The year is charging to the finish line, and like a horse race heavy with competitors, the last straight is filled with jostling and shoving and, if you’re like me, maybe a slight whiff of desperation. Appointments jostle for prime position, and priorities clamour to be put at the top of the ever-lengthening task list.

It’s important at times like this to take a step back, reflect on the year that has been, and consider what my goals are for the coming year.

Reflection on the year

I began The Mighty Inkpot at the start of 2017 because I had just lost 2 days of work, and I was reasonably worried about our income. I signed up for the Bust Your Writing Fears course, and sent out some feelers. However, no sooner had I publicised my new freelance writing career than the same organisation which had cut my hours offered me more time! Given that I’d learnt from the course, I knew it would take some time to build a stream of clients, and I wasn’t ready to put that time in. I took the hours and put The Mighty Inkpot aside.

However, despite not pursuing work at all, I’ve had several leads, and several pieces of paid work. I’ve quoted on jobs for: ghost-writing books and e-books, editing academic pieces, corporate writing, and social media and blog content. And I’ve ended up earning about $5000 this year, though not all of that has come into the bank account yet. That’s a pretty good chunk of income compared to almost zero effort in chasing work (except for Instagram and Facebook accounts).

What have I learnt?

  • I like writing, and I can do it pretty fast.
  • Corporate writing suits me to a tee, particularly in the health and community services field.
  • I like talking to people and helping them work out what they want
  • The flexibility of freelance is very cool
  • People seem to think I do a good job (see some reviews).

My freelance writing goals for 2018

So, what’s on for me in 2018? Strangely, the same employer who cut my hours, then increased my hours, is now cutting my hours again. There is a pattern and I’m not sure I like it. If it were not for the fact that I like this organisation, I would have left a long time ago.

But it has motivated me to start looking for more freelance work, and this time it’s less out of need than out of desire – I actually want to do it. I need some goals though, otherwise it won’t happen. Some of these need to be about the business (pitching, website maintenance etc) and some need to be about the amount of writing and income I need.

So, here are my freelance writing goals for 2018:

  1. Spend 1 day per week on freelance work
  2. Pitch 3 feature articles per week
  3. Write 2 blog posts per month on The Mighty Inkpot website
  4. Do a magazine and feature writing course with the Australian Writers Centre.
  5. Achieve a spread of clients among these areas: health sector; magazine publishers; local government and community organisations.
  6. Bring in an average of $1200 per month

If you’ve got a contact or idea that would help me, especially with that last goal, then get in touch!