Did you know…?
As a freelancer, if you provide a full-blown content strategy for your clients — versus just “content for hire” — your overall value and income can make a huge leap forward.
I call it the “Offer More, Earn More” strategy, and here’s how it works.
Let’s say you get hired to write a series of 1,000-word blog posts for $250-$500 each. The per-post rate is based on how much research you need to do, whether or not you’ll be interviewing an expert, doing SEO keyword research, and so forth.
With a series of four posts each month, you can earn up to $1,000-$2,000 every month per client.
Not bad!
Add a few more blogging clients who need posts each month, and you’ve got a nice income path month after month.
But, what if you could also earn an extra $2,500-$5,000+ PER CLIENT by offering much MORE?
It’s quite possible, once you know this secret:
It’s all about offering more. So, what more can you offer?
Well, one big offer is an Editorial Calendar — helping each client map out a strategic plan for their blog series throughout the year (versus one blog topic at a time).
A few years ago, I was providing four blog posts per month to a veterinary equipment manufacturer. After several months of blogging, the client hit a wall. She had run out of blog topics to give me and wasn’t sure what to do next.
That’s when I offered to create an Editorial Calendar for the coming year, mapping out an entire schedule of monthly blog post topics over the next 12 months.
At the time, I was getting paid $275 per blog post. So, I proposed an Editorial Calendar fee of $2,750 to work with her team and develop audience-relevant blog topics for the year.
The client agreed, and off I went, digging into topics their audience would love to read about. Since this client was in the veterinary B2B world, I found out everything their prospects were looking for, such as:
- How to choose the right equipment for the practice
- How to train the staff to safely use the equipment
- How to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations in the practice
- Sustainable equipment and supplies
- Keeping staff members motivated and happy
- Ramping up for seasonal topics such as “February is pet dental health month”
- How to include the right equipment during a hospital renovation
- New innovations being introduced at upcoming trade shows
- Budgeting for new equipment
- The client’s unique patents (and the benefits to veterinary practices)
- The team behind the patents and customer service
- Peer-to-peer success stories (case studies) related to the client’s equipment and buying experience
- New industry guidelines related to equipment and procedures
- And so on
You can see all kinds of themes here to explore for my client!
Within a week or so, I organized and strategized the best way to roll out content along these themes throughout the year. Then I presented a complete Editorial Calendar for the entire year at four blog posts a month. That was $2,750 just for a blogging strategy. Plus $13,200 locked in for the year at my per-post rate.
Consider the other types of content strategies you could offer BEYOND a blog Editorial Calendar… such as a white paper series, YouTube videos each month, e-newsletters each week or month, social media posts every week, trade show materials for the season, and other types of content.
Starting to see the opportunity here?
It’s quite possible to offer specific content strategies such as:
- Comprehensive, multi-faceted content strategies for monthly traffic (new leads)…
- Specific product promotion campaigns…
- Trade show promotion campaigns (getting traffic to the client’s booth at upcoming trade shows)…
The list goes on and on, and your earning potential goes up and up.
To develop these strategic content plans, you can charge an hourly rate or charge by the “type.” (For example, your “2024 Trade Show Content-Marketing Plan” for $5,000.)
Finally, there’s an EVEN BIGGER consulting opportunity — offering an overall Content Strategy for the year!
I know several freelance writers who serve as their clients’ “Content Marketing Advisor” (creating a comprehensive content strategy that coordinates ALL their marketing goals)… or even their “Fractional Content Marketing VP” (a self-employed writer/consultant hired on a steady contract to offer guidance and other services).
By the way, once you deliver these high-valued offerings… who will your client hire to write all that content? YOU!
You’ve already established yourself as a skilled content writer who understands WHAT to write. Why would your client go to any other writer?
The “Offer More, Earn More” strategy can be a goldmine for your freelance business. Consider how you can start offering valuable content strategies to your clients A.S.A.P.
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Editor’s Note: Understanding content strategy acts as a “master key,” unlocking every huge and positive benefit you could ever want from the writer’s life… from bigger paychecks to an easier time landing clients to not needing clients at all if that’s what you want. See how you can learn to wield this master key like an expert.
