Hey Reader,

Last week, I was chatting with a freelancer friend who is wildly successful.

Like $20k months working only 20 hours a week kind of successful.

Of course, we all get to set our own definitions of success, but in my eyes, $250k/year working part-time = pretty comfortable living.

Lucky for you and me, I'm super nosy. So I was asking her all kinds of (invasive) questions. 😉

I'm working on a full deep-dive on this freelancer, who shall soon be named, and I'll share it with you in a few weeks!

But I wanted to dedicate this entire email today to how she thinks about getting clients and setting rates.

You see, this freelancer confidently acknowledges that her prices are on the high end of the scale.

At one point during our meeting, I asked if she's ever been hesitant about having high rates, especially given the current weirdness of the market that so many freelancers are experiencing.

And I loved her answer:

It got me thinking about the opposite vibe I'm seeing in the industry right now.

For example, I've seen freelancers on LinkedIn lately talking about lowering their rates to fit into more budgets.

Or, finding zero new gigs despite sending hundreds of cold pitches and applying for dozens of gigs on job boards.

Now, I'm not trying to add any shame here. Because I know times are tough - that's very real.

But all too often, strategies rooted in scarcity will produce scarce results.

And while sending hundreds of cold pitches and applying to endless gigs might feel productive...

...is it really?

I've got a few thoughts here on what to do instead.

Identify clients who already value your services.

It's easy to waste time trying to educate potential clients about the value of writing services.
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But, clients who don’t recognize the value of good writing are almost always the most difficult to work with. They'll usually opt for the cheapest option or resort to AI-generated fluff.
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The good news is, plenty of businesses already understand the value of copywriting, ghostwriting, and content creation.

When I finally started making some real ca$hola, it was because I stopped pining for the one-off, low-value gigs.

I got clear on who already understood the value of content and had the budget to back it up.

Then, I figured out where to find them. At the time, it was through Facebook groups, agency partnerships, and local networking events.

The word audacity comes to mind. Because most of the work came as a result of me creating opportunities for myself:

• I reached out to warm leads and pitched myself for very specific projects
• I pitched new projects to existing clients
• And, I had an unwavering belief that there would always be work to do (still do)

Instead of scarcity, start seeing the opportunities that exist everywhere.

There are leads everywhere.

I *don't* mean this in a sketchy pyramid scheme way where you need to exploit your family. But you never know who knows a future client.

Just ask Michael Scott.

In all seriousness though, there are leads everywhere if you're looking.

I recently asked this on LinkedIn: "What's the weirdest way you've found a client?" and there are over 100 comments with some cool stories.

👀 Read it here if you need some ~clients are everywhere~ inspiration in your life.

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In the meantime, please take care of yourself this election week. 🖤

And let me know if you need anything.

Talk soon,

Erika

Before you go, can you help with something real quick??

I'm renaming this newsletter because, let's be honest, The Freelance Files is so boring. These are the names I'm considering:

Reply to let me know which one you like? Or hate...

1. The Secret Life of Freelancers
2. The Sunday Freelancer
3. Freelancer Gone Wild

Thanks! 🙏