Freelance Writing Business

33 Tips For Starting A Successful Freelance Writing Business (2024)

Pat Walls

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Updated: January 19th, 2023

Want to start your own freelance writing business? Here are some tips you should know:

Learn more about starting a freelance writing business:

Where to start?

-> Freelance writing business plan
-> How to finance a freelance writing business?
-> How much does it cost to start a freelance writing business?
-> Pros and cons of a freelance writing business

Need inspiration?

-> Other freelance writing business success stories
-> Marketing ideas for a freelance writing business
-> Freelance writing business slogans
-> Freelance writing business names
-> Freelance writing business Instagram bios

Other resources

-> Profitability of a freelance writing business
-> Blog post ideas for a freelance writing business
-> Freelance writing business quotes

We've interviewed thousands of successful founders at Starter Story and asked what advice they would give to entrepreneurs who are just getting started.

Here's the best advice we discovered for becoming a freelance writer:

#1: Kate Angelella, founder of Angelella Editorial:

We chatted with with Kate, founder of Angelella Editorial ($4.5K/month). In our interview, Kate says:

Very few businesses will ever be a smash-bang, overnight success. You have to invest in yourself and the future of your business with time and money and ideas, all.

Additionally:

Owning your own business can be wonderful, but it’s also harder than any other job I’ve ever had, with longer hours, and lots of homework. And it’s more difficult to separate home from work when your work is all around you, all the time. So if you don’t love what you’re doing, what’s the point?

Read the full interview ➜

#2: Eva Gutierrez, founder of Eva Gutierrez:

We chatted with with Eva, founder of Eva Gutierrez ($/month). In our interview, Eva says:

Your business is just a system and it can tell you exactly where you’re headed if you let it.

Read the full interview ➜

#3: Matt Rudntsky, founder of Platypus Publishing:

We chatted with with Matt, founder of Platypus Publishing ($320K/month). In our interview, Matt says:

I’ve made one huge mistake over the past five years: Thinking that business is a competition, not a collaboration. I always looked at fellow entrepreneurs and thought we couldn’t help each other.

Additionally:

Your early profits will come from doing things that don’t scale … but your long-term profits will come from the things that do scale.

Further:

Do things your own way. Use your personality and quirks to your advantage. Let other people inspire you, but do not copy them. Put your own twist on their ideas.

Read the full interview ➜

#4: Kate Angelella, founder of Angelella Editorial:

We chatted with with Kate, founder of Angelella Editorial ($4.5K/month). In our interview, Kate says:

We can dwell on what we got wrong so much that we can fail to learn from it, and that is the only fatal mistake.

Read the full interview ➜

#5: Matt Rudntsky, founder of Platypus Publishing:

We chatted with with Matt, founder of Platypus Publishing ($320K/month). In our interview, Matt says:

Stop thinking that you can only use everything once. The more you repackage, you more people you help. And the more people you help, the more money you make.

Read the full interview ➜

#6: Jorden Makelle, founder of Writing Revolt:

We chatted with with Jorden, founder of Writing Revolt ($25K/month). In our interview, Jorden says:

Getting fired is what finally propelled me into starting my own freelance writing business, and I think the urgency of having no backup plan is what really pushed me to succeed!

Read the full interview ➜

#7: Eva Gutierrez, founder of Eva Gutierrez:

We chatted with with Eva, founder of Eva Gutierrez ($/month). In our interview, Eva says:

When I first started, I was going from client to client and just hoping my bank account didn’t hit zero -thinking that this was just how freelancing was supposed to be. Once I really sat down and figured out how to run my business, I realized this was not the case.

Additionally:

You want to be able to grow your endurance and to be a good writer, and that only happens from doing the work, hitting publish, reading feedback, and then doing it all over again as you level your skillset up.

Read the full interview ➜

#8: Vaibhav Kishnani, founder of Content-Whale Private Limited:

We chatted with with Vaibhav, founder of Content-Whale Private Limited ($62.5K/month). In our interview, Vaibhav says:

If you are bootstrapped and set monthly sales targets, stop right away. It is not going to lead you anywhere, trust me! Keep it easy and simple for your sales guys, keep quarterly targets, and try to be more practical by increasing not more than 30-50%.

Additionally:

If you run a business, profitability is the key metric. Map out the revenue projection for the financial year and distribute it in quarters. Give 1000% to achieve your sales target and control the budget for each vertical to remain profitable throughout.

Read the full interview ➜

#9: Dave Thornton, founder of Thornton & Lowe:

We chatted with with Dave, founder of Thornton & Lowe ($180K/month). In our interview, Dave says:

Every small business owner needs to be a salesman. This isn’t just to create and convert leads but selling to new recruits, to your suppliers, creditors, and partners.

Additionally:

Start early! The younger you are, the less risk. You will unlikely to have a huge salary to sacrifice.

Read the full interview ➜

#10: David Tile, founder of Article-Writing Co:

We chatted with with David, founder of Article-Writing Co ($125K/month). In our interview, David says:

Doing > Thinking. No matter how perfect/smart you are, market forces are smarter. Dive into the river and figure out how to swim.

Additionally:

Cashflow management is my number one piece of guidance for entrepreneurs. Know where you sit. Don’t let shitty customers delay payments. And if they do - don’t work with them.

Read the full interview ➜

#11: Eric Rosenberg, founder of Personal Profitability:

We chatted with with Eric, founder of Personal Profitability ($0/month). In our interview, Eric says:

A successful retired CEO once told me that the best way to succeed in your career is to be making something or selling something. Once you’ve done that, your next step is making it scale. That’s where I’m at now with my business.

Read the full interview ➜

#12: Dave Thornton, founder of Thornton & Lowe:

We chatted with with Dave, founder of Thornton & Lowe ($180K/month). In our interview, Dave says:

By assessing others in the marketplace, you can either be assured you are on the right path or that you need to make changes.

Read the full interview ➜

#13: Arlie Peyton, founder of Writing Income Accelerator:

We chatted with with Arlie, founder of Writing Income Accelerator ($10K/month). In our interview, Arlie says:

You don’t have to launch like everyone else. You don’t have to buy the same software. And you don’t have to be where all your competitors are. What I’d do is take in the proven, conventional wisdom and run a bunch of tests. Get creative!

Read the full interview ➜

#14: Arlie Peyton, founder of Writing Income Accelerator:

We chatted with with Arlie, founder of Writing Income Accelerator ($10K/month). In our interview, Arlie says:

It’s better to find out what you’re good at and see if there is a market for that. Don’t try everything just because there’s money in it.

Read the full interview ➜

#15: Susan Greene, founder of Greene Marketing, LLC:

We chatted with with Susan, founder of Greene Marketing, LLC ($/month). In our interview, Susan says:

Figure out how you’re going to get visibility for your business in the market to begin attracting clients and work.

Read the full interview ➜

#16: Adam Crookes, founder of Freshly Squeezed:

We chatted with with Adam, founder of Freshly Squeezed ($2.8K/month). In our interview, Adam says:

If the value proposition diminishes over time, you’re more likely to see customers drop off and fall to the wayside. This is why I put a huge amount of time and effort into going the extra mile for my existing customers.

Additionally:

With the right email template, cold emailing can produce far better results than any paid advertising campaign.

Read the full interview ➜

#17: Daniel Waldman, founder of Daniel Waldman Writing:

We chatted with with Daniel, founder of Daniel Waldman Writing ($3.5K/month). In our interview, Daniel says:

Too often, I see entrepreneurs who are more interested in being an entrepreneur than building a business. They spend a lot of time and energy talking about their business, but not actually doing things that will contribute to the bottom line.

Read the full interview ➜

#18: Deja Tyla Hansen, founder of Tyla's Writing Services:

We chatted with with Deja, founder of Tyla's Writing Services ($700/month). In our interview, Deja says:

Engaging with your customers is one of the most important things you can do. You need to set aside time to simply talk to people and connect with them. What makes a small business unique is the customer gets to talk directly to the business owner or someone very close to them.

Additionally:

Get out there and let people know what you do, and what you can do for them! Make yourself marketable and make yourself stand out.

Read the full interview ➜

#19: Matt Rudntsky, founder of Platypus Publishing:

We chatted with with Matt, founder of Platypus Publishing ($320K/month). In our interview, Matt says:

Do things that don’t scale, but have a vision of how you’ll transition to something that does scale.

Read the full interview ➜

#20: Arlie Peyton, founder of Writing Income Accelerator:

We chatted with with Arlie, founder of Writing Income Accelerator ($10K/month). In our interview, Arlie says:

Your network is your net worth. Choose great clients and masterfully solve a problem they want.

Read the full interview ➜

#21: Matt Rudntsky, founder of Platypus Publishing:

We chatted with with Matt, founder of Platypus Publishing ($320K/month). In our interview, Matt says:

You need to do things that sound absurdly unscalable (for example, offering 1-on-1 calls with the founder for new customers) – to go from 0 to 1.

Additionally:

Scrap and scrap and scrap until you find that one winner (spoiler: it took me nearly a decade), because once you do that – you can deploy capital (financial and human) to 10x it overnight.

Read the full interview ➜

#22: Daniel Waldman, founder of Daniel Waldman Writing:

We chatted with with Daniel, founder of Daniel Waldman Writing ($3.5K/month). In our interview, Daniel says:

Be self-critical. It’s the hardest thing you can do, and it can sometimes lead you down the path of self-doubt. But that’s a good thing.

Read the full interview ➜

#23: Dave Thornton, founder of Thornton & Lowe:

We chatted with with Dave, founder of Thornton & Lowe ($180K/month). In our interview, Dave says:

Experience can be picked up, skills can be developed, training provided but the most important thing is that you trust them, you already know how they work and how reliable they are.