The 6 Phases Of A Freelance Writing Career
4 of which nearly broke me…
I’m gonna go against what every guru tells you and write this story as a journal entry. Coincidently, it’s still for you, my audience.
My story begins not too long ago, with a big dream and the conviction I can make it happen: becoming a successful freelance copywriter.
Everybody constantly talks about how easy it is to find clients because it’s in such high demand — every business needs copywriting to survive and thrive. On top of that, content writing is becoming more and more important — blog posts, website content, social media content.
Having been a writer for a few years as a hobby, this amazing opportunity struck me. My eyes widened, my mouth formed an enormous smile, my blood began to boil in excitement.
Little did I know… This was only phase zero.
Phase 0: I was born for this.
My world got much better. I was happier, more hopeful, more alive. I gained this massive drive to do everything in my power to make this happen.
I couldn’t sleep at night. I wanted to get up and learn about copywriting.
Nights were particularly boring — I couldn’t fall asleep because my mind kept shouting copy, so the morning would seem like a faraway land.
Nothing could stop me. I knew I had the bulletproof foundation that could boost my chances of becoming the household copywriter I knew I could be.
God, in hindsight… Where is that person? What happened? Oh, I know… I quickly met phase 1.
Phase 1: What if…
This is not the hipster “what if you fly” quote stuff…
This is the “what if” that nearly threw me into the evil hands of a corporate job. And to be honest, it still lingers above my head sometimes.
Long story short: I took the leap. I started a legal business.
Being drunk on the euphoria of phase 0, I thought the world was mine. All I had to do was to claim it. So, I did.
I’m a business owner.
Now… what?
Now, it hit me.
What if I made a mistake? What if I’m not good enough? Why did I rush into this? I’m gonna stay in my parents’ house forever…
Why did I niche down? What if I chose wrong? I’m losing opportunities…
What if I’m not suited for the entrepreneurship/self-employed life? What if I mess up? I have so many responsibilities…
As a spiritual soul and a mindful person, I thought all these problems stemmed from something. So, I got to the root of it.
There… I found phase 2.
Phase 2: Where are the clients?
How do I find clients? Where are they?
Everybody said it would be easy…
Cold emailing? Building relationships? Managing 5 social media channels? Creating industrial amounts of content? Showing up consistently?
If you go on YouTube, you’ll find 10 gurus telling you all you have to do is write to people, offer your help, and bam! — you got clients.
And, maybe, you do have to do that. You have to do everything, in fact.
When I realized that, phase 3 hit.
Phase 3: They said YES…
This was a surprising one for me.
I was so eager to find clients. But when I found my first one… I failed.
Not only was I crippled by fear and impostor syndrome, but I had tricked myself into thinking I managed to walk past them and create what I thought was good copy.
Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.
At first, I was crushed. Couldn’t sleep at night (funny how the reasons change…).
But then, I rebelled against my mind and my client.
Took my life into my own hands, pulled out my sword, and rode into the war with a new piece of copy. This time, I’ll make it work.
I did a complete 180 on my strategy, my research, and my structure. I made my copy sharper, more direct, more in my target audience’s language.
This time, I knew it was good.
But… Phase 4 happened.
Phase 4: The Breakdown
My client didn’t like it.
I hit rock bottom.
I honestly wouldn’t wish that kind of resentment and self-doubt upon my worst enemy.
The thoughts, the feelings, the drinks, the cries… That beautiful world I imagined came all crashing down on me.
That certainty I made my first step with… Everything seemed so easily accessible. It was like I had found my true path.
I felt like I finally came home… Only to have it all burn down.
But I needed that to unlock phase 5.
Phase 5: The Ascension
I won’t lie, phase 4 deeply humbled me in the worst ways. I will never play it down — it was horrible. I felt defeated.
But, like the hero in the story…
I didn’t let it destroy me.
Ironically, I remembered phase 0. But this time, I wasn’t saying “oh, those were beautiful times…”. Instead, I allowed those memories to motivate me.
Because you know what?
Phase 0 is your WHY. It applies to any business or action that gets you out of your comfort zone.
It’s the one thing that keeps you from falling apart. That one little part of you that’s rooting for you unconditionally.
I dropped into it. I let it in. And it saved my business.
Since then, I go through these phases over and over again.
But, at least, now I know each of them ends, eventually. And that’s good enough to keep me going.
As for you, my dear reader… If you’re going through any of these phases, I’m here to tell you the next one will begin shortly. Keep going until you reach phase 5. It will all be worth it.
