Note from Jennifer: Sometimes, we have discussions in the Freelance Content Marketing Writer group on Facebook that make me wish every writer out there could learn from the experiences being shared. Back in August, I published a roundup of productivity tips from writers in the group, and today’s post is full of examples of writers who had their best year ever in 2018. Cat DiStasio, my virtual assistant and an administrator of the Facebook group, compiled some of the best advice from the group discussion, shared here with permission. Cat’s previous guest posts include tips on writing social media posts and . Visit Cat’s website and blog for more freelance insights.

By Cat DiStasio

Whether you write about enterprise technology or fashion accessories, you’ll be most successful as a freelance writer if you know what you want to get out of your career. It might take you a year, five, or 15 to figure out what that is and it can be a moving target, especially as your needs and priorities change with different phases of your life. It’s enough to make your head spin, and may lead directly to a chronic case of stagnation if left untreated.

Brand new content marketing writers and seasoned pros have a few things in common, and one of them is the single, overarching goal to make each year of business their best ever. And that means the best ever for you specifically—for your needs and your goals. When thinking about how your year went, you only have to compare it to previous years. You never have to compare your year to anyone else’s, because their best year may not look anything like yours.

Having your best year ever also doesn’t mean you have to make more money than you did in past years. It doesn’t mean you have to have more clients, more bylines, or attend more conferences. If you’re anything like me, your best year would revolve around a healthy work-life balance and an extremely low stress level. Sometimes, words like ‘inner peace’ even find their way into the mix. Whatever the case, it’s your call. How you define your best year ever is entirely up to you.

Learn how these freelance writers made 2018 their best year ever:

Choosing sanity over money

Jessica Brown made 2018 her best year after reaching the point where she felt empowered to turn down clients who weren’t a good fit for her business. “It was my best year in the sense of the ability to be picky about my work, working very limited hours and STILL making a good income,” she said. “For me, it’s much easier to say ‘no’ to work that doesn’t pay well or isn’t a good fit for me when I stop, take a breath, and look at the big picture instead of responding right away. Does this assignment fit in with my priorities right now? Is the subject matter within my niche(s)? Will it leave time for other work I’m already committed to? Will it consume all my extra hours and take away from family time? Do I need the money to pay bills and put food on the table? Does the client or prospect seem easy or difficult to work with? There are many angles to consider, but ultimately, my gut tells me what to do. The more I practice saying ‘no’ to work that isn’t a good fit, the easier it becomes, and now I rarely second-guess myself when I have to turn down an assignment.”

Conquering fears and making dreams come true

Kirsten Akens made 2018 her best year ever, after five years of freelancing, by tackling a number of bucket list projects. “I wrote a book, picked up a big university project, and saw my byline in four goal publications!” she said. “I did Jennifer’s 2018 Marketing Challenge, which got me in the right frame of mind for the year, and I pitched about double what I have in prior years.” Kirsten also faced her fear of rejection head on, and triumphed. “I found that one of the most helpful things I did was join an online writers group focused on facing rejection,” she said. “It got me to set a goal for the number of pitches I wanted to send out in 2018, and to celebrate the rejections as a way to push through the fear of pitching. In particular, when going after big publications.” (NOTE: Jennifer’s 4th Annual Winter Marketing Challenge is underway right now, so check it out for tons of marketing ideas!) 

Increase your effective hourly rate

Tom Mangan made 2018 his best year ever by reaching his highest effective hourly rate to date. He did this by letting go of his lowest paying clients and investing in relationships with clients who paid higher rates. “I made the same income as my best year a few years back, but with 500 fewer hours worked,” he said. His advice to other writers is to get tough about your rates. “My main advice for making my goals is to stand by your minimum rate – and to unload clients that won’t pay it.”

Doubling your money

Leanna Johnson more than doubled her income in 2018, making it her best year ever. In the same year, she also spoke at her first conference and onboarded an average of one new client per month. She attributes her results to getting serious about approaching her freelance work as a business operation. “I prioritized running a business instead of just freelancing,” she said. “[I] got an accountant, and created my own schedule. I went through a lot of resources, but found that I could learn what I needed and move on. By the end of the year, I doubled my income and started seeing a profit.”

Connecting with long-term anchor clients

Niesha Davis made 2018 her best year by prioritizing relationships with anchor clients. After transitioning from a journalism background, Niesha learned that pitching to clients isn’t the best way to get content marketing work. So she adopted a new strategy. “I decided a few niches I wanted to get into (health and wellness, nutrition, and travel),” she said. “I then did some research and figured out I needed some steady clients that I wouldn’t have to constantly be pitching to and could just rely on. It was a lot rougher at first, I had to take some lower paying gigs to get my foot in the door and to build of credibility in each sector.” Like many writers who are new to content marketing, Niesha was skeptical of using LOIs to approach potential clients cold, but she experimented with it and found it worked well. “After gaining a few gigs I saw how much more fruitful it is to go out and uncover the work, instead of just relying on one-off pieces,” she said.

Was 2018 your best year ever as a freelance writer? If so, what made it the best?