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Freelance Writing Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their freelance writing companies.

If you’re unfamiliar with creating a freelance writing business plan, you may think creating one will be a time-consuming and frustrating process. For most entrepreneurs it is, but for you, it won’t be since we’re here to help. We have the experience, resources, and knowledge to help you create a great business plan.

In this article, you will learn some background information on why business planning is important. Then, you will learn how to write a freelance writing business plan step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What is a Freelance Writing Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your freelance writing business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategies for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan for a Freelance Writing Business

If you’re looking to start a freelance writing business or grow your existing freelance writing company, you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your freelance writing business to improve your chances of success. Your freelance writing business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Sources of Funding for Freelance Writing Businesses

With regard to funding, the main sources of funding for a freelance writing business are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans, and angel investors. When it comes to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to ensure that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business. Personal savings and bank loans are the most common funding paths for freelance writing companies.

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How to write a business plan for a freelance writing business.

If you want to start a freelance writing business or expand your current freelance writing business, you need a business plan. The guide below details the necessary information for how to write each essential component of your freelance writing business plan.

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your executive summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the kind of freelance writing business you are running and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have a freelance writing business that you would like to grow, or are you operating freelance writing and formatting businesses?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan.

• Give a brief overview of the freelance writing industry.
• Discuss the type of freelance writing business you are operating.
• Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers.
• Provide a snapshot of your marketing strategy. Identify the key members of your team.
• Offer an overview of your financial plan.

Company Overview

In your company overview, you will detail the type of freelance writing business you are operating.

For example, you might specialize in one of the following types of freelance writing businesses:

• Copywriting: Copywriting is focused on marketing materials to encourage a target audience to make a purchase; it is compelling and focused writing that leads consumers to a decision.
• Grant writing: Grant writing is focused on the art of persuasion, typically noting the needs of a non-profit company and then offering the solution via the services or products of the non-profit company. Grant writing requires research and a storyline that compels readers to provide funding for worthy public or private projects.
• Technical freelance writing: A technical freelance writer is focused on user manuals, product documentation, and instructional guides. This type of writing demands expertise in vocabulary and precision in writing.
• Resume/Cover Letter freelance writing: One of the major reasons freelance writers are hired is the on-going need for creative, yet comprehensive resumes and/or cover letters. Almost every person seeking employment today will look for a writer to take on the task of creating compelling content in the form of a winning resume.

In addition to explaining the type of freelance writing business you will operate, the company overview needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to questions such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of customers served, the amount of revenue during the past six months, opening a design and formatting business to support the freelance writing business, etc.
• Your legal business structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry or market analysis, you need to provide an overview of the freelance writing industry.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the freelance writing industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your marketing strategy, particularly if your analysis identifies market trends.

The third reason is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your freelance writing business plan:

• How big is the freelance writing industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential target market for your freelance writing business? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your freelance writing business plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: individuals, businesses, charitable foundations and  government agencies.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of freelance writing business you operate. Clearly, individuals would respond to different marketing promotions than government agencies, for example.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regard to demographics, including a discussion of the ages, genders, locations, and income levels of the potential customers you seek to serve.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can recognize and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

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Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other freelance writing businesses.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t directly competing with your product or service. This includes companies that provide templates, forms, or computer-generated materials. You need to mention such competition, as well.

For each direct competitor, provide an overview of their business and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What type of freelance writing business are they?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What sets their business apart from others?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regard to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And, don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide options for 24/7 service or 2-hour turnaround times?
• Will you offer products or services that your competition doesn’t?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a freelance writing business plan, your marketing strategy should include the following:

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of freelance writing company that you documented in your company overview. Then, detail the specific products or services you will be offering. For example, will you provide full-package curriculum vitae completion for C-suite executives?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your plan, you are presenting the services you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the site of your freelance writing company. Document where your company is situated and mention how the site will impact your success. For example, is your freelance writing business located in a corporate complex where customers can meet in-person with you to discuss projects? Discuss how your site might be the ideal location for your customers.

Promotions : The final part of your freelance writing marketing plan is where you will document how you will drive potential customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertise in local papers and/or magazines
• Reach out to websites
• Distribute direct mail pieces to your target audience
• Engage in email marketing
• Advertise on social media platforms
• Improve the SEO (search engine optimization) with target keywords on your website

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your freelance writing business, including answering calls, planning and researching subject matter, paying invoices, contacting customers, etc.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to expand your freelance writing business to a second resume-writing service.

Management Team

To demonstrate your freelance writing business’ potential to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally, you and/or your team members have direct experience in managing freelance writing businesses. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But, also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act as mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in managing a freelance writing business or successfully running a copywriting department in a large corporation.

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statements.

Income Statement

An income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenue and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you serve more than ten customers per month, and/or offer special pricing for projects over 20,000 pages in length? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets

Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your freelance writing business, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a lender writes you a check for $50,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement

Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and ensure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit, but run out of money and go bankrupt.

When creating your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a freelance writing business:

• Cost of computer and printer equipment
• Cost of furnishings
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Other start-up expenses (if you’re a new business) like legal expenses, permits, computer software, office supplies and equipment

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan, along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your office location lease or a list of high-profile resources you can access and include in your writing categories.

Writing a business plan for your freelance writing business is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will understand the freelance writing industry, your competition, and your customers. You will develop a marketing strategy and will understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful freelance writing business.

Freelance Writing Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my freelance writing business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily write your freelance writing business plan.

How Do You Start a Freelance Writing Business?

Starting a Freelance Writing business is easy with these 14 steps:

• Choose the Name for Your Freelance Writing Business
• Create Your Freelance Writing Business Plan
• Choose the Legal Structure for Your Freelance Writing Business
• Secure Startup Funding for Your Freelance Writing Business (If Needed)
• Secure a Location for Your Business
• Register Your Freelance Writing Business with the IRS
• Open a Business Bank Account
• Get a Business Credit Card
• Get the Required Business Licenses and Permits
• Get Business Insurance for Your Freelance Writing Business
• Buy or Lease the Right Freelance Writing Business Equipment
• Develop Your Freelance Writing Business Marketing Materials
• Purchase and Setup the Software Needed to Run Your Freelance Writing Business
• Open for Business

Where Can I Download a Free Business Plan Template PDF?

Click here to download the pdf version of our basic business plan template.

Our free business plan template pdf allows you to see the key sections to complete in your plan and the key questions that each must answer. The business plan pdf will definitely get you started in the right direction.

We do offer a premium version of our business plan template. Click here to learn more about it. The premium version includes numerous features allowing you to quickly and easily create a professional business plan. Its most touted feature is its financial projections template which allows you to simply enter your estimated sales and growth rates, and it automatically calculates your complete five-year financial projections including income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. Here’s the link to our Ultimate Business Plan Template.

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Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.   Click here to see how Growthink’s business planning advisors can create your business plan for you.

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How To Create A Freelance Business Plan – Guide + Template

Having a solid freelance business plan is crucial for achieving long-term success. While you may not have the same traditional structure as a brick-and-mortar business, it’s essential to have a roadmap that outlines your goals, target audience, and financial projections. In this article, we’ll discuss the key components of a business plan for freelancers and offer tips on how to create a plan that sets you up for success.

• Purpose of a business plan
• Benefits and advantages

The Business Model Canvas

Value proposition, customer segments, customer relations, key partners, key resources, key activities.

• Revenue Stream

Cost Structure

The lean canvas.

• Freelance business plan template + checklist
• Executive Summary
• Company and Strategy
• Products and Services
• Market Analysis
• Competitors
• Marketing and Sales
• Organization and Resources
• Risk Analysis
• Action Plan
• Common mistakes when creating a business plan

Purpose of a freelance business plan

A business plan forms the foundation of your company. It records the business idea and all the important components that contribute to its success or failure. Therefore, a business plan not only helps to get an idea of what the chances of success are for a plan, but also serves to keep an eye on the development of the company after the start-up, and to make target-actual comparisons and counteract negative changes in a timely manner.

In addition to its internal purpose, a business plan also fulfils external tasks. When starting a business, it especially serves as a basis for evaluation by external capital providers.

A good business plan can already be helpful in the start-up phase to convince potential investors, banks, authorities, as well as potential sales partners, customers or suppliers of the business idea.

However, before diving straight into the creation of a business plan, one should first engage with their business idea in order to illuminate it from all sides. This not only helps to avoid early failure, but also makes the creation of a freelance business plan much easier.

Why use a business plan? Benefits and advantages

Before you start creating the perfect freelance business plan, let’s take a look at the benefits and advantages that it can offer:

• Increased clarity: A business plan can help you get clarity to your decision-making process and helps you put your end goal at the core and work towards it.
• Provides clear structure: A business plan provides structure and allows you to define business objectives. When consulted regularly, it can help measure and manage your areas of focus that are of the utmost priority.
• Creates a marketing roadmap: A business plan allows you to create an effective marketing roadmap, which in turn can help you define things like target market(s), target customers, schedules, timeframes, etc.
• Improved financial decisions: Planning for expenses effectively is crucial when it comes to freelancing. A business plan gives you the information needed to make better decisions financially.

To analyse the potential of a business idea, one can use a variety of methods. One of the most comprehensive tools for this is the Business Model Canvas by Alexander Osterwalder. In this method, a business idea is placed at the centre and related to 9 dimensions – the so-called building blocks:

Revenue Streams

During the development and analysis of the business idea, all fields are filled with the corresponding contents. Plan to spend two to three hours working on these fields. It is important to take enough time to consider the thoughts for each building block, but not to plan every field in detail. Remember, the completion of the Business Model Canvas should only show whether the business idea is feasible and serves as a guide for what needs to be considered.

The Value Proposition defines the extent to which the business model brings benefits to the customer. The following questions help to define the promise of performance:

• What problem am I solving?
• What exactly am I offering?
• Why are customers looking for my service specifically?
• What makes my offer better than the competition?

Next is the definition of the target audience or customers. It is important to define customer segments that will buy your services or products. Potential customers are grouped together based on their characteristics. The group characteristics can be traditional demographic factors (age, gender, location, etc.) or can focus on purchasing behaviour or reasons for buying.

Next, the channels through which you want to inform your customers about the product or service are defined. It is important to find out where and how potential customers shop. Here are some questions to answer:

• How and where do customers find out about the offering?
• How do customers become aware of my product or service?
• How can customers buy my products and services?
• How do I provide the service or how does the service reach my customers?

To capture all relevant touchpoints between customers and your business, it is recommended to record the so-called customer journey. Here, you put yourself in your customer’s shoes and document every step he or she takes from gathering information to making a purchase (and possibly beyond). This will help you identify the channels that you need to establish and manage for your business.

If you have already thought about the customer journey, you’re halfway to defining customer care. It is not only important to consider how to attract and win customers, but also how to keep the ones you already have. Consider the following questions:

• What options do you have to communicate with your customers?
• Is there a customer service hotline, a contact form, an email address?
• How do customers learn about your new offerings?

In the next step, you will think about possible partnerships and how you and your business depend on them. This includes suppliers and vendors, as well as technology partners or regulatory bodies that you need to work with. Focus on the really relevant partners without whom you couldn’t do your job.

The same applies to Key Resources. Here, the resources needed for your work are listed, including:

• Employees or roles that need to be filled
• Financial resources and capital
• Intangible resources such as licences, brands, patents, etc.
• Material resources such as laptops, office equipment, company cars, etc.

Of course, not every pencil you need to buy for your business needs to be listed here. The focus should be on the critical resources for success.

The definition of Key Activities is one of the simpler tasks in the Business Model Canvas. Here, all activities that contribute to the success of the business model are listed. The other components of the business idea also contribute to this, which is why it is worth deriving the Activities from them.

In general, you need to ask yourself what activities need to be performed to fulfil the value proposition, win customers, and maintain day-to-day operations.

Next, it is important to define how you make money with your business . For freelancers, this means defining their hourly rate or considering other revenue models to generate income. Are there perhaps special contracts that bring recurring revenue or are only the hours billed each time? Define all essential sources of revenue and how they work.

Lastly, the cost structure is defined. The most important variable and fixed costs and their causes must be identified. These may include:

• Production costs
• Marketing costs
• Licence costs
• Personnel costs

As a further development of the Business Model Canvas, the Lean Canvas became known in 2010. It is specifically adapted to the fast-paced and limited resources of a startup and focuses on the problem to be solved and the solution to be provided, as well as the so-called unfair advantage and the core metric. In the Lean Canvas, these elements replace the Key Activities, Partners, Resources, and Customer Relations.

Often business ideas fail because they don’t solve a relevant problem. Therefore, this component was added to the Lean Canvas.

Once the problem to be solved has been identified, the focus shifts to providing a corresponding solution quickly and easily. The Lean Canvas approach involves using an MVP (minimum viable product). The MVP represents the minimum version of the solution – the raw version. This is launched on the market as soon as possible and then further developed in collaboration with customers.

The unfair advantage essentially describes the competitive advantage. For startups, it is important to know this very well or, if it does not exist from the beginning, to define it.

Young companies often lose themselves in the masses of numbers and metrics that define the success of a business. To prevent this, entrepreneurs who choose the Lean Canvas approach should first define only one metric from which they can measure success and failure. At the beginning, when the survival of the company is paramount, this could be profit. Later, when it comes to growth, other metrics come into play.

How to create a freelance business plan – Template + checklist

For those who have thoroughly considered their business idea beforehand, writing a freelance business plan will be easy. The elements of the Business Model Canvas or the Lean Canvas often overlap with the elements of the business plan and only need to be worked out in more detail. The planned size and complexity of the business idea also determine the content and scope of the plan.

The following elements provide a guide for creating your freelance business plan:

1. Executive Summary 

The Executive Summary is a brief overview of the business plan. The business idea is explained briefly and concisely, usually along with the purpose, objectives, and goals of the business. The industry and growth potential of the market are described, and finally, the key investment and financial data are presented.

Write the Executive Summary at the end of the business plan. It serves as a compact overview of the business idea and as the first evaluation criterion for the potential success of the business model and its financing for potential investors.

The chapter, which should be no more than one and a half pages long, includes:

• Business idea
• Offer – products & services
• Industry / Market
• Growth potential of the market
• Financial requirements

2. Company & Strategy

In this section, the foundation for the company’s concept is laid out. The approaches for a successful implementation are presented in detail. It is also important to highlight the arguments and strengths of the idea and the planned company. These can be supported, for example, by a SWOT analysis.

The following sub-chapters are included:

• Founding history
• Milestones, capital, and shareholder structure
• Business goal
• Business purpose
• Vision and strategy

3. Products & Services

This section of a freelance business plan contains all information about your products and services. Define them precisely, describe their unique selling points, and think about pricing segments. 

The subchapters include:

• Products or services
• Product or service advantages
• Pricing segments

4. Market Analysis

For a successful business, the appropriate market potential must be present. Therefore, the selected market must be analysed in detail. Identify customer groups and define strategic business areas. The topics to be addressed include:

• Market volume
• Market position and market shares
• Growth potential
• Framework conditions (economic and legal factors)
• Entry barriers
• Competitive analysis
• Customer groups (segmentation)
• Strategic business areas (product per segment)
• Market objectives
• Outlook on potentials and future.

5. Competition

Here you take a look beyond your own company and get an idea of who your direct competitors are, who your market companions are, and how the situation can develop in the future. The following points belong in the competition analysis:

• Direct competitors
• Their products and services
• Their strengths and weaknesses

6. Marketing & Sales

For a business idea to succeed, the right marketing and promotion of the product or service is crucial. Here, you describe the marketing concept and your marketing mix, where you define what you market where, how, and at what cost. Common models for processing are, for example, the 4 or 7 P’s. In addition, the marketing concept should include all important key points for the timeframe of market entry. The sub-chapters for this chapter include:

• Sales and distribution strategy, distribution channels
• Pricing, price policy
• Communication strategy, channels, advertising, PR

7. Organisation & Resources

For the successful development of a company, resources, management, and employees play an important role. Therefore, this part Organization and Resources describes everything that is important for the organisation of the company, production, or service provision. This includes points such as:

• Production process (location, technology, capacities, etc.)
• Inventory management
• Research & Development
• Legal situation
• Patents/licences
• Responsibilities
• Development/expansion potential

8. Risk Analysis

In this section, possible opportunities and risks are described, as well as measures to counteract the risks. In classic risk analysis, risks and their consequences are listed and classified according to the likelihood of occurrence.

The risk matrix provides information about which risks are critical. For risks in the high and extreme categories, measures to limit or remedy them must be defined. Potential risks can be found, for example, in:

• Management / personnel

9. Financing

A business plan for a planned self-employment cannot be created without detailed financial planning. Create the financial plan in the business plan for a period of 3-5 years to increase planning security. The following topics belong in the financial plan:

• Cost structure
• Revenue cycle
• Cash flow plan – comparison of expenses and revenues
• Profit planning – profit and loss statement
• (Planned) balance sheet – overview of asset ratios
• Required capital / investments

10. Action Plan

No matter how detailed your business plan is, it won’t help if it doesn’t lead to a structured and realistic action plan. Define all the steps that need to be taken until your product or service is on the market. You can use the chapters of the business plan as a guide. The next steps need to be defined, for example, for:

• Product/Service
• Business start-up/Company
• Resources/Partners
• Marketing/Market entry
• Location/Business premises

11. Appendix

In the appendix, documents can be included that would exceed the scope of the respective chapter. For example, the following can be included:

• Resumes / Founders’ Profiles
• Financial planning (Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flow)
• Operating permits / Patents
• Organisational charts

📌 Business Model checklist ➯ DOWNLOAD

Common mistakes when creating a business plan (and how to avoid them)

When it comes to such a labour-intensive process as creating a business plan, it can be frustrating when errors creep in. To help you with this, we’ve identified the most common sources of errors below and provide tips on how to avoid them:

Lack of knowledge (e.g. in the area of finance)

• Scrutinise the areas where you are unsure, especially critically.
• Acquire any missing knowledge if necessary.
• Seek out partners and advisors who have the expertise you lack.

Missing structure in the business plan

• Pay attention to the logical structure of the business plan. The chapters and subchapters can follow a different order in your plan if it makes more sense for your business idea.
• Focus on the important components of your business plan, which may vary depending on the purpose of the plan (investor pitch, business planning, etc.)
• Various organisations offer consulting services to entrepreneurs, some of which are even subsidised by the states.

Insufficient differentiation

• Even if your idea seems incredibly unique to you, a comprehensive competitor analysis is necessary.
• This is the only way to define a convincing unique selling proposition (USP) – which is also essential for the success of your business idea.
• Not only does the business idea need unique selling propositions, but each product and service also needs to stand out in the market. Therefore, define a unique value proposition (UVP) for your products and services as well.

Underestimating risks

• Nobody becomes self-employed overnight without careful consideration. Therefore, inform yourself carefully about the risks of self-employment and choose your approach consciously.
• Use various analysis tools to minimise risks.

Poor planning

• It’s easier to take the next steps if they are specifically planned and written down. A dedicated action plan of the individual steps is therefore essential to make the business plan a reality.
• To avoid suddenly facing insurmountable obstacles, a secure risk planning is needed. Make sure to think this through thoroughly before embarking on the adventure!

These articles might be interesting too:

• Client Acquisition: Tips to Acquire Clients & Set Up Your Strategy
• Freelance Profile: What to Include, Tips and Examples
• Self-Marketing Tips And Tricks: How To Promote Yourself As A Freelancer

Stefania Volpe

Stefania joined the international team at freelancermap in 2020. She loves marketing, the digital world, foreign languages and meeting different cultures. She moved from Italy to Germany thanks to an exchange program at the university and worked as marketing manager for several startups. Now she focuses on helping freelancers and IT professionals to find jobs and clients worldwide at www.freelancermap.com.

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Dhruv has worked on successful fundraises and consulting projects worth over $1 billion, with a focus on energy, tech, food, and life science projects across Asia, the US, and Africa. He is a partner at a consulting firm and has more than a decade of experience in fundraising, startup consulting, process improvement, M&A, and project finance. With an MBA in finance, Dhruv enjoys the exposure and sheer variety of assignments that come with freelancing.

Toptal Projects

David Fulep

David is an M&A expert who has worked with the owners of 100+ businesses to raise capital, exit their investments at premium valuations, or execute successful acquisitions and IPOs. With 15+ years of experience, including six years at PwC, he has worked in many industries and extensively in the TMT and renewable energy sectors. David joined Toptal to advise clients on complex M&A and capital-raising transactions across the world.

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Sandeep Mathur

Sandeep has analyzed 1,000+ corporates and closed debt, equity, and M&A transactions of over $15 billion as a finance professional. After working for 20+ years in top-tier banks like Barclays, HSBC, and Standard Chartered, he now advises growth companies, leveraging his expertise in modeling, fundamental analysis valuation, and fundraising. As a seasoned problem solver, Sandeep has worked as a fractional CFO for startups, advised on early-stage funding rounds, and designed pricing models.

Standard Chartered

Josh Chapman

Josh is an investment banker turned VC who lives in Denver, CO. At Morgan Stanley, he covered the world's top hedge funds and sold over $5 billion in IPOs for companies like Alibaba, LendingClub, GrubHub, and more. He also has experience in M&A, startup fundraising, and as a founder. Currently, Josh is one of the managing partners of Konvoy Ventures, a VC firm focused on esports and video gaming.

Konvoy Ventures (VC Firm)

Julio C. Ortiz

Julio has diversified experience as a finance VP for multinationals based in the US and Latin America in the financing, pharmaceutical, luxury goods, and personal care sectors and distribution channels, such as retail, wholesale, and travel retail. Julio's expertise includes financial planning and modeling, investment banking, commercial real estate, fundraising, business plan development, logistics, company valuation, and strategic and visionary leadership based on innovation and creativity.

Prime Wealth Development

Carlo Palmieri

A Wharton MBA graduate, Carlo has led transactions on $10 billion worth of LBO and growth capital deals. He's worked in investment banking, M&A (Deutsche Bank), management consulting (Bain & Company, Oliver Wyman), and corporate development (Lehman Brothers). Carlo leverages his skills in corporate finance, business strategy, and international business development to help companies scale and deliver value for their investors.

Lehman Brothers

Wen helped a French multimillion-euro food startup build its equity story and manage potential acquirers (Danone). She has project experience with private equity funds, venture capital, and industrial groups in France, Belgium, China, Africa, and the US. She is skilled in financial analysis and modeling, investor deck, and market research. Wen freelances to help advise startups and corporates on business strategy, investor relations, and fundraising projects.

Toptal Clients

Bertrand Deleuse

Bertrand is a 25-year finance veteran with a true 360 experience, honed as an investment banker, venture advisor, project developer, CFO, and expert witness consultant in international arbitrations. He has advised and partnered on over 100 transactions and investment initiatives totaling over $16 billion. Bertrand is a seasoned problem solver and decision-maker with expert facilitation skills. Bertrand advises on M&A, corporate development, venture growth, project development, and financing.

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Diana Lotti

Freelance Writer & Photographer

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How to Create a Freelance Writing Business Plan for your First Year (+ Free Checklist!)

• January 9, 2023

If you are a freelance writer looking to start or grow your business, then working on a simple business plan is a key step to help you succeed and reach your first-year goals . 

For many, creating a freelance writing business plan is daunting, and searching for online free template results in even more confusion due to the business jargon. However, with the right guidance and information, you can create a solid plan to help you get new clients and reach your independence as a self-employed individual. 

A freelance writing business plan will also help you make important decisions, set goals and targets, and evaluate your progress. In this article, my goal is to teach you how to create a business plan for your freelance writing business to help you create a strategy and set you up for success.

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through any links, at no extra cost to you. Please read my full disclosure for more information.

Table of Contents

Creating a Freelance Writing Business Plan

Define your freelance writing business goals.

Defining your freelance writing business goals provides you with a starting point that you can break down into smaller goals. Whether you are just starting out or are looking to expand, clear business goals will also help you to stay focused. 

For example, my first business plan included the following goals: 

• Hone my writing craft : I took courses to improve my content writing skills and published my articles on the Medium platform. Some of the courses I completed included a coaching program created by Zulie Rane, the WriteTo1K by Elna Cain , the Write & Ignite Challenge by Alex Cattoni, and the free SEO certification from HubSpot Academy.
• Grow writing portfolio : As freelance writers, we need to develop a writing portfolio to find clients and apply for freelance positions. You don’t need a website at the beginning, but once you start to get a bit of traction, you can create your website portfolio. In my case, I started publishing on Medium as a way to develop my writing and voice, and use pieces on my portfolio before I started my site and blog.
• Networking : Being a freelancer can be a lonely endeavor, so it is important to network to find support and job opportunities. I joined a few Facebook Groups where I learned from other female freelance writers which allowed me to find guest post opportunities to grow my portfolio too.
• Find clients : To find clients, I had to learn about cold pitching techniques. However, most of my clients were found through Facebook freelance groups that I belong to and guest posting opportunities. A guest post I completed turned into a job opportunity with a marketing agency where I currently provide freelance ghostwriting services.  

These freelance writing business goals allowed me to break them down into smaller goals using the SMART technique (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound), and I was able to complete them during my first quarter as a freelancer.

To determine your personal business goals, you can start by asking yourself some questions. What do you want or need to achieve? What are your aspirations for your freelance business? How will you do it? Is it to provide products or services, or both? What do you want your business to be? Who do you want to help? How much do you want to earn?  

When you know what you want to achieve, you can start thinking about strategies to help you get there. 

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Research the Freelance Writing Industry Niche

How do you know if you are targeting the right clients and industries? The best way to find out is to do some industry and competition research. For example, one of my niche industries is travel. During my research, I searched for potential customers (ex. publications and travel blogs), shopping/buying habits (of travel consumers – using this for my family travel blog), the pain points for the clients within the industry, and who would be my competition, including their strengths and weaknesses.

By researching your chosen freelancing industry, you learn to understand its current state and its main pain points (the specific problems it is facing). You can also use this research to understand the target audience, tailor your value proposition, and as a marketing strategy to promote your services.

Understand the Target Audience

A target audience is the group of people or companies you want to provide your services to. 

As a freelance writer, you may find that your target audience consists of small businesses, entrepreneurs, marketers, or authors. Once you’ve identified your target audience within your chosen industry or niche, you need to research and understand their specific needs and wants. That way, you can tailor your services to better fit a potential client. 

You should also consider their budget and the types of writing projects they are likely to need. For example, if your target audience consists of entrepreneurs, you may focus on creating blog posts, website copy, landing pages, sales pages, social media captions, or press releases. 

Overall, understanding your target audience’s wants and needs helps you develop your value proposition.

Determine your Value Proposition

As a freelance writer, creating a value proposition is an essential part of succeeding in the industry. A value proposition is a statement that outlines what makes you unique or what differentiates you from the competition, how you can help your clients, and the value you bring to the table. It should be tailored specifically to the needs of your potential clients, and it should be clear, concise, and convincing. 

First, identify the value that you bring to the table. It could be your experience in a specific field or industry, your outstanding research skills, or your ability to write engaging copy. Think about what makes you stand out and make sure to include it in your value proposition. For example, there was a potential client who needed a freelance writer with travel writing experience and knowledge of places to visit in Puerto Rico. Since I specialize in the travel niche, and I am from Puerto Rico, so I knew I had a value proposition for this particular client. 

Remember that your value proposition should be focused on the benefits that your clients can expect from working with you. Some examples include faster turnaround times or higher quality work. When drafting your value proposition, make sure to include the service(s) you provide, the problem it solves for your clients, and the results you can deliver. Also, include a call to action that encourages potential clients to take the next step. 

Once you know your value proposition, you are in the position to tailor the type of services you can provide potential clients and set the pricing, and payment terms.

Develop Your Services, Set Pricing, and Payment Terms

There is a myriad of freelance writing services you can provide, such as article writing, blog writing, copywriting, technical writing, white paper writing, SEO writing, ghostwriting, social media, and so on and so forth. It depends on your ideal target client.

In my case, I started providing three different services, including content writing, ghostwriting, and line/copy editing services. Determine what’s included in each service you want to provide and how it works. On my services page, you can see how I broke down what’s included and how each service works. All of these were developed when I drafted my freelance writing business plan. 

After developing your services, it is time to set pricing, payment terms, and methods. So, how do you do it? Pricing and payment terms will vary depending on your clients and the scope of work you will do for them. You can set the pricing by project, charge by the hour, or by the word count. To help you get an idea, the American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI) and the Editorial Freelancers Association have a pricing guide you can use as a reference.

For payment terms, you can require payment upfront, after services are rendered, or on a payment schedule that you can define with your client. Pricing and payment terms will also vary by client and they may have their own payment methods, such as direct deposit, Stripe, Wise, or PayPal.  

Estimate your Expenses

As with any business endeavor, there will be expenses, including office supplies, equipment, web hosting, domain names, courses, memberships, transaction fees, subscriptions, self-employment taxes, or apps you use to run your freelance business. 

By knowing your monthly/yearly expenses and keeping track of them, you will be able to create a realistic budget and stay in control of your finances and self-employment taxes. Always check with a tax advisor for more information.

Select a Business Entity and Business Name

Once you have done your research and understand your target audience, your unique value proposition, and the services you want to provide, then it’s time to decide how you want to establish your freelance writing business. There are multiple business entities, but you can select one best suited to your business needs, such as a sole proprietorship or single-member limited liability company. 

Choosing a business entity will help you know your responsibilities as a business owner, including whether you need to register the business with the state, obtain business licenses and permits, and file for the appropriate quarterly and yearly taxes. For your business name, take the time to brainstorm creative ideas that reflect your brand, mission, and values. It is also important to make sure that the business name is not already being used by another business and that a website domain name is also available. You can check the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) website to see if the business name is available and do a domain name search with sites, such as Go Daddy .

Develop Key Performance Indicators

Now that you have your freelance business goals, niche, target audience, business entity, and business name, it is time to develop your key performance indicators. Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are “the critical (key) quantifiable indicators of progress toward an intended result,” according to KPI.org . When building and growing a freelance writing business, it is imperative to have measurable goals to track progress and assess the performance of your business. It allows you to adapt or change a system or procedure that isn’t working. 

An example of a goal and its KPI could be increasing the number of clients you have. As such, you can track the number of new clients acquired on a monthly basis. Another goal would be to increase the content you produce, so a KPI could be keeping track of the average words you write per day or how much content you publish on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. 

Developing key performance indicators for your freelance writing business can be a great way to measure and track your progress to ensure you are consistently working towards your end goals. 

Develop a Marketing Plan

Marketing will become an important part of your freelance writing business plan as it will help you reach your clients and find more work. It will also help you build your brand and promote your services. 

A good marketing plan should include how you plan to reach your target audience, what strategies you will use to engage them, and how you plan to measure the results. 

Start by thinking about your target client and the strategies you will use to reach them. Are they a business, agency, or individual client? Will you create a blog page? Promote yourself on social media? Develop an email list? 

There are many different marketing channels you can use to promote your freelance writing business. You can also use social media, such as LinkedIn, do guest posts, and start cold pitching. Many freelance writers find their clients (or clients find them) with LinkedIn, so create a profile and update it accordingly. 

Finally, you’ll need to develop a system for tracking the results of your efforts. You can use analytics tools or even simple methods like tracking how many views your blog post or social media post gets.

Implement and Adjust your Plan

Creating a freelance writing business plan can seem like a lot of work. But once you start, it will become easier. When the plan is complete, review it and make adjustments as needed. You should also stay on top of your progress. 

Make sure you stay focused on your goals and make time for daily, weekly, and monthly tasks. The best way to stay on track is to create quarterly goals and create a plan to achieve them within the time frame to help you reach your goals.

7 Comments on How to Create a Freelance Writing Business Plan for your First Year (+ Free Checklist!)

Great read on creating a business plan for a freelance writing business. You’ve broken it down into manageable steps and provided useful examples. It’s clear that you have a deep understanding of the industry and what it takes to be successful. Your emphasis on setting specific and achievable goals is spot on and will be incredibly helpful for new freelancers. Keep up the good work.

This post breaks down the process of making a plan and makes it so much easier. Thank you for posting this!

Great things to do and marketing plan nowadays is very important. We need to have one. Thank you for sharing!

This was a really helpful post, and a free checklist too- Thanks for sharing

I haven’t thought too much consciously about the importance of KPIs but I totally agree that is a great way to track progress. Thanks for sharing!

Great post and outline! Going to need to bookmark this page.

This was a really helpful post! I got the SEO certification from HubSpot Academy. It was probably the best free course I have taken. I will have to check out the other courses. Thanks for sharing!

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How to Write a Business Plan: A Painless Guide for Freelancers

This content may contain affiliate links. If you purchase through these links I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. However, I only recommend products or services that I genuinely like and trust.

Congratulations on getting ahead of the game and researching how to write a freelance business plan!

Most people think that they don’t really need to do this. They’re not looking for a loan from the bank, so what would they need a business plan for?

Well, one of my favorite mottos, attributed to Benjamin Franklin, is “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Having a business plan will give you a clear direction for what you want to achieve for your business and allow you to set goals to make sure you achieve it. If you decide to bumble along without a plan, you are likely to lose focus and either not achieve your goals or take a lot longer to achieve them.

Writing a freelance business plan doesn’t have to be difficult. If you’re not looking for a loan or investors, then it can be quite short. No one else need ever see your plan. It’s really just for you, to remind you why you set up your freelance business, what you want to achieve with it, and how you plan to do this successfully.

I’ve already spoken to you about the steps you need to take to quit your job and start a freelance business . Today I’m going to delve into one of those steps: writing a freelance business plan.

So, without further ado, here’s a breakdown of the different sections that your business plan might include. Feel free to tailor it to meet your own needs.

Table of Contents

Elements of a Freelance Business Plan

Most successful business plans contain some essential elements that you’ll want to consider. You may wish to include an overview section, a breakdown of your goals and how you plan to achieve them, a description of your ideal client, your marketing plan, and your financial plan.

The Overview

The overview is kind of the introduction to your plan. It should lay out who you are and what you do. You can break it into two sections: your mission statement and your “why.”

Your Mission Statement

Your mission statement will set the tone for your business plan. It should be a concise statement of the aims and values of your business. Sounds boring, right? Yes, it is boring, but it will help you to be very clear about what your business does, how it does it, and why it does it. It should answer the who, what, and why (and where if you’re a local business) questions.

You could think of it as an elevator pitch or slogan. It should be a short pitch that describes what you do and how you help people solve their problems. Get straight to the point in order to hold people’s attention.

My mission statement goes something like this:

I’m a freelance proofreader and copyeditor. I help self-publishing authors and bloggers make sure that their content is clear, consistent, and as free from distracting errors as humanly possible. I also write articles on my website helping other aspiring proofreaders and editors start their own successful businesses.

Here’s that “why” word again! Most blog posts you read on writing a business plan or setting business goals will include a section on figuring out what your why is. I really don’t like the term, but I get it. You need to know why you have set up a business. It needs to go deeper than just to make money. A more emotional reason is better. Maybe you want to create a more flexible schedule so that you can spend more time with your family. Maybe you want to be your own boss. Or maybe you have a passion for something that you really want to pursue like I do with proofreading.

You gotta have goals! Otherwise, it can be difficult to figure out what to focus on to grow your business. Having goals will help you to stay motivated to keep working on something even when you don’t feel like it. It will help you to stay focused on what you want to achieve and stop you from getting distracted by shiny, new things. You will also stay accountable because you took the time to think about and write down your goals.

Start with the Big Picture

I recommend starting with identifying where you want to be in a year’s time. Even better if you can identify where you want to be in five years’ time. Starting at the end and identifying what you want the results to be will give you an idea of what action you need to take to achieve those big picture goals.

Break It Down into a Quarterly Action Plan

Once you have an overall idea of what you want to achieve for the year, then determine what action steps you need to take and assign them to each quarter of the year. Breaking your goals down like this will make them feel more attainable. You will feel like you are making progress toward your goal every quarter, which will keep you motivated. Check out my post on how to set SMART goals for your business .

Download my free Business Goal Setting Workbook for an easy way to set and track your business goals!

Your Ideal Customers

Of course, every business needs customers. As a result, they should be the focus of your business plan. You need to get a clear picture of who your ideal customers are, what their pain points are, and how you can help to solve those pain points.

You need to know who to aim your marketing efforts toward. Trying to market to everyone and anyone won’t work. It would be like shooting in the dark.

Try to build a picture of them in your mind: who are they, where do they live, what age are they, what are they interested in, and most importantly, what are their issues? You can even give them a name if you want to make them more alive in your mind.

My ideal client’s name is Vanessa. She’s a blogger who has written an e-book or online course that she wants to sell to help her clients with a particular issue. There’s so much that goes into creating a digital product that she doesn’t have time to proofread her content, but she also wants to make sure that it’s not full of embarrassing errors. (Vanessa, if you’re reading this, I’m here to help! )

Once you’ve identified who your customers are, then you need to figure out where to find them .

• Check out your competitors’ social media accounts to see what their engagement is like on each platform. If your competitors are getting good engagement on Facebook, then you need to be on Facebook.
• Consider your demographics . Are you trying to target twenty-year-olds? Then maybe try TikTok instead of Facebook. Are you targeting professionals? Then maybe try networking on LinkedIn. Are your ideal customers mostly female? Then maybe try Pinterest.

Figuring out where your audience hangs out will help you to accurately target your ideal customer and stop you from wasting money on Facebook ads if your audience is on Twitter. Engaging with them will also help you to figure out what their pain points are.

Your Services

In this section, write a detailed description of your services, your pricing structure, and what tools you will need to fulfill your role.

Keep your ideal customer at the front of your mind when writing this section. Your focus should always be on the benefits your services will bring to your clients . You can also include why your service is unique or better than your competitors.

This is also a good place to keep note of any ideas for future products you could create or services you could offer based on the knowledge, skills, and experience you’ve built up. The product might be aimed at other people who want to learn how to do what you do, or it could be a product that helps your clients with an issue they face.

Related content: Interested in becoming a proofreader but not sure where to start? Read my ultimate guide to setting up a freelance proofreading business .

Your Marketing Plan

In this section, you’ll map out how you’ll get in front of your ideal customers and convince them to work with you.

Again, you need to keep your ideal customer at the front of your mind when implementing your marketing strategy. How you can solve their problem should be crystal clear.

Where are you going to market your services? You have a few options for how to market your proofreading and editing business.

Your Website

Having a website is essential for a freelance service provider. Your clients need a way to find you. You may find some work through local connections and word of mouth, but to create a sustainable business you’ll need to look further afield.

Don’t have a website yet? Check out these helpful posts:

How to choose the perfect domain name

How to set up a website for your online business

Content Marketing Strategy

Blogging: You can use blogging to increase traffic to your website. It’s good for search engine optimization to keep adding fresh content to your website. You may also become seen as an expert in your field, which will help you attract new clients.

Emailing Marketing: This gives you direct access to your clients/followers. Sending an email newsletter every week will keep you at the top of their minds. Building a list of email subscribers is also very important as it means you will be less reliant on social media platforms when trying to reach your audience. This article explains other reasons why email marketing is so important for freelancers.

Social Media Strategy

Having a presence on social media will help to attract potential clients and drive them to your website.

You’ll need to create a strategy to get the maximum benefit out of using social media.

Try not to spread yourself too thin. Focus on one or two platforms where your customers are and start building good quality engagement with them.

PRO TIP:  It would be wise to register accounts with your business name on the other social media platforms even if you’re not going to use them yet. You don’t want to come back in six months’ time and find that someone else is using the name. If you’re not ready to actively use the platform you can use apps to schedule your posts or else put a note in your bio to let people know what platform they can find you on.

Posting on social media can be really time-consuming. Check out this post for a list of online business tools that will help you streamline your process and save time.

Advertising

Here are some ways you can advertise:

• Directories – Set up a profile on free or paid freelancer directories
• Paid Ads – Run ads on social media platforms
• Banner Ads – Place banner ads on targeted websites
• Newspapers/Magazines – Place an ad in your local newspaper or magazine if you want to attract local clients

Networking should be part of your overall marketing strategy. As well as networking with potential clients, it can also be beneficial to network with other freelancers who offer the same or similar services as you. They may be able to refer work to you if they’re too busy or it’s not their particular area of expertise.

You can do this by joining a professional association for your industry or joining Meetup networking groups. You can also network online in Facebook groups or by participating in Twitter chats.

Your Finance Plan

It can be difficult to figure out how to budget when you’re a new freelancer.

You need to figure out how much you need to start your business. You’ll have start-up costs like getting a domain name, website hosting, new equipment, software, and even stationary.

You’ll need to decide how much money you can afford to allocate toward marketing .

I think you should also have an education budget . You’ll need to make sure that your skills are constantly up to date and relevant.

Write down your financial goals for your business. How much do you want/need to earn?

This isn’t the kind of business plan that you would show to your bank to try to get a loan. In that case, you would need a way more detailed plan showing projected profit and all that jazz. It will just make you aware of the kind of expenses you will have and how much you need to earn.

Yes, writing a business plan can be intimidating. Rather than getting stressed out about it, think of it as the first step in your exciting adventure. Plus, with a comprehensive business plan in place, you’re one step closer to success!

Have you written a freelance business plan yet? If not, what’s stopping you?

2 thoughts on “How to Write a Business Plan: A Painless Guide for Freelancers”

A business plan is an must… a outline for your business. This post provides tons of useful tips for a newsman business owner. There are so many things to cover such as goals, marketing, etc… Pinning this to my business board.

I agree. It’s so important to create a business plan and not just when your business is new. Thanks for your comment, Nakeya!

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Freelance Writing Business Plan Template & Guidebook

Are you a freelance writer looking to create a business plan to increase your success? You're in luck! Download this comprehensive guide and template, and you'll be on your way to crafting the perfect plan that will help you reach your professional goals. Learn the key components to building an effective freelance writing business plan and the benefits it has in store for you.

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• How to Start a Profitable Freelance Writing Business [11 Steps]

How to Write a Freelance Writing Business Plan in 7 Steps:

1. describe the purpose of your freelance writing business..

The first step to writing your business plan is to describe the purpose of your freelance writing business. This includes describing why you are starting this type of business, and what problems it will solve for customers. This is a quick way to get your mind thinking about the customers’ problems. It also helps you identify what makes your business different from others in its industry.

It also helps to include a vision statement so that readers can understand what type of company you want to build.

Here is an example of a purpose mission statement for a freelance writing business:

Our purpose mission at Freelance Writing is to enable our clients to express themselves and their ideas in the form of effective and engaging written content. We strive to create content that captivates audiences, informs and educates while upholding a high level of quality. We create stories that can effectively connect a brand to its target audience, capture attention and leave lasting impressions. We are dedicated to helping our clients achieve an effective, meaningful presence in the digital world.

2. Products & Services Offered by Your Freelance Writing Business.

The next step is to outline your products and services for your freelance writing business. 

When you think about the products and services that you offer, it's helpful to ask yourself the following questions:

• What is my business?
• What are the products and/or services that I offer?
• Why am I offering these particular products and/or services?
• How do I differentiate myself from competitors with similar offerings?
• How will I market my products and services?

You may want to do a comparison of your business plan against those of other competitors in the area, or even with online reviews. This way, you can find out what people like about them and what they don’t like, so that you can either improve upon their offerings or avoid doing so altogether.

3. Build a Creative Marketing Stratgey.

If you don't have a marketing plan for your freelance writing business, it's time to write one. Your marketing plan should be part of your business plan and be a roadmap to your goals. 

A good marketing plan for your freelance writing business includes the following elements:

Target market

• Who is your target market?
• What do these customers have in common?
• How many of them are there?
• How can you best reach them with your message or product?

Customer base 

• Who are your current customers? 
• Where did they come from (i.e., referrals)?
• How can their experience with your freelance writing business help make them repeat customers, consumers, visitors, subscribers, or advocates for other people in their network or industry who might also benefit from using this service, product, or brand?

Product or service description

• How does it work, what features does it have, and what are its benefits?
• Can anyone use this product or service regardless of age or gender?
• Can anyone visually see themselves using this product or service?
• How will they feel when they do so? If so, how long will the feeling last after purchasing (or trying) the product/service for the first time?

Competitive analysis

• Which companies are competing with yours today (and why)? 
• Which ones may enter into competition with yours tomorrow if they find out about it now through word-of-mouth advertising; social media networks; friends' recommendations; etc.)
• What specific advantages does each competitor offer over yours currently?

Marketing channels

• Which marketing channel do you intend to leverage to attract new customers?
• What is your estimated marketing budget needed?
• What is the projected cost to acquire a new customer?
• How many of your customers do you instead will return?

Form an LLC in your state!

4. Write Your Operational Plan.

Next, you'll need to build your operational plan. This section describes the type of business you'll be running, and includes the steps involved in your operations. 

In it, you should list:

• The equipment and facilities needed
• Who will be involved in the business (employees, contractors)
• Financial requirements for each step
• Milestones & KPIs
• Location of your business
• Zoning & permits required for the business

What equipment, supplies, or permits are needed to run a freelance writing business?

• Computer and word processor (eg. Microsoft Word)
• High-speed internet connection
• Access to a printer
• Stationery, including envelopes, letterhead and business cards
• Portfolio of your writing samples
• Business license and/or permit

5. Management & Organization of Your Freelance Writing Business.

The second part of your freelance writing business plan is to develop a management and organization section.

This section will cover all of the following:

• How many employees you need in order to run your freelance writing business. This should include the roles they will play (for example, one person may be responsible for managing administrative duties while another might be in charge of customer service).
• The structure of your management team. The higher-ups like yourself should be able to delegate tasks through lower-level managers who are directly responsible for their given department (inventory and sales, etc.).
• How you’re going to make sure that everyone on board is doing their job well. You’ll want check-ins with employees regularly so they have time to ask questions or voice concerns if needed; this also gives you time to offer support where necessary while staying informed on how things are going within individual departments too!

6. Freelance Writing Business Startup Expenses & Captial Needed.

This section should be broken down by month and year. If you are still in the planning stage of your business, it may be helpful to estimate how much money will be needed each month until you reach profitability.

Typically, expenses for your business can be broken into a few basic categories:

Startup Costs

Startup costs are typically the first expenses you will incur when beginning an enterprise. These include legal fees, accounting expenses, and other costs associated with getting your business off the ground. The amount of money needed to start a freelance writing business varies based on many different variables, but below are a few different types of startup costs for a freelance writing business.

Running & Operating Costs

Running costs refer to ongoing expenses related directly with operating your business over time like electricity bills or salaries paid out each month. These types of expenses will vary greatly depending on multiple variables such as location, team size, utility costs, etc.

Marketing & Sales Expenses

You should include any costs associated with marketing and sales, such as advertising and promotions, website design or maintenance. Also, consider any additional expenses that may be incurred if you decide to launch a new product or service line. For example, if your freelance writing business has an existing website that needs an upgrade in order to sell more products or services, then this should be listed here.

7. Financial Plan & Projections

A financial plan is an important part of any business plan, as it outlines how the business will generate revenue and profit, and how it will use that profit to grow and sustain itself. To devise a financial plan for your freelance writing business, you will need to consider a number of factors, including your start-up costs, operating costs, projected revenue, and expenses. 

Here are some steps you can follow to devise a financial plan for your freelance writing business plan:

• Determine your start-up costs: This will include the cost of purchasing or leasing the space where you will operate your business, as well as the cost of buying or leasing any equipment or supplies that you need to start the business.
• Estimate your operating costs: Operating costs will include utilities, such as electricity, gas, and water, as well as labor costs for employees, if any, and the cost of purchasing any materials or supplies that you will need to run your business.
• Project your revenue: To project your revenue, you will need to consider the number of customers you expect to have and the average amount they will spend on each visit. You can use this information to estimate how much money you will make from selling your products or services.
• Estimate your expenses: In addition to your operating costs, you will need to consider other expenses, such as insurance, marketing, and maintenance. You will also need to set aside money for taxes and other fees.
• Create a budget: Once you have estimated your start-up costs, operating costs, revenue, and expenses, you can use this information to create a budget for your business. This will help you to see how much money you will need to start the business, and how much profit you can expect to make.
• Develop a plan for using your profit: Finally, you will need to decide how you will use your profit to grow and sustain your business. This might include investing in new equipment, expanding the business, or saving for a rainy day.

Frequently Asked Questions About Freelance Writing Business Plans:

Why do you need a business plan for a freelance writing business.

A business plan for a freelance writing business helps you to define your goals, understand your target audience and market, and create a structure to ensure the success of your business. It also provides valuable information for potential investors or partners, serves as a roadmap for your future growth, and can be used to track your progress.

Who should you ask for help with your freelance writing business plan?

You should seek help from a professional business consultant or financial advisor who has experience in developing freelance writing business plans. They can help determine the ideal services to offer, pricing, market analysis, marketing strategy, and financial projections.

Can you write a freelance writing business plan yourself?

Yes, you can write a freelance writing business plan yourself. Just remember to research the market and industry, develop a marketing plan, set financial goals and objectives, and decide on how you will manage the business. You may also need to consider which legal structure is best for your business, how to price your services, create an operational plan and decide on a budget.

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I'm Nick, co-founder of newfoundr.com, dedicated to helping aspiring entrepreneurs succeed. As a small business owner with over five years of experience, I have garnered valuable knowledge and insights across a diverse range of industries. My passion for entrepreneurship drives me to share my expertise with aspiring entrepreneurs, empowering them to turn their business dreams into reality.

Through meticulous research and firsthand experience, I uncover the essential steps, software, tools, and costs associated with launching and maintaining a successful business. By demystifying the complexities of entrepreneurship, I provide the guidance and support needed for others to embark on their journey with confidence.

From assessing market viability and formulating business plans to selecting the right technology and navigating the financial landscape, I am dedicated to helping fellow entrepreneurs overcome challenges and unlock their full potential. As a steadfast advocate for small business success, my mission is to pave the way for a new generation of innovative and driven entrepreneurs who are ready to make their mark on the world.

How To Create a Freelance Writing Business Plan: Checklist

By henry sheykin, resources on professional freelance writing service.

• Financial Model
• Business Plan
• Value Proposition
• One-Page Business Plan
• SWOT Analysis
• Business Model
• Marketing Plan

Welcome to our blog post on how to write a business plan for a professional freelance writing service tailored to the media and communications industry! With the increasing demand for high-quality written materials in the US, this sector is experiencing substantial growth. According to recent statistics , the freelance writing market is predicted to reach a value of $633.7 million by 2027, highlighting the immense opportunities available for aspiring freelance writers.

Before diving into the steps to create a successful business plan for your freelance writing service, it's crucial to understand the significance of this industry. The media and communications sector relies heavily on well-crafted content to captivate their target audience and effectively convey their messages. With the rise of digital platforms, businesses are constantly seeking compelling copywriters, content creators, and editors to enhance their online presence. This presents a fantastic opportunity for freelance writers like you!

To succeed in this dynamic and competitive landscape, it's essential to follow a structured approach when developing your business plan. By incorporating the following nine steps into your planning process, you can set yourself up for success:

• Identify your target audience and niche
• Conduct market research and analyze the competition
• Define your service offerings and determine your unique selling proposition
• Determine your pricing and financial projections
• Assess your skills and qualifications
• Develop a marketing and branding strategy
• Create a comprehensive business model and operational plan
• Determine the necessary resources and equipment
• Set specific goals and objectives for your freelance writing service

By following these steps, you can lay a solid foundation for your professional freelance writing service, enabling you to stand out in the industry and attract clients who value top-notch writing services. So, let's dive in and explore each step in detail to create a winning business plan for your venture!

Identify Your Target Audience And Niche

One of the first steps in developing a business plan for your professional freelance writing service is to identify your target audience and niche. By understanding who your ideal clients are and focusing on a specific industry or niche, you can tailor your services to meet their specific needs and stand out from the competition.

When identifying your target audience, consider factors such as their demographics, interests, and pain points. You want to clearly define who your ideal clients are and what challenges they face in order to position your freelance writing service as a solution provider.

Here are some tips to help you identify your target audience and niche:

Research your market:

Focus on your expertise:, consider your passion:, look for target audience pain points:, study your competition:.

By thoroughly researching your target audience and identifying your niche, you can better understand the specific needs and preferences of your clients. This will enable you to develop a tailored approach to your freelance writing service, providing high-value solutions that set you apart from competitors.

Conduct Market Research and Analyze the Competition

Before launching your freelance writing service, it is crucial to conduct thorough market research and analyze the competition. This step will provide valuable insights into the industry landscape, customer preferences, and the strategies adopted by your competitors. Here are some important steps to consider:

• Identify your target market: Determine the specific segment of the media and communications industry you plan to target. This could be a particular niche, such as technology or fashion, or a specific client type, like small businesses or nonprofit organizations.
• Research industry trends: Stay up-to-date with the latest trends and developments in the media and communications industry. This includes understanding evolving content formats, emerging social media platforms, and changes in consumer behavior.
• Study the competition: Analyze your competitors to identify their strengths, weaknesses, and unique selling propositions. This will help you differentiate your freelance writing service and identify potential gaps or opportunities in the market.
• Explore pricing strategies: Research the pricing strategies of other freelance writing services in the industry. Consider factors such as the level of expertise, quality of service, and client demand when determining your pricing structure.
• Identify potential clients: Identify potential clients within your target market and examine their needs, preferences, and pain points. This will help you develop tailored offerings and marketing strategies that resonate with your target audience.

Market Research and Competition Analysis Tips:

• Utilize online research tools such as Google Trends and social media listening platforms to gain insights into the industry and market trends.
• Network with professionals in the media and communications industry to gather valuable insights and build relationships.
• Look for gaps in the market that your freelance writing service can fill, whether it's a specific industry niche or a unique service offering.
• Keep an eye on your competitors' marketing and branding strategies, customer reviews, and online presence to identify areas where you can differentiate yourself.

By conducting comprehensive market research and analyzing the competition, you will be well-equipped to position your freelance writing service effectively and develop strategies that address the needs of your target audience.

Define Your Service Offerings And Determine Your Unique Selling Proposition

When establishing a professional freelance writing service, it is crucial to define your service offerings and determine your unique selling proposition. This step is essential in differentiating your business from competitors and attracting potential clients in the media and communications industry.

First, identify the specific writing services you will provide to your target audience. These services may include content creation, copywriting, editing, and proofreading. Understanding the needs of the industry will help you tailor your offerings accordingly.

Next, determine your unique selling proposition (USP). This is what sets you apart from other freelance writers or writing services. Your USP should highlight the unique value or benefits your business offers to clients. Consider what makes your service stand out, such as specialized expertise in the media and communications industry, a track record of delivering high-quality content, or a fast turnaround time.

• Research your target audience's needs and preferences to provide services that align with their expectations.
• Showcase your skills and expertise in the media and communications industry through relevant experience or certifications.
• Define your niche within the industry, focusing on a specific area where you excel, such as healthcare writing or technology copywriting.
• Emphasize the benefits your clients will gain from working with your freelance writing service, such as improved brand visibility, increased website traffic, or enhanced customer engagement.
• Differentiate your pricing strategy by offering packages or additional services that competitors don't provide.

By defining your service offerings and determining your unique selling proposition, you can effectively position your freelance writing service as a valuable and compelling option for businesses in the media and communications industry. This will not only attract clients but also allow you to build a strong reputation and grow your business.

Determine Your Pricing And Financial Projections

One of the crucial aspects of establishing a successful freelance writing service is determining your pricing and financial projections. Pricing plays a significant role in attracting clients and ensuring profitability for your business. Here are some key considerations to help you set the right pricing structure for your services:

• Research industry standards: Start by researching the prevailing rates in the freelance writing industry, specifically within the media and communications sector. This will give you an idea of the competitive pricing range and help you position your services accordingly.
• Consider your experience and expertise: As a professional freelance writer, you bring valuable skills and knowledge to the table. Take into account your level of expertise, the complexity of the projects you can handle, and the quality of your work when determining your pricing. Clients are often willing to pay higher rates for experienced and talented writers.
• Evaluate project requirements: Different writing projects may demand varying levels of effort, research, and time commitment. Assess the scope of each project and factor in the complexity, length, and deadline to determine the appropriate price. For instance, a long-form content piece may command a higher fee compared to a shorter blog post.
• Consider offering different pricing packages tailored to different client needs. This will give clients flexibility and enable you to cater to a wider range of budgets.
• Regularly reassess your pricing strategy to ensure it remains competitive and reflects any changes in market demand or your level of expertise.

Along with pricing, it is essential to create thorough financial projections for your freelance writing service. This will help you understand the financial viability of your business and set realistic goals for growth and profitability. Consider the following factors while preparing your financial projections:

• Revenue sources: Identify all potential revenue streams, such as writing projects, retainer contracts, and additional services like editing or proofreading. Determine the percentage contribution of each revenue source to your overall income.
• Expenses: Take into account both fixed and variable expenses associated with running your freelance writing service. These may include equipment costs, software subscriptions, marketing expenses, and even taxes. Be diligent in tracking your expenses to ensure accurate financial projections.
• Income goals: Determine your income goals based on your personal financial needs and long-term business objectives. Consider factors like your desired annual income, the number of clients you aim to serve, and the target growth rate for your business.

By conducting a comprehensive analysis of your pricing strategy and financial projections, you will be better equipped to make informed decisions about your freelance writing service, maximize profitability, and set achievable goals for long-term success.

Assess Your Skills And Qualifications

Before launching your professional freelance writing service, it is crucial to assess your skills and qualifications to ensure that you are adequately equipped to meet the demands of your target audience. Take the time to evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, and areas of expertise to determine the services you are confident in providing.

Consider the following factors:

• Writing Skills: Evaluate your ability to write effectively and fluently in various styles and tones, such as informative, persuasive, and storytelling.
• Industry Knowledge: Determine your level of expertise in the media and communications field, including understanding trends, terminology, and best practices.
• Specialization: Identify any specific areas of specialization within the industry that you excel in, such as technology, healthcare, or finance.
• Grammar and Editing Skills: Assess your proficiency in grammar, punctuation, and spelling, as well as your attention to detail in editing and proofreading.
• Research Skills: Evaluate your ability to conduct thorough research and gather relevant information on diverse topics.
• Time Management: Consider your ability to meet deadlines and efficiently manage multiple writing projects simultaneously.
• Consider taking writing courses or workshops to enhance your skills and stay updated with industry trends.
• Build a portfolio showcasing your best work and highlight the range of topics and writing styles you can handle.
• Seek feedback from trusted peers or mentors to identify areas for improvement.
• Stay informed about changes in your target industry by following relevant news sources and engaging with industry professionals.
• Continuously expand your knowledge through reading, research, and staying curious about diverse subjects.

By thoroughly assessing your skills and qualifications, you can confidently position yourself as a skilled freelance writer and provide high-quality services that cater to the specific needs of your target audience. This self-evaluation will also help you in defining your unique selling proposition and marketing your services effectively.

Develop A Marketing And Branding Strategy

Developing a comprehensive marketing and branding strategy is vital to the success of your freelance writing service. It will help you showcase your expertise, attract potential clients, and differentiate yourself from your competitors. Here are key steps to consider:

• Identify your target audience: Determine the specific industry or niche within the media and communications sector that you want to focus on. Research their needs, preferences, and pain points to tailor your marketing efforts accordingly.
• Establish your unique selling proposition (USP): Define what sets your freelance writing service apart from others. Highlight your expertise, specialized skills, or unique approach to writing that will resonate with your target audience.
• Build a strong brand: Craft a memorable brand image that reflects your professionalism, expertise, and commitment to quality. Develop a compelling brand name, logo, and tagline that will leave a lasting impression.
• Create a professional website: Design and develop a user-friendly website that showcases your services, portfolio, testimonials, and contact information. Ensure that your website is optimized for search engines to increase your online visibility.
• Utilize online marketing channels: Leverage various digital marketing channels such as social media, content marketing, and search engine optimization (SEO) to reach your target audience. Create engaging and valuable content that resonates with your audience, positioning yourself as an expert in the field.
• Network and establish partnerships: Attend industry events, join professional associations, and connect with other professionals in the media and communications industry. Building relationships and partnerships can lead to referrals and collaborations.
• Invest in targeted advertising: Consider investing in targeted online advertising, such as pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns or sponsored content, to increase your visibility among your target audience.
• Monitor and analyze your marketing efforts: Regularly track the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and adjust your strategies accordingly. Use analytics tools to measure website traffic, engagement, and conversions to optimize your marketing efforts.

Tips for Developing an Effective Marketing and Branding Strategy:

• Research your competitors to identify their marketing tactics and find opportunities to differentiate yourself.
• Offer freebies or incentives, such as a free consultation or a discounted trial period, to attract potential clients and build trust.
• Consider creating valuable content, such as blog posts or industry guides, to establish yourself as a thought leader in the media and communications industry.
• Collect and showcase testimonials from satisfied clients to build credibility and trust.
• Regularly update and optimize your website and social media profiles to reflect your latest projects and achievements.

Create A Comprehensive Business Model And Operational Plan

A comprehensive business model and operational plan are crucial for the success of your freelance writing service. This plan outlines the structure, operations, and strategies that will guide your business towards achieving its goals and objectives. It provides a roadmap for how your business will operate, attract clients, and generate revenue. Here are some key elements to include in your plan:

• Business Structure: Determine the legal structure of your business, whether it is a sole proprietorship, partnership, or a limited liability company. This decision will impact your tax obligations and personal liability, so consult with a legal professional to make an informed choice.
• Target Market and Services: Clearly define your target audience and niche within the media and communications industry. Identify the specific services you will offer, such as content creation, copywriting, editing, and proofreading. Understand the needs and preferences of your target market and tailor your services to meet their demands.
• Marketing Strategy: Develop a marketing and branding strategy to promote your freelance writing service. This includes creating a strong online presence through a professional website, utilizing social media platforms, and leveraging networks within the industry. Consider the most effective marketing channels to reach your target audience and allocate resources accordingly.
• Operational Processes: Outline the operational processes necessary for your freelance writing service to function smoothly. This includes establishing standard procedures for client communication, project management, and quality control. Consider utilizing project management tools and software to streamline operations and enhance efficiency.
• Financial Projections: Develop a detailed financial plan that includes revenue projections, expenses, and profit margins. Determine your pricing structure and evaluate the feasibility of your business model. This will help you make informed decisions about pricing, budgeting, and resource allocation.

Tips for Creating a Comprehensive Business Model and Operational Plan:

• Conduct thorough research on your target market and competition to identify any gaps or opportunities.
• Seek feedback and advice from industry experts and mentors to refine your business model.
• Consider offering specialized services or packages to set yourself apart from competitors.
• Stay updated on industry trends and technologies to ensure your services remain relevant.
• Regularly review and update your operational processes to improve efficiency and client satisfaction.

By creating a comprehensive business model and operational plan, you will have a clear roadmap for launching and growing your freelance writing service. This plan will help you make informed decisions, attract clients, and effectively manage your business operations.

Determine The Necessary Resources And Equipment

Once you have identified your target audience and defined your service offerings, it is important to determine the necessary resources and equipment needed to successfully run your professional freelance writing service. By having the right tools and resources in place, you can ensure efficiency, productivity, and high-quality output for your clients.

Here are some key resources and equipment to consider:

• Computer and Software: As a freelance writer, a reliable computer and the necessary software are essential. Invest in a high-performance computer that can handle the demands of writing, editing, and formatting documents. Additionally, consider investing in professional writing software, such as Microsoft Word or specialized writing tools that offer features like grammar and plagiarism checks.
• Internet Connection: A stable and fast internet connection is crucial for research, communication with clients, and submitting work. Make sure you have a reliable internet service provider to avoid interruptions or delays in your work.
• Reference Materials: Depending on the niche or industry you cater to, it is important to have access to relevant reference materials. This may include industry-specific books, dictionaries, style guides, and online resources. Consider subscribing to online databases or libraries that provide access to a wide range of scholarly articles, research papers, and journals.
• Collaboration Tools: If you plan to work with a team or collaborate with clients remotely, consider using collaboration tools such as project management software, file-sharing platforms, and communication tools like video conferencing or instant messaging platforms.
• Backup Storage: Protecting your work and client files is crucial. Invest in a reliable backup storage solution, such as cloud storage services, external hard drives, or network-attached storage (NAS) devices.
• Professional Development: Continuous learning and professional development are vital to stay updated with industry trends and sharpen your skills. Allocate resources for attending writing workshops, conferences, or online courses related to your niche. Invest in relevant books or online subscriptions that provide valuable insights and resources for professional growth.
• Consider creating a dedicated workspace that is comfortable and free from distractions. A quiet and organized environment can enhance your focus and productivity.
• Research and invest in productivity tools that can streamline your writing process, such as writing apps, time-tracking software, and organization tools.
• Join professional writing associations or communities to network with fellow writers, gain industry insights, and access resources that can further support your freelance writing business.

By determining the necessary resources and equipment early on, you can set yourself up for success and ensure smooth operations for your freelance writing service. Remember to assess your specific needs based on your niche and target market, and always be open to upgrading your resources as your business grows.

Set Specific Goals And Objectives For Your Freelance Writing Service.

Setting specific goals and objectives is crucial for the success of your freelance writing service. It provides direction, focus, and a roadmap to guide your business activities. When defining your goals and objectives, it is important to ensure they are SMART:

• Specific: Clearly define what you want to achieve. For example, your goal could be to acquire 10 new clients within the first six months of operation.
• Measurable: Establish criteria to track and measure progress towards your goals. This could include metrics such as client acquisition rate, revenue growth, or customer satisfaction ratings.
• Achievable: Set goals that are realistic and attainable based on your resources, skills, and market conditions. Consider your current capabilities and the potential for growth.
• Relevant: Ensure that your goals align with your overall business vision and mission. They should directly contribute to the growth and success of your freelance writing service in the media and communications industry.
• Time-bound: Establish a timeframe for achieving your goals. This helps create a sense of urgency and promotes accountability. For example, you could aim to increase your monthly revenue by 25% within the first year.

Tips for Setting Goals and Objectives:

• Start by identifying the most critical areas of your freelance writing service that need improvement or growth.
• Break down long-term goals into smaller, actionable objectives that can be easily tracked and accomplished.
• Regularly review and reassess your goals and objectives to ensure they remain relevant and aligned with your business strategy.
• Involve key stakeholders, such as your team members or clients, in the goal-setting process to foster collaboration and alignment.
• Celebrate milestones and achievements along the way to keep motivation and morale high.

By setting specific goals and objectives for your freelance writing service, you can measure progress, stay focused, and work efficiently towards building a successful and thriving business. Incorporate these goals into your overall business plan and refer to them regularly to stay on track and adapt as needed.

In conclusion, establishing a professional freelance writing service in the media and communications industry requires careful planning and strategic execution. By following the nine steps outlined in this checklist, including identifying your target audience, conducting market research, defining your service offerings, and setting specific goals, you can create a solid business plan that will position you for success. With a focus on providing high-quality writing services and personalized solutions, you can meet the demands of businesses looking to enhance their brand image and effectively communicate with their target audience. By leveraging your skills and qualifications, implementing a robust marketing and branding strategy, and utilizing the necessary resources, equipment, and operational plan, you can establish a freelance writing service that drives growth and success in the competitive media and communications landscape.

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7 Steps To Write an Effective Freelance Business Plan [Download Free Template]

• Last Updated: April 4, 2023

Freelancing indeed gives you enough freedom, but without a well-structured business plan, you might end up working hard without a vision in mind.

Well, sometimes you need smart work instead of hard work to reach your goals the quickest.

So, plan out your freelancing business and take it to new heights.

Wondering how?

We have come up with an easy 7 step guide on how to write a freelance business plan for you.

So, let’s start planning now!

Table of Content

• Write Down Brand Summary and Purpose

Define Your Target Audience

List out your services, analyze your niche competitors, marketing and client acquisition, goals, targets, and timelines, financial plan, download freelance business plan template, benefits of freelance business plan.

Put into Execution

7 Steps to Write a Freelance Business Plan

When you want to start a freelancing business, know that you’d have to run a sole proprietorship. Therefore, creating a successful freelancing business with a steady stream of cash flow and profit needs planning and organizing.

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Whether your business is in construction, landscaping, consulting, photography, auto repair, or the medical field, invoicing takes way too long. That’s why we’re here. InvoiceOwl makes your invoicing faster and simpler so you can get paid promptly and without the hassle.

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So, if you want to work with ideal clients, here is how you should plan your freelance business.

Write Down Company Summary and Purpose

Do you know why brands like Apple, Amazon, and Google had such success? One of the most contributing factors to brand success is a clear purpose. Any business can be lost in the journey from a startup to being a brand if they don’t have a clear idea of who they are and where they want to be.

Every business has its own story. And this is the section where you would want to tell your business story. It helps in setting up the business objectives and the brand image.

For example, if you are a freelance writer, you should answer questions like:

• What inspired you to be a writer?
• Why did you pick writing as your profession?
• What do you want to achieve as a writer?
• How do your services make a difference?

The previous step helps you understand your brand and this step will help you know your buyers. Your freelance services don’t need to serve all. For example, if you are an iOS app developer, you may exclude Android users from your target market.

To know your audience, create a buyer persona for your services, and include the groups based on criteria like:

• geographical location;
• line of business; &

A freelance wedding planner might not help you find a partner. Similarly, you may or may not provide all the niche-related services. However, one thing is for sure, you should list out all the services that you provide.

Deciding what services you should provide majorly depends on two factors, which are:

• What is your skillset
• What customers want

Being a freelancer, you should know your skillset well. Other than that, if you know your target audience, you would know the problems they face. Therefore, describe your services and how they solve the customer’s problems.

Once you have decided on the services, analyze your niche competitors. Analyzing your competitors is extremely necessary to stay in the business. We live in a highly competitive era for businesses and hence a well-written business plan always includes the competitors’ analysis.

First of all, let’s make one thing clear.

Your competitors are not those who sell similar products/services. But, the ones who address the same problems.

You can make your brand unique by researching your competitors. While looking at your competitors, make sure you keep the following things in mind.

• Set of services they provide
• Fee structure
• Marketing strategies

Once you have studied your competitors, you need to think about the things that help you create a unique brand. Such as:

• What makes you a different brand?
• How differently do you solve the problem?
• How is your service more valuable than others?

Bringing clients on board hugely depends on how you go about marketing strategy. And marketing can only be done perfectly if you have done the market research right. First, you need to understand your targeted audience and their problems to market your brand effectively.

So, one of the most effective ways of marketing is to pitch your services as the solution for the problem. This way you can acquire more clients.

Now, getting new clients is one thing and retaining them is another. Therefore, you must improve the experience to boost client loyalty. The chances of getting hired again by the same client increase exponentially if the client was satisfied with the first experience. Not only that, there are high chances that a satisfied client recommends your services to his/her peers.

So, if you want to ensure long-term business success, keep your clients happy. And here are the quick ways to ensure that.

• Try to go the extra mile
• Maintain clear communication with clients
• Offer clients early bird discounts
• Create a reward system for loyal clients

If you want to reach a goal, you need first to define it. Especially a business in its initial stage must have a milestone to reach. This represents your brand and dictates the entire business planning.

Now, we all want to share the podium with Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos right away, but remember that Rome wasn’t built in one day.

Set practical marketing goals that your freelancing business can achieve with all the given resources. Break the end goal into small targets and bind them with a defined timeline. For example:

• Pitching project proposals to ‘X number of potential clients daily
• Getting ‘X number of clients in the first month
• Learning a new skill in three weeks to provide better services

Financial planning is the core of business planning. Without planning your revenue model, how much money is enough money for you to sustain, how many clients would you need to make a profit, how you would raise money from investors.

Financial planning does not only include the income but expenses as well. Of course, generating an income is good, but what you spend money on should be planned.

The financial business plan needs detailed accounting for accurate financial projections. This is why you need to track every expense and income. It helps you set a realistic financial business plan for your actual business.

To work efficiently and in the right direction, you need to have a business plan.

Now, most freelancers think this is too much work and would take a long time to write a business plan independently. Thus, we have designed a freelance business plan template that you can download, edit and make yours.

Unlike a traditional business plan, it will help you summarize the entire plan in just a single page.

It has all the criteria required to make a business plan that works. Moreover, it is available in PDF file format. So, what are you waiting for? Just download the freelance business plan template for free and never go off the track.

A perfect freelance business plan can take your freelance business to new heights. Writing a business plan can help a new business to acquire the first client. It also helps already established businesses to excel and be on top of all the competitors.

So, if you want to know how a perfect business plan can do such wonders, let’s discuss a few benefits of writing a freelance business plan.

A Clear Line of Sight

The freelance business plan forces the business to set priorities and act on them. Without a structured business plan, a freelancer might do everything and get nothing done. To avoid such a situation, you need to have the vision and mission statement embossed.

Right Marketing Strategy For Your Business

Wise financial decisions.

If you want to own success as a freelancer, a business plan lets you make better decisions. In addition, the business plan reminds you of your spending limits and stops you from spending unnecessarily.

Now that we have discussed how to write a freelancer business plan in-depth, you must be eager to go make it right away. However, before jumping to it, let’s read some frequently asked questions so that you never have to stop once you have begun.

How do I start my own freelance business?

To start a freelance business of your demands a skillset. Other than that, here are the quick steps you would have to follow.

• Know Your Goals
• Look for a Profitable Niche
• Identify Your Target Audience
• Set Strategic Rates for Your Services
• Put up the Best-Quality Portfolio
• Be Picky while Choosing the First Client
• Learn to Market Yourself Strategically

Can a beginner do freelancing?

Yes, freelancing is a great option for starting their career and knowing the industry. This gives beginners the experience of the industry and helps them build confidence too.

Does a business owner need to know to account?

A business owner must know the basics of accounting and bookkeeping because most major business decisions are influenced by the accounting of your business.

Can I hire someone to write a business plan?

Now that we know about writing the business plan, it’s time to get started with writing it. The business plan will make you answer vital questions that define your business. Thus, you might need to write it before you pick your first client.

This blog summarises all the steps you need to write an intact freelancers’ business plan and the benefits of writing a business plan. We also provided a freelancers’ business plan template as a bonus.

We know it takes time to figure out your business goals, and you should take all the time as well. So, you need to manage time and automate repetitive business tasks such as invoicing , collect insightful client feedback , and generating stunning sales reports .

To make invoicing and estimates & quotes process easier, you can download the InvoiceOwl app and never bother about such tasks. Instead, refer to our blog to get invoicing tips that are exclusive for freelancers. So, what are you waiting for? Plan your basic business strategy right now!

Jeel Patel is the founder of InvoiceOwl , a top-rated estimating and invoicing software that simplifies the invoicing and estimating processes for contractor businesses. Jeel holds a degree in Business Administration and Management from the University of Toronto, which has provided him with a strong foundation in business principles and practices. With understanding of the challenges faced by contractors, he conducted extensive research and developed a tool to streamline the invoicing and estimating processes for contractors. Read More

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How to Write a Business Plan for a Freelance Writer

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• How to Write a Film Business Plan
• How to Do an Email Blast With Yahoo

Now, that you’ve decided to become an entrepreneur, you’re no longer nurturing a hobby but a business. If you’re serious about life as a full-time freelance writer, you’ll work long and hard hours to grow your business. Once your business starts to thrive, you must maintain that growth by getting old customers to come back and new ones to come in for the first time and hire you for a project.

Brainstorm before making any attempt to write a business plan. Determine the direction that you want to take your business and what type of writing you will produce.

Create a business name. Include your address, state and zip code on the cover sheet.

Write your executive summary. Describe how your business will grow and become profitable. Put down in detail how you’ll grow your business from a start-up to a solid business enterprise that generates a good income.

Establish the financial goals for your business. Write down how much money you want to earn yearly. For instance, if you’ve decided on $175,000 as your yearly income, figure out how you’ll accomplish that goal as a freelance writer and write it down in detail.

Conduct market research for freelance writers. If you want to become a medical writer, research the field, find out what other medical writers charge and how lucrative the business is. Also, you need to know if medical writers will be in demand 10 or even 20 years down the road.

Describe your freelance business. Put it in writing exactly what services you offer and what customers can expect when they contract or hire you for a freelance writing project.

Create a marketing strategy to generate business and attract customers. You can advertise over the radio, create fliers, design a brochure and/or send out sales letters. Research the type of marketing strategy that works best for your type of business by seeing what others do. Talk to someone else in your field.

Describe the operation of your business or how you’ll get the product to your customers. For instance, you can send documents over the fax machine, email or through the regular mail. You might pick up a project or have it sent over the fax machine or through email. In some cases, you may need to use messenger services or other carriers.

Calculate the financial projections of your freelance writing business. These projections tell investors or loan officers how much money you expect the business to earn in the future. For instance, in the first year, expected earnings are $150,000; in five years earning are expected to rise to $300,000; in ten years, the expected earnings are $450,000 annually. Banks and Investors need to know that your business will give them a return on their money.

Things You Will Need

• "Getting Started as a Freelance Writer;" Robert W. Bly; 2008
• Small Business Administration: Starting and Managing a Business
• "How to Become A Successful Freelance Writer;' Bob Brooke

Juanita King began writing in 1971. She holds a master's degree in written communication and a master's degree in human development with a post-master's degree in counseling from National-Louis University.

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FREELANCE COMMUNITY

• Freelancer Business Plans: How to Create One and Use It to Build Your Business

Make A Living Writing

8 Things to Include in Your Freelancer Business Plan

1) company overview, 2) industry analysis, 3) customer analysis, 4) competitive analysis, 5) marketing plan, 6) operations plan, 8) financial plan, don’t skip this step.

One of the biggest mistakes freelancers make is failing to recognize they’re running an actual business. And because you’re running a business, you really should have a business plan in place. 

A freelancer business plan will help you identify your goals and the best strategies to grow your writing business, laying out the best strategies for you to follow and giving you a precise roadmap to make money writing .

But what does a freelance business plan look like?  

Below I will walk you through each component of a business plan and give your guidance and questions to answer to quickly and easily complete your plan so you have a roadmap to follow in succeeding as a freelance writer.

In the company overview section of your plan, you need to include answers to two questions:

What type of freelance writing business are you operating?

What accomplishments have you achieved to date? 

Here you want to give an overview of your business and the services you offer. For example, do you offer copywriting services , article writing, white papers , press releases, etc.? Describe the freelance writing services you currently offer and/or want to offer in the future.

Here you will document accomplishments you have already achieved in your business. Perhaps you’ve published 500 articles to date, or your writing has been featured in a major publication. Or perhaps you’ve served over 100 clients. Or have been freelance writing for over 5 years.

Documenting your accomplishments serves two purposes.

First, it will give you confidence that you have a lot to offer prospective clients.

Second, use what you write here when bidding on new jobs; since the best indicator of future success is past success, showing off your accomplishments will help encourage new clients to work with you.

In a traditional business plan, the industry analysis section discusses the size of the market and trends within the industry.

According to Technavio, the content writing industry generates annual revenue of $412 billion. This proves the market is massive.

But it’s important to research and think through industry trends.

For example, while the U.S. market is stable and slightly growing, foreign markets are growing even faster. And clearly, there’s a trend towards more online and SEO-friendly writing than in the past.

By understanding relevant trends, you can make better decisions on your growth strategy. For example, you may want to complete an SEO course and market yourself as an SEO content specialist and charge higher prices.

In this section of your freelancer business plan, you will identify the customers you want to serve.

For example, do you want to write for magazines? Or business sites? Do you want to write about health & fitness or science ? 

Think about the types of customers for which you’ve written in the past and what you have liked/disliked, and brainstorm new customers you’d like to attract and serve.

Once you have this list, identify the wants and needs of these clients. For example, clients may require things like:

• Deep domain knowledge
• Fast turnaround times
• Ability to conduct in-depth or original research

Knowing who your ideal clients are and what they want/need, will make attracting these clients much easier.

Here, based on the services you are offering and the clients you want to work with, document your key competitors. Most likely, these will be employees at client companies and/or other freelance employees.

Importantly, you must then think about and document your areas of competitive advantage in your freelancer business plan. These areas might include:

• Your unique expertise in certain areas
• Your experience and track record
• Your ability to develop great proposals
• Great customer testimonials you’ve amassed
• Your social media following

Importantly, think through how to make this list bigger and better than others. Building these areas of competitive advantage will ensure a steady stream of clients for years to come.

The marketing plan section discusses the “4Ps” as follows:

Product/Service : Here you will reiterate the freelance writing services you offer

Place : Here you will document the geographies within which you will offer your services. For example, will you only work through the internet? Or, are you located in an area where local companies, who might prefer to meet on occasion in person, could benefit from working with you?

Price : In this section, you will discuss your pricing. Do you want to be a premium service provider and charge higher prices? Do you want to have average prices? Or be the low cost provider?

Promotions : The promotions section is where you will list all the methods you will use to attract prospective clients. Will you try cold-calling? Email? Direct messaging via social media sites? Will you use freelance job sites like Upwork? Will you find freelance jobs on LinkedIn ? Document all the promotional methods you will use to attract new clients.

Your operations plan includes two sub-sections:

• The list of ongoing functions you must complete and how
• Your future milestones

Ongoing Functions

In this section, document the key functions you must perform like completing writing assignments, prospecting for new clients, freelancer invoicing , etc.

Also, list tools you will use to streamline these functions so you are most efficient. For example, employing the best accounting software can make your freelance business more efficient .

In completing this section, think through what work you will do yourself, and what work might you want to outsource to others. For example, maybe it’s worthwhile to hire someone to do your outreach to find new clients. Or to build your website.

Future Milestones

Your future milestones document the accomplishments you’d like to achieve in the future. For example, perhaps in the coming year you want to secure 100 new clients and generate $100,000 in revenue. 

To begin, the very act of setting and documenting goals improves your chances of achieving them. But also, after setting them, think through what you need to do to accomplish them. For example, maybe you need to hire someone to do invoicing or prospecting. Or maybe you need to complete a course.

Figure out what resources are needed to attain your milestones and then document them too. For example, you might say that within the next 3 months you need to complete an SEO course and in the next 5 months you need to hire someone to do your invoicing.

Essentially this section lays out your growth roadmap to follow.

The team section of your freelancer business plan documents what other team members you have or will need to achieve your goals.

It’s fine if your team is just you. But there are countless other individuals from other writers, social media marketing experts, bookkeepers, etc., that could provide expertise and value that you should consider.

Your financial plan should present your profit and loss projections for the next one to three years.

These projections can be easily completed in a spreadsheet.

For example, multiple the number of new clients you hope to serve by the average revenue per client to figure out your sales. Then subtract costs including platform fees (e.g., Upwork fees), software you must purchase, fees you pay to outsourced personnel, etc. The result is your expected profit.

Change your assumptions to see best and worst case scenarios. And use the financial projections to see areas in which you might want to invest.

For example, you might determine that you can work on 2 extra projects worth $2,000 total if you freed up 20 hours. And that purchasing a $1,000 piece of software would free up those hours. In this case, buying the software would be a great investment.

Creating your freelance business plan forces you to answer key questions and think through the best strategies to employ. 

Unfortunately, most freelancers don’t create a plan and suffer from lack of focus and profits. They think simply being a good writer is enough — IT’S NOT!

Armed with the information above, you can create a business plan for your freelance business, follow it, and start to achieve your dreams.

Dave Lavinsky is the president and co-founder of Growthink where he has helped over 1 million entrepreneurs and businesses write business plans to start and grow their ventures.

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Determine Your Skills

Set up your freelance writing business structure, figure out your spending, find your clients, develop successful habits.

Freelance writing as a side gig is a popular idea and a simple prospect. Setting up a legitimate freelance writing business, however, is a little bit more of an endeavor.

It’s a process that may involve everything from developing a writing style to winning over clients, to creating freelance writer business cards and a business website. But done properly, it can also be very rewarding work.

There is a lot of diligence and effort involved in building up a successful freelance writing business. But if you take advantage of the following tips and advice, you’ll have a good chance of making it happen.

Before you actually attempt to set up a freelance writing business, you should take some time to do some self-assessment. This means determining whether or not you have the  skills needed to succeed at freelance writing . These include, but are not limited to:

• Writing skills (good grammar, a strong vocabulary, the ability to express ideas clearly and succinctly….)
• Ability to meet deadlines
• Ability to take criticism & make adjustments
• Self-starting capability
• Comfort marketing yourself & communicating with clients

All of these skills will come into play in the course of running a freelance writing business. In fact, you’ll learn more about how they come into play as you continue reading below. But your first step should be to consider to what extent you possess these skills, to begin with.

If you think you’re lacking in a given area, it’s okay! This doesn’t mean you can’t be a successful freelance writer, nor that you necessarily need to change course. Rather, it just means you’re aware of what you need to work on.

If you don’t feel you write well enough, try practicing with a private personal blog, or even a journal — and read work from other writers doing what you’d like to do.

If you don’t think you’re good at networking or seeking out clients , study up on some strategies and work on your general communication skills by being a little bit more sociable in your personal life. Whatever the specifics, these are skills you can work on, and which you should feel confident in before you set about starting your freelance writing business.

If you’re confident you have the skills needed to succeed with full-time freelance writing, it’s time to give some thought to the structure of the business. This involves both tangible and intangible steps, including setting up your platform, defining your business, considering your areas of focus, and working out an outreach strategy.

In setting up your platform, you should focus on three specific things: a website, a suite of social media platforms, and a go-to bio or byline.

Your website doesn’t need to be particularly involved, but it can serve as a platform where clients can find you, where you can showcase some of your work, and where you can easily direct prospective  new  clients considering your services. Social platforms can be simple as well, but you should keep them active, sharing your work and thoughts and interacting with others relevant to your work.

And you should always have updated bios and bylines ready, so that you’re prepared to stamp them on any work you contribute, no matter where it may be.

You should also give some thought to the actual structure of your business. While not all freelance writing is necessarily ghostwriting (indeed, much isn’t), one piece on  setting up a ghost-writing business  frames this decision as one between an LLC and a sole proprietorship , and this is a good way to think of a broader freelance writing business as well.

A sole proprietorship is maybe the easiest way to set up a business in the early going. But if you plan to grow, you may want to explore the tax benefits and liability protection an LLC provides. If you really set up a business, rather than just the occasional side writing gig, these structures can protect you financially and offer some tax breaks.

When you have your platforms and your structure set up, it’s time to turn your attention toward the work itself. This first means deciding on your area of focus. Are you going to write guest articles in a particular niche? Would you prefer to ghost-write eBooks?

Are you hoping to build your own site into your primary source of writing income? It’s okay if you have multiple focal points, but deciding on a few niches will help your business to define itself in the early going.

When you have your internal structure and approach figured out, you need to address what is often the elephant in the room for any new business: spending.

While a freelance writing business is not typically among the more expensive entrepreneurial ventures you can take on, it is also a mistake to think you won’t have any overhead.

You should start out in general terms and figure out some ways to  save startup costs  in general. Some popular options in this regard include:

• Buying used equipment
• Keeping overhead low
• Avoiding unnecessary labor
• Tracking your time

Those strategies can apply to visually any startup venture, and if you keep them in mind you can make sure you aren’t spending more money than you need to. You can also ensure that you aren’t de-valuing your own time by putting in work disproportional to your pay. This is not a direct expense, but it hurts your business (and personal well-being) all the same.

You should also take some time to familiarize yourself with reasonable tax write-offs associated with your business. Again, you may get some tax breaks depending on how you structure your business in the first place.

But freelancers are also typically able to write off research materials, writing-related tools, and even in some cases, office space. You could read up on this matter carefully and perhaps consult a tax professional to make sure you’re getting as many breaks as you can. They ultimately amount to money saved for your business.

As you finally look to get started with your actual freelance writing business, your first, and perhaps most significant challenge will be finding your clients.

A lot of people who consider freelance writing as a business feel confident in the actual writing, but are less experienced with client contact and acquisition. But there are some steps you can take to make it more likely that you will begin to bring in steady freelance writing jobs .

The first step should be to acquaint yourself with job websites for freelancers . There are a lot of them out there, and while they vary in structure and success rate, many of them can be quite helpful. You can use these sites to keep up a steady stream of contact with potential clients, and ultimately land some of your earliest jobs.

Even if you hope to ultimately operate more independently, this can be a good way to build up some experience, references, and early income.

This is also where you should start making use of your social media platforms. Use them to follow any and all accounts that may be relevant to your business: writing platforms, other freelancers, early clients you’ve dealt with, and even people who work for sites you might want to write for.

Simply by doing this and maintaining activity, you may put yourself in a position to gain contacts and opportunities.

In the course of doing all of this, you should also make an effort to contribute broadly in the early stages. While it’s generally a bad idea to devalue yourself by writing for small platforms or low rates, there is something to be said for getting your byline visible in as many places as you can.

This is a simple matter of exposure. If you have articles on 50 sites in the first month, as opposed to 10, you’ll have 40 extra chances to spark new clients’ interest.

Lastly, as you do your early jobs and expose yourself as much as possible to potential clients, remember to update your own web platform as well. Check with clients to see if they’ll offer satisfied testimonials, or allow you to link to the work you’ve done for them.

Then, make these positive reviews and examples visible on your own website. This way, when your byline is seen, or someone looks at your freelance writing business cards or a link to your site through social media, there will be meaningful material there.

It can be the most efficient way to let potential new clients know that your business does quality work.

If you follow all of the tips and advice above, you’ll be well on your way to establishing a freelance writing business — at least from the standpoint of fundamentals. But, of course, it’s your actual writing that will largely determine how successful this venture is.

The good news is that aside from basic grammar and rules, there is no precise definition of “good freelance writing.” To be successful, you merely have to develop personal qualities and habits that make your work broadly appealing.

There is no exact blueprint for this. But if you let your own voice show, avoid careless errors, and read over your own work to ensure you aren’t falling into bad habits, you’ll be off to a good start.

And that, really, is the final piece of the puzzle. Mind you, all of this work is ongoing. You need to keep searching for clients, keep updating your platforms, and keep developing and improving your work for as long as you intend to stay in business.

But by paying close attention to these fundamental steps and building blocks, you’ll be able to set up the foundation for a thriving freelance writing business.

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Freelancing Growth

Written by Anna Levy

Contributor at millo.co.

Anna Levy is a financial advisor with a passion for helping individuals build towards their financial wellness. When she’s not working, Anna enjoys urban gardening and long walks with her dog, Potato.

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Reviewed & edited by Adam Wright , at Millo.

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How to Become a Freelance Writer, Plus Tips for Success

F reelance writing is a booming industry, and it could be a great way to enjoy remote work and set your own schedule. Yet becoming a freelance writer can be difficult and confusing, especially in the beginning.

Today, let's explore how to become a freelance writer step-by-step, plus break down some extra tips to ensure success in this field.

1. Decide what kind of writer you'll be

No freelance writer can do it all, so you need to decide what kind of writer you'll be before starting on this career path.

Here are some examples of freelance writing niches and focuses:

• Technical writers : have technical expertise or in-depth knowledge about a specific subject, like manufacturing, finance, programming, etc. This type of writing is the most profitable side hustle. However, it's also the hardest for new freelance writers to break into as small businesses.
• Content writers: create blog posts for a variety of websites, often retail or affiliate websites. Content marketing includes high-qualitycontent writing. Such content might include guest posts for bloggers and business owners. It might also include other freelance content, like creating social posts or email copy. Helpful skills to know are how to use WordPress, Slack, Google Suite, Asana and similar.
• Copywriters : create content for brands by mimicking brand voice, tone and language rules. This freelance writing work means providing writing services to a brand's own blog. Such purposes typically revolve around SEO/search engine optimization purposes.

Of these types of freelance writers, you can further specialize. For instance, you can be a retail content writer exclusively, a finance technical writer and so on. In many cases, you should choose your freelance writer niche based on your previous experience, interests or specializations.

Consider your working schedule, too. Full-time writers will have more access to freelance writing jobs. However, you can still build a writing portfolio with stellar writing samples to attract potential clients, even as a part-time writer.

There are lots of online writing clients to attract. In any case, you'll build up a byline reputation after you get your first client and start flexing your creative writing skills.

Related: How Much Should You Charge as a Freelance Writer ?

2. Learn your niche's writing conventions and strategies

Next, you'll need to learn and master your niche's writing conventions and strategies.

As an example, if you become a copywriter for retail brands, you need to understand typical writing conventions like:

• Reading through your clients' tone packages or portfolios (sometimes called brand guides). These will give you the information you need to mimic your client's voice appropriately.
• Writing in streamlined, short sentences without a lot of fluff. These days, most online readers skim written content rather than reading it word by word, so you need to know how to create compelling, attractive headers and content blocks.
• Using bullet points frequently (just like this.) to convey key informational points quickly and succinctly.

Many of these skills can be learned and practiced as you hone your writing skills and as you determine your ultimate freelance writing niche or focus. Outside of learning by pursuing writing opportunities and building an online presence, many good writers have positive experiences with writing courses designed to build professional writing skills for different types of content.

3. Build a portfolio and join freelance job sites

No one will want to hire you as a freelance writer without seeing some samples of your work. This can sound counterintuitive, as at the beginning of your career, you won't have any work to showcase. However, you should create a portfolio of sample or trial blog posts, copy and more. Even if you come up with this content from scratch, it can serve as a good example of the work future clients can expect.

Once you have your portfolio, put it up on your personal website and your social media pages (particularly your LinkedIn profile). Then add to freelance job websites like Upwork. Make profiles on all the freelance job boards you can.

In the earliest days of your freelance writing career, you'll be pursuing as many jobs as possible. The more places you have to advertise your skills, the better.

Related: Leaving a Steady Job to Start a Freelance Career ? Here Are 5 Things You Must Know

4. Start looking for work

Now it's time to put your nose to the grindstone and begin looking for work. As a freelance writer, the initial months of your career will be filled with proposals and requests for work. Don't expect to get a lot of clients initially. In fact, you'll probably spend most of your time seeking out clients instead of writing.

This isn't a bad thing. During this time, you'll learn how to write effective, persuasive proposals to your clients and how best to represent yourself as the ideal freelancer for their needs. In time, you'll get a few jobs, then use those jobs to open further doors and new professional opportunities.

5. Request good reviews

Each time you get a job from a client, do it to perfection. Then, at the end of your contract, request an excellent review or testimonial. Many freelance job board websites allow you to post reviews or automatically calculate a review or star score based on your performance.

The better your review score is, the easier you'll find it to acquire new, high-paying clients. In this way, your freelance writing career will start off very slow, then quickly pick up speed.

Related: The 9 Skills it Takes to Succeed as a Freelance Writer

6. Market your writing aggressively

As you earn initial success, you should market your writing aggressively. There are a few different ways in which you can do this:

• You can create a personal website for your freelance writing business, showcasing your best samples and reviews or testimonials.
• You can make online ads promoting your skills as a knowledgeable copywriter, particularly in a specific industry or niche.
• You can and should market yourself on social media by regularly posting that you are looking for work or new clients.

Don't feel bad about announcing your skills in this way: You have to hustle to make it in this industry, a truism that holds for all freelance professionals, in fact.

Other tips for freelance writing success

You now know the basics about how to become a freelance writer. But even with the step-by-step process above, you might not see initial success unless you keep some key tips and strategies in mind.

Pick a niche to excel at

First, and perhaps most importantly, you should pick a niche or specialization at the earliest opportunity. Generalized freelance writers don't make nearly as much money as specialized writers. That's because specialized writers can provide more raw value to their clients.

Imagine a situation in which a programming company needs a writer to create some in-depth blog posts for B2B clients. They can hire a generalized content writer or a specialized technical writer who knows the ins and outs of programming languages and computer science. The latter choice is always the better option for that client.

To that end, find a niche in which to excel based on your previous schooling, your interests and more.

Price your writing properly

Many freelance writers struggle with getting a living wage, partially because they price their writing too low. True, in the earliest stage of your career, you'll probably earn about one cent or two cents per word. However, as you earn your first initial reviews, you should counterintuitively increase your price to five cents per word or more.

Why? If you price your writing too low, clients will think that you aren't worth their time. By pricing your writing sufficiently high, you show that you are confident in your ability to deliver results to those clients.

Always be looking for new clients

The life of a freelance writer involves constantly looking for new clients and work opportunities. Even if you have a handful of solid clients who send you work consistently, don't rest on your laurels.

Always be cultivating new contacts and finding new professional clients who you can approach for work. You never know when your current jobs or projects might dry up, leaving you in desperate need of new income streams.

Always improve your writing skills

Similarly, always work to improve your writing skills by learning new words, practicing your grammar and so on. As a writing craftsman, it's up to you to make sure that your skills are as sharp and desirable as possible. Don't let your writing skills fall by the wayside just because you have achieved some initial success as a freelance writer.

Related: Examples of Writing Business Ideas

Start your journey as a freelance writer

As you can see, you can become a successful freelance writer in a variety of ways and niches. But keep the above tips in mind, and you'll be sure to land high-paying clients and master your new business in short order.

Check out Entrepreneur's other guides and resources for more information on this topic.