It’s time. I’ve finally launched my first ever digital freelance writing resources.
In the more than four years of sending out my newsletter every other week, I've never tried to sell anything, so this is a first—and yeah, it feels weird. But I'm trying to get out of my head about it and share what I think are three top-quality, affordable assets.
Yesterday my lovely friend Kyla Roma replied to my newsletter with a series of questions about the why, how, and what of the process that went into making and launching these, so I thought I’d answer those in detail here (you know, in case you’re interested.)
Why did you decide to create freelance writing products?
A couple of reasons: The ‘why’ varies for the three different products. I’ll share a bit about each.
1. The freelance writer template bundle
I quickly realized when I started freelance writing back in 2013 that there’s a lot you have to learn by trial and error. There’s no real guide book to freelancing, so you often end up tripping over yourself and going through serious growing pains just figuring things out as you go along day-to-day.
The trouble was: I knew there had to be an easier way. I didn’t need to reinvent the wheel; there had to be people out there with tools and resources who could help me work smarter, not harder. (And working hard I most certainly was. Holy burnout.)
In 2014 I took Paul Jarvis’s Creative Class (which I now co-teach with him), and this was the first structured series of lessons—and investment, for that matter—I took on to become a better business person. In the course I learned all about processes and professionalism, and with some guidance from the lessons, I started putting together templates that would make my day-to-day work simpler, more efficient, and more professional-looking.
Those templates, which I still use with every freelance client I work with, are what’s included the freelance writer template bundle: Client screening questions, a proposal template, an onboarding email template, a writing brief, and a follow-up email template.
I figured it was time to share those.
2. The editor/content manager template bundle
I’ve worked with enough content managers/editors/marketing leads at growing startups and SaaS companies over the past six years to know that when they’re scaling up content and bringing in freelance help to execute their content strategies, they need resources that help them accomplish a variety of important items on their to-do lists.
Most of the time they’re already wearing many different hats and they need to move FAST, but they don’t have the assets (or structure) in place yet to make the most of the freelance writing help they hire out.
All of the best content managers I’ve worked with have the materials done and ready to go that are included in this template bundle: A hiring script or screening questions for potential freelance hires, an onboarding desk that gets new freelancers up to speed, a detailed style guide, and a writing brief template for each new assignment.
According to some of the content managers and editors I’ve shared these assets with in the past, these templates are a life-saver (and are probably far more valuable than the $149 price tag, but hey.)
Not only do they help these folks get freelance help hired and onboarded more efficiently, but they save tons of time when it comes to editing, formatting content, and answering questions proactively while new freelance writers are getting up to speed.
3. The Write Better Write Now book
Lots of people need a crash course on writing for a variety of purposes, whether that’s making their writing voice sound more conversational or writing to drive sales—you name it.
But…NO TIME. They don’t want to go sit in a class, they don’t have time to do a full-on course, and they can’t spend hours googling around and reading long-form content in hopes of finding some good informational nuggets in there that’ll improve their writing skills.
That’s why my goal with this book was to put together a batch of 10 short, simple lessons with actionable writing advice readers can start using right away—without having to dig through any fluff.
The topics include:
How to Write Compelling Intros
How to Write in Your Own Voice
How to Write With Humor
How to Write Conversationally
How to Write for Conversions & Sales
How to Write Uniquely
How to Write Stronger Sentences
How to Write Like a Journalist
How to Write When You Have Writer’s Block
How to Be a Better Self-Editor
Also: There’s a bonus lesson at the end with some of my favorite writing tools and software that make life easier and help optimize your writing.
Think of it as a crash course (or a good refresher!) in writing.
How did you decide to make these products?
I debated for a long time whether or not I wanted to make/release digital products.
To be totally candid, these were done and ready to go a year ago, but I held off on releasing them because I wasn’t sure A) they were the right products B) if people would see them as spammy, value-less materials I was just trying to sell to make a quick buck. (Spoiler: I’m not.)
I eventually decided to stop overthinking it and just said, “Okay, it’s time now. Giddyup.”
What resources were helpful along the way?
I’ve learned a lot from reading and researching while writing for clients, but some of my favorite (free) articles on freelancing and writing are:
Of course there was also Creative Class, but I also looked to folks like Amy Hoy, Joanna Wiebe, Lianna Patch, and others who are making things and putting them out there on a regular basis.
Paul Jarvis has also been a big inspiration (and resource!) as far as launching digital products goes, because he doesn’t over-complicate the creation process and taught me about piecemealing things out so it’s not quite such a daunting undertaking to make something from scratch.
Also, my husband and biz partner Brandon as been a HUGE resource as far as pushing me to JUST DO THIS and offering tips and guidance along the way.
How long did it take to create these freelance writing resources?
The actual creation process didn’t take that long. Many of the writing lessons in the book were already done, and the templates were just tweaked, exported, and bundled (as they’re what I was already using day-to-day in my own business.)
Amanda Dahler at Intelligentsia Productions did the graphic design, and I got them uploaded into my Squarespace site a few weeks ago. Boom.
What’s ahead?
These are the only digital products on the horizon for me right now, but I may add some more down the road. If there’s a particular resource you want to see from me, please let me know!
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Overall, I’m really proud these are out in the wild now. Thank you to everyone who’s shared the news, sent congratulations, or has been generally encouraging. It means a lot.
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