Freelance copywriters who focus on recurring projects — work that companies need again and again — can build a reliable income, take some of the stress off their marketing efforts, and enjoy more free time.
In fact, nearly two out of three freelancers rely on repeat work with clients rather than doing regular outreach efforts to land larger one-off projects.
And for many writers, that strategy pays off in terms of stability, relationships, and overall job satisfaction.
So, let’s look at which projects are your best bet for building a steady income.
What you’ll find as you read on:
- Content marketing is alive and well in the age of AI, but the approach is changing.
- Freelance writers with social media expertise are in a strong position to land recurring projects.
- You can build your entire business around writing custom landing pages for your clients (an opportunity many writers overlook).
- Email marketing is more important than ever, with newsletters and promotional emails being the best opportunities for a freelance writer.
How Do You Position Yourself for Recurring Work?
As a freelance writer, there are two big considerations your clients will look for when deciding whether to hire you to handle their recurring projects.
The first is your skill level with the type of project, your knowledge of the industry, and your overall background.
The second is your personality, how easy you are to work with, and how well you meet your deadlines. If you make yourself easy to work with, your client won’t have a good reason to look elsewhere — hiring a different writer would just be too much trouble.
How do you get good at a freelance-writing project… fast?
Getting up-to-speed on a project type is pretty straightforward. A combination of the following four steps will get you there:
- Read what writing experts say about the type of project, particularly in terms of structure and what is most important to consider.
- Review the project type critically. Pay attention to what companies are doing and think through how you might make it better.
- Practice and request feedback. Make up assignments for yourself to practice the type of project, and then ask a writer you trust to give you feedback.
- Take a course designed to teach you the writing project step-by-step.
How do you set yourself apart as someone who’s easy to work with?
Being easy to work with is something your clients will discover about you over time. But you can also ask past clients and employers for testimonials specifically about your work style.
And, as you get to know your prospects, you can demonstrate generosity, reliability, and knowledge through those exchanges.
Now, with that solid foundation, let’s get into best ongoing projects to land with a client.
Is Content Writing Still a Viable Opportunity for Freelance Writers?
In a word, yes. Content writing is something companies need… and it’s something they’re discovering can’t easily be done well by AI tools.
But some things have changed.
Companies still use blog posts and articles to achieve all sorts of goals. But the industry shift is from quantity — publishing on a regular schedule no matter what — to quality — publishing longer, high-quality pieces that are more comprehensive and that meet a specific need for the audience.
What do companies look for in a content writer?
Companies used to look for content writers who could write about broad topics (think how-tos and listicles) and reframe topics to keep the content engine fed. Nowadays, that’s changed.
In the AI-age, companies need content that’s informed by experience and expertise, structured to make it easier for AI tools to find, comprehensive in nature, and supported by additional content, like case studies and how-tos.
They also need someone who can help them with content distribution —which is good news for you, because it means every content piece can lead to multiple smaller projects.
And they need someone who can help them plan a sensible content strategy.
So, you want to show you can:
- Think strategically.
- Write for AI search tools, search engines, and humans.
- Provide the copy they need to distribute their new content across relevant channels.
- Write long-form content that’s informed by expert insights from real humans in the field.
Do all that and you’ll help your clients:
- Attract relevant traffic.
- Become trusted in their industry.
- Earn more qualified leads.
- Make more sales.
- Increase repeat and referral business.
How much can you make writing content like this?
Because posts are longer, strategy is important, and distribution is a factor, you could plan to deliver one long-form post to your client each month with distribution pieces and charge anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000.
What’s the best way to land content clients?
One of the best ways to land these kinds of projects is to visit sites in industries you’d like to work in. Look to see if they’re adjusting their content strategy for AI. If not, open a conversation about why that’s important and how you can help.
If you do this often — sending a message or two a day — eventually you’ll start to land clients… and things will grow from there.
What Are Your Biggest Opportunities in Social Media?
Because social media posts are short, it’s fair to wonder if these have been taken over by AI tools. But thought leaders, retail companies, and health and wellness companies rely on a strong, highly personalized social media presence as an essential part of their marketing mix.
That means they may be less likely to be willing to hand off post generation to AI. But social media production is demanding, so they are likely to enlist the help of freelance copywriters with post creation.
That could be you!
Your clients might hire you to create a certain number of posts per week, or they might want you to manage their social media channels — planning out the content, creating it, and interacting with commenters.
How much can you make writing for social media?
When writing social media posts, you can charge somewhere between $25 and $150 per post, depending on the complexity. (LinkedIn posts can be quite lengthy, for example, while tweets are short by nature.) If you’re doing a post a day at $50, that adds up to $1,000 a month. Not bad.
If you’re handling a company’s entire social media management, you can charge between $1,000 and $5,000 per month, depending on how many channels you’re managing.
What’s the best way to land social media clients?
To get a company’s attention, start engaging with them on social media. Comment on their posts. Share them with your own audience. If they have a group, join in.
And then reach out to the people within the company who you’ve been interacting with to see if they need help with their social media presence.
What Are the Best Ongoing Persuasive-Writing Opportunities?
A lot of companies — especially retail companies — use paid advertising. They advertise on Google, on social media platforms, and through other ad networks.
They may use ads to gain awareness, drive traffic, earn leads, or make sales.
Now, the ad copy itself is typically short and is fairly easy to hand off to AI. Advantageous even, since AI tools can automate testing options.
But every ad points to a landing page. And companies that tailor and customize landing page copy to each specific ad campaign get better results.
That can result in the need for a lot of landing pages. And those take more finesse to write — meaning they’re a good opportunity for a freelance copywriter.
What can you charge for a landing page?
For landing pages, you can expect to charge between $500 and $1,500… or more, depending on the length. If you have three clients that need one or two landing pages each month, that should put your recurring monthly income in the range of $1,500 to $9,000.
What’s the best way to connect with landing page clients?
To find prospects for landing pages, pay attention to companies in your niche that are using paid advertising on social media and search engines. Build a list based on what you see, and then reach out with an offer to write custom landing pages for each campaign.
Is Email Writing Still a Viable Option for Freelancers?
Freelance writers who specialize in email marketing are actually very well positioned in today’s market. Changes in privacy policies and third party tracking mean businesses have a bigger incentive to build and nurture their email lists.
You can offer a variety of services to your email-writing clients:
- Email newsletters
- Automated email flows
- Promotional emails
Businesses use email newsletters to keep in touch with their prospects and customers, to build trust and credibility, to give away value, and ultimately to make more sales.
Automated email flows go out in response to an action — when someone subscribes to an email list, for example. These often involve a series of emails and can be used to build loyalty or increase conversions.
And promotional emails are typically short, engaging, persuasive messages with the singular goal of getting the reader to click through to learn more about a product or service, and hopefully make a purchase.
Businesses rely on all three kinds of messages to maintain or grow their revenues.
How much can you charge for an email message?
Fees for email messages vary based on complexity and intent.
A newsletter featuring a single article might run from $200 to $500 per issue, while a multipart format might command a higher fee in the range of $800 to $2,000.
Automated email flows can bring in between $300 and $500 per message.
And promotional emails can run from $500 to $1,500.
Depending on what combination of email marketing your client needs, you could grow a stable, sizable monthly income working with just a couple of clients.
What’s the best way to land email clients?
For a freelance writer to land email clients, start by picking an industry or two to focus on. Find a couple dozen prospects and join their email lists. Then study what they do and reach out to their marketing team with ideas to help them better reach their goals.
Build a Stable, Enjoyable Writing Business
Focusing on recurring projects is a smart way to grow your writing business. It offers financial stability, the opportunity to develop deeper relationships, and less stress about marketing yourself.
And here’s the real kicker… if you’re handling an ongoing project for a client, you’re more likely to be in the running for those bigger one-off projects, too. After all, you know the company’s products, its mission, and its voice. You’ve proven again and again you’re reliable and easy to work with. Who better to tackle a website overhaul or a sales campaign or special report than you?
Using this strategy, you can find yourself just the right amount of busy and earning a bigger-than-expected income with just a handful of clients. Give it a try!