Hi Reader,

Happy Friday!

October has pretty much been a five-week month, which means I've been taking it easy this week as I finished most of my assigned pieces last week (note, I did work for a bit on a couple of weekends this month to make up for my time in Morocco, but I'd happily trade a few hours of weekend work for an afternoon in the desert).

I'm in week 2 of the month-long pitching challenge with the last cohort of Pitch & Prosper and it's been an eye-opening experience for lots of us in there. Who knew that analysing your past client roster could be such an informative activity!?

P.S. This week on Instagram, I shared what successful freelancing looks like to me (and it's not six figures). Check it out here. And don't forget to give me a follow for regular tips and tricks!

Here's what I've been up to this week work-wise:

👉 I wrote 1 piece for clients (an influencer marketing tool)

👉 I refreshed 2 pieces for Shopify

👉 I stayed in London for 2 days and saw Haim at the o2

⏱ Approx hours spent on client work this week: ~10

⏱ Approx hours spent on non-client work: ~2

💰 Total revenue this week: £2,050

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Friday Freelance Tip​​ ✨ ​

One of the most confusing parts of freelancing in 2025 is that we’re being told to do two completely opposite things at once:

“Be everywhere and build an audience.”

but also...
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​“Don’t burn out. Work smarter, not harder.” Lol.

And no one ever explains what “smarter” actually looks like in practice.

The thing is, freelancers don't fail because they're not talented (and I'm using "fail" in the loosest sense of the term here). They "fail" because they often try to market themselves like creators, when what actually gets us hired is trust, not reach.

As freelancers, we only need 2-3 clients to fill our roster and earn a decent income. We don't need 10,000+ followers on social media and 50 new enquiries every week.

And so it makes sense that the people who get booked and stay booked aren't always the ones shouting the loudest.

In fact, I remember a couple of years ago, I followed someone who was quite prolific on Instagram. They posted regularly, had loads of followers, and looked like they very much had their sh** together.

But when I met them, they told me they didn't have any work and they were struggling to land a single client. The contrast was wild. On the flip side, I know SO many freelancers who are smashing it and barely have any online presence.

Hence why a lean marketing engine for freelancers is the way to go in current times. You want/need the work, but you don't have the time/capacity/energy to be everywhere at once.

Basically, a "lean marketing engine" is a way to stay quietly on the radar of the people most likely to hire you without having to endlessly prove yourself with yet another viral LinkedIn post that may or may not lead to actual paying work.

This is where most marketing advice for freelancers gets it wrong.

A lot of advice assumes that:

• posting = marketing
• growth = audience size
• consistency = frequency
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But marketing for freelancers is different from marketing for influencers, startups, or content creators.

You don’t need thousands of strangers warming up to you. You need a handful of the right people who will come to you whenever they need an extra pair of hands.

So most of the time, it's not a "scale" problem (i.e. you don't have enough followers or aren't as "well-known" as other freelancers). It's a relationship problem (i.e. you don't yet have a warm network big enough to warrant ongoing, regular enquiries).

What a lean engine is actually made of

When you strip everything back, there are really only three jobs your marketing has to do:

1. Help the right people notice you
2. Give them a reason to feel safe choosing you
3. Make it easy to start a conversation when the time is right
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That’s it. Everything else is optional frosting.

This is why some freelancers can disappear for a month and still get leads, because they've built residual trust. Their relationships do the visibility for them.

If you're wondering, ok yah great advice, but HOW?!?! I gotchu.

To help the right people notice you:

• Talk about specific problems your ideal clients have (not generic copywriting tips)
• Post where decision-makers hang out (for most freelancers, that’s LinkedIn or niche Slack groups)
• Let your work leave breadcrumbs (bylines, portfolio case snippets, testimonials-as-content)
• Use “lighthouse content” (a.k.a. content that acts a signal so prospects can self-qualify)
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To give prospects a reason to feel safe choosing you:

• Show your thinking, not just your output by explaining your approach and your results
• Talk about process, so prospects know what working with you feels (and looks!) like
• Share opinions (clients don’t trust the neutral voice, they trust the grounded one)
• Be repetitive because THAT'S what builds credibility
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To make it easy to start a conversation:

• Mention your availability gently (“I’ve got a space for X from next month”)
• Use a conversation-focused CTA (e.g. “Happy to sense-check an idea” vs “Book a discovery call”)
• Keep replies light + human: people buy from people who feel approachable

Why this matters in 2025

I hark on about this a lot, but the freelancing landscape in 2025 is very different to how it was 2, 5, 10 years ago.

Budgets are shrinking and companies are way more discerning about where they spend their money. This means they're very unlikely to splash the cash at someone they've never met or don't trust.

The goal of a lean marketing engine is to help you build that trust behind-the-scenes so when you do need a new project, you already have a relationship with multiple people who may want to hire you.

We need more Freelance Money Diaries entries! I'm forever grateful to anyone who shares their finances with us (you can do it totally anonymously!).

Click the button below to do yours!

As always, happy freelancing :)

Lizzie ✨

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