You’ve finally done it. You’ve found the courage to go out on your own.
No more side projects. No more writing pushed to the back burner while you attend your corporate day job.
Now it’s your chance to shine and turn your passion into a full-time sustainable business.
But you still may be wondering, is it even possible to turn your side hustle into a full-time business? And if so, what steps would you need to take to get there?
If you’re looking for some guidance on your way to full-time entrepreneurship, we’re here to help.
In today’s article, we’ll explain why it’s possible to turn your side business into a full-time content marketing operation. We’ll also walk you through how to go full-time with your business in six simple steps.
Ready?
Let’s take a look.
Table of Contents
Is it possible to turn a content marketing freelance hustle into a full-time business?
If you’re wondering if it’s even possible to turn your content marketing freelance hustle into a full-time business, the answer is:
Absolutely, yes.
In the end, you’re responsible for your success, but it’s important to recognize that content marketing is a high-demand industry with new opportunities popping up left and right.
And there aren’t just any opportunities. We’re talking about large projects that can fill up your calendar for months to come and then some — the kinds of projects that can take you from solopreneur to agency owner.
From SaaS startups looking to scale their blogs to marketers looking to establish strong brand identities, you’ll never run out of brands and marketers to pitch.
In fact, during a 2019 global survey conducted among marketers, 91% said they were using content marketing as part of their promotional efforts.
In other words, brands and marketers not only recognize the power of content marketing, but they’re also willing to pay top-dollar for it.
Now that we’ve cleared the air on why content marketing is a profitable industry, let’s look at what it takes to turn your side business into a full-blown operation.
Outline your objectives
Why do you want to turn your side hustle into a full-time business? What do you hope to achieve, and how will you know you’ve achieved it?
In this step, get laser specific with your goals.
Ask yourself questions like:
- Where do I hope to see my business in the next six months, 12 months, two years, and five years?
- Why is having a full-time content marketing business important to me?
- Who’s my target market, and how can I help them solve problems?
- What specific outcomes would I like to achieve with my content writing business?
To give you a head start, follow the template: “what + purpose.”
For instance, “I’d like to onboard clients that can commit to four projects per week, so I never have to worry about making consistent, high-paying income.”
Conduct market research
Conducting market research is pivotal to setting up your business according to standard industry practices.
When you don’t build your business according to industry best practices, you risk not scaling your company as quickly as you’d like.
For instance, if you charge rates below industry standards, it’ll take you longer to raise your prices high enough to earn a lucrative income.
During market research, be sure to look up:
- Content marketing industry best practices, i.e., standard rates, typical project scopes, and average deadline turnarounds
- What brands in your core niche care most about when it comes to content marketing
- Your target audience’s demographic information, pain points, consumer history, and purchasing history
- What your top competitors are doing right and what they can improve on
Use the data you find in your research to inform your efforts going forward.
You can also hire a focus group or conduct polls and surveys with your target audience to take market research one step further.
Take a content marketing business course
Taking a content marketing business course is an invaluable way to sharpen your skills and learn best practices you can’t come across in industry research.
Content marketing business courses are often created by people who used to be right where you’re at today. People who used to have a side business and learned how to scale it into an agency or a full-time, profitable business
A content marketing business course can help you learn:
- How to pitch to brands, publications, and prestigious marketing agencies — bonus points if the course includes pitching templates, like Contena.co does
- How to position yourself as an expert content marketer
- Email marketing how-tos, like how to build a list or how to tell your opt-ins about your current calendar openings
- How to overcome objections
- How to discuss rates and packages
- Where and how to find clients
Outline your processes and choose tools to support them
Imagine your side business has already become a full-time role. What do you expect your daily, weekly, and monthly workload to look like? What systems will you use to streamline repetitive tasks? What tools will you use to design efficient workflows?
In this step, outline your processes from start to finish. Then, look for ways to make each process as efficient as possible with helpful tools.
For instance, do your project guidelines live in journals and post-it notes on your desk? If so, go paperless with a project management tool, like ClickUp or Basecamp.
Do grammatical errors seem to follow you wherever you go? Then use a grammar checker, like Writer.com or Grammarly.
Here are some other examples of tools you might need:
- A calendar management and booking tool, like Calendly
- A graphic design creator tool, like Canva
- A Kanban task management tool, like Trello
- SEO research tools, for instance, MarketMuse, Frase, or Ahrefs
- An email marketing tool, like Mailchimp
- A video creation platform such as StoryXpress (alternative to Vimeo, Vidyard and Loom)
Set your capacity and scope of work limits
In this step, being realistic is the key.
One reason businesses fail is that they over-commit and under-deliver.
The last thing you need as a business owner is a mountain of stress because you’re trying to get client work submitted by the deadline — but there’s just not enough time.
So in this step, really think about your capacity and scope of work limits.
Decide:
- What word counts you’re willing to take on
- What realistic deadline expectations look like
- What kinds of project details you’ll need to bill extra for
- How many hours you’ll need to complete each project
- What kinds of topics you’d like to write or not write about
- What your calendar availability will look like factoring in time off, admin work, and research batching
Start pitching and applying for work
By now, you’ve set specific goals, conducted research, taken a business course, outlined your processes, and set your capacity limits.
Congratulations, you’ve just finished laying the groundwork for your business plan. Now it’s time to start pitching and applying for work.
Some brands require contractors to fill out formal job applications, while others request a simple pitch and links to your published work.
When it comes to what to say in your pitch, refer to the advice you learned in your business course.
As far as where to pitch, you can:
- Peruse job postings on job boards, like problogger.com and Peak Freelance
- Sign up for content marketing job alerts from Contena.co, LinkedIn, and Indeed
- Head to Google and type in “(insert your niche) brands + content writer needed”
- Head to Google and type in “(insert your niche) brands + guest posting”
- Compile a list of brands in your niche with high website authority scores, refer to their guest posting guidelines/pitching doc, then cold pitch them via email
Wrap up
It takes courage to build a full-time business.
But when you choose the right industry and methods to build your company with, turning your passion into a full-time operation is pretty straightforward.
By following the steps we outlined in today’s article, we’re confident you’ll be on your way to managing a full-time, sustainable business sooner than you might think.
Ready to turn your content marketing freelance hustle into a full-time business?
Let us know what specific action you’re planning on taking next in the comments below.
Interested in more actionable advice like this? Head over to check out our digital marketing tips here. And our startup and entrepreneurship tips, here.
Author Bio:
Ioana is a freelance content writer and SEO strategist for B2B and B2C brands specializing in Business, Digital Marketing, SaaS, Tech, and Mental Health. Born in Transylvania, raised in Texas, and transplanted to Barcelona, Ioana’s most recent move has taken her to sunny Mexico.
