Hi Reader,

Happy Friday!

I'm fully back in the swing of things now and I've been thinking a lot about the kind of work I want to do this year.

A couple of my clients are switching up their strategies in 2025 to include more SME-driven insights and I LOVE this. My favourite part about writing content is getting to the juicy, pithy core. I love untangling the unique perspective and bringing my client's lived experiences to the party.

So, that's what I'm going to be focusing on more this year: pieces with a real differentiator, not just your bog-standard SEO content.

How about you? Have you thought about what you'd like to do MORE of this year?

P.S. This week on Instagram, I shared how you can build a freelance pipeline that never runs dry. Read all about it here.

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

👉 I wrote 2 pieces for clients (including Numeral and Circuit)

👉 I refreshed 4 pieces for Shopify

👉 I had my first consulting call with a new client

👉 Hannah of Shiny Happy Digital worked some more magic on the website

👉 I paid my horribly large tax bill

👉 I created content for the launch of Workflow Wizard 2.0

⏱ Approx hours spent on client work this week: ~19

⏱ Approx hours spent on non-client work: ~4

💰 Total revenue this week: £4,425

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Check out my three practical courses that have helped 500+ people get more clients, earn more money, and create better content.

Friday Freelance Tip​​ ✨ ​

"How many clients can you handle at once?"

It's a question I get asked often, and it always makes me pause.

Because the answer isn't a simple number. It's more about capacity (and capacity isn't just about time).

Think of your client load like a backpack. The number of items you can carry comes down to weight distribution, the strength of the material, and how well everything is organised inside.

One poorly packed bag can feel heavier than a well-organised one with twice the contents 😅

I'll be honest: capacity is something I struggled with for a LONG time.

And, if I'm being real with you, I sometimes still struggle now. It's hard to know how much time a piece will take with a brand-new client and I often fall foul of underestimating the work involved.

HOWEVER, there's one system that's really helped me map out how much work I can reasonably cram into a month.

It's a system I call "the block method".

You might have heard me talk about this before, but if this is new to you, let me explain.

The block method involves creating "blocks" for set pieces of work or specific steps in your workflow. For me, one block equates to one piece of content and I know I can usually fit 0.5-1 pieces into a day.

But a block for you might be a discovery call, an edit run-through, or keyword research - whatever activities make up your workflow.

Because I know that I can manage 0.5-1 blocks a day, I create that many blocks at the start of the month to correlate with the number of days I want to work. When a client assigns me a brief, it gets added to a block and moved to the "to-do" section of my project management tool (Notion).

When the blocks run out, I'm at capacity.

Obviously, it doesn't always go as smoothly as this. Like I mentioned above about the backpack, there are some pieces that take longer than others, which is why I recommend time-tracking for the first few pieces/projects you do with a client to better understand how long specific tasks take you.

To deal with this, I break down smaller tasks, like edits or strategy research, into half-blocks and then I can maneuver them around the "full" blocks.

What tends to happen is a week into the month (when all my clients have assigned me briefs for the month ahead), I have a full-looking calendar made up of full blocks and half blocks that help me plan my time.

When I'm often juggling around 8-10 clients a month, it's SO important that I don't miss a beat on any project.

Over the years, I've tried EVERYTHING, but it wasn't until Anete Lusina helped me created a personalised Notion dashboard that it all finally fell into place.

This dashboard includes a project management calendar, client profiles, discovery call prompts, daily to-do lists, a pitch tracker, and SO MUCH more.

Honestly, I can't tell you how helpful it is for every single part of my business.

Aaaaand my first thought was "other freelancers need this".

So that's exactly what we've done.

I'm launching a brand new version of Workflow Wizard that still includes all the ready-to-go templates, tutorials, and scripts for onboarding clients and maintaining great client relationships.

But it ALSO includes a customisable Notion dashboard that you can turn into your own personal backend. Everything is already set up for you, you just have to add your own info and choose which bits matter the most to you.

This 2.0 version of Workflow Wizard is going to be EVERYTHING you need to run a successful freelance business in 2025. I say that with absolute confidence because I've been there and done it.

So, if you want first dibs and a steep discount, get yourself on the waitlist here!​
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​P.S. If you're already a Workflow Wizard customer, I'll be in touch with a special offer.​
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This week, we have Alex Timperley, sharing his finances with us.

Where are you based? Manchester, UK

How long have you been freelancing? 3 years.

What do you do? Alex is both a B2C and B2B writer.

What was your revenue this year? ~£65,000

Alex freelances full-time as a sole trader and this was his highest-earning year.

How much did you take as a salary?

£~30,000. I put half of everything aside straight away to cover tax and then pay myself what's left over. By doing that I've always got more than I need in the tax account when it comes to HMRC time. Whatever is left over after tax becomes in effect an additional lump sum of income that has been kept separate and unspent all year. That then goes into house cost, pension or similar long-term items.

How much did you pay in taxes? I pay income tax on what I earn as a sole trader which comes out at something around £22,000 a year including student loan and NI.

What are your business expenses?

Honestly, very small. I have a website hosting cost once every two years and that's it for online stuff. I pay for transport to see clients and expenses while out and about. Workwear (PPE), the occasional hotel, sometimes small graphic design tasks from another freelancer.

Obviously pay for an accountant each year, annual cost of ~£280.

I run my business very, very light. Haven't yet found a need for paid linkedin or any other tools like that.

Do you contribute to a pension?

I have set up monthly pension contributions and pay in a lump sum as well when I have the spare cash. I know people say your house is the biggest purchase you will ever make, but actually its your pension - all freelancers should pay into one even if you can only chuck in a tenner a month. Absolutely vitally important.

If it helps, think of it as buying security in the future. What's more important than that?

What else did you spend your business money on this year?

A photography course and a bricklaying course. Not mega expensive (about £300 combined), but by my standards it's a bit of a splurge.

Do you have any hot money-management tips?

Yeah, the number one tip is simply to hire an accountant. The peace of mind it gives is second to none, and they also provide value an order of magnitude higher than what you will be paying them to do your end-of-year accounts.

Other than that, the long-term importance of paying into your pension. More immediate cash flow advice would be to keep on top of your invoices and expense receipts in real time. There's nothing that gives you a better chance of success as a freelancer than being organised like that. Know what you've got, where it's going and what's coming in at all times!

As for something more abstract... I would say you probably need fewer tools and SaaS products than you might imagine.

As always, happy freelancing :)

Lizzie ✨

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