Today, we’re releasing the last episode of the last season of the show. After running three businesses for the bulk of a year, Wudan will focus her attention on her editorial business and new fact-checking agency, Factual. The podcast, the resources and everything else that The Writers' Co-op has created in the last five years will still live online and the Slack community will remain active. TWC was always intended to be an audiobook handbook for freelancers and will remain as such.
The final episode is a Q&A that answers some lingering questions we received from listeners. Wudan discusses: tangible steps to take to break into different streams of writing, how she landed her first client, creating a budget that accounts for the ups and downs of freelancing, staying ahead of deadlines and how she plans out her week.
Thank you all for listening to and supporting the show!
Resources:
TWC Season 1, Episode 1: WTF Am I Doing?
TWC Season 8, Episode 8: Turn Your Solo Freelance Business into an Agency with Caity Cronkhite
TWC Season 8, Episode 4: Diversify Your Business Fearlessly with Ashley Cisneros Mejia
It's been 10 years since Wudan started freelancing, and she's learned a lot of lessons over the past decade. Now, she's running three businesses simultaneously. Most of us will probably just run one business at a time, but for those who want to think expansively and start another one, Wudan gives you a peek behind that curtain.
In this episode, Jillian Anthony interviews Wudan.
Jillian is a writer and editor with 13 years of experience in journalism and media. She is the former lead editor of Time Out New York, and her writing has been published in Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Pop-Up magazine, Contently, and many other publications. As a freelancer, she works with major tech, travel, and media companies in many content and marketing roles; is a regular public speaker at events like SXSW; and helps writers find their footing in the freelance world. She authors the newsletter Cruel Summer Book Club, about making space for your art and yourself, and hosts a podcast of the same name.
Wudan reflects more on what she's learned over her career and dives into what it’s like to juggle three businesses.
Resources:
The Writers' Co-op: Boost Your Confidence
Wudan's viral story on late fees
The Writer's Co-op: The Six-Figure Freelance Obsession
When Science Reporting Takes an Emotional Toll by Wudan Yan
Burnout by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski
The Writers' Co-op: Diversify Your Business Fearlessly with Ashley Cisneros Mejia
Over the past year, we've heard from many listeners who are curious about scaling up their freelance businesses to an agency. Agencies can allow freelancers to take on bigger projects that they might not have the capacity to do alone. They can also attract more well-known clients, because those big-namers want to work business-to-company, rather than business-to-individual with a freelancer. But what does it actually take to go from solo freelancer to agency owner?
In this episode, Wudan talks with Caity Cronkhite.
Caity transformed her solo freelance technical writing business into a multi-million dollar writing agency. She is the founder and CEO of Good Words LLC, a technical writing and documentation consulting firm that’s on a mission to rid the world of bad docs.
Caity and Wudan dive into how to know when it's time to scale to an agency, the benefits of building an agency incrementally and mindset shifts required to go from solopreneur to agency owner.
Resources:
Follow Caity on Linkedin and visit Good Words LLC
Did you know TWC just launched a brand new course? Check out our latest addition to the TWC Academy on Teachable: THE FRESH PAINT COURSE. This is an asynchronous adaptation of the popular Fresh Paint Clinic, which teaches freelancers to build a business website that will attract the clients you want.
Join the Writer’s Co-op on Patreon at an All-Access level to receive episodes early, discounts on events and online resources, and access to our Slack channel — a great place to find work, get advice, and meet other freelancers
Check out all our courses, worksheets, and webinars on our website
Starting a new publication or production network has long been a big dream for many freelance journalists. Some have become disenfranchised with the status quo of how publications are run and are contemplating striking out on their own. Others see an opportunity to fill a niche that's been overlooked. But what does it take to bring a new media company from idea to execution?
In this episode, Wudan talks with Amy Westervelt.
Amy is an award-winning investigative journalist working in print and audio who covers accountability and the climate crisis. She’s been working as a freelancer for over 20 years, and has written for NPR, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and more. In 2017, she founded a podcast production company, Critical Frequency, which is home to multiple award-winning podcasts, including Drilled and Damages.
Amy and Wudan dive into the nitty-gritty of funding a new network and setting up a team.
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If you've been on LinkedIn lately, you might have noticed bios that include a “fractional” C-level job. Traditional C-suite jobs can be all-consuming, require deep expertise, leadership and ownership. For many freelancers, we probably don’t imagine holding a C-suite position, besides being the CEO of our own businesses.
So — what’s the hype over these fractional C-level positions?
In this episode, Wudan talks with Matthew Fenton.
Matthew is the founder of Three Deuce Branding, a consultancy with a simple mission: to help good people build great brands. Since 1997, his company has helped hundreds of clients — including Fidelity Investments, Wrigley, and Valvoline — to achieve "brand clarity" by better positioning, strategy, and messaging. Matthew has spent seven years in brand management. For a year and a half, he's worked as a fractional CMO/CSO for Bob Rogers Travel. He's also the founder of the coaching business Winning Solo.
Wudan and Matthew dive into the benefits of fractional roles, how to determine if a fractional role is right for you and what you can do to work your way up into a fractional position.
Resources:
Subscribe to Matthew's newsletter, Soloist Sundays
Join the Writer’s Co-op on Patreon at an All-Access level to receive episodes early, discounts on events and online resources, and access to our Slack channel — a great place to find work, get advice, and meet other freelancers
Check out all our courses, worksheets, and webinars on our website
Typically, when we strike out on our own and launch a freelance business, we play it safe and start with what we know. If we previously worked at a marketing agency, we might offer services like copywriting and content marketing. We might target clients in that niche. After all, that’s where the bulk of our professional network — our potential first clients — may be.
But what if you want to build a freelance business unrelated to your subject matter expertise? How do you determine what your business wants to be? In other words: How do you think expansively, past the industries and work that you know?
In this episode, Wudan talks with Maya Lau.
Maya works at the intersection of media and research, having pivoted from her career as a newspaper reporter. She is the host of Other People’s Pockets, where she interviews people about how much money they make, how they feel about their finances, and if they’ve figured out anything about money that the rest of us haven’t. Maya also has her own business, Anza Research, where she investigates companies and the people who run them for investment firms.
Wudan and Maya dive more into how to leverage existing skills and interests when switching industries.
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As a freelancer, the topic of diversification may be on your mind. The freelance market is what it is, and the pool of freelancers continues to grow - so we need ways of differentiating ourselves from others. You may be wondering how to level up in your business by offering new services, looking to a new client base, or both! But how can you do that in an intentional way?
In this episode, Wudan talks with Ashley Cisneros Mejia
Ashley is an award-winning journalist, communications expert, and former marketing agency owner with nearly 20 years of experience. She is the host and creator of the Talk Freelance to Me Podcast, where she provides freelancers the tools they need to design a life they love, and run sustainable, profitable businesses. Over her career, she’s done a bit of everything. She began her career as a newspaper reporter, worked as a tech writer, marketing manager, in PR, and so much more.
Ashley and Wudan go over steps to diversify your freelance business purposefully and without fear.
Resources:
Join the Writer’s Co-op on Patreon at an All-Access level to receive episodes early, discounts on events and online resources, and access to our Slack channel — a great place to find work, get advice, and meet other freelancers
Check out all our courses, worksheets, and webinars on our website
What if we told you that all freelancers are leaders?
The idea might seem counterintuitive at first: After all, freelancers provide services or products to our clients. We’re not leading or managing a team in a conventional sense.
But leadership isn’t just about managing a team. It’s how you position yourself, how you talk about yourself, and how you show up every day in your work.
In this episode, Wudan talks with Cynthia Pong.
Cynthia is an award-winning career and leadership coach, speaker, and author of “Don't Stay in Your Lane: The Career Change Guide for Women of Color.” An NYU-trained lawyer turned career coach, she founded her company, Embrace Change, to help women of color—and people of color—secure the money, power, and respect they deserve.
Wudan and Cynthia dive into how to adopt a leadership mindset—even as a team of one.
Resources
Career transitions often come with an element of fear. For freelancers, this might be a fear of rejection or of losing stable income. It might show up as a little voice in our head that says: “But what if I fail?” Fear is meant to protect us, yet it can also hold us back from trying new things and thinking expansively about our businesses.
In this episode, Nicole Tsong joins Wudan to talk about confronting fear while making big career swings.
Nicole is a former journalist-turned-podcast host and bestselling author. As the founder of Nicole Tsong Coaching and the School of Self-Worth podcast, she helps Asian American women leaders release the pressure valve, supercharge their self-worth and master intuitive decision making. You can follow her on Instagram at @nicoletsong.
Nicole dives into how career growth doesn’t have to be linear, how to feel grounded before making a big decision, and how to think of decision-making as an experiment.
Resources:
Nicole’s 5-day Morning Routine Challenge
Join us on Patreon for access to our newsletters and Slack channel—a great place to find work, get advice, and meet other freelancers
Check out all our courses, worksheets, and webinars on our website
Welcome to Season 8! We’re calling this year the “Year of Expansive Thinking.” This season will focus on how to think big about our businesses, ourselves, and what we think is possible.
In the first episode, host and executive producer Wudan Yan answers questions from guest co-host Pam Moore about her businesses.
Pam is an occupational therapist-turned-award-winning intuitive eating coach and journalist based in Boulder, Colorado. Wudan tells Pam more about how her business has changed drastically in the last three years as a result of a mindset shift, what it’s been like to run two businesses, and her goals for 2024.
Resources:
This episode is a cross-post between The Writers' Co-op and Freelance Cake, a podcast for ambitious freelancers who want to get more results with less effort, hosted by Austin L. Church.
Austin had Wudan on his show to talk about how she cultivated a mindset of 'always be negotiating,' and how she got to a place where negotiations felt comfortable and conversation-like, rather than potentially contentious.
A preview into what this upcoming season holds!
For updates, subscribe to thewriterscoop.substack.com
Join our inclusive and psychologically safe Slack community as an All-Access Patreon at www.patreon.com/twcpod
If you’ve been listening to The Writers’ Co-op since the first few seasons, you’ve heard us say: The magic is in the mix of work you get. Slower work – work that is recurring, or on a longer contract or time period – can make us feel both steady and fulfilled. But sometimes, we just need money now. That’s where fast freelancing comes in.
Ideally, you have a mix of both in your business. Too much fast work, and you might burn out. Too much slow work and that could build resentment or put you in a financially precarious position.
In this episode, Wudan talks with Amy Romer.
Amy is a visual journalist and fact-checker based in Vancouver, Canada. She covers environmental and indigenous issues for Reuters, The Walrus, The Guardian and The Globe and Mail, among many others. She is a National Geographic Explorer and a recipient of the Global Reporting Centre’s visual storytelling grant.
Amy and Wudan discuss tactics for setting yourself up well for both fast and slow work, the mental and emotional toll of each type of work, and more.
Resources:
Join us on Patreon to get access to this episode's resource: Amy’s production calendar for mapping out fast and slow work. All-Access members also have access to our inclusive and psychologically safe Slack community for freelance creatives.
Check out all our courses, worksheets, and webinars on our website
If you’re just getting started with your freelance business, you’ll want to check out our freelance business courses at The Writers’ Co-op Academy on building your business plan and navigating and negotiating contracts: https://the-writers-co-op-academy.teachable.com/
As freelancers, we’ve probably all worked with clients who couldn’t pin down exactly what they wanted. Maybe they never had a clear vision for the project, or maybe they constantly changed their mind—and your scope of work. The experience can be incredibly frustrating. Yet, even these clueless clients need (and deserve) help from freelancers.
In this episode, Wudan talks to content marketer and strategist Sara Gates.
Before Sara started her freelance business, she did a bit of everything at a high-growth startup. She was hired for marketing and did it all: SEO, social media, email, content strategy, messaging development, and so much more. You can follow Sara on Linkedin.
Wudan and Sara dive into how to approach clueless clients without costing yourself too much money, emotional energy or sleep.
Resources:
A very overdone and true statement about freelancing is: “You’re running a business!” Businesses of all sizes have things like income targets, goals, creative direction—and even business plans! While some of those terms can sound a bit like “corporate speak,” these ways of doing things and problem solving in the corporate world can also be applied to your freelance business.
In this episode, Wudan talks to Melody Burdette. Melody is a freelance content strategist and copywriter based out of Billie, her Ford Transit. (Yes, that’s a van.) She spent the early part of her career working in editorial and e-commerce, and more recently in startups as a content strategist and copywriter. You can follow her on Instagram at @melskyburd and stay up-to-date with her course @PlayBigPlayBook.
Wudan and Melody talk more about how to check in with your business on a regular basis – the same way that any company performs quarterly or annual reviews – and how to set up your own business retreat.
Resources:
Video: Creative Retreat Structure
Course: The Play Big Playbook and follow on Instagram @PlayBigPlayBook
Interested in joining an inclusive and psychologically safe community for freelance creatives? Join The Writers’ Co-op on Patreon, and get access to our Slack community. Sign up anytime at www.patreon.com/twcpod
Most of us who work for ourselves probably don’t love marketing but know that it’s a necessary task to attract more clients. Some take a more traditional approach—constantly sharing work and services on social media or socializing at conferences. But that might not work for everyone.
In this episode, Wudan talks with Ruxandra (Rux) Guidi. Rux is a narrative journalist working in print and audio based in Tucson, Arizona. Her work is published in the BBC, NPR, Marketplace, High Country News, The New York Times and The Atlantic, among others. You can follow her at https://www.fonografiacollective.com/ or on Instagram.
Rux and Wudan dig into how to reframe ‘marketing’ as something that is anti-hustle and anti-capitalistic, discuss the importance of community, and talk about drumming up work in a way that is unique to YOU.
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Most of the time, freelancers who work with clients do not own the rights to the creative work that's produced. Even retaining a modicum of your rights is frequently a prolonged legal battle that results in very little. But some freelancers who want ownership over their work are turning to another source of income: newsletters.
Creating a newsletter is like running your own mini publication. There are questions about when to publish, how frequently to publish, how much to charge your subscribers, and more.
In this episode Wudan talks to Leah Sottile.
Leah is an independent journalist based in Portland, Oregon. Leah covers extremism in the US and has built an audience and a monetizable newsletter without the benefit of a staff job. You can follow her on Twitter.
Leah and Wudan talk more about ownership over your work, building an audience and creating your own publication.
Resources:
Interested in joining an inclusive and psychologically safe community for freelance creatives? Join The Writers’ Co-op on Patreon, and get access to our Slack community. Sign up anytime at www.patreon.com/twcpod
Determining rates can be really tricky for freelancers. We need our clients to agree to a price for a project, but we can’t sell ourselves short and leave money on the table. Naturally, freelancers might wonder: How much can I charge before I price myself out of work?
In this episode, Wudan talks to freelancer Kat Boogaard.
Kat is a Wisconsin-based writer focused on blog content for software clients in the productivity, project management, and business ownership spaces. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter. Kat’s a high earner: In 2021, she grossed over $300k in income (netting over $175k after expenses) – which puts her effective hourly rates well above $100/h. Then, she welcomed a newborn last year and scaled back her work days even more, all while still earning six figures.
Kat and Wudan talk about growing earnings, asking for raises, and how to know whether we’re really testing the limit of what we are making.
Resources:
I Run a Six-Figure Business, But Now I Want to Take a Pay Cut by Kat Boogaard
Join us on Patreon for access to our newsletters and Slack channel—a great place to find work, get advice, and meet other freelancers
Check out all our courses, worksheets, and webinars on our website
If you’re just getting started with your freelance business, you’ll want to check out our freelance business courses at The Writers’ Co-op Academy on building your business plan and navigating and negotiating contracts: https://the-writers-co-op-academy.teachable.com/
Navigating crossroads in our careers isn’t easy — not when we’re traditionally employed, and certainly not as freelancers, where we pick the rules. The possibilities can seem endless. One assignment, one client, or maybe even one email can completely change what we decide to do next. While considering making a big career shift, we can sometimes feel stuck, and the next steps might not feel immediately obvious.
In this episode, guest host Simone Stolzoff joins Wudan to talk about how to navigate big career transitions.
Simone is a journalist and designer based in San Francisco who’s published in The Atlantic, New York Times, and many other national outlets. He’s also an expert on work and teaches a whole class on designing your next career step. His first book, The Good Enough Job is out on May 23. He has had a fascinating career, weaving from journalism to working at the international design consulting firm, IDEO, and back to media. You can follow Simone on Twitter here.
Simone outlines steps to take while considering making a big transition and drops some tips so you can go from idea to action!
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If you consume media, are a media worker, or just happen to pay attention to what’s happening to the media landscape, you might have heard that the industry is having… a bad time, to say the least. Hundreds of reporters and media employees have been laid off this year as newsrooms are shutting down or downsizing.
Some who are affected by these cuts try to move on to another full-time job, but other times, a layoff can lead to the freelance life.
In this episode, Wudan is joined by guest co-host Karen Given
Karen is a freelance audio journalist, host, producer, editor, and voice coach based near Boston, MA. You can follow her on Twitter here. After more than 20 years working for WBUR and NPR’s “Only a Game,” she was laid off during the pandemic.
Karen chose freelancing after having a full-time job for decades and gives advice for others to do the same. She helps create a game plan for full-timers to consider. Karen and Wudan talk about maintaining relationships, understanding the freelance market, building your own brand and so much more.
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