I’m not just a writer now

I’ve always felt the need to diversify my revenue instead of relying on writing to bring in the money. Because the competition can be stiff and businesses may slash their content budgets. And of course, I can’t ignore AI, which has already taken away work from writers.

And I’ve diversified. Though not in the way I planned. 😂

I toyed with the idea of offering freelance coaching late last year. I did a trial session to see what this would be like, but didn’t go further than that (for now. If you’re interested in being coached by me, let me know!).

What I did get done, unexpectedly, was my expert certification for Kit—the email platform I use to write and send these newsletters (it was previously called ConvertKit).

Kit’s my favourite email platform and I know it really well. So, being a certified Kit expert has been a small goal of mine for many years now. This year, the opportunity to get certified came up, so I took it!

And with it, I also revived my Kit email implementation services, e.g. migrations and email copywriting. I used to do these on and off until I stopped pitching for this work, and the projects dried up.

I have some writing clients on my email list, so rest assured: writing is still my bread and butter! But since getting certified and listed on the Kit website, I’ve started receiving inbound leads for Kit implementation work.

Closing these projects is a whole other story because not all leads are serious.

Some of them are just shopping around and then disappear. Still, it’s nice knowing I have options for taking on non-writing work for money if I have the time.

And that’s my main blocker, actually—time.

In future, I’d love to diversify my revenue to earn income without having it directly tied to my time. Or, to put it in more common terms, to earn money while I sleep 😂 We’ll see if I get there…!

P.S. I’m attending tomorrow evening (8 Nov)’s VICPA Night, an event for creative freelancers in Singapore to network and discuss scaling a creative business. Attendance is free and you don’t need to be a VICPA member to attend—just RSVP here. If you’ll also be coming and want to meet, reply to this email to set something up!

P.P.S. This is the only newsletter from me for November as I’ll be travelling. See y’all in December 🫡

More freelancer news

Self-employment didn’t work out for them, but they have no regrets

Starting and running a business—whether a freelance one or otherwise—is tough. A recent RICE Media article interviewed three people who left their jobs to become self-employed. But their business failed, and they went back to full-time employment.

Despite the setbacks they faced, including losing money from their ventures, they have no regrets as they gained a lot from their journey. For example, they picked up soft skills and grew their network.

Much respect for these brave folks, whose stories you can check out here. If you’re in a similar position, where your business seems to be going nowhere despite your hard work, you could:

• Keep at it. You never know: the breakthrough you’re looking for could just be around the corner.
• Close the business, for now. I think there’s no shame in doing this, especially if you’ve done your best. You can always try again in the future. For now, live to fight another day.