6 in 6 Archives - Page 2 of 5

6-in-6 Freelance Copywriter Report – I DID IT! Errr… 11 Months

February 14, 2017 by Tanya Brody 7 Comments

11 months ago, I started this blog post series. The original post was titled: The Challenge: $6,000 a Month in Six Months As a Freelance Copywriter (and How I Plan to Do It).

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I had succeeded in reaching this goal… 8 months ago!

I know! I was shocked too!

I sat down to review last year’s revenue to get ready for tax time. I ran a profit and loss report. Lo and behold, the numbers revealed that I reached my goal last June.

I was calculating my success by how much money was paid into my bank account every month. When I send a project proposal and fee agreement for a larger project, I give the option of paying 50% at the start of the project and 50% when the work is complete. And clients don’t always pay their bills as soon as they receive them.

However, if I look at the total invoices for the month of June, 2016, I contracted for $10,270 worth of work, in that month, alone.

The money didn’t all come in that month, the work for the projects I invoiced was spread over a couple of months. I never realized that technically, I made my original goal, 4 months after I stated that goal.

That’s really exciting.

Yes, I realize that work invoiced and work paid are two separate things. But that doesn’t change the fact that I did achieve my original goal of bringing in $9,000 in a month so that I can pay one third of what I earn to the government and have $6,000 income, net.

In fact, when I look at the numbers, I’ve achieved my goal a couple of times. October also brought in about $9,000. And March, the very first month I established this goal, brought in over $6,000.

Why are these numbers important to me? (And let’s face it, I’m probably the only person who cares about these numbers.) Because it means that working for myself is sustainable. I can make enough money to pay myself, my business bills and my taxes.

As someone who is on full-time business #3, that’s a big deal. It’s an incredible feeling to know you can support yourself, your family and your lifestyle, doing what you love.

(For those of you who are just joining this series, I have spent most of my working life being self-employed and running my own businesses. I made costumes for 15 years, and was a touring musician for over 10 years. Now, I’m a freelance copywriter.)

It’s stunning to realize I reached my goal 8 months ago. My new goal is to make my income steady. I’ve had some months where I’ve done really well. And I’ve had some months where I wondered if I’d be able to pay my bills.

I want to set my business up so that I’ve got enough coming in every month to pay myself a regular salary, and still pay my taxes. That way I’ll have enough to cover the occasional lean month.

I’ll probably change the title of this blog post series, as I’ve reached my goal. I’ll figure out the new title next month. Meanwhile, I’m going to celebrate the fact that I reached my goal, and feel a little silly for not recognizing it sooner.

Yay me.

Happy Valentine’s day, and thanks, as always, for following along on my crazy journey as a freelance copywriter.

6-in-6 Freelance Copywriter Report – 10 Months

January 10, 2017 by Tanya Brody Leave a Comment

In case I haven’t said it to you, Happy New Year!

It’s January, 2017, month 10 of my freelance copywriter life. Here in Minnesota, it means snow and cold. It’s the time of year when we all find as many things to do indoors as possible, and wear as many clothes as possible to get between our cars and whatever buildings we’re running to.

It’s also a good time to hunker down and get work done. Fortunately, I have plenty of that coming in.

My two regular clients have plenty going on this month. I also have a new potential client, and a trial project that may develop into a regular project, in the works. All of this moves me closer to my goal of making $6,000 a month, net as a freelance copywriter.

Just so you’re aware, that means making $9,000 a month, gross. Why so much? Because when you’re self-employed, 1/3 of everything you make automatically goes to Uncle Sam.

When you’re employed by a company, that company takes out tax for Social Security and Medicare from your paycheck automatically. They also pay a portion of that tax for your out of their coffers.

When you’re self-employed, you pay that yourself. 12.4% for Social Security, and 2.9% for Medicare, for a grand total of 15.3%. Plus, you still pay your normal income tax.

That’s how I arrived at the $9,000 a month, gross, figure. That way I can just take 1/3 of what I earn and stash it away to pay taxes.

Yes, that sounds intimidating. But I’ve already come darn close. In November of last year, I was $750 short of hitting that goal. So, it’s doable. The trick is getting enough regular freelance copywriter work coming in so I can hit that goal every month.

December wasn’t great on that front. But January looks to be more promising for reaching my goal. I promise you, you’ll hear about it when I do!

Meanwhile, I need to get motivated and get to work. But mostly, I want to sit here and stare out the window at the snow and the birds and squirrels eating from my feeders. (That’s my current view at the top of this post, by the way.)

I think that’s one of the hardest things about working for yourself. There are days it’s just hard to find the motivation get the work done. That doesn’t change the fact that the work needs to get done. But some days, it’s easier than others.

Fortunately, I get to work on projects I enjoy, which helps a lot.

Speaking of which, if you have a project coming up that you want me to work on, please contact me ASAP. My schedule is filling up quickly for the next couple of months. If you want to be on my calendar, act quickly.

As always, thanks for reading my ramblings and following along on my crazy freelance copywriter journey. It’s kind of scary to think that in another 2 months, I’ll have been writing this blog and doing this job for a full year.

Here’s to my reaching my goal before then.

6-in-6 Freelance Copywriter Report – 9 Months

December 15, 2016 by Tanya Brody Leave a Comment

Aaaahhh!!!! I can’t believe the end of the year is staring me in the face! How did it get to be December so quickly? This means it’s been 9 months since I started my freelance copywriter business, this blog and this challenge.

I can honestly say, it’s been a wild ride, and I wouldn’t trade a moment of it. I love working for myself. I enjoy the challenge of taking my marketing and writing skills, and applying them to a new project or new industry. I love learning new techniques and about new products.

In short, I am in information junkie heaven.

Some of you may remember that I was part of something called the CLIMB program. It’s part of the Minnesota unemployment system that allows people to collect unemployment while starting their new businesses. I wrote about it a few months back. You can read that post here.

Having that income is what allowed me to stay afloat for several months. There were months when that income was pretty much all I made. Those payments ran out last month.

I’m pleased to say that I have made up that income, and more, just with freelance copywriter clients. I’m still not where I want to be, making $6000 a month, net, but I inch closer every month.

I have several new clients in the works. A couple of small, one time projects and some ongoing. I’ll introduce you to them as they move forward.

I finished the launch for the Medical Moguls “Momentum in Medicine” event. You can see the website here. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun. I ended up learning a couple of new platforms for this project, so it was an adventure.

I am very happy to say that Inkit is ramping up for their product launch. We’re hoping to be ready to roll by February at the latest. If your business uses direct mail postcards for promotions, (or you’re thinking about it) you should check out Inkit’s website.

Inkit is a SaaS platform that lets you create a postcard mailing in their drag and drop builder, upload your mailing list. As soon as you hit the “Send” button, your mailing project goes directly to the front of the queue of one of Inkit’s printers and is in customers’ mailboxes within a few days.

Inkit is only collecting email addresses of folks who are interested in their platform right now. But once it’s up and running, it will save you a ton of time and money on your direct mail projects.

Enough about my fabulous clients. On to me…

Since the new year is coming up, my New Year’s resolution is to be better about writing regular blog posts. Right now, they kind of get chivvied in where I have time. Having clients is a wonderful thing, and I wouldn’t have a business without them. But I do have to attend to my freelance copywriter business as well.

So, starting next year, on January 3rd, I will strive to have a blog post out every Tuesday. Those of you who are on my email list will be notified as soon as it’s available. If you’re not on my list, you should be!

Join the club! Sign up via the cute little pop-up form in the lower right hand corner of this page. Or the pretty green button in the sidebar that says “Follow My Journey.”

To keep this resolution, I need your help. I want to know what you would like me to write about.

Are you interested in more copywriting tips?
Do you want to know more about starting and running your own business?
Do you need more information on how to do your own marketing?

Let me know by filling out this quick survey. It will only take a couple of minutes, and you’ll be doing me a huge favor. I’ll get more ideas for blog posts, and you’ll get the information you want.

As always, thank you for following along on my crazy journey to become a freelance copywriter. It’s a pleasure having you on this path with me.

A Sincere Message of Thanks from This Freelance Copywriter

November 23, 2016 by Tanya Brody Leave a Comment

The rum raisin apple pie is in the oven; the pumpkin crab bisque is cooling and I’ll be having Thanksgiving dinner with my family. But I wanted to take a moment to say a profound thank you to all of you.

Thanks so much to all of you for following me on this crazy freelance copywriter journey.

Some of you are clients who have helped me get to where I am by hiring me to do what I love. Some of you are potential clients who are figuring out how I can help in the future. Some of you are friends who keep cheering me on. Some of you are fellow copywriters who are watching my journey to learn how you can do it yourselves.

I really appreciate all of your support, help, ideas, commiserations and general “keep it up” vibe. It’s really nice to have a community who believes in me, even if some of us have only talked through Disqus or Facebook.

I hope you continue to enjoy my posts and to support me as I become a freelance copywriter. I hope I get to support you as you make your own transitions to doing things you love, whatever form that may take.

So, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. May you get to enjoy time with friends and family, or enjoy time to yourself this weekend, as you see fit.

Enjoy the turkey, or cauliflower, or whatever traditions you partake of tomorrow.

And know that I really am thankful for you.

6-in-6 Freelance Copywriter Report – 8 Months

November 17, 2016 by Tanya Brody 1 Comment

Things have calmed down, yet gotten much busier since last month’s post. My life as a freelance copywriter continues to progress well, which makes me incredibly happy. I haven’t reached my official goal yet, but I’m getting closer.

I ended up creating landing pages and copy for an event launch for one of my new clients last month. This was great, because it means I got home from my conferences and had plenty of work to do! I love working with this team. My experience and insight are appreciated and I’ve been able to contribute quite a bit, beyond just handling the words.

I’ve also picked up a new client from Converted. I met Todd Murphy at the Leadpages workshops and Converted last year. When he found out I’d gone freelance, he contacted me after the conference and signed a retainer contract. He’s a bankruptcy lawyer, so I have plenty of experience writing for his industry. To learn more about Todd, visit his website.

I’m following up with folks I met at Converted or AWAI’s Bootcamp and Job Fair, and with people who have contacted me outside of those events. I hope that a couple of those turn into regular clients.

I’ve also gotten a lot of experience with the infamous “freelance copywriter lifestyle.” One of the many joys of working for yourself is that you have more control over your schedule. One of the many pains is, if you don’t do the work, the work doesn’t get done. (I’ve written about this in more detail here.)

I had to travel last week to attend a memorial service for a family member. While in the middle of preparing for a launch. This meant I spent a lot of time working while technically being “on vacation.”

It’s an interesting balance to deal with. I love the fact that I have a portable work life as a freelance copywriter and can do my job from anywhere. At the same time, it can be frustrating to have my family want me to join them so we can do fun things, knowing I need to finish something urgent for a client.

It’s a delicate balance. But it’s one I’ve found before, so I’m sure I’ll find it again.

I’m still enjoying the freelance copywriter journey and look forward to seeing where it goes.

Winter is starting to settle in here (we’re supposed to get snow tomorrow, thus the picture). I am sincerely hoping that by the time winter is over and the sun starts warming the earth again, I’ll have reached my goal of $6000 net a month, while still enjoying the work I do.

I’ll let you know as soon as that happens.

Meanwhile, I want to hear from you. What questions do you have about my journey, why I decided to do this, copywriting, marketing, running a small business, or anything else I might be qualified to answer? Please let me know in the comments. I’ll answer in future blog posts.

As always, thanks for following along.