Remember those writing goals you set at the beginning of the year?
How’s it going? A lot has changed since COVID-19 turned the economy upside down, closing businesses, causing layoffs, and putting some freelance niches into a tailspin.
Crazy, right?
It might feel like you’re surrounded by uncertainty, but it’s hardly the time to hunker down, do nothing, and hope you magically achieve those writing goals.
Quite the opposite, actually.
Now IS the perfect time to take a look at those writing goals.
Get this right, and you can be a successful freelance writer EVEN during a recession.
Here’s the thing…a lot of freelancers get the whole writing-goals thing all wrong. And it can kill creativity, crush your confidence, and make you second-guess every move you make to move up and earn more.
But it doesn’t have to be like that. When you learn how to set the right kind of writing goals, you’re creating a pathway to success that you can control.
Ready to reboot your writing goals? These four moves will show you how.
First, ask yourself this simple question:
Are you setting goals for your freelance writing business?
I strongly recommend you do. But more than that, you need to set good goals.
- What makes a good goal for a freelance writer?
It’s a question that’s been getting a lot of buzz in the Freelance Writers Den and with some of my coaching students.
Here’s an example of a writing goal one freelancer proposed:
“I will land and complete my first paid freelance writing gig by June 1, 2020.”
Now, that is certainly a great thing to aspire to — to break in and get that first clip all in about 5 weeks flat.
But…
This is not a good goal
Why?
This goal is not within the writer’s control.
You might wish it, but you cannot make it happen. You can market your little fanny off, and:
- Send queries
- Write letters of introduction
- Network like mad
- Tap your social-media connections
But it might take 60 or 120 days to start paying off.
What if this writer got an assignment, but the deadline is June 30? Is she now a failure because she did not meet her goal? I would want her to feel totally victorious, but setting this bad goal would steal that victory away and make her feel “behind” in her timetable.
What makes a good writing goal? Here are my 4 requirements:
1. Be realistic
You want to get at least most of your writing goals accomplished, not hit the end of the month and have nothing you can check off. That’s depressing.
You want to build a sense of accomplishment here. So the first step in goal-setting is to look at the month ahead and what is planned:
- Is freelancing a side hustle while you still work a day job?
- Are you trying to work at home with kids around?
- How much time do you need to manage other priorities in your life?
Get real about what you can get done in this specific month, given your life circumstances.
2. Prioritize
When you look at your wish list of what you might do to market your business, which items have the most potential to bring you the best-paying sort of clients?
Those are the ones to put at the top of your list…not the ones that seem easiest.
That’s why checking Craigslist ads, job boards, content mills, and bid sites should be on the bottom of your freelance marketing list, if it appears at all.
3. Keep it simple
Keep your writing goals uncomplicated and straightforward. Here’s a good and bad example:
Good
“I will send 10 letters of introduction.”
Keep it simple. See how easy that is? Set writing goals you can measure based on your effort.
Bad (too complicated)
“I will send 10 unique marketing emails to prospects with income over $500 million.”
This writing goal has too many rules:
- What if you see a prospect that’s a perfect fit for your interests, but only $100 million in revenue and you want to email them? You should, but detailed rules like these might discourage you from pitching that prospect.
- What if you find another prospect where a virtually identical letter might work?
Don’t talk yourself out of doing marketing that might pay off in a perfectly nice client by throwing up too many parameters.
4. Set writing goals you can control
Focus your goals on what YOUÂ can do to forward your career, not what you’d like the universe to give you back.
All we can do as freelance writers is put it out there, and keep trying different approaches until we see what hits.
But I can tell you, I know few writers who actively market their business who don’t see results fairly soon. So focus on your actions — they will pay off.
Writing goals for freelance success
After talking about my philosophy of goal-setting with the writer who share her plan to get her first gig by June, she revised it to this:
1. Get my writer website/blog up and running.
2. Make contact (either by email, LOI, phone or in person) with 50 potential clients.
3. Write every day.
You can see that these are all achievable writing goals that should move the writer closer to her dream of getting a paying assignment and turning it in. I love that her list isn’t too long.
At the end of the month, hopefully she can check them all off, feel like she’s making progress, and move on to new marketing goals.
Keep that up, and your end goal of finding more and better-paying work is going to happen.
What do your writing goals looks like? Let’s discuss in the comments below.
