changes.

Here’s how I shake myself out of a rut (with some helpful resources to guide you through it).

I give my business an internal facelift

Sometimes it’s not the client work (or lack of it) that brings us down, it’s the sheer monotony of our internal processes. I know for me personally, I really struggled to make my business feel fun and professional in the early days because I was tying myself in knots trying to keep up with every client’s (very different) processes.

Once I revamped my internal processes and found a workflow that helped me feel good about my work AND reserved time for fun stuff like marketing and creating resources, everything changed.

Resources to help you: Workflow Wizard.​

I mix up my roster

Working with the same clients for a long period of time is great. I’ve worked with some clients for 3+ years and I know their businesses inside out. It takes me mere hours to write a piece for them and we have a great relationship.

But sometimes you just have to shake things up right? Otherwise, you end up writing the same content for the same clients for the same money. What once felt “safe” and “predictable” can quickly feel dull, repetitive, and monotonous.

As freelancers, we must always challenge ourselves with new projects, new clients, and new experiences—that’s how we grow and improve our craft.

Resources to help you: Find Your Next 3 Clients​

I get out of the house

To be honest, I never really work from home anyway because it’s procrastination-central for me. I try to work from a coworking space at least 3 days a week and meet up with other freelancers for a bit of company.

Hearing what others are doing and the exciting things my fellow freelancers are working on inspires me to do and be better. Often, bouncing around ideas with someone who knows what it’s like to be a freelancer can lead to great things.

I add a new service or work on my craft

Again, as freelancers, we don’t have someone putting us forward for training or development opportunities so we have to do it ourselves.

When I’m feeling particularly stuck, I experiment with adding a new service to my arsenal or working on my craft—there’s no such thing as too much “learning” right?

I’ll either take a course to focus on a specific aspect of my craft (like a course about storytelling) or I’ll pick a new skill and weave it into my existing services (like the time I started offering landing page writing services or content management services).

Resources to help you: Create Better Content​

The bottom line is this: ruts happen. What we don’t want to do is get comfy in that rut. Instead of resigning ourselves to a “this is it” mentality, we must keep pushing forward. This can be something as small as tweaking your internal processes or something as major as revamping your client roster or adding a brand new service to your offerings.

I’d love to hear how you deal with the dreaded ruts. Any particular tips or tricks you’ve got up your sleeve? I’m ALL ears!

This week, we have a frugal freelance writer advocating for reasonable spending. 💸

Where are you based? Spain.

How long have you been freelancing? 3+ years.

What do you do? I’m a full-time B2B writer, primarily working with SaaS brands.

What was your 2023 revenue? €78K. It was my highest earning year to date.

What was your net profit in 2023? Around €32k after all expenses.

How much did you take as a salary? I pay myself €1000 a month. I live with my partner, so we pay for rent, car, food, bills, etc. 50/50. I don't like spending my money. I much rather invest it or save it. €1K is not a lot for many, perhaps. But for me, more than enough.

How much do you pay in taxes? I pay income tax, which is around 30% of my revenue. Plus, social security contributions of about €300 every month. (They're tax deductible though!)

What are your business expenses?

Software tools, I'd say, are under €100/month. Accountant is around €60 a month. Business-wise, I also spent around €8K on subcontractors last year. Personally, I bought a car since I needed to replace my old one. It cost €25K, and I bought it outright, not on finance.

Do you contribute to a pension?

Yes, It's covered under my social security contributions that I mentioned above.

What else do you do with the money you earn freelancing?

I also invest in ETFs, stocks, and crypto. 💰

Do you have any hot money-management tips?

Don't live beyond your means. Where possible, don't buy things on finance (a mortgage is okay). Pay yourself a fixed salary, so you're not tempted to spend your money.

As always, happy freelancing :)

Lizzie ✨

P.S. What steps can you take next?

Arm yourself with the resources, templates, and tutorials you need to find and pitch high-paying clients in 2024. Get £20 off the Pitch & Prosper program.

​Get Workflow Wizard, your handy library of freelancing templates, tutorials, and email scripts to help better your business.

Want to learn the exact process I use to write £1,000 posts for the likes of Shopify, Hotjar, CoSchedule, and Sprout Social? Access Create Better Content here.​​​

Follow me on Instagram and on Linkedin, where you can see the behind-the-scenes of my business.