High-Income Business Writing Podcast

I love to look for patterns. And recently I’ve been looking for patterns as I’ve talked with coaching clients and peers who’ve reached the six-figure income level. Through those conversations, some interesting patterns emerged. In this episode, I give you a peek into those patterns—because they’ll give you a good idea of what six-figure writers do differently when compared to lower-income writers...

Having a well-defined target audience is a critical first step to freelance success. But it doesn’t end there. Because once you’ve identified your audience you now need to find some prospects to contact. That’s where many writers get stuck. If you’re in that situation now (or if you’ve ever been there), you’re going to get a ton out of this week’s podcast episode. My guest is the brilliant Jennifer Gregory. In this interview, Jennifer details her three-step “Audience First” method for finding potential clients. Her approach is both simple AND incredibly effective — and it’s something you can start using right away.

Interesting fact... The biggest reason writers become (and stay) self-employed is freedom and flexibility — not money. Unfortunately, way too many freelance writers are worse off today than they were when traditionally employed. Too many are struggling to earn a good living. Or they’re working with bad clients on projects they hate. Or they’re working longer hours than they ever have. That’s not freedom! How can you turn that around? It all starts by setting some “standards” for your business. And in this episode, I explain exactly how to do that.

When it comes to pricing, the most common question I get is, “How much should I charge for _________?” But no one has ever asked me, “What should my floor rate be?” In other words, the bare minimum you should be charging on any given project to make sure you cover your full costs as a freelancer. I’m not a fan of that kind of thinking. But there’s one exception. And that’s when you want to know and understand what your “all in” expenses are ... so you can make better overall pricing decisions. Knowing your “all in” expenses can bring some serious clarity to your pricing decisions. It can help you negotiate better and feel much more confident about quoting higher fees. In this week’s episode my colleague Robert McGuire from Nation1099 will show you how to calculate your own number. And he explains why knowing this is so important—regardless of where you are in your writing business or how much you currently earn.

We truly don’t talk enough about money and prosperity in the freelancing community. And that’s too bad, because the more we talk about this issue in positive and productive ways, the greater the chances our businesses will succeed. I mean... imagine companies like Microsoft, Apple, Walmart or Ford Motor Company ignoring money discussions and decisions. It would spell disaster! Many solo professionals avoid the topic because they were raised to believe that money is a taboo topic. Or because of other long-held beliefs about money that no longer serve them (and perhaps never have). Or because they’re overwhelmed and not sure where or how to even start to address the issue of earning more (and more consistently), keeping more of what they earn, and giving more to causes they care about. In this week’s episode, I’m joined by my good friend Austin L. Church, founder of FreelanceCake.com, a freelance marketing strategist and copywriter, and author of the brand new book, We dive deep into the topic of financial prosperity and how to achieve it. Among other things, we discuss: Where our beliefs about money come from Why most of them don’t serve us How we can achieve real and lasting financial success as self-employed professionals Why our pricing is a key lever to getting there Why reaching financial prosperity is about much more than just making more money Austin’s thoughts about the future of freelancing The episode is packed with useful ideas and powerful reframing. I think you’ll really enjoy it.