2024 Goals That Will Take Your Freelance Career To The Next Level

This is the time of year when everyone feels the pressure to set big goals for the coming year. It’s a time to take stock, plan for the future, and figure out how to “get it right” in 2024. Even with the best intentions, most people will not keep the goals they set at the beginning of the year.

But if you really want to succeed as a freelancer setting goals should be something that’s second nature to you. The only way to stay competitive and make a living as a freelancer is to constantly reevaluate your goals and refine the strategies that you’re using to meet those goals.

The actual writing is the thing that you will spend the least amount of time doing as a successful freelancer. The bulk of your time will be spent planning and investing in your career.

If you feel like you’ve been spinning your wheels as a freelancer this year you’re not alone. AI has hit creative professions hard. Even though the pendulum is swinging back, and clients are realizing that they can’t replace skilled writers with AI, a lot of freelancers struggled this year.

But 2024 is a new year and a chance to make changes and level up your freelance game. Use these freelance writing goals for 2024 to inspire your creative professional goals in 2024 and help you take your creative professional career to the next level:

Incorporate

When you first start freelancing it’s not necessary to incorporate. You can operate as a freelancer using your Social Security number and just pay taxes on your income. But once you get to the point where you’re making half or more of your income from freelancing it’s time to incorporate.

I’ll do a more in-depth post on incorporating later. But if you’re making significant money as a freelancer and you know that freelancing is something that you want to do long-term then incorporating should be one of your goals in 2024.

There are several options when it comes to incorporating. The two most popular options for freelancers typically are forming an LLC or an S-Corp. There is a cost to incorporate, but you can incorporate for just a couple of hundred dollars. And the benefits of incorporating are substantial. For freelancers the benefits of incorporating include things like:

· Protection From Liability

Freelancing isn’t a profession that comes with a lot of liability, but there is always some. When you incorporate your personal savings, house, and other assets will be shielded. While it might not seem like having protection from liability is something that is very important early on in your career, it’s something that you will need to think about as your career grows.

· Saving Money On Taxes

Paying taxes as a freelancer is something no one looks forward to. If you incorporate you will pay less in taxes, sometimes thousands of dollars less. For freelancers just starting out or just doing freelance work as a side hustle saving money on taxes may not be worth the cost of incorporating. However, once you’re making a full-time income from freelancing that tax savings will make a big difference.

· Verifiable Income

Incorporating can solve one of the biggest problems that freelancers run into- having verifiable income. When you incorporate you can hire yourself as an employee. That means you’ll have paystubs, direct deposits, and all the trappings of a traditional 9–5 job. It makes it much easier for freelancers to prove income for things like buying a house or renting an apartment, buying a car, or getting credit cards or loans.

· Protection From Laws That Hurt Freelancers

Some states have passed legislation that was intended to protect gig workers but has instead hurt freelancers who work for many different clients throughout the year. Legislation that limits the amount of employers someone can work for in a year or threatens client with a financial penalty for not hiring a freelancer as an employee instead of a contractor makes it tough for creative professional freelancers to get work. But, if you’re an employee of your corporation then you can often get around those laws and keep working.

If you’re serious about being a career creative pro then make 2024 the year you look into incorporating as a business.

Improve Your Writing

It’s safe to assume that if you want to have a career as a freelance writer you actually like writing. But freelance writing for clients is a very different thing from writing things for yourself. It does take some technical skill to write content for businesses that want to get ranked higher, or provide value to their customers, or both.

You don’t have to be an expert in SEO to be a good freelance writer, but it does help to have a basic understanding of search engine optimization and how to write optimized content. The technical aspect of writing content changes often. So, in 2024 you should make it a goal to improve your writing and keep elevating your skills. Some good ways to do that are:

· Read more. Every writer needs to read.

· Take an online course in SEO or some other technical aspect of content writing.

· Take a basic writing course as a refresher.

· Learn how to edit. You’ll look at your work with a much more critical eye after you’ve gotten training as an editor.

· Join a writing group.

· Refine your daily habits and writing process so that you’re more focused on your work.

Workshops, writing retreats, and freelance networking groups are also good ways to improve your skills.

Raise Your Prices

The issue of pricing is one that is often controversial. More experienced and seasoned writers tend to tell newer writers that they bring down the entire profession by not charging more for their work. And while there is a valid case to be made for charging what your work is worth, freelancers also must take into account what clients are willing to pay.

The last couple of years have seen a steep decrease in what clients are willing to pay for quality work. AI has made content so cheap that businesses don’t understand why quality writing costs more than the “1000 words for a penny” AI content they’ve been buying. So, freelancers need to walk a fine line when it comes to pricing their work.

In 2024 raise your prices. Even if it’s just by 10%. Raise them. Inflation doesn’t care that businesses have spoiled by cheap AI generated content. Human written content that makes sense, provides actual value, and will boost search engine ranking costs money. Your time and creativity costs money. Raise those prices. Get in the habit of increasing your prices every year.

Set Concrete Financial Goals

The biggest mistake I see freelancers make over and over again is not having concrete financial goals. When you first start making money freelancing it can seem like a dream to be able to stay at home and work when you want and still make money. So people tend to just let the money come in and flow out without really having set financial goals.

But you’re running a business. And if you want to more than just pay the bills you need to have a financial plan and financial goals. I’ll do another post on how to figure out what your financial goal should be and what steps to take to achieve those financial goals. But for now, as you head into 2024 I want you to do this:

Add up all your expenses for the month. All of them. And use realistic numbers, including all the money you spent on groceries and DoorDash. Include entertainment and other expenses. That gives you an idea of what you have to make in order to get by. Now add onto that what you’d like to put in savings each month, how much you’d like to pay on credit cards or other debt, and how much you’d like to spend on non-essentials for you and your family.

Divide that number by four. That’s your first concrete financial goal for 2024. Your goal is to make that number every week from freelance work so that you can hit the ground running financially in 2024. You can do it. But you need to always set achievable and concrete financial goals so you know what you’re aiming for.

Update Your Portfolio

This is one of my goals every year. Because I’m lazy, and I get busy, and I don’t bother to update my portfolio like I should. Your portfolio is more than samples that you send to a client. It’s a showcase of your talent. You should include your best work in multiple genres and styles to show clients the depth and range of your skill.

I strongly recommend using a portfolio site or creating your own site to host your portfolio. Use multi-media applications to make it pop. And get input from other creative professionals and clients that you have a good relationship with to get your portfolio into shape.

Taking the time to make sure your portfolio is updated, modern, and showcases all of your skills is a huge investment in your freelance career. It’s the most important thing you can do to get clients in 2024.

Doing The Work

What’s that saying? “If you do what you love you’ll never work a day in your life”? I don’t know about that. I love writing, and I love freelancing. But both definitely are work. That work will pay off though. If you use these goals as inspiration to start of 2024 committed to growing your freelance business by the time 2025 rolls around, you’ll be amazed at what a successful, satisfying, and productive year you had.