This was a good month, especially the last part. I earned a solid amount of money. I enjoyed my projects. And I got great client feedback. I felt like I really hit that rare stride of getting it all right the last two weeks of October.

Here is how the month turned out for me. And you can check out all my previous monthly income breakdowns here.

October Breakdown

Agency 1
Project 1
$3,700 for a 2,500-word report based on a survey and
1,200-word article based on the report

A longtime client reached out and asked if I had availability for a quick-turn project. And I did. She then asked if I had experience writing about mental health, which I do – some, but not a ton. I resisted the urge to say no because it wasn’t tech, and I took a closer look. I realized that the report was for businesses about mental health and was very data based. I also looked at last year’s report and saw that the tone was similar to my natural tone. Because of these factors, I decided to go outside my niche and take on the project. And I’m very glad I said yes. The client loved it, and it was fun.

The project was very straightforward, and the client provided a detailed outline and all the data. I spent nine hours on the report and three hours on the article. My hourly rate was $308 for the project. The article was based on the report, so it was very simple to write.

Agency 2
Project 1
$2,500 for 2,500-word report

An agency that I landed from a cold email and worked with back in August asked if I wanted to do a report on 401K(k)s. Again, I almost said no because it was B2C, but I paused and looked into it. I realized that I have successfully written business-oriented B2C, such as about investing and insurance, so I looked at the samples. I also remembered that I used to write for Ameriprise on retirement investing without any drama, so I said yes. The report took me about 10 hours, and I earned a $250 hourly rate. And even better, on Friday, I got an email from the agency saying that the client LOVED it.

Agency 3
Project 1
$1,250 (half of fee) Design and moderate 45-minute webinar

I have realized that I love designing and moderating webinars. And I really need to market myself for these projects better. I landed this project by staying in touch with my editors and asking for work. They sent this my way. It’s halfway done, so I decided to count the work I completed on it in October for this month. I’ve spent six hours on this project so far at an hourly rate of $208. Oh, and the client was thrilled with my proposal for the angle and questions of the webinar.

Project 2
$250 30-minute webinar moderation

The same agency asked me to fill in for a writer who flaked on another webinar and to do just the moderation. I had a blast. The speaker was nervous at first, and I saw my efforts help her get more comfortable and give a better performance. It was very rewarding. I spent a total of two hours on the project at an hourly rate of $125.

Project 3
$850 for 800-word blog post

This is the project I do every month. Nothing new and exciting this month. While it seems like small potatoes on its own, I’ll have earned close to $10,000 in 2023 on this project. It took me three hours this month, at an hourly rate of $283.

Agency 4
Project 1
$2,700 for two-page flyer and email

This is a newer client that I did some work for in August and loved working with! I got the project through a referral from another freelancer, which is one of the best ways by far to get great clients. The client came back with more work for me this month. It was super-quick-turn work – 48 hours for this project, which was perfect for me. It took me about 10 hours, earning me an hourly rate of $270. And they already have sent me over a ton more work for November and December. I am pretty sure that they are going to be anchor clients. And they fit my ideal client profile – an agency with a giant tech company as a client.

Agency 5
Project 1
$1200

I did work for this client in 2022 and I landed more work this year after a check-in. I spent 3 hours on this project (it was from a webinar recording) with an hourly rate of $400 And they loved my work and have already sent me more.

Direct Client 1
$600 for 800 words

Another project I’ve done pretty much monthly for the past two years. I landed it through a referral from a fellow freelancer. My contact at the company left, so I was worried that I was going to lose the gig, but the new editor sent over this work. So it looks like I will keep my project. It took me three hours at a rate of $200 an hour.

Total earnings for October — $13,000 with 1.5 weeks off

The Good and the Bad

The first half of the month was stressful with my traveling, and I felt really tired. But I hit my groove the second half of the month with the prefect balance of work.

What worked this month:

• Going outside my comfort zone appropriately. It’s hard to find the balance between staying with your ideal client and realizing when a project that’s a bit outside your norm is actually a good fit. This month, I did a great job of that, taking two projects after careful consideration that ended up being a great fit. I really think that the reason that they were a fit was twofold: the client was an agency I worked with previously, even though it was a new-to-me client of theirs, and the tone of the project was one that I can nail. I’ve realized the reason I struggle outside my niche is more the tone than the subject matter.
• Staying in touch with clients. And yes, once again, most of my work was from staying in touch with clients. If I hadn’t stayed in touch with my regular clients, I only would have earned $5,150, not $13,000. Editors are busy. And they don’t want to spend hours and days trying to find a freelancer for a project. So when you keep in touch and let them know you have availability, then they are more likely to reach out because you are top of mind and they know you are likely to accept.
• Letting my clients know I love last-minute projects. The whole reason I got the $3,700 mental health project was that I have told my client to always call me for last-minute stuff, even for projects I don’t typically work on. And she did! I know this doesn’t work for everyone, but for those of you who like last-minute projects, be sure to continually remind clients to keep you in mind.
• Taking time off. I took time off throughout the first half of the month – about 1.5 weeks for a variety of reasons – to see my college kids, visit my mom and travel with my husband to a golf tournament he played in.
• Investing in myself. In September, I joined the Creator Kitchen to learn how to help me with my content that I create for myself – not for clients. And it’s been an amazing experience. And because of the inspiration and master classes, I’ve come up with a hopefully fabulous new idea. I’m launching a newsletter this week to help you design the business that really works for your superpowers, weaknesses and goals instead of simply following all the so-called freelance rules. Watch for an announcement later this week on how to sign up.

What didn’t work well this month:

• Taking a crapton of dogs into the rescue. I took 17 dogs into my dachshund rescue, most of them in the second half of the month. It made things a bit (OK, a lot) chaotic. Rescue goes in waves, and when the dogs are in need, the dogs are in need. I’ve tried to figure out how to balance things better, but I have decided I just do my best with the situations presented.
• Not finishing my new training course I want to launch. One day (hopefully soon) this won’t be on my list because it will be launched.
• Putting off invoicing. In recent months, I had been working hard to invoice as I went. But this month, I didn’t. And everything piled up, and I still need to do October. I really hate invoicing and am pretty much terrible at it.

How’s November Looking?

Right now, it’s looking great. On Friday, it looked pretty bleak and empty. Then I got an email with a crapton of new work for Agency 4 that will bring in the bulk of my income for November. And I’m sure I will get more work around it. But I feel positive that I’m going to finish the year strong and hopefully meet my minimum goal.

I’m not going to break $200,000 this year – and that’s OK. I’m probably going to be lucky to hit $150,000. It’s going to be one of my lower years in a while. I do think that the tech slowdown this summer was part of the reason. But it was also because I took a lot of time due to family issues. I was much lower than usual from April to July – a little from vacation, but mainly from clients cutting back. That said, work has really picked up since September, and I’m positive that we are on the upside of the cycle.

But I also I had a lot of other things that were important to me that happened this year – family emergencies and travel being the top ones – that came before work this year. And that’s the reason I freelance, so that I can find the balance between time and money based on what’s happening in my life. So while I am bummed about my lower year, I also know that I made the right choices for myself and my family.

How was your October? How is November looking?