Thinking About Monetizing Your Podcast with Freelance Writing?
Michelle Shares Strategies
Podcasters Getting Paid-The Course
Is now “live” you can can click on the following link for more details.
How to Get Into Freelance Writing with Miranda Marquit (Paid Subscribers)
I’ve included a 45 minute recorded video where Miranda Marquit-High 6 figure freelancer breaks down how to get into freelancing. She talks about freelancing from the business of freelancing standpoint vs. How podcasters can utilize freelance writing.
Let’s Talk About Freelancing
I’ve made thousands of dollars freelance writing. Depending on the year, it has been a significant part of my business revenue. Writing and being able to repurpose those writing skills can be a very lucrative income stream. While there are some downsides to freelance writing, there are many positives.
This year, however, I do plan on phasing out my freelance writing revenue and redirecting written content creation on the websites that I own. I have a love/hate relationship with freelancing. It can be very time consuming and I share some of the issues that I have with freelancing in this newsletter.
But I appreciate it so much for the role it has played in building my online brand. With that in mind in this week’s newsletter I’m going to share the Good and the Bad of freelance writing as a revenue stream.
What Can Freelance Writing Do for Your Show?
Solidify your expertise in the content space that your show is in.
Attract attention to your work by being positioned in a completely different space. Why? Because there are so many people looking for new experts or insights from people who aren’t a part of the status quo. Part of what I love so much about freelance writing is that it functions as a resume builder and organizations pay YOU to lend your expertise, or learn about an area of interest or passion.
If you have a website (and you should) it’s a fantastic backlinking strategy. Backlinks from well-known websites can increase you website’s authority.
Connect you with thought leaders in the space you’re in that you might not have met before. You can leverage freelance writing as a networking opportunity.
Make money if you have the right systems in place.
How To Find Freelance Projects?
There are so many ways to find paid freelancing work. I’m going to share a few.
Speak out! Let people know in your content creation space that you’re looking for freelance projects. You may say “yes” to a few entry level projects that help you begin building out your writing portfolio.
Free resources-There are some great resources that search the internet for freelance projects and share them on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. I’ve shared a few below.
The Writer’s Job-A curated list of opportunities.
Kaitlyn Arford-She curates a fantastic list of freelance opportunities. I think she shares them every other week.
Twitter-Yes, Twitter. I have a lot of feelings about Twitter right now. But, it has made me money. Action tip: Follow editors of companies that you would like to write for on Twitter. They post calls for writers in REAL TIME.
Challenges with Freelance Writing: The Bad
Freelancing can be a great way to build your brand-It can also become a huge distraction if you don’t have systems in place and freelancing can accidentally take over the time that you’ve allocated for podcasting and other projects.
Your rates have to make sense-For the amount of time that it takes for you to work on the projects that you say “yes” to. I’ve noticed that I often hear of freelance writers who are still getting paid entry level rates because of the following:
They don’t have a system in place to raise their rates.
Some freelancers refuse to believe that they can get paid more than .10 cents a word.
They don’t have a pitching system set up so that they can bring in new projects on a daily/weekly/bi-weekly basis
It’s hard to know what your rates should be-The best way to manage this issue is to build community with other freelancers. Getting feedback and insight from other freelancers about what they’re charging, how they negotiate and who is hiring/good to work with/or is a horrible place to freelance for is huge.
There are a lot of headwinds impacting 1099 contract work which is often what freelancing is umbrellaed under.
Photo Credit: Unsplash
Tips on How to Pitch
Keep your pitches short and simple. Editors are busy.
When sending over a pitch I do the following:
In the email subject line include: Pitches: And My Name
A formal greeting or salutation-The editor doesn’t know me. So we’re literally in a “job interview phase”
Dear Mr.
Dear Ms.
A brief couple of sentences that say something such as (yes, still very formal-I’m trying to get paid)
Opening paragraph “I hope you’re doing well. I’m responding to your recent post seeking freelance writers. I believe I would be a good fit for this project. Here are 3 pitches that I think may fit the content brief”
With editors that I am “new” to I will send 3-7 well-crafted pitches. I look for posts that they haven’t published on their platform, a different angle to topics that they’ve already published but could be explored in a different way. And I look to pitch content that will compliment the content that’s already on their website.
THEN I include bullet point details about me that included the following
The amount of years I’ve created content in the space that I’m pitching in and the fact that I’ve won awards “I’m an award winning content creator in the personal finance space.”
A link to my writing portfolio
A link to my website that fits the content brief. For example: If I’m pitching an editor who is looking for freelance writers covering outdoor lifestyle topics-I will link to my Colorado website.
Keep everything BRIEF. One or two sentences max for each bullet point.
The last sentence that I almost always include is that I’m happy to answer any additional questions that they may have. I almost always end up getting a response and moving forward with clients that I pitch.
Podcasters Getting Paid-The Course
I was getting a lot of questions about podcast monetization that would normally fall under a high-ticket group coaching offering.
I am not interested in group coaching. Why? I love having high-ticket products BUT one of my primary goals as I serve others with my content is to create accessible tools. Conversations around strategy can make or break a person’s brand and wallet.
Unfortunately, those conversations around strategy are often subject to gatekeeping.
With that in mind, I’ve designed and priced Podcasters Getting Paid-The Course with the idea of creating equitable access to the strategies of monetization. There are 5 tiers available ranging from $97-$297. Each tier has “Thank you” bonuses.
Prices will go up after the Beta Launch-But, the course will still be affordable. Click here for more details about the course.
A High Earning Freelancer Shares Tips
(Paid Subscribers)
My friend Miranda Marquit was kind enough to share some tips and insight on how to get into freelancing. She doesn’t hold back on what to expect and what to consider. I hope you I you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
