Will it be fair weather in freelance writing in 2020, or foul? Inquiring writers want to know. Which is why it’s time for my annual Freelance Writing Forecast.
(Wondering how we did with last year’s predictions? Check that out here.)
To find out the top trends that will impact how we pursue our craft next year, I reached out to stakeholders around our industry, including experts, coaches, freelancers, agency owners, and more. My rule is to not use the same experts year-to-year, so these are all new faces to the forecast.
I’m particularly proud that this year’s forecast includes two coaches I mentored — my Freelance Writers Den 2X Income Accelerator mastermind co-leader Angie Mansfield, and 2X grad Mandy Ellis, a high-earning freelancer who now coaches newbies for ASJA. So — get ready for some homegrown advice you won’t find anywhere else!
What do the experts see in store for us in 2020? Here are their predictions:
1. Yuwanda Black
Inkwell Editorial Publisher
Demand for freelance writing will continue to grow in 2020
Yuwanda Black
Why? There’s three reasons:
1. More workers want the flexibility that comes with being an independent contractor.
2. It makes financial sense for companies that don’t have to pay for healthcare, vacation, or sick days.
3. And we’re living in an era of a global economy.
Want to make more money writing in 2020? Carve out a niche. You’ll earn more, not only because it makes it easier to land clients, but because it saves you time.
There’s never been a better time to be a freelance writer.
2. Bob Bly
Copywriter & author of 95-plus books on direct marketing
Digital content dominates, print slows
Bob Bly
Web analytics will continue to enable clients to measure the results of the writer’s work with pinpoint accuracy, and those writers who can generate a large ROI for the client (e.g., SEO copywriters) will be in high demand and command top fees.
The market for freelance magazine articles as well as the number of magazines being published continues to shrink.
So there will be fewer markets for freelance writing. And publications that cut their print editions and publish digitally only will pay freelance writers lower rates than traditional paper magazines.
The book industry will have an increasingly greater number of writers who earn a pittance for the books they write, with a small elite of best-selling authors still earning the big bucks.
The mid-list writers will continue to see the number of publishers shrink along with advances, which are becoming increasingly minuscule for mid-list books.
3. Ruthie Bowles
Content marketing expert and founder of Defy the Status Quo
Content for video & media in high demand
Ruthie Bowles
One of the most exciting developments is the growing opportunity for dynamic writers to step into the video space.
We’re seeing a surge in purely animated these days (think Doodle or Toon videos) due to the lower production cost.
These videos need storyboards and scripts, which I think many freelance writers would excel at creating for clients.
Voice-over artists and motion graphics designers aren’t worth much without a strong creative mind that knows how to structure marketing material behind the project!
4. Andrea Collier
Multimedia journalist, book author and speaker
Business-savvy + writing skills needed to boost revenue
Andrea Collier
It is going to require freelancers to be much more nimble in 2020.
Work smarter. Work harder. Be more focused.
Ask yourself what you want and prioritize how to get there.
Also diversify your work out of your sweet spot–expand your brand with more ways to support your revenue streams.
And listen to your instincts. All freelance writing clients are not good clients. If it feels off, it usually is.
5. Mandy Ellis
Austin freelance writer and coach
Blog posts morph into journalist-style articles
Mandy Ellis
More and more of my current and potential freelance writing clients have been asking for blog posts that are essentially journalistic-style articles with interviews and tons of research.
Clients want content that ranks
The word counts can vary, from 500 words up to 2,000 words, but if you already write quality articles, this can be a great way to create wonderful clips and get paid well.
Because of the increased demand for top-quality content that ranks, I believe these two types of content will continue to merge, the demand will grow, and soon, many blogs may look like online magazines.
Interviewing media-savvy sources will help you get more work
More sources are willing to be interviewed for blogs that are on well-established company sites and show value to the audience as well.
If it ranks high on Alexa and you can run a HARO query for it, there’s a chance you can find a good source. Anything that is a rock-star clip for you, can also be a shining example of their amazing advice on display that they can use to share on social channels and to get bigger, better interviews.
Prediction: Some of the best opportunities will come from companies that finally get it that they need exceptional content to educate their audience and provide value…not just promote their brand.
6. Estelle Erasmus
Award-winning journalist and host of the podcast ASJA Direct: Inside Intel on Getting Published and Paid Well
Demand for B2B content keeps growing
Estelle Erasmus
The only booming area in publishing will be on the trade or B2B side, and in content marketing.
Traditional publishing will continue to shift towards digital. More print publications will shut down, probably some surprising ones.
Digital content rates decline
Digital markets will keep reducing what they are paying writers, until freelance writing for publications will be an untenable way to make a living. By necessity, it will need to be looked at as a side hustle, rather than as the whole hustle.
Writers will look at digital publishing only to supplement their profiles for publishing books, or building their professional reputations.
Pivot to survive as a freelance writer in 2020
I believe that writers will need to pivot more than ever before into new ways of maximizing their skills to derive income. That means teaching skills, working with non-profits organizations, delving into the influencer market, consulting, working with advertising agencies, and more.
7. Jane Friedman
Reporter & consultant for the publishing industry
Income potential for paid newsletters evolves
Jane Friedman
Last year, a lot of freelancers heard about Substack for the first time when it received a pile of cash from a leading venture capital firm.
As a super-easy platform for monetizing an email newsletter or podcast-while still allowing for a free subscription tier, Substack has clear appeal for freelancers who want both exposure and money-making potential.
Email marketing is alive and well
Before Substack became the new shiny thing, the popular myth was that email is dead. While that’s certainly not true, email is essential, it does feel like a time of irrational exuberance in the paid newsletter market.
When you consider that a lot of media outlets are now charging subscription fees, or metering access, a writer must have a compelling offer to get a paying subscriber on board.
Perhaps more important, is this question: How many writers are really up for the burden of putting out a subscription publication, solo?
I’ve already seen one offering fall apart despite rousing initial success.
All that to say, 2020 will be an interesting year to watch the paid newsletter space evolve.
Take a closer look at your rates in 2020
Some writers will finally realize they are undercharging or should charge for something they’ve been giving away for free. And others will realize it’s not a game they can play for the long term. Regardless: I expect some big success stories.
8. Derek Lewis
Business book ghostwriter, author coach, and consultant
Specialization will help you thrive as a freelance writer
Derek Lewis
The global economy is going to continue to create new and more opportunities for independent professionals.
This is a mixed bag for us in the gig economy. On one hand, this will help normalize our way of working-less of the Wild West, more Main Street.
On the other hand, we’ll face increased competition, domestically as well as abroad.
To thrive will require a shift away from appearing as just another commodity and instead creating a “marketplace of one,” whether that specialization be geographic, demographic, or by subject matter.
9. Sophie Lizard
Founder of Be a Freelance Blogger
Blog writing + multi-media skills = $$$
Sophie Lizard
We’ve already seen the typical length of a blog post grow to 1000+ words over the last few years.
Here’s my prediction:
Blog posts will get even longer (and pay even better) in 2020 as yet more clients realize the marketing value of comprehensive, researched or reported-blog content versus bite-size opinion pieces.
Bloggers with multimedia skills and blog-post promotion experience will be in the highest demand.
Email copywriting & microcopy in demand
Meanwhile in copywriting, email is *still* not dead – and nobody needs just one email! I know plenty of writers earning well from email writing as we come into 2020, and just like blogging, this is a project type that tends to bring you ongoing work.
Plus, I’ve noticed a rising trend for paying more attention to microcopy. So if you have a knack for concise, user-friendly short copy then that’s a freelance writing niche that could be well worth exploring.
10. Angie Mansfield
The case study and white paper geek
Niche marketing + premium content wins
Angie Mansfield
I’ve got two freelance writing predictions for 2020:
1. Niche will be king.
2. Premium content will continue to grow.
Used to be, you could make good money as a generalist, and you can still scratch out a living that way.
But companies are more focused than ever on producing more Google-friendly content to improve their web visibility, while working with ever-shrinking budgets.
Focus on 1 or 2 niches
That means writers who can demonstrate some level of expertise in their industry (by focusing on one or two niches) will have a much easier time of finding great-paying work, because clients don’t have to do a lot of training to get you up to speed.
Learn to write long-form content
Google loves long-form, valuable content, so look for clients to keep increasing their blog-post length and moving toward articles with interviews instead of quick Google-search-based posts.
11. Kim Rotter
Founder of An Army of Writers
Riches are in the niches in 2020
Kim Rotter
Because the percentage of workers who are independent contractors continues to grow, it’s more important than ever to stand out.
The most successful freelance writers in 2020 will be those with high-level expertise in a niche.
Even excellent writers who “write about anything” should consider narrowing their portfolios.
Also, I think independent writers and artists, through their industry groups, will successfully mobilize to change laws that incorrectly classify ride-share drivers and all freelancers as a single and equivalent class of worker.
12. Carol Tice
Freelance Writers Den founder and founder/writing-business coach of the Freelance Writers Den 2X Income Accelerator mastermind.
2020: The year of diversity
Carol Tice
I’m calling 2020 the Year of Diversity. As a freelancer, your hedge against predicted #recession2020 or 21 is to have eggs in many baskets.
Warning: If you have only one client — or all your clients come through a platform like Upwork or one content mill or digital agency — realize that you’re worse off than if you had a day job!
You’re not getting the benefits of a full-timer, yet one platform or ‘boss’ could still end 100% of your income, tomorrow. Not good.
Now’s the time to get serious about marketing your business — effectively and regularly — to find your own direct clients. Stop undercharging, and start building an emergency fund. If you’re just barely scraping by, when a client or two suddenly drops or bans you, it’s disaster.
A diverse client base and a savings account are your best hedges against marketplace uncertainty.
If you also offer editing, have WordPress skills, can create infographics… that’s another way to be diverse and have more possible income streams. That gives you something unique to offer in your marketing.
My other prediction: contractor laws such as California’s AB5 won’t have a major impact on what most freelance writers do.
These laws restrict free speech and the media’s critical role in our society, which is flat wrong. The laws will be clarified, sued over, and appealed until they are revised and do what they were meant to do — target businesses such as Uber that exploit a 100% contractor workforce.
Plan for freelance writing success this year
If you want to move up and earn more this year, it’s not going to happen by accident. It’s not going to happen by taking a class, reading a book, or completing a course….without taking action. Now is always the best time to plan for success.
What’s your prediction for 2020? Leave a comment and let’s discuss.
