5 Mistakes I Made in My Writerpreneur Journey (Don’t Make the Same Ones I Did)

I hope reading and learning about my mistakes saves you time and energy.

Without further ado, let’s dive in.

1 - Don’t assume your clients will do this. Always ask.

I was so excited when I got my first job on Upwork. I lucked out. It was a beginner copywriting job that paid $8 an hour.

After 6 months of working with this client, we decided to get off Upwork to use Paypal for a monthly salary. So I asked my client to end the job on Upwork as he wasn’t paying me anymore through the platform.

The mistake I made? Not asking for a rating and testimonial from him on Upwork before asking them to close the job.

Why?

Well, the client - who said he loved my work, valued me as a person and thought I was a huge asset to his team, who I would continue working with - left no rating or feedback after closing the job.

I’m not sure if this has impacted my job search on Upwork (as I haven’t been as active), but ratings and reviews increase your chances of getting hired on the platform.

But, on the bright side, no rating is better than a negative rating.

So, here’s what I’ve learned.

First, never close a job until the clients are satisfied with what you’ve delivered. Two, always ask for a rating and review. Don’t assume they’ll give you one.

2 - I jumped the gun.

I stopped freelancing after a year.

In hindsight, it wasn’t the greatest idea.

At the time, I was in the early stages of building a personal brand.

I had just started to post on LinkedIn, and Twitter, and started writing on Medium again. I had a measly following. I had dreams of making and selling digital products, earning income from Medium, and my YouTube channel.

Except, I didn’t have an audience. (I didn’t even have a service or product!) Honestly, what was going on in my head?!

So the mistake I made? Stopping freelance work before building an audience and building products.

Now here’s what I’ve learned.

First, build an audience ASAP. Choose a platform. Create meaningful and valuable content. Ask them to subscribe to your newsletter. (I’m in this phase right now.)

After that, I plan to ask my email subscribers what problems they’re facing and think of a solution to their problems that are unique to me. Then, I’ll create a product around that.

Second, if you don’t like freelancing and instead, want to take the creator route, then consider getting a different kind of job like waitressing or teaching.

Because building an audience takes time. You (probably) won’t make money from writing online for a long time. And so, you may need to find an alternate source of income.

3 - Neglecting this.

I have 10 email subscribers.

Here’s why.

I used to end my earliest articles like this:

Stay strong,

Irene

So the mistake I made? Not writing clear call-to-actions at the end of my posts.

But here’s what I’ve learned (and still learning) and what I’m doing now.

If you’re trying to build an audience and an email list, you have to master writing clear, specific, and effective CTAs.

They’re important because they signal to your reader what to do next. It could be to subscribe to your newsletter, download your lead magnet, or read another article.

But without them, your readers might not know what to do after they read your post.

Keep this formula in mind when you write your CTAs: Problem + Solution + Action

4 - Procrastinating on these two things.

A few months ago, I wrote that my goal for this year is to build an email list.

I’ll be honest… I haven’t made much progress.

I’ve been procrastinating on my email list because I haven’t finished making my lead magnet.

And I’ve been procrastinating on my lead magnet because I believed I didn’t have any unique insights or skills to offer to others, and I wanted it to be perfect before releasing it.

But here’s what I’ve learned.

Done is better than perfect. So, start. Release the minimum viable product. Then, refine and iterate along the way.

5 - Don’t quit your 9-5 job until this happens.

Not having a (consistent) income can make you anxious even if you have savings.

That’s what happened to me.

I had to face the reality I was running out of money. And I wasn’t making money on the creator route (yet).

So I either had to, start freelancing again or find an alternate source of income, going back to teaching. I chose to teach.

Here’s what I’ve learned.

Whichever path you take, freelance or creator, don’t quit your 9-5 job until your side hustle income is the same (or more) for months.

This way, you’ll (hopefully) experience less stress about money.

Wrapping Things Up

Here are the 5 things I’ve learned from my mistakes on my writerpreneur journey (I hope they help you, too):

1. Never close a job until the clients are satisfied with what you’ve delivered. Two, always ask for a rating and review. Don’t assume they’ll give you one.

2. Build an audience ASAP. Choose a platform. Create meaningful and valuable content. Ask them to subscribe to your newsletter. (I’m in this phase right now.)

3. If you’re trying to build an audience and an email list, you have to master writing clear, specific, and effective CTAs.

4. Done is better than perfect. So, start. Release the minimum viable product. Then, refine and iterate along the way.

5. Whichever path you take, freelance or creator, don’t quit your 9-5 job until your side hustle income is the same (or more) for months.

If you enjoyed reading this story, consider connecting on my website, LinkedIn, or Twitter.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash