March 16, 2026
I’ve been freelancing for two decades. That’s long enough to have made every mistake, survived every industry panic, and figured out what actually works for a freelance business to stay afloat without banging my head on my keyboard in frustration every week.
Some of these freelance business moves were intentional. Some I stumbled into or learned the hard way. They each made a difference, especially when I relied on knowing myself, my reputation, and sometimes applying the “send that email, then run and hide for the afternoon” tactic.
If you’re building a freelance business right now, I hope these practices help speed up the process for you.
Here are the 10 best things I did for my freelance career to sustain a freelance writing business since 2006:
I tracked my time.
It wasn’t because I billed hourly, but because I needed to know the truth about what freelance projects were actually costing me. Turns out, the “easy” client wasn’t so easy once I added up the revision rounds and check-in emails. Data doesn’t lie, even when you’d rather not look. (Or, it can tell you that a client project that “felt” particularly challenging resulted in a high hourly rate.)
Start there. Even one week of honest time tracking will tell you something you didn’t know about your business.
Check out another freelancer’s tips for long-term freelance success.
I created something of my own.
Writing for other people’s platforms built credibility and clips. But building something that was mine was different. I started my freelance writing tips newsletter in 2017, created online freelance courses and digital products based on what I learned, and committed to showing up consistently on LinkedIn to grow an audience I actually owned. Helping people feel like they knew me, my writing, and the work I did strengthened my personal brand in ways that client work alone never could.
You don’t have to build everything at once. Pick one thing and start.
I asked for referrals.
I reached out to previous clients, editor friends, and freelance contacts to ask if they knew anyone who could use my services. Here’s why it matters: people assume your client roster is full, especially if they see you posting on social media about what you’re working on. They had no idea I needed more business unless I said something. Most people were genuinely glad to keep me in mind; they just needed to know I was open to it.
Don’t wait for referrals to find you. Ask for referrals for your freelance business.
I told clients when I added new skills and services.
I didn’t assume they knew I’d added thought leadership ghostwriting or newsletter copywriting to my services. I made sure they knew, directly, when I checked in about upcoming projects that I added new freelance skills. Existing clients already trusted me. Giving them a reason to hire me for something else was one of the easiest ways I grew my income without finding a single new client.
Your next project might already be in your inbox. Remember, this also shows clients you’re upskilling and enhancing your business.
I got better at negotiating.
Getting better at negotiating as a freelancer takes practice but it also comes down to believing in the value I contribute. Most times, I didn’t automatically accept the first rate offered if I thought it was too low. I treated it as a starting point, because that’s usually what it was. I reminded clients what they were getting: 20 years in the industry, magazine staff editing experience, and someone who ran a successful freelance writing business. When the rate couldn’t move, other things usually could.
Know what you’re worth before you get on the call.
I got comfortable letting people know when I needed work.
This one took a few years to learn. There can be a weird shame spiral around saying, “I have availability right now,” like something is wrong if you have availability. It wasn’t. It’s just business. Tell clients, freelance friends, current clients, and your audiences on social media that you have availability. The freelancers who stay booked let their favorites know when there’s an opening in their schedule. Try this with five emails this week.
I kept a positive outlook.
SEO shifts all the time. (Do we need to hear “SEO is dead” one more time?) Algorithm updates across search and social can incinerate budgets. Magazines are folding every month. Layoff headlines can make me feel sad and nervous. I lived through all of it and I still maintain the belief that there’s freelance work out there for writers willing to get creative about finding it. The market changed. It didn’t disappear. The creatives and business owners who survive through the hard seasons pull their britches up and kept going.
I invested in relationships daily.
This looked like responding to comments on LinkedIn, answering DMs, emailing past clients, setting Notion reminders to follow up on cold outreach, and getting on calls with new contacts. Relationships, especially ones built on a solid reputation, were the reason I kept going when AI shifted the landscape, media changed, and anchor clients lost their budgets. No algorithm can replicate what a genuine professional relationship does for your business.
Tend to your network before you need it.
I set aside time to invest in myself.
My freelance business operating budget had money earmarked for conferences, books, courses, software, and skill-building. Client work made up about 60 percent of my week — the rest went toward honing skills, attending webinars, learning new tools, reading nonfiction, and staying on top of industry trends. Clients expected me to keep growing. No one was going to do that for me.
Your education is part of your business. Budget for it accordingly in your books and calendar time slots.
I didn’t let perfection get in the way of running my business.
Creatives struggle with this one — and I was no exception. I did my best work for clients, but I didn’t let “not perfect” become a reason to miss a deadline, skip a newsletter send, or go silent on LinkedIn for weeks. Sometimes I’d flag a section I wasn’t sure about to an editor: “Let me know if you need me to rework this so it’s hitting the right emotion for your audience.” That kind of transparency built more trust than a flawless draft would have.
Stop waiting for the perfect pitch idea, the perfect website name, the perfect LinkedIn post. Get something into the world.
Learning lessons takes time
I didn’t figure all of this out at once. Some of it took years, some of it took one bad client experience, and some of it I’m still working on. But looking back, every one of these moves compounded into something I’m genuinely proud of. Making small decisions consistently over time while trusting myself, my work, and believing that people will still want to hire writers has made a huge difference in my business.
If you want help taking your business to the next level, check out my freelance writing coaching.
Tags: freelance rates, freelance writer, freelance writing, freelance writing tips, productivity, writing tips
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