My journey into freelance writing and building my own career
I graduated college one year ago. Actually, in two days it will be exactly one year. I studied journalism, participated heavily in student media and made a name for myself as a professional journalist on a local level.
Before graduation, all my friends were obsessively job hunting, sending applications and attending interviews to secure a position with their new degree. Some even had jobs lined up that were waiting for them immediately after they walked the stage.
I didn’t.
I applied to some jobs, mostly local or remote newspapers and trade magazine reporting gigs. I had some interviews and received a lot of nos, but also some yeses. When an outlet told me “yes” I always took a day or so to think it over, review the rates and responsibilities and determine whether it was the right fit for me. And every single time I ended up deciding it wasn’t and said “No thank you.”
I just couldn’t convince myself that the positions I was interviewing for were right for me. In college, I was always more of a feature writing, magazine person. I didn’t love to do general news reporting and I certainly wouldn’t be a good fit for a trade magazine. I also didn’t have the means, or quite honestly the desire, to move out of state for a job. At least not yet. Even though I knew this, and I knew the jobs I was being offered weren’t right for me, I still felt wrong turning them down.
I was convinced that I needed to have a 9–5 where I worked in a traditional newsroom, cutting my teeth as a young reporter in order to really be successful and put my degree to good use. But the more I thought about it, the more I knew that wasn’t my path. It’s the path that’s most often presented in journalism school, but it’s not for everyone and it certainly wasn’t for me.
At the time, I had about three outlets I was working with on a freelance basis that I got involved in through connections from college. They didn’t pay great, but I had pretty consistent work I could rely on each week. Even though the rates were low, I enjoyed working on something new every day and I liked the freedom of getting to set my own hours and take whatever assignments I wanted.
After about a month of this, I decided to try to freelance full-time.
I knew nothing about it at the start, so I did a ton of research. I connected with other freelancers, read blogs, watched YouTube explainers and even tapped into resources on TikTok, believe it or not. I learned a lot about the industry and how to get started and, quite frankly, just dove in headfirst.
I started by pitching on a strict schedule I set for myself. I had a goal of five pitches a day, 25 a week. This could be pitching story ideas or my skills for a specific freelance position. I kept track of these in a spreadsheet and followed up one and two weeks later if I didn’t hear a response. Sometimes I never heard a word. Other times, my annoying double — and sometimes triple — emails paid off and I got the person’s attention.
I also connected with several freelance-focused Facebook groups where I could connect with other freelancers and also apply to job postings and calls for pitches. These Facebook groups became my holy grail. I landed four clients from those groups, some of which offered me three-year contracts.
Pretty quickly and right before my eyes, my trial run with freelancing started to grow. It eventually became big enough for me to start operating like an actual business. So I formed Total Type LLC, offering an extensive list of writing and editing services. I opened a business bank account, started using QuickBooks and really felt like a business owner.
I have to say, forming an LLC and reaching out to potential clients like a business rather than just an individual really made a difference. I felt like they thought I was more legit and established and were more inclined to work with me. I also think it boosted my confidence a lot, too. I had to work hard to grow my business and clientele to the point where I felt like it made sense to form an LLC and knowing that I did that made me feel even more capable.
And it just kept growing from there. I have nine clients I work with and I’m continuing to pitch and expand my network still today. I’ve received a lot of great feedback on my work and the way I do business and I’m really proud of myself and Total Type and everything I’ve achieved so far.
And again, I only left university a year ago.
It’d be remiss if I didn’t say it was hard at the beginning. It’s hard to be told “no” and to feel like you’re not making enough money for the work you’re doing. But I think freelancing is one of those things that if you really want to do it and you have the patience and perseverance to work at it, you’ll make it happen.
I’m happy to have a platform where I can share what I’ve learned so far and as I continue growing. Even if these words just float on endlessly in the void of the internet, I’m fine with that. When I first started freelancing, talking with other freelancers is what really helped me catapult myself forward. I took all the best pieces of their advice and turned it into my own actionable plan.
So if I can pay it forward in some way and help another aspiring freelance writer, I’ll do it in a heartbeat.
