The Problem: Veteran creative freelancers like copywriters, photographers, and graphic designers are in turmoil amidst the post-pandemic market saturation and AI renaissance. New freelancers flooded the market sparking a rate rat race to the bottom and the economy is tricking many ignorant companies into using AI for their web content (SEO suicide).
A quick scroll through most creative freelancers platforms will reveal the growing anxiety of experienced freelance service providers that are sinking into devastating scarcity mindsets.
If you are anything like the millennial female creative freelancers I see melting down right now you might have questions swirling through your head like:
• Where can I find new freelance clients that won’t drive me crazy in this economic climate?
• Is my niche still viable or do I need to pivot?
• How do I adapt to the changing market demands without working more?
• How can I diversify my revenue as a freelancer without side hustles or affiliate marketing?
• How can I maintain a sense of freedom in my business without feeling handcuffed to my devices all day?
Your questions and vent sessions clearly showcase that millions of millennial freelancers are terrified they won’t be able to survive this perfect storm of inflation, market saturation and AI.
However, as a Rebel Maiden and business coach for creative freelancers I have a more positive forecast for your future.
I’ve poured over the research.
I dissected hundreds of threads in discussion forums.
As always, I also analyzed the newest Google updates for next year, and I am convinced that if you follow these strategies your freelance business will flourish in 2024 and beyond. Oh, and I put my money where my mouth is because I personally follow the strategies I share and you’re in one of them right now.
This is going to be one of the juiciest and most actionable articles you will want to reread all year long so please do us both a favor and pin this princess of a blog post so I can connect with more women like us and you can stay focused on what really matters this year.
1. Freelance Survival Strategy One: Self-Care As A Business Strategy For Creative Female Freelancers
As I will explain later in this post, your creativity is a vital skill to your ability to thrive in this evolving freelance market.
But the more you dodge the self-care the more your creative muscles will suffer and that will bleed into every area of your business. Plus every area of your life that is impacted by the success of your business.
Although self-care rituals and routines can feel like another pain-in-the-ass micro to-do list that we don’t have the time or energy for, that is because we aren’t thinking about self-care as a means to a profitable end. We think it is costing us because it feels like it is taking time away from money-making activities.
But My Love, your business is based on your creative talent. You time. Your energy. Your vital attention.
That means that nourishing your creative talent IS your main job.
You are your primary product and asset in your business right now.
If you owned a brick and mortar store that only sold one thing would you ignore that thing and take care of everything around it instead?
Of course not.
So if you won’t take it from me, please take it from Sage Dreamer Mel Robbins here, that self-care is a business strategy; not a superficial set of activities.
Leveraging Visualization and Whimsy To Reset Your Mindset For This Strategy
To begin with this method, I want to reframe the way you look at strategies, big projects, or large undertakings in general.
You know how excited you can get imagining a new project in your mind and how it will go and how utterly life-changing it might just be?
Can you think back to a time when you were experiencing that thrill through your body as you visualized that momentous thing you were going to do?
If you are anything like most millennial creative female freelancers (myself included) you fall madly in love with your idea but when it comes time to execute to completion…you get overwhelmed, bored, tired of it, etc. and it winds up in the big idea graveyard.
Sound familiar?
No shame in that game Sis, but here is the thing…
Even though we know better, our psychological programming has us trying to eat an elephant all at once, rather than one bite at a time. Our silly self-sabotaging brains kick into high-gear and start drafting an internal listicle detailing all of the reasons we won’t finish that project.
And then we don’t.
In my work with women struggling with this behavioral pattern and it’s impacts on their brands, I like to begin by addressing the thoughts and visualizations in a playful way. Rather than thinking of and labeling projects as to-do lists, why not think of them more like quests or something equally whimsical?
Here’s a list of ideas for how you can reframe your projects, to-do lists and big ideas and bring them to the finish line every time:
10 Whimsical Word Swaps For Beating Project Management Overwhelm
1. Gardening Adventure
- To-Do List: Seed Planting List
- Projects: Cultivating a Garden
- Idea: Each task is a seed that needs nurturing to bloom. Larger projects are akin to cultivating a whole garden, requiring planning, care, and patience.
2. Treasure Hunt
- To-Do List: Treasure Map
- Projects: Quest for the Hidden Treasure
- Idea: Tasks are clues or steps towards finding a treasure. Completing a project is like discovering a hidden chest filled with riches.
3. Space Exploration
- To-Do List: Mission Checklist
- Projects: Galactic Expeditions
- Idea: Each task is part of a mission checklist for a space journey. Major projects are like exploring new galaxies or planets.
4. Culinary Expedition
- To-Do List: Recipe Ingredients
- Projects: Master Chef Challenge
- Idea: Tasks are ingredients needed for a recipe. Completing a project is like preparing a gourmet dish or winning a cooking challenge.
5. Time Travel Journey
- To-Do List: Historical Epochs to Visit
- Projects: Era Exploration Mission
- Idea: Each task is a stop in a different time period. Projects are comprehensive journeys through various eras, uncovering history’s mysteries.
6. Pirate Voyage
- To-Do List: Crew Assignments
- Projects: Epic Sea Voyages
- Idea: Tasks are duties assigned to crew members. Projects are like setting sail on the high seas, navigating challenges and seeking adventure.
7. Fantasy Kingdom Building
- To-Do List: Royal Decrees
- Projects: Kingdom Expansion Campaigns
- Idea: Tasks are royal decrees to improve the kingdom. Projects are grand campaigns to expand the realm and fortify its glory.
8. Detective Mystery
- To-Do List: Clues to Uncover
- Projects: Solving the Big Case
- Idea: Each task is a clue leading closer to solving a mystery. Projects are like intricate cases that require piecing together various elements.
9. Artistic Masterpiece Creation
- To-Do List: Palette of Colors
- Projects: Painting a Masterpiece
- Idea: Tasks are like choosing the right colors and strokes. Projects are akin to creating a grand painting, each brushstroke contributing to the final artwork.
10. Musical Composition
- To-Do List: Musical Notes and Chords
- Projects: Symphony Orchestration
- Idea: Tasks are individual notes and chords. Projects are like composing a symphony, where every note contributes to a harmonious masterpiece.
If these whimsical metaphors for projects sound silly to you, good!
Silliness and playfulness help your creative muscles expand and strengthen.
The more you play and the more you nurture your imagination with silliness, the better your messaging and conversion rates will get. Queens may not want to hear this but the truth is; silly sells just as much as sexy does.
2. Freelance Survival Strategy Two: Diversify Your Revenue Streams & Focus On Monthly Recurring Revenue
Based on my last 4 years of research I am holistically convinced that if your primary source of income is based on your active done-for-you freelance services; you’re chances of survival will continue to shrink.
The reality of the economy and entrepreneurship is that you have to be adaptable.
As the pandemic showed us, you have to be able to pivot on a dime regardless of your emotions about the reasons why.
That said, strategy two begs you to focus on one thing for the next 2-3 years: Diversifying with a focus on passive recurring revenue.
Imagine if three years from now you were able to put five figures in the bank every month from sales of digital products and content you created and you didn’t have to lift a finger which means you’re free to cherry pick your projects. What would that feel like?
Liberating?
That is exactly what I want for you, which is why I am so desperate for you to hear my call for you to pivot your focus from 1X1 clients and learn to convert your expertise into a lucrative digital offer suite.
3. Freelance Survival Strategy Three: Back To Basics Blogging (But Better)
If you have been creating content as a freelancer since before 2017 then you know how good it used to be for us bloggers. All you really needed to know was how to consistently post longform content in your niche to dominate SERPs overnight.
Then that changed and digital marketing faced major evolution.
But with Google’s rollout of the 2024 algorithm updates, those of us that remember how to create original content containing original ideas and thoughts that don’t exist on any other websites will begin emerging victorious again.
Are you a former fellow category queen that dominated with organic and evergreen content marketing like I did in the 2010’s? If so, get ready for your revenge over the fake social media gurus!
Embodying The Rebel Maiden and Wild Enchantress this year will allow you to become more adaptable, more creative, more unapologetically bold in your messaging and ultimately it will unleash your full magic.
I will be going into detail sharing my blissful blogging strategies inside The Secret Society of Femme Fatale Freelancers this year and would love to have you along for the ride!
4. Strategy Four: Think Bigger & Play Bigger
If you are stuck in a scarcity mindset, odds are you’re thinking small and regularly tempted by shiny object syndrome to switch strategies which gets you nowhere but frustrated; fast.
For example, if you typically get your freelance blogging gigs on demeaning platforms like Upwork, you’re probably not spending time strategizing how you could create large bundles of niche blogs and license them to major corporations within your niche at a rate that allows them to save on their content strategy this year.
This is what I mean when I say you’re thinking small and playing small as a result.
I want you to try zooming out.
Then zoom out some more.
Then go alllllll the way out like you’re looking at your business from space.
If your goal was to get content that you created in front of more human beings in your niche, beginning from the very top of the distribution chain, where would you set your focus?
Now how does that change the way you’re looking at your next round of revenue? (Would love you to actually comment below and continue the conversation with me).
Which Strategy Is Most Aligned With Your Jungian Behavioral Archetype?
If you are currently one of my members inside The Secret Society of Femme Fatale Freelancers, then you likely already know which one of these strategies will make the most sense for you to pursue. But if you’re new around here, I invite you to take my free assessment to reveal your divine feminine a.k.a. Wild Woman a.k.a. Jungian archetype.
This assessment will reveal why you do, think, and believe the things that you do in your business and make it easier to identify an aligned business model for you.
That said, I actually chose these 4 strategies because they are important for all four of the archetypes to focus on heading into 2024.
As a content marketing strategist and coach for creative female freelancers, I am constantly fine-tuning my methods and brainstorming new solutions to your most urgent problems. This practice along with my research on the intersection of behavioral psychology, strategies for scaling a solo business sustainably and SEO empower me to spot key trends in the market. Based on the last 90 days of 2023 it is crystal clear to me that if freelancers can get a grip on their own psyche, they have the best opportunity to win online since 2016.
If you know how to have original thoughts and express them clearly in a unique way through content you can write your own ticket this year. But you will have to follow these rule of the three C’s:
The Three C’s of Generating Recurring Revenue From Your Content in 2024
I know you’re already down with the idea of collecting recurring paychecks from repackaging content you have already created, so let’s take a look at what you need to succeed in the competitive world of digital info products.
- Creativity: In a saturated market, creativity isn’t just about original ideas; it’s about reinventing how you present and package your skills. It’s about seeing your talents through a new lens and finding unique ways to solve problems for your clients. This year, Google will strongly favor websites that are creatively focused on a single topic going deep into original thought leadership that doesn’t resemble anything else online.
- Consistency: Consistency is key in building trust and a strong brand. This means regularly producing quality work, maintaining a steady presence online, and continuously engaging with your audience. I strongly encourage building or hiring someone to build a backup bank of blog posts so you don’t interrupt your posting schedule and create your content in big batches before pre-scheduling.
- Continuity: Continuity involves creating a seamless experience for your clients and audience. It’s about ensuring that every interaction with your brand is coherent, from your website design to your client communication and service delivery. I love to leverage blog funnels with my clients where each post topic leads seamlessly into the next; creating a bingeable experience.
Personally, I am really excited that the majority of the SEO experts and new freelancers flooding the market out there will not understand any of this and it will make it that much easier for you and I to recapture our market share with a vengeance.
Scale Your Recurring Revenue From Your Existing Content
I’m convinced that converting your expertise into a digital offer suite is the best kept secret in female entrepreneurship. It is the difference between getting paid for your time and getting paid for what you know. It is the difference between scaling an emerging brand into a legacy business and hustling to pay the bills. It is the most divine feminine approach to creative freelancing, and it is a path to true liberation.
But I’m also not going to bullshit you and pretend that if you don’t know the process of converting your expertise and existing content into an elevated evergreen offer suite that it will be an easy road.
Is it the path with the least amount of friction?
Hell yeah it is!
Will it start exciting, then get scary then gradually get easier and more fun just like working out?
You bet your beautiful soul it will!
I wouldn’t have gotten up at 2am on a Saturday morning to write this for you if I didn’t believe with my entire heart and soul that this process will be worth it if you do decide to adapt.
I also wouldn’t have spent the last three years developing The Secret Society of Femme Fatale Freelancers membership and my service menu based on this belief if I didn’t think it was truly the best possible business plan for me and you. I have literally put all of my time, energy, attention and money into this and I have absolute faith that you will break free of your scarcity mindset and flourish like never before if you join us this year.
