How to Get Higher Paying Clients for Your Writing Business – by Rebecca Boyle

Have you done all the usual things to get more copywriting clients, but now you want to up your game? How do you get higher paying clients?

Set Your Earnings Goal
How much do you want to earn? Obviously, as much as possible, but set a realistic amount. You must have a goal to track if you want to determine that what you’re doing is working.

Raise Your Prices
This may seem obvious but it’s something a lot of writers forget about. You may feel bad or even embarrassed about selling your writing services and raising your prices. But, every year has made you more experienced, and better at what you do. Clients need to pay for that and, for good writers, they expect to.

Process and Elimination
Are your current clients paying what they should? Evaluate your current clients, and decide if it is worth keeping them.

Tell your clients that you are raising your prices. If they aren’t happy to pay, then wish them well. The ones who value you the most will either agree to the higher prices, or they may protest at first, but agree later when they realize you are willing to move on to higher-paying clients. Remember, you don’t need to get a higher number of freelance clients. You need quality, high-paying freelance clients.

Cold Calling
It might seem scary but it’s really not. Create a list of companies you would like to work with. Do some research to see if they already have a regular blog, or are possibly utilizing writers for other marketing activities. Companies that already do this are more likely to be higher paying clients because they know the worth of an excellent writer, and need regular content.

Create pitches for different types of companies. I recommend email pitches, as well as a phone pitch. Of course, offer your services in the last part of your email.

Be aware that some companies don’t like being told what’s wrong with their website by a newcomer. Tread gently when letting them know how you can make their content better than it already is.

Become an Expert on Your Subject
When people can see that you know what you’re talking about, it will raise your value. There are lots of ways to show your knowledge on your subject such as:

· Guest blogging
· Offering free advice on social media and forums
· Writing your own blog
· Creating a podcast
· Using press request alert services, such as HARO and #JournoRequest. These sites connect journalists with industry insiders.
· Creating a digital product, such as a free guide, or an e-book for free, or a small fee.
· Creating a YouTube channel.

Upsell
It’s cheaper and easier to sell to people you’ve already sold to. When you’ve completed a job, offer them another service. If you wrote a web page for them, offer them some blog posts. If you wrote a blog, offer them some marketing or SEO services. After you have established a relationship, offer them free advice about something that could be improved on their site that you could help with, or tell them about other ideas you have.

Good writers are hard to come by, as many clients will tell you. If you’ve done a good job for someone, they will likely want to keep you around. When you want higher paying clients, the secret is to have confidence. Have confidence that you are worth a higher rate. Keep doing these things consistently and, eventually, you won’t have to pitch for clients. Instead, they will be coming to you.

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Rebecca Boyle is a qualified journalist and copywriter based in Northern Ireland. She writes for businesses all over the world. She specialises in marketing, SaaS, SEO, beverages, and travel. When she’s not writing, she enjoys day trips with her husband and mischievous German Shepherd.