How to Gain Momentum and Double Your Income

How to gain momentum in your creative freelance business and double your income.

 

Let’s talk about how to gain momentum in your creative freelance business and double your income. I say that loosely because I like talking about money and numbers but it’s so subjective based on where you live, what your life situation is, what your goals are, etc. A 10K month is going to get you to different places living in Southern California versus living in Wisconsin right? I’m sharing my story and then you can take from it what you need and what you want. 

 

I just have to mention too, it’s 2:20 pm on July 22, and this blog is being pulled from my 22nd episode of this season’s podcast. I’m loving those angel numbers and feel like angels are among us. I’m getting back into my spiritual practices, slowly but surely, I kind of took a hiatus for a while, but that’s just a side note.

My Freelance Business Story

 

I’m going to tell you a story. In January, at the beginning of this year, I was making barely any money in my business. It was bad. I think I made maybe $2,000 in January. So not good. Also, at the end of 2021, I decided I didn’t want to be a copywriter anymore, I wanted to be a coach, so I kind of burnt my whole business to the ground. Not kind of, I did. Clients quit and I was down to nothing. So, I did some inner work and realized that it’s not copywriting that I hated, it was the lack of boundaries I had with clients. So I decided to rebuild better than ever, and that’s what I did.

 

Decide What You Want and Take Action

 

The first thing to do, if you want to double your income, triple your income, hit 10K months, or whatever it is you want, you have to decide exactly what it is you want. I decided that I wanted to build 2022 into a six figure business. That’s just purely invoices paid to me, what I’m making, so if you do the math that’s about 8K per month or a little over. So that was my goal. I started with a Google Drive folder that was titled The Six Figure Year. There were italics, exclamation points, and stars, so that was fun and exciting for me to open up every day. That’s where all my marketing content lives, and all that stuff. So that was my decision, that’s what I wanted. I wanted to have a six figure year this year.

 

Send Cold Emails

 

Then I needed to start taking action. Right? We can’t just think our way to results, we have to allow our thoughts to motivate us to take action. That’s what I did. I don’t know exactly what the breaking point was, but I remember, one day I just made a spreadsheet and on it I started tracking cold emails. I went on LinkedIN and Google, and found some companies that I wanted to do some work for.

 

There are different ways to go about cold emailing. You can just contact them directly on their website or you can use email addresses that are on the website. You can also use LinkedIn, search for the company, and then find the hiring manager or creative director. Find whoever you think will actually be the one to make that decision to hire you, and send them a cold message through email or LinkedIn. 

 

I decided that it was going to be a numbers game in order for me to start getting clients back into my business. So I went through and committed to sending 10 cold messages or emails per day and I tracked it on my spreadsheet. Then I started getting responses pretty quickly. That was me, kind of, training and convincing myself that I could do this. People were responding and it was good. 

 

Apply For Jobs

 

I also applied to job after job after job on Indeed. If you haven’t gone on Indeed, to apply for jobs before, it’s actually a pretty good experience. I got some good leads on there, but I also got a crap job. So red flag warning, if you are ever brought into a group interview, specifically as a copywriter or creative, watch out. It was a group interview that I wasn’t expecting and it was just insulting in my opinion. We had to go around and each person would talk about themselves and you could tell who just wasn’t a fit. It felt like it was wasting my time but I needed something so I just kept moving forward with it. But the whole experience was just red flag after red flag. They had us do at least 20 hours of training unpaid, and then there were these required team meetings, which personally, as a freelancer, I don’t want to be part of your culty team meetings. Sorry, I just don’t. That’s why I am a freelancer. The meetings were required, unpaid as well. I knew it was a bad experience because I have been through enough with agencies to just know, but also I needed income so I needed to see where it went. 

 

That experience ended up being a really good teaching moment to follow my intuition and gut instincts because I knew from the get go that it wasn’t a good situation, but I was just trying to make it work because they sold me on a certain income level. And then once I saw that it was literally impossible, I empowered myself to quit, on my own, without consulting with anyone about it first. I just kind of opened myself up for the universe to bring in something that was in more alignment with me, and it worked, so thank you universe. 

 

Interview

 

So send a bunch of cold emails, start getting that job energy out there, and interview, interview, interview as much as you can. I applied for every job that seemed like it could maybe fit. I got on some bullshit interviews but it was fine, it’s all good practice. If you are at a place where you are throwing your hands up in the air with the thought that something has to give and something has to change at this moment, then you are going to have to just take every opportunity you have and just keep saying yes. Yes to interviews, even if they are not in perfect alignment with who you want to be working for long term. You have to get the ball rolling somehow. That’s what I did.

 

There were certain interviews that I was in, secretly thinking, I don’t really even want this. But I got a bunch of what I thought were perfect that also didn’t work out. I was interviewing a lot, now that I think about it, which was really good because you are really getting into that energy of bringing on new clients and building up your business. So then, I was able to build up clients and it snowballed from there. I had some come in that were perfect and in alignment that I could build long term relationships with, and others came in and then flowed out. 

 

I did a 3-4 month service agreement with an electronics company and I can’t even tell you what they made cause that language is not in my mind anymore. But it was kind of fun, doing something totally different than what I’m used to writing for, with more of a masculine and logical energy. 

 

Say Yes

 

That goes back to just saying yes to opportunities, especially if you just need clients and you just need to start making money in this business. Enough is enough, start saying yes and then you are going to learn. That is guaranteed, regardless if it’s a “good” or “bad” experience, you’re going to learn from it. So, open yourself up to clients that seem to be a total non fit for your vibe or your niche. Don’t compromise your values, like you won’t be seeing me write for the Trump campaign, for example, I do draw a line somewhere. But if it’s outside of your niche or your scope of services a little bit, just start saying yes to get that energy flowing, that client acquisition energy, and that money making energy. Because once that gate opens up, you can receive even more.  

Give Yourself a Raise

 

Now that you have a little bit of cash flow coming in, you’re going to start giving yourself a raise. Because here is what happens. You’re probably going to have some shitty experiences, I hope you don’t, but you might. And if you do, here is the lesson, you’re going to say to yourself, “Self, I do not want to have to go through that ever again. I’m never taking on a client like that ever again. I’ve learned, thank you for the lesson, now we are going to move on and start getting picky.”

 

Set yourself up on some monthly retainers so that you have a cushion, and you always know that a certain minimum is going to be coming into your business. And then, get picky with who’s coming in and start charging more for your services. Start playing around with it. At first it’s going to be scary and your nervous system is going to be like Ahh! But there is no rule saying how quickly you can or can’t raise your prices or at what increments to raise your prices. 

 

Tap into what your body is telling you. There is a difference between full on panic and discomfort. You’re going to feel a little bit of discomfort and awkwardness, especially if you are on an actual sales call or even just sending emails, they can also bring up a lot in our system. But just try to remind yourself that you are ok, you’re safe, that you have built this other cushion of consistent income, even if it’s literally a bare minimum of what you need to get by. That is there to hold you and support you and if this is a no, that’s just making room for something better. 

 

But keep trying to nudge up your prices just a little bit at a time. Or a lot, if you want to just go all in and go for a lot, that’s totally up to you. But I just love the juiciness of being able to give yourself a raise, over and over, however often you want. I used to only raise my prices once a year, but that’s even a stupid rule too. You could raise it for every client or whatever you want. There is going to come a point where you will literally be at max capacity. It’s marketing 101, it’s supply and demand right? If you have a higher demand for what you can supply, then you can start raising your prices because you are in such high demand. It’s very very fun.  But you really want to give yourself time and grace to let your system settle into this new income that is going to be coming into your business. 

 

Cut Out the Stuff that Isn’t Serving You

 

Something that I did, which might be unexpected, if you have been following along with me for a while, is that I cut out some of my more spiritual practices, because I realized that they weren’t serving me and they were wasting time during that time in my life. For example, I was making myself meditate or pull cards because that’s what I thought I was supposed to be doing, and I had this weird thing going on in my head that “hard work was a bad thing” and I didn’t want to burn myself out or hustle too much. 

 

The content I consume is very much against hustle culture and always having to be productive. And I get that, but for me and my personality and energy type, I like being busy, I like work, I like sprinting through things, and also like a lot of down time. I’m a manifesting generator so I do like work and using up my energy, but I’m also a Taurus, which means I also like relaxing and the luxurious side of life. I had to find my own balance and my own way of doing things, and that’s what you need to do too. 

 

So if it feels good for you to work hard or pull all-nighters (which gives me anxiety just talking about) but it feels good to you to work late, work extra hours, or put in a little hustle, as you are building yourself back up to where you want to be, then good. You really have to do what is best for you and block out the noise of what other people are telling you. Except me, always listen to me, just kidding. If it’s causing you more stress to force yourself to meditate for a certain amount of time or to light your sage, etc. don’t stress out about it, because you will get back into whatever spiritual practice that is meant for you. If it’s not serving you, then I personally believe that whatever higher power is looking out for us is always looking for a greater good. You can’t mess it up, so just listen to what feels best for you in that moment.    

 

Track Your Income Daily

 

One other thing I started to do was track my income, pretty much daily. I created a spreadsheet for this. I have a column for my personal checking, added in my husband’s checking, my business checking, all my income, credit cards, credit available, credit card debt, etc. I’m tracking paid invoices and actually looking at what is coming off my credit card. I was subscribed to so much $hit I don’t even use, it was crazy. I canceled those unnecessary subscriptions. 

 

So again just focusing energy and attention on money itself, on where it’s flowing, where it’s going, and giving it the respect and attention that it deserves. I don’t know, it worked because all of a sudden more started coming in. So make a simple spreadsheet and just pop in there every day. I know there can be a lot of anxiety around looking at your numbers, but it is really important to feel a connection with it and be aware of it. Educate yourself on it. 

 

Open Yourself Up to Different Money Possibilities

 

I used to tell myself the story that I’m not good with numbers. I never said I’m not good with money, because I’ve never really had that thought. But is that just a story I tell myself? Am I really not good with numbers? Or have I just not taken the time to learn how to manage my money and finances? I started paying attention to it, being educated on it, and forcing myself into the conversation of our family’s finances and learning about everything that is going on with us – and by us I mean just me, my husband and my toddler, and she doesn’t have much say yet about our income. Then we all of a sudden manifested crazy, cool things like clients for me, opportunities for him, and we are at a very different place now then we were at the beginning of the year. And we got here in a way that could have never been predicted. 

 

Just know that, if you set an income goal, it might not come to you in a way you think it’s going to come to you, but if you are open to receiving in a variety of ways, then you are giving the universe more of a chance to reward you or give you what you want. Everyone has their own opinion about manifesting money through your spouse or partner. I think that is just as valid as having it come in through your business. Or manifesting money through a random check in the mail through a credit card, where something changed in their policy and you get this check in the mail, or there is a class action lawsuit and you get money that way. You never know, so you really have to open yourself up to the idea of money coming in in unexpected ways and it’s fun and exciting to open yourself up to those possibilities.  

 

Zoom Out and Look at the Bigger Picture of Your Business

 

Another thing that has helped me is to zoom out of my business, look at the bigger picture, and realize that these are all seasons that we are going through. It took the pressure off having a client that was out of alignment. I remember beating myself up for teaching all these people not to put up with this crappy work culture. And last year I was in two situations like that and felt like the biggest phony and fraud. But I’m not a phony or a fraud. I just had to zoom out and realize that they aren’t going to be here forever, it’s temporary, I just need them to pay a few bills and then I’ll move on with my life. It’s fine. 

 

If you are in this for the long run, what happens in the next year is just a drop in the bucket. It’s a weird thing to play with because if you are in it for the long run, then you have so much time to experiment and grow. You can take your time with building, if that’s what feels good to you. At the same time, I know we have bills to pay, so there is the reality of that. It’s a balance of building a solid foundation that gives you the flexibility to make your long term plan. 

 

If that means getting a job, a J O B real one, there is nothing wrong with that. I was so close to applying for a retail job, just to get some money flowing in. Luckily my husband said absolutely not, because he knows I probably wouldn’t have been the best person to be living with. Thank goodness for a supportive partner, but you just have to do what you have to do to support yourself, regulate your system, feel good, feel settled, feel supported, and then from that foundation you can start expanding even bigger. But you have to get to that foundation first, and some of these tips that I just gave you are going to help you get there. 

 

How I Tripled My Income

Basically, what I did to triple my income in the first quarter of the year, is I worked, just like Kim K told us to do. But honestly my workday is from 9 am to 4 pm, because that is when my daughter is at preschool. I’m not burning midnight oil or anything. I maybe got up early a few times to sneak in an extra hour of pitching and cold emailing. I did put in the work though, and sent out tons of applications, did a lot of cold pitching and cold emailing, tapped into my network, reached out to past clients to see if they needed any help, and asked family and friends. 

 

I did anything I had to do to get that ball rolling. Then I got on a couple of interviews that turned into a couple of clients, which just kept snowballing from there. I also paid close attention to my money. I looked at that spreadsheet and tracked everything that was going in and out every day, and canceled a bunch of subscriptions I wasn’t using. 

 

I just had to show the energy of money that I care about it, I’m not scared of it, I’m one with it, and I’m excited about it, and then things start to shift and change. Then I zoomed out and looked at this part of my business as a season, who knows what is to come. But now that I have this foundation, I feel confident and capable of playing with where I am now and where I’m going to be because I know that I have enough coming in to support me and my family. So it’s rational and emotional, two sides of the coins. You have to pay your bills but you also have to dream really big about where you want to go and what you want to do in this life. Make it fun and know that you can do it too!

 

If you want a cool little pdf to help you get inspired to repurpose your content on 20+ different social media and digital marketing platforms, download the Spread Your Magic guide here. 

 

Connect with me on Instagram @amyleisner or on Tik Tok @amy.leisner.

 

Come join us in The Copywriting Girls Club Facebook group. If you are a copywriter or you write copy for your business, you can connect with other awesome female entrepreneurs. It’s super fun and I invite you to join us to network, get advice, support, and all those fun things. 

 

And if you want to learn about other ways we can work together, you can check out my website at A18media.com.