My 2017 Quarterly Goals for My Freelance Writing Business

I haven’t talked at all about my quarterly goals on this blog. While I have yearly goals set for this business, I’m finding that if I break it down in quarters it makes it a bit easier to accomplish.

I find that when I publicly share my goals, I inspire others, but more importantly, motivate myself and hold myself accountable to accomplishing my goals.

I did lay out my yearly goals for my freelance writing business, but didn’t share them on my blog.  Why? Well, a lot of the big goals coincide with my goals for Twins Mommy (my other site).

My 2017 Quarterly Goals for My Freelance Writing Business

But, I do want to share my quarterly goals that are directly related to my freelance writing business.

In the first quarter of the year, my main goals during that time was to fix my free email course and revamp and relaunch my Write Your Way to Your First $1k course.

My free email course gets a lot of subscribers in a day. But, looking at the click-through rates and open rates, I found it goes down a lot towards the end.

I have a sales funnel set up for my free email course. The free course teaches you how to land your first client and I make sure to mention my comprehensive course to help them make a living as a writer.

But, a lot of subscribers weren’t reading or opening their emails. I have since learned that my course is going to promotions.

So, I have to remove all images and optimize my free course so that people want to open the next email. Did I do that in Q1?

Nope.

Still in progress.

But my second goal of revamping and relaunching my Writeto1k course was accomplished. I came back with a brand new and high-converting sales page (which I love! My husband designed it and I wrote the copy. We make a good team!).

I also did five days of Facebook Live streams over on my Facebook page (that I put on my blog too!) that got people excited about the course.

It boosted my sales considerably and I’m happy that my course is helping so many aspiring writers that want to make a living with their writing!

So, what’s in store for Q2?

 

Quarterly Goals for 2017

For the next quarter, my goal is to create another course. For the longest time, I was going to turn my successful Book Clients in 30 Days challenge for my course students into a course.

But, I’m dragging my feet with this project and for some reason, I’m not hooked on it yet. While it may turn into a course later, for now it’s on hiatus.

What I think is better for me at this point in my business is to create a front-end sales funnel. What this means is creating a tripwire product that introduces me and my brand and makes people comfortable buying. It’s typically a low-priced offer that packs a lot of value nonetheless.

So, I’m toying with the perfect tripwire product that people will find valuable and wouldn’t mind paying a few dollars for.

I know it will be video based and not an eBook. Video is something I’ve been becoming more comfortable with since the five days of Facebook Live over on my Facebook page. I really enjoy and like that medium over doing a webinar for example.

I can set it up in minutes, have my notes, engage with the audience easily and be finished in 30 minutes or less.

My other goal is to optimize my sales funnels for my email list. Right now my free email course generates the most subscribers in a day, but I have other freebies that people opt-in to. I also created a new one and am working on a sales funnel to introduce my course and will do the same on another freebie I have on the blog.

Part of this goal is also having a CTA at the end of my blog posts. I’m putting my latest freebie at the end of my blog posts (and I made it my lead magnet on my homepage too) as I feel this is a highly valuable guide that a lot of freelance writers need help with (boosting their freelance writing income).

Finally, I am collaborating with another freelance writer on doing a course. She will do most of the content and setting it up. My role is providing a guest lesson for her course and I’m excited as this is the perfect compliment to Write Your Way to Your First $1k! I’m not sure when it will launch but I’m excited about it and happy that I accomplished videoing the lesson!

As for my service-based business, I’m not looking for more clients; I have enough, but am always open to collaborating with my ideal client. So, what this means is I’m not actively pitching and I’m not negotiating on new inquiries. But, if an influencer approaches me for ghostwriting or a popular digital native brand wants my service, I’m not going to say no!

I’m still a freelance writer. I love writing and blogging and I love networking and collaborating with others. But, for now, my focus is on my course students and product creation.

Where I Am Right Now

I’m sitting in a nice place right now. I have diversified my income to include not only writing projects and course sales, but also affiliate marketing.

My Twins Mommy blog is growing and I’m getting ready to create a product for that audience as well.

My twins are also getting better at playing nicely and having “quiet” time. They just turned 4 years old and will attend school this fall and they are super excited. My daughter is in dance class, my son is in karate and both are in gymnastics and soccer.

With the business doing well and my twins getting older, our plan as a family is to take a vacation. It’s tentative, but something that I feel would be great for the twins and make lasting memories before they start school!

Over to you – what are your goals for for freelance writing business? Would love to hear about them in the comments!

Hi I'm Elna and I'm a freelance writer and mom blogger. I help people just like you become a profitable freelance writer. Within 6 months of starting my freelance writing business from scratch I was able to earn a full-time living as a part-time freelance writer while taking care of my twin toddlers. Check out my free email course Get Paid to Write Online and learn the steps you need to take to be a freelance writer.

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8 Comments

Hello Elna, You really have a very good freelance writing goals and very much inspiring. I really do loved you passion and dedication in writing. Thank you for sharing this. Looking forward to read more of your writings.Reply to Megan
Hi Elna, What a fantastic post! This is probably one of the best posts I have read on setting goals for freelance writing. Thank God I landed on this post. As an SEO freelance writer, I personally set goals for myself but mostly financial and expansion goals for my freelance writing business. One of my biggest goals right now is to increase the number of my writers and also to create a product for my clients having problem ranking on Google search engine. I just pray it turns out well. You said you are collaborating with another freelance writer for your next course and this is where I find it difficult to do. I want to learn this collaboration of a thing. Please, how will the income be shared? I will be looking forward to the report of your achievement for your goals please don’t fail to share as it will inspire writers like me. ThanksReply to Okon
Hey! Your goals sound great! Good luck! Networking is key to collaborating. Usually, you do affiliate links to share the income.Reply to Elna
WOW!! Your freelance writing goals are really inspiring. I admire your passion in writing. Keep it up! Thank you for sharing this 🙂Reply to John
I’m glad to hear about what you’ve accomplished for yourself this quarter, Elna! I love hearing about your twins – they sure are growing fast, aren’t they? (I used to be in the early childhood education field before becoming a freelancer so I know all about how quickly children grow. It’s amazing and heart-breaking at the same time!) I need to take your course so I can generate some more income as a freelancer since I don’t want to put all my “eggs in one basket”, so to speak. Thanks for an awesome post!Reply to Lisa
Hey Lisa! Thanks so much! And yes, my twins are growing up super fast. I can’t believe they are four years old and going to school this fall..I’m cherishing these last few months before school. That’s great you want to take Writeto1k course!!! It’s totally revamped and the Facebook group community is THE BEST!! Having Alicia Rades do a FB live in the group…love having these experts speak.Reply to Elna
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve purchased your course and I recently started mapping out goals and creating paths to reach them. I initially set really ambitious goals, but I didn’t have a real plan for them because I was excited and just wanted to dive in. I recently found a few guest blogging opportunities (some reached out to me after reading my blog and some were looking for guest bloggers via Facebook groups) and I plan to take them on. I also started pitching to places during the weekend when I had free time so I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out. For this quarter of 2017, my freelance writing goals are to: 1. Do 6 guest post. 2. Increase my typing speed to 75wpm. I was averaging 40wpm at the start of your course and now I’m averaging 48 (my fastest was 55wpm!) 3. Secure a long term client.Reply to Zakiyah
Hi Zakiyah! Congrats on creating your ambitious goals and quarterly goals. I like them! Happy that you have some guest posts lined up and that some reached out to you! Way to go! Glad you’re in the private FB group for course students! And be sure to post your success in the group!Reply to Elna