VOLUME 24, ISSUE 8 – AUGUST 2025
New on the Blog:
Any number of FLCW projects might require you to interview high-profile execs. These will often be your clients.
To help you get clients to speak more freely in these interviews, I brought in Paula Hendrickson to share some interviewing tips you can adapt to your FLCW business.
For years, Paula has interviewed everyone from high-profile executives to celebrities. Take her five tips to heart, and you’ll have clients opening up more in interviews in no time.
Read the post: Tips for Interviewing High-Profile Executives
THIS MONTH’S MENU:
I. When a Client Nearly Doubled My Rates Without Being Asked
I thought I’d lose a long-term client. They nearly doubled my rates instead.
II. How to Find “Hidden Gem” Prospects on Job Boards
Sometimes the best leads on job boards aren’t the advertised jobs.
III. One Quick Contact Can Keep Work Coming
Peter Bowerman reminds us how he kept one of his biggest clients coming back for more.
I. Why a Client Nearly Doubled My Rates Without Being Asked
I thought I’d lose a long-term client. They nearly doubled my rates instead.
A few years back, I started easing into a semi-retirement of sorts. Not all-out retirement, but scaling back on freelance work to focus more on the publishing side of my business.
That meant learning how to say “no” more often.
But it also meant parting with some clients, most of whom I’d worked with for years. That included a long-time favorite.
To be clear, even though I charged them slightly less per-project than most clients, I tended to earn much more hourly because they were so easy to work with.
No complaints about pay. Nothing close to under-charging. So proposing a rate increase wasn’t a consideration on my end. Something simply had to be cut.
I let them know about the coming changes, and offered to help them find a new contractor.
That’s when they surprised me.
They came back asking if I’d consider keeping them on if they nearly doubled my rates, for everything from short press releases to long-form reports.
While I hesitated briefly, how could I say “no?” They were great to work with. I loved the people. I enjoyed the projects.
Instead of cutting a client at my lowest per-project rates, they ended up becoming one of my highest-paying clients, routinely bringing in 2-4x my hourly target earnings.
They didn’t have to find a new freelancer. I didn’t have any regrets about losing a great client if other things didn’t work out.
And it was all because we built a great working relationship, they valued what I brought to the table, and we had mutual respect for each other in how we handled things.
Win-win.
Build those solid relationships. Make yourself invaluable to clients. If you’re not scaling back, go ahead and raise your rates or propose other changes you might be hesitating on.
Your clients might just surprise you too.
II. How to Find “Hidden Gem” Prospects on Job Boards
Sometimes the best leads on job boards aren’t the advertised jobs.
Between low-paying jobs and “ghost jobs” (fake job postings), I’m not a huge fan of job boards for seeking freelance clients. Especially if you’re an experienced pro.
That said, job boards can still highlight hidden gems.
Here are a few tips to help you find more FLCW prospects using job boards in unconventional ways:
1. Search for full-time roles related to the services you offer.
The hiring process can take weeks to months, meaning the company might be open to your freelance services while they search and interview.
2. Look for job ads at the hiring-party level.
Watch for company announcements about those new hires (comms pros, marketing directors, etc.), then reach out to build relationships early on.
3. Search for projects, not jobs.
Instead of searching for a role (ex. “freelance copywriter”), search for project types. Find jobs, full-time or otherwise, that require the press releases, blog posts, web copy, white papers, etc. you already write.
Identify the hiring manager if possible (LinkedIn is great for that). Then reach out to introduce yourself and pitch your services. It could be they hadn’t considered freelancers as a possibility. This is your chance to persuade them.
I covered tips like these in more depth at Freelance Writing Pros (a site offering more advanced business and marketing tips for more experienced freelance writers, set to re-launch later this month.
Read the post here: How to Use Job Boards to Find Unadvertised Freelance Writing Jobs
III. One Quick Contact Can Keep Work Coming
Peter Bowerman reminds us how he kept one of his biggest clients coming back for more.
When Peter Bowerman read last month’s newsletter, he reached out to me about the piece on turning quick gigs into big money projects. He shared a bit about one of his last BIG clients:
“They started with a few press releases, and quickly progressed to case studies, web copy and a bunch of juicy white papers!”
And we love those “juicy white papers,” don’t we? From short projects to larger ones, and even better… regular work.
Peter shared more about his experience with this client, and how friendly follow-ups led to that more regular work, in the November 2022 EPUB.
One quick call or email might be all it takes.
Check that out if you’d like to read more: Strategies for Catching and Keeping Clients
Do you have a FLCW success story or quick tip you’d like to share in a future newsletter? Email your story to epub@wellfedwriter.com, and it could be featured in the EPUB.