Hi Reader,

Happy Friday!

Some days, freelancing feels like chasing five things at once and finishing none of them.

You’ve got three half-written proposals, ten open tabs of “potential clients,” and a gnawing sense that you should be doing more.

But here’s your reminder: doing less, more intentionally, often gets you further than sprinting in every direction.

Clients aren't looking for the busiest freelancer.

So, if today you close a few tabs and send one solid pitch instead of five rushed ones, we'll call that a WIN.

P.S. This week on Instagram, I shared how much I made as a freelance writer in April. See it 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 5 pieces for clients (Klaviyo, Salsify, and an influencer marketing tool)

👉 I refreshed 2 pieces for Shopify

⏱ Approx hours spent on client work this week: ~25

⏱ Approx hours spent on non-client work: ~1

💰 Total revenue this week: £4,200

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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​​ ✨ ​

You already have a personal brand... whether you want one or not.

And no, I’m not talking about a slick logo or a perfectly curated Instagram grid.

Your personal brand isn’t a colour palette or a one-liner smeared above the fold on your website.

It’s the vibe someone gets when they hear your name. It's the tone of your DMs, the energy in your emails, and the gut feeling a client gets when they land on your site or see your name pop up in a comment thread.

It's something much, much deeper than a colour or a font.

Every pitch you send, every post you publish, every “just checking in” email you fire off all add up. Whether you mean to or not, you’re already shaping your reputation.

Which means the real question isn’t:

“Should I build a personal brand?”

Hooooo no.

The real question is:

“Do I want to guide how people perceive me… or leave it to chance?”

When I first started freelancing, the whole idea of personal branding made me CRINGE. Like, real, want-to-hide-away-forever cringe. I was a writer... my strengths were sitting quietly in a corner, tippy-tapping away, not shouting into the abyss of LinkedIn.

I thought "having a personal brand" meant being polished. Loud. Confident in that very online kind of way that felt completely out of reach (and completely unlike me).

I didn’t WANT to post every day. I didn’t have a clear message. And I certainly wasn’t ready to be a “thought leader.”

And for a while, that kept me quiet.

Until I realised...

I didn’t need to become louder or slicker or more like someone else. I just needed to be more like me, out loud.

Things shifted once I let my actual personality come through.

Clients stopped hiring me just for writing. They started hiring me because they trusted me... Because they recognised my face... Because they liked me and related to me.
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They got a feel for how I worked and what I stood for before we even got on a call. And this is the real power of a personal brand, not how good your website looks on mobile (although, let's be honest, that's kinda important too).

I always try and channel the three H's when I'm showing up online:

1. Helpful
2. Honest
3. Human
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TL;DR: personal branding isn’t about shouting L O U D E R.
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It’s showing up consistently, being yourself, and helping the right people understand what it’s like to work with you.
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So here’s my question(s) for you:
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How are you shaping your brand?
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What are you doing to guide how people feel about working with you?
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And if you’re not doing that yet… what’s stopping you?

This week, we have a full-time content and copywriter from Germany.

Where are you based? Germany

How long have you been freelancing? 5 years on and off, full-time since December 2023.

What do you do? I work for established companies with a dedicated marketing team on creating copy and content for the DACH market (German speaking) > so not a nichey niche atm.

What was your 2024 revenue? 2023: 25.000€ part-time, 2024: 30.000€ in my first year freelancing full-time.

This person freelances full-time, and this wasn't their highest-earning year.

How much did you take as a salary?

I took home about 20k in 2024, plus around 5-6k from a non-freelance mini job (that's what they're called in Germany). So I basically paid myself all of my income as a salary that I didn't need to put aside for taxes.

How much did you pay in taxes?

German income tax: ~ 10k €, and I've only started having to charge VAT in 2025.

What were your business expenses?

150-200€ a month for software/apps, subscriptions, internet, etc. This doesn't include costs for further education as these don't occur regularly atm.

Do you contribute to a pension or investments?

Gov scheme and private ETF fund.

Do you have any hot money-management tips?

Set aside that money for taxes even when it hurts!

We need more Freelance Money Diaries submissions!

As you know, I'm on a mission to bring more transparency around rates in the freelancing world. And, to do that, it really helps to see what other freelancers are earning. I'd absolutely love it (and be eternally grateful) if you share your finances with us (you can do it totally anonymously!).

As always, happy freelancing :)

Lizzie ✨

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