Lizzie Davey

👉 How I turned a really rocky start into one of my best years yet

👉 Everything I've worked on this week, including the hours I worked and the total billed

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👉 A detailed month-by-month breakdown of what 2024 looked like for me (including won contracts, lost contracts, and revenue)

👉 A new Freelance Money Diaries entry from a paid ads specialist in Spain

Freelancers, this one's for you!

This week's Friday Freelance Tips is fired up and ready to go out 🎉 TOMORROW 🎉

It includes:

👉 Practicing this promo plan every single week - even when you're fully booked

👉 Constantly adding prospects to your pipeline by making connections and putting yourself out there (again, even when you're fully booked!)

How do you beat those moments that force us to be a bit reactive?

👉 Always be networking, whether it's Slack channels, LinkedIn, or real-life events

👉 Getting involved in freelance communities (these people are your friends and may also refer work to you)

👉 Having a promo plan that's packed full of tactics that work for YOU

Which instantly means you're working off the back foot.

It took me a LONG time to figure out that being proactive (even if you don't think the worst is going to happen) helps bridge those gaps when times are particularly tough.

This means:

They see a job advertised on LinkedIn, so they apply (along with 1,473 others).

Or they lose a client and suddenly are thrown into a panic of pitching and promoting themselves.

They react to things that happen to them AS they're happening.

Most freelancers are stuck in reactive mode.

🎄 A desk setup that physically forces us to not look like a prawn

🦐🦐🦐🦐🦐🦐

What's on your list to Santa?

🎄 Unlimited coffee

That somehow doesn't cause anxiety or contribute to our already-vibrating stress levels.

🎄 A decent response to "what do you do again?"

(We can’t do another festive season with our rellies without it).

🎄 The client that ghosted 2 months ago to come back

(I’m still refreshing my inbox waiting for you. Don’t leave me hanging).

🎄 The ability to say no to work we don't want

(From a definitely-not-former people pleaser).

🎄 More hours in a day

You’re telling me I have to answer emails, send invoices, pitch clients, run edits, juggle scope creep, take 3 calls, AND chase late payments all before I’ve actually done any of the work I’m paid to do??

🎄 Our invoices paid

Pls. Even better if you could pay them BEFORE Christmas so we don’t have to live like gremlins over the festive period.

What freelancers REALLY want for Christmas:

👉 Are they actively marketing themselves?

If a business isn’t promoting its services, it's probably not investing in growth right now. Check their website, social media, or email strategy. Are they posting regularly? Do they have active campaigns?

Any other tricks I'm missing here?

👉 Do they work with other freelancers?

Scan their website or LinkedIn for signs they’ve hired other freelancers before.

You’re looking for collaboration markers: freelance writers, designers, consultants—any indication they already understand how to work with external talent.

👉 Do they have funding?

If you’re pitching a company, do a little digging.

Sites like Crunchbase can tell you if they’ve raised funding recently. A funded business typically has more resources to hire freelancers.

The answer is you can't know for sure.

But there ARE some signs you can look out for:

Pitching is tough at the best of times, but the hardest part is knowing whether a lead is really worth the hassle of reaching out.

How can you *really* know if they have a budget or will be open to working with you? 👇

Freelancer math:

One client email: 30 seconds.
Overthinking your response: 3 hours.

Invoicing is probably my least favourite part of freelancing.

More specifically, chasing invoices.

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Tomorrow's Friday Freelance Tips newsletter is scheduled and ready to go out.

It includes:

👉 Why your freelance rates say more about you than you think
👉 A new Freelance Money Diaries entry from a freelance editor
👉 Everything I've worked on this week (+ the hours I worked + how much I billed)

So savage right now!

Couldn't agree more!

❌ No online presence

Honestly, I didn’t have an online presence until about 4 years into freelancing and I did just fine. Now... not so much.

✅ An online presence

To get in front of high-paying, well-aligned clients these days, you have to put yourself out there. Hiding away doesn’t work anymore.

❌ Generic portfolios

It’s great to have all your work in one place, but clients don’t want to trawl through reams of past projects to find something relevant.

✅ Cherry-picked portfolios

The better practice now is to cherry-pick 2-3 really relevant portfolio pieces to send to new prospects.

✅ Project-based rates

Charging per project or per piece lets you get paid for your expertise, experience, and skills, NOT how quickly you do something!

Here's what I've noticed is no longer working and what's working instead:

❌ Charging hourly

Charging hourly works in some cases, but most of the time it punishes you for being quick and experienced at what you do.