If you’ve been following along with my blog, you know that I’ve been a freelance business content writer since 2014. However, I’ve been working privately only since 2019. I’ve been planning to write one of these “where am I now” posts, but with the rise of AI blog writers and the destruction of freelancing stability, I decided to hold off. Now, though, I’m excited to take a look back at the highs and lows of Kelterss and share it all with you.

What Kelterss has taught me

There are some pretty relatable life lessons that I’ve learned in the process of starting and running Kelterss. Here are the ones I think you’ll find more interesting:

• There is a massive learning curve: When you’re freelancing via a platform, a lot of stuff is done for you, including setting deadlines, sending invoices, price negotiations, and more. Working on your own means that you have more control over those things; however, you’re also responsible for them. That learning curve takes a while to get used to!

• Running a business is hard work: From wearing all the hats to interpreting market trends, running your own business can have long, stressful days. But there’s a lot of enjoyment in knowing that you have a hand in every part of the process!

• It takes years to see progress: I write and post blogs regularly, update my SEO strategy, and focus on cross-linking as much as possible. Yet, seeing view counts and general progress on my website takes years. Managing expectations is a huge thing I didn’t predict.

My favourite parts of freelancing

Working privately, where I can choose what I work on and with whom, I find that my view on being a content writer has changed. My top hits include:

• I love writing blogs for clients: While blogging on my own personal time is not my cup of tea, I thoroughly enjoy writing blogs for clients. The topic and word count don’t matter. I love writing sassy, fun blog posts that will help boost my client’s business or brand!

• Long-form articles own my heart: Blogs are great, and I do specialize in product descriptions, but there’s no question that long-form articles are my absolute favourite thing to do! I’m (obviously) very wordy, so having lots of “space” in a 1,000-word or 2,000-word article to fully explore a topic is wonderful!

• Offering a suite of services is fun as well as useful: As I’ve gotten more into my professional writer career, I’ve started adding extra services. Not only is this fun and helps me engage more with a project, but it is also useful to a client who may benefit from a more hands-on, immersive approach!

Where does AI fit into freelance writing?

Of course, being a freelance writer looks different now than it did back in 2019. AI writers are everywhere. My queue definitely has taken a hit, and I’m still adjusting to that change.

I believe that AI will never replace humans when it comes to creating professional content. As any other professional writer will tell you, writing strong, engaging content is as much about understanding how content will land as it is about understanding basic writing principles. 

No matter how smart and adaptive AI gets, it will never have that human aspect that is so essential in professional content writing. But that’s just my thoughts. What do you think?