The Reality of Starting a Freelance Copywriting Business [As a Mom]

While freelancing can offer excellent income, it can also fluctuate drastically from month to month, especially when you're new. This inconsistency can be nerve-wracking if your family needs your income. Budgeting and working with higher-level clients allows you to level out these waves over time.

Owning your own business means you’re responsible for your own taxes. It’s best to work with a professional to make sure it’s done right. Hiring a CPA is one of the best investments I’ve made. It takes the tax stress off my shoulders.

Occasionally, clients will pay late, or attempt to not pay. I haven’t dealt with this much, but I’ve heard some horror stories. Putting good systems in place, requiring at least 50% payment up front, and listening to your intuition when deciding to work with a client helps make this a non-issue. If someone seems slimy then send them elsewhere. Dealing with payment issues can cause a lot of anxiety, frustration, and is a massive waste of your time.

If you freelance full-time, you’re responsible for your healthcare, retirement plan, and other benefits, which can be expensive. There are many people in the WYWTF community who have quit their jobs and secured health insurance. I've seen the conversation about benefits repeatedly, and the general report is that it wasn't nearly as challenging or expensive as they thought it would be

Separating work from personal time is challenging when you work at home. It’s easy to open up your laptop for "one more thing." You're never done with work because there's always more that could be done. I recommend having a good "shut down routine" that establishes the end of your work day. Then make the conscious choice to not sneak back to work. It will help your health and your family.

Whether it’s a sick child home from school or the endless cycle of household chores, the distractions often impact your ability to concentrate on work tasks. It sounds amazing to work from home with your kids... but the reality is much trickier than what social media shows. I recommend having a plan for some childcare. Your kids deserve focused attention and time instead of competing with work.

Most of us feel a bit insecure when starting an online business. You want to make this work so you CAN have the flexibility and income that you so badly want, right? This pressure is typically self imposed and can lead you to run yourself into the ground if you’re not careful. A realistic look at your responsibilities, available time, goals, and income needs helps you maintain balance. Strong businesses take time to build — give yourself grace.

There’s so much pressure on moms to do everything. Thankfully we’re moving away from the days of, “work like you don’t have kids and raise kids like you don’t work” mentality… because honestly, that’s garbage and we all know it. Juggling home responsibilities, your business, and client work can be tricky. (Delegation, automation, and outsourcing is the solution here!)

Being a stay-at-home mom can be lonely. A supportive network and community is essential. When your “free time” is filled with business tasks on your laptop instead of grabbing coffee with a friend, you run the risk of becoming isolated. Intentionally maintaining in-person friendships and business relationships is essential. Joining a copywriting community and finding like-minded people that you can co-work with or bounce business ideas off of makes a massive difference.

Having only a few clients can be good and bad. It means they're paying you more each month, you have fewer admin tasks, and it reduces the mental load of jumping from project to project. But the downside is you’ll lose a big chunk of your income when a client stops working with you. It’s not easy, but having clients come and go is part of the process.

Clients occasionally ask for more than was initially agreed upon. Most often they don't realize that what they're asking for isn't "just a tiny bit more" like they think it is. Setting clear expectations at the beginning of a project, having a contract, and reinforcing your boundaries helps. Often you’ll have to write a message or have a conversation and then the problem is resolved. (But it still feels scary to establish and maintain boundaries.)

The work can be feast or famine, leading to stressful busy times and slow periods. You can decrease this by saying no to last-minute projects and by booking projects out in advance. Women are natural helpers, so it’s hard to say no or tell people to wait a few months… but it gets easier with time. I promise.

With freelance copywriting, nobody is telling you when to clock in or out. This means you can schedule work around your kids’ schedules, that Tuesday morning Spin class, or even take breaks 3 times a day to walk the dog. Some copywriters get up before their kids to work while others prefer to work in the solitude of the late night hours. You get to set, and change, the schedule to fit your needs.

Along these same lines, owning an online business allows you to work around your family’s needs, not the other way around. I know my kids need intentional 1:1 time first thing in the morning. Cooking breakfast and reading together before they start their day fills up their buckets and allows them to play pretty independently for hours. (Note: they’re in elementary school — don’t expect this from preschool kids!) School events, sick days, or simple weekday outings are priorities that I fit my schedule around.

Having the autonomy to decide your workload means that when life calls—whether that's a family need or a personal one—you can answer. You don’t have to pick up an extra shift or stay at work late — you’re the boss! I intentionally slow work down in August because it’s what works best for our family. We simply budget for the income dip.

Your office can be your cozy home, a buzzing coffee shop, or a tranquil beach (although you’ll get sand in your keyboard here). When we travel as a family, I often take some time to work while the kids are playing or watching a movie. I’ve set up all kinds of crazy work stations in hotels or VRBOs. I don’t work because I have to… it’s because I enjoy it and the change of scenery is inspiring.

The cherry on top? No commute, freeing up more time that you can spend with your family. We live 20 minutes from town, so this has been a huge perk for me. Plus, I can wear my comfy sweatpants instead of wasting time getting dressed up or managing my curly hair.

I love my kids… but sometimes I felt like my brain was turning to mush. I answered the same question 163 times, read the same dull books on repeat, and now all the kids want to talk about is Pokemon and Legend of Zelda. Thank goodness my work is interesting and challenges my creativity and problem solving! Copywriting is an art and a science. It’s fulfilling to craft marketing materials that tell a story and connect with the audience.

One week, you might be diving into tech and gadgets, and the next, health and wellness. This flexibility keeps the work interesting and creatively stimulating. You also get to choose who you write for, so if a topic isn’t interesting or doesn’t align with your values then you should pass it along to someone else.

Don’t confuse this with “get rich quick.” Building a business takes work and time. Initially you will work a lot of hours and won’t get paid a bunch… but as you grow, you’ll start booking higher-paying projects and earning more. There are writers who charge $200 for a sales page and some who charge $10,000 for a sales page. As you hone your craft, your income will increase.

Being self-employed means you’re eligible for various tax deductions. Working with a trusted tax professional, like I do, helps you navigate this, keeping your hard-earned income where it belongs—with you and your family. I’m not a CPA, but she’s the first person I hired as a business owner and she has been worth every penny.

After you learn copywriting, you can diversify your income. You can start charging for strategy alongside your writing and provide audits, coaching, or consultations. You can also create digital courses or set up affiliate marketing to add to your base income as a copywriter. And you’ll use all the skills you learned from the copywriting training to expand your business (and income.)

If you're looking to create an online course, Course Creator School is an inexpensive and effective way to get started. Gemma is SO knowledgable and always over-delivers.

Compared to the potential overheads of traditional businesses, copywriting is cheap. I stressed over the money I spent on Write Your Way to Freedom, my website, domain name, and computer. At the time, it felt like I was spending a million dollars because I wasn’t sure if this “thing” would work out in the end. But a friend was opening a business downtown at the same time, and knowing the business loans they were taking out really put things into perspective. Copywriting is a low-cost business opportunity.

Side Note related to start-up costs…

“Do I really need a copywriting course to get started?”

I hear this question a lot, and I asked this question before I launched my business as well. Technically, you don’t need to take any courses or do anything other than start calling yourself a copywriter. It’s a completely unregulated field, meaning anyone can be a copywriter if they choose to.

However, you need to know what you’re doing if you want to be an effective copywriter. There’s a lot more to copywriting than just “being a good writer” — in fact many great writers struggle to transfer those skills to copywriting, which is a lot more about marketing and positioning than it is about writing. So invest in a course and set yourself up for success. It’s worth it.

When you’re the captain of your own ship, you make the rules. You get to set up the procedures, methods, and benchmarks for the business… because it’s yours! Maybe Fridays are part of the weekend, or maybe you choose to take December off and focus on Christmas. It’s your choice.

This is hard at the beginning because you’ll want to say yes to everyone just to get money coming into your business. (The feeling is totally normal, and temporary.) However, if there's a client that doesn’t align with your values, you should refer them elsewhere instead of dealing with them. You also get to choose what projects you accept based on what you like to write.

Your freelance work can serve as a practical teaching tool for your children. They can learn about entrepreneurship, work ethic, and writing, seeing firsthand what it means to run a business. My son was struggling with perfectionistic tendencies. (Gee, I wonder where he picked that up from? 🫣) I showed him my work after it came back from the editor, FILLED with feedback. It was FAR from perfect, which helped him see that mistakes are normal and part of the process of creating something new. Now we more easily embrace mistakes instead of attempting to avoid them.

My kids get to see me struggle, overcome, get frustrated, book big projects, NOT book projects that I wanted, and problem solve all sorts of things. It’s not always easy, but I think it’s good for them to see all the different aspects of running a business. (The good and the bad.)

Freelancing often involves connecting with other professionals, which can open up further opportunities or collaborations. I never traveled for business prior to starting my freelance copywriting business. (And travel isn’t necessary, so don’t worry if you don’t want to travel.) Now I’ve traveled to conferences and masterminds and connected with people from all walks of life. I’ve also built a large network online and can connect people with specialists… all because of my business.

You may be surprised at the business connections and friends you will make during your freelance and business-building journey. I didn’t anticipate having “internet friends” when I started my business… and I was pretty skeptical at first. However, I’ve met some incredible humans and we’ve shared houses and hotel rooms at some of the conferences. I never saw THAT coming!

You constantly learn and adapt, enhancing your writing, marketing, and business skills. It feels good to learn new things, grow, and see your knowledge help other people experience greater success. Building a business is also a personal growth journey. You’ll be challenged in many ways that will ultimately help you become a better mom, friend, and advocate.

Many people start as copywriters and then switch into other areas of online business, like digital courses, coaching programs, or sales and marketing positions with other companies. Copywriting lays the foundation for diverse career paths due to the valuable skills it helps you develop.

Before I started in WYWTF, I asked what the “success rate” was for students. I wanted to know the percentage of students who built successful copywriting businesses.

Now I understand why this question was misguided. I’ve watched friends start their copywriting businesses and then spin off into other careers.

They are successful… but they’re no longer copywriting. Copywriting was the step that started their new career. Taking the first step lets you see the options available down the road.