The Next Chapter

How Much Social Proof You Actually Need to Land Writing Clients

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 14:51:19 GMT

“Include social proof in your pitch.”

Sounds great except there’s one small problem. To include social proof, you need social proof.

And when you’re new to freelance writing? You probably don’t have any.

You don’t have impressive client logos or case studies or probably no testimonials either.

So how is a new freelance writer suppose to get hired when they are putting out “brand new” vibes?

They see experienced writers talking about client results, conversion rates, traffic increases and big-name brands and assume that is what makes a pitch credible.

So if you don’t have those things yet, you feel like you have nothing worth saying, right?

But after freelancing for over a decade, I don’t think social proof in a pitch is nearly as black-and-white as we make it sound.

So what are you supposed to do?

I was thinking about this recently when I was watching a podcast and the conversation turned to client results and how we use them to attract new work.

And you know what I learned?

Most freelance writers don’t have nearly as much data as people (i.e. prospects) assume.

Sure, we might know a client’s blog post ranks well in Google but many of us don’t know exactly how much traffic it gets.

For me, I only show results for SEO freelance writer roles, otherwise the other types of roles don’t really need to see that (unless it’s expressed in the pitch they want a writer who can rank content).

We also don’t know how many leads it generated and we don’t know how much revenue it influenced.

In many cases, the client doesn’t even know so they can’t tell you off the bat.

You’re Article Isn’t Really Your Article

Think about it. As a freelance writer, you’re usually responsible for one piece of a much bigger marketing machine when creating your article.

You write the article. But maybe someone else handles SEO. Someone else distributes it. Someone else manages email. Someone else tracks conversions. And six months later, you may not even have access to the analytics.

I’ve written plenty of content over the years where I know the client was happy with my work and continued hiring me, but I couldn’t tell you, “This exact article generated $42,000 in revenue.”

That doesn’t mean the work wasn’t valuable. It just means I wasn’t given that data.

Which means a lot of freelancers—new and experienced—don’t have mountains of hard data to include in their pitches.

And I think that’s important because it changes the way we think about social proof.

Instead of asking, “What impressive number can I put in this pitch?” maybe the better question is:

“What can I show this client that makes hiring me feel like less of a risk?”

So what should you focus on instead?

Show That You’re Easy to Work With

When I first started freelance writing, I included a simple sentence in almost every pitch:

“I’ve never missed a deadline.”

At the time, it felt a little boring. I wasn’t talking about traffic or promising massive results. But looking back, I think that statement helped me land work.

And now that I’ve spent years working with content teams, I understand why.

Reliable freelance writers are incredibly valuable. You’d be surprised how many talented writers struggle with deadlines, communication, or follow-through.

Because this was what I did for my clients, when I hired some freelance writers for my niche website, I was shocked how many didn’t give me the completed article at the deadline we set.

Instead I got a lot of excuses from them,

“Oh, I thought it meant midnight when you said “June 12 at the end of the day.”
“I just need the weekend to finish it and I’ll hand it in Monday morning.”
What’s the latest I can turn this in?

I found that I was battling semantics with these writeres and it made the whole thing very frustrating.

I mean for me, if the client said it’s due in 10 days, I will turn it in first thing in the morning 7 days later. I ALWAYS exceed the deadlines and that should the expectation.

So, when showing that you’re dependable in your pitches, it can be more powerful than you think.

Focus on the Things Clients Actually Care About

Many freelance writers assume clients are only interested in results.

But that’s only part of the story. Most content managers aren’t hiring freelancers because they want their lives to become more complicated.

They’re hiring because they need help or they have too much work and not enough time.

The freelance writer who makes their life easier often wins.

So, what does this look like?

For me exceeding deadlines is a plus, but having content that is error-free, making communication easy and fluid, and not nit-picking the content brief.

Clients LOVE writers that are easy going and aren’t complicated. When I first started, I was new and ended up asking a ton of question to the client.

This turned them off BIG TIME and they walked away.

I had to learn to be more confident in my business and figure things out on the go.

Of course when you’re new, you will have some questions, but see if you can find out the answers yourself and not have to rely on several emails with the content editor.

So this might mean:

Looking over their content. If you are a blog writer, then look over the blog and each writer and see the quality of writing they publish.
Check out the business LinkedIn page and if they have a Youtube channel. Consume the content to understand the brand better.
If you’re writing for a SaaS tool, then sign up for a free trial of the tool and watch Youtube videos of how the tool works.

This will free up time to focus on the content you are writing and wowing your client when you turn in your work.

Think About Their Real Problems

When a content team hires a freelance writer, they’re often trying to:

Free up their own time
Work through a backlog of content ideas
Publish content consistently
Get publish-ready drafts with minimal edits
Find someone they can trust without constant hand-holding
Bring a larger content strategy to life

Notice how none of those things require you to have a viral case study. They require you to be helpful, reliable, and easy to work with.

So when you write your pitch, think about the exact reasons a company might hire a writer and write from that angle.

Get my Pitch archive and the pitches that land clients + strategies for LinkedIn and cold pitching in my Write Your Way to Your First $1k program.

http://writeto1k.com

You Don’t Need Fancy Results to Be Valuable

Some of the best freelance writers I know aren’t constantly talking about how they doubled traffic or generated six figures in revenue.

They’re simply excellent partners who communicate well. These writers meet deadlines and solve problems.

And that’s often exactly what clients are looking for. That’s where your pitch should focus.

So make sure what you write expresses this. I often guesstimate what their problem is (content bottleneck, no updated on blog, etc..) and go from there.

Then I share that the solution is to hire me and explain how I can help them with thier content needs. I make my pitch short and readable and end with scheduling a Zoom call.

As a freelance writer do you find that clients want to see the results of your content?

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A New Substack Strategy I Learned (But Probably Won’t Use)

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 13:48:53 GMT

I’ve been on Substack for about three months and I have over 300 followers, about 200 subscribers and 3 paid subscribers.

I’m excited for the growth and potential on Substack and I’m really enjoying this platform. I’m treating it as a business but also as a brand builder as a way to get to know ME the content creator behind this Substack.

For example, I recently shared a personal Note about going to Kakabeka Falls with my family.

And this is where I struggle. I came to Substack with an established audience and two email lists outside of Substack.

For the first month I didn’t leverage any of my email lists of other platforms I had (like LinkedIn, Instagram, Tiktok and X). I wanted to see if I could grow, and I did but once I shared my Substack on LinkedIn in the featured section, I was getting people from there to Subscribe to my Substack.

I’m also telling people in my Youtube videos and email list about my Substack newsletter and gaining followers, subscribers and paid subscribers from that.

But, I struggle because I’m comparing Substack to other platforms where I grew fast and a lot.

So, when I heard of a new Substack strategy to not only grow your subscribers but also paid ones, I was like, sign me up.

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I Thought We Just Stayed On this Platrom

For some reason, I was under the impression that people here are only staying on the platform and aren’t pushing people away from this platform.

I am treating Substack like I do with LinkedIn. See, when I post on LinkedIn I don’t drop links in my posts.

I create a post and engage with the comments, that’s it. It’s rare that I link out to something and I felt the same with Substack.

But, I wasn’t really growing so that’s when I started promoting my Substack to my existing followers and I can see from traffic sources that LinkedIn and Google are my top sources.

I’m also happy to see other platforms there like Facebook, Youtube and Pinterest!

And it was during this time that I learned I could do more to keep on growing.

I Can Move People From Substack to Email

I caught a Live with Yana from Unplugged. She was talking how she funneled people from Substack to a Kit newsletter (I think she’s doing something different now but I was focussed on the email).

As she was talking about this I was wondering,

If I start a new email list, I can add a link in my articles to get people to sign up. Then I can be more personal and promote my content better.

And for paid subscribers, I can segment my list and then email exclusives like eBooks and podcast episodes (and eventually lives and q&a’s).

Sounds good right?

Let’s look at it a bit deeper.

STEP 1: Get discovered on Substack

How do people find you on Substack?

Notes: create 3-5 notes every day
Recommendations: Create engaging content and maybe others will reccomend your Substack
Restacks: Keep sharing your articles
Search: people can find you by searching within Substack
Your articles
Comments/conversations: spend time every day to reply to comments and to comment on other people’s Notes.

STEP 2: Give them a reason to join your outside list

For this step, you can create a dedicated NEW email list to funnel people from here to there.

You can do that by offering something free for them to have. So for me, if I wanted to grow my freelance or creator brand I could create freebies like:

Freelance Rate Calculator
50 Freelance Writing Resources to Create Great Content
Client Pitch Templates
Pinterest Keyword Checklist
Creator Income Planner

I would create a landing page and optin form and use the URL of the landing page to promote this freebie on Substack.

Once they are on the list, I can market what I sell.

STEP 4: Create an intentional nurture sequence

What’s great about traditional email marketing is that you can nurture your subscribers down a journey to get to know you, what you sell and to ultimately trust what you are telling them.

You do this with a welcome email and over a series of emails you share your story, maybe give them a quick win to use RIGHT NOW, introduce your methodology or philosophy on the topic they want to know, solve an immediate problem and then mention your product as the solution.

This is a simple funnel that you can tweak and move aroud to see it if will work for you. The product will be the paid version of Substack so this might look a bit different.

STEP 5: Make the paid offer

This can mean a paid Substack user or it could send them to a digital product like an ebook or course.

So when setting up this newsletter to funnel Substack users, think about the end result.

Do you want to grow Substack or make money in different ways?

Why This Won’t Work For me

See –

I have an existing audience and they are on two email lists.

One is for my Twins Mommy audience and the other for my freelance audience.

It’s hard for me to think about having a THIRD email list just for my Substack subscribers.

My plate is already full. I write for clients, I write for my Twins Mommy brand and I write for my freelance brand (and also on LinkedIn and Substack).

So, while I love the idea of growing a strong brand and income stream from Substack, I don’t think this is the route for me (although I really like the idea).

Here’s what I’ll do instead.

Brand Building Will Look Like This

Ultimately, I want to grow my “own” audience. This is the audience I cultivate from multiple sources like from Substack and LinkedIn.

So, to continue building my brand I will link OUT from Substack to:

My Youtube videos
My social profiles
My blogs

And maybe landing pages to joing my email list.

Because it’s probably more valuable to the Substack reader to join one of my lists to learn more about me and what I share than to start a brand new email list.

What are your thoughts?

Are you funneling Substack subscribers to a 3rd party newsletter like Kit?

What have your results been?

The other thing I will do to continue building my brand is to keep showing up. I don’t want to forget Substack. I want to keep creating articles and Notes and grow my paid content too.

If you’re a paid subscriber, check out my latest eBook: The Creator Offer Ladder (What to Sell at $9, $29, $99 and Beyond). This is located in the eBooks Menu tab.

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Building Through Substack Is the Way to Go

I’ve been noticing a lot of business owners on Substack.

They’re coaches, authors, marketers, and more.

I can bet they have a website already with an email list. So, why not build through Subtack as a way to grow Substack?

This is what I will try even if it’s a slower path.

I’m happy that I’m crossing the 200 subscriber count. Each month I keep growing and that’s a good thing!

So tell me, do you have a dedicated email list for Substack? Are you nurturing these Subscribers to eventually buy from you?

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How I Grew My Pinterest to 2.7 Million Monthly Views

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 17:05:09 GMT

I’ve been on Pinterest for awhile now. I actually started my Twins Mommy blog with the intention of using Pinterest to grow my audience….and spoiler alert, it worked.

I wanted to grow my blog traffic and, at that time, all I kept hearing from the gurus of past was that Pinterest is where it’s at. So I dug my heels in and over the years have seen viral hits, low lows and overall consistent traffic and income.

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And right now I’m sitting on 2.7 million monthly views from my Twins Mommy Pinterest profile. This is the most it’s ever been and I’m excited to share how my little profile got to this point.

Look –

Pinterest growth can look almost random from the outside. You pin something today, nothing seems to happen, and then months later traffic starts coming in. But that’s the beauty of this platform.

Content doesn’t DIE like it does on TikTok (0 days), Instagram (18 hrs) or X (52 min). pinning on Pinterest lasts 4 months, the most out of all the social media platforms.

So while you stress about having to post 3x a day on TikTok and post every single day on LinkedIn (maybe that’s me that’s stressing!), with Pinterest, you can post ONE pin and that pin can survive for months on the platforms.

Now imagine, having dozens of pins doing that for your blog traffic.

And recently I’ve cracked the code to marketing on Pinterest and bundled it all up in my Pin and Win course.

Blog Traffic Isn’t Stopping (Which Means the Money Will Keep Coming)

But Elna, what was your monthly views before hitting 2.7 million?

Good question. Let’s pinpoint a time frame on how I grew to this number. In June 2026 (when I started Substack) my Pinterest reach was under 1 million monthly views.

In two months I grew from 904.32k monthly views to 2.7 million monthly views

So in two months I grew from 904.32k monthly views to 2.7 million monthly views. This was fast for me since I have several Pinterest profiles and those are slow to grow at times.

But, Elna, this was over the summer so you probably got a bump in traffic.

True, true, true….if you blog about summery content you’ll get summery traffic and I did, but the REAL traffic potential (and INCOME potential) happens between when just before when school starts and right up to Christmas holidays (then again for some niches in January).

So, really there are several good months you can apply what I will share here to YOUR blog and get MORE traffic (and income if you are using the Pin & Win Pinterest strategy).

1. I Plan My Pinterest Content 3 Months Ahead

The biggest shift in my content planning for all my sites is to really focus 90 days ahead or around 3 months ahead.

This is very difficult for me since when I search for keywords all I see are ones that are popping off RIGHT NOW.

But I know if I get a head start on creating fall content, Christmas content (that’s hard for me to swallow as I’m in shorts and a tank top right now) and Halloween content.

And I have been doing this.

But I also had to write about a trending topic too (clay figures). So, I’m getting there.

Here is how I’ll squeeze in fall content on current trends.

Trend: clay figures: for fall I can do “fall clay figures to make”
Trend: decorate home office: I can add a “spooky Halloween decor for your home office”
Trend: Boho decor: For fall I can do “Handmade Fall Wall Decor to Add To Your Boho Home”

This is also hard for me because when I use my Pinterest Keyword Tool, I see that those fall topics get absolutely no or low traffic.

But that’s okay, because it’s not fall and I know Pinterest organizes content on a hierarchy so it will show “fall clay figures” with other “clay figure” posts during the fall time.

So my plan is to create fall inspired posts and then find popular posts of mine and add a fall or Thanksgiving/Halloween spin to it.

Why is this imporant? You know, creating content sooo early?

The biggest reasons are that Pinterest needs time to understand, index and distribute your content, and people often start planning much earlier than bloggers realize.

So stop asking what’s trending RIGHT NOW and start thinking about what WILL start trending. Pinterest analytics can help you see if the trend will keep growing, but I don’t fully trust those graphs (I sometimes think Pinterest WANTS ME to think those topics will take off).

2. I Dial In on Keywords Before I Create Anything

Pinterest isn’t a social media platform, it’s a curated platform that relies on relationships between ideas (keywords).

There are many ways to source keywords for your blog content that I share in Pin & Win.

The two I will share are PinClicks and Pinterest Trends.

I first use Pinterest trends to give me a seaonal topic I can work with.

For example, I see that Christmas hair is a seasonal content ideas in Trends.

I can then check PinClicks to see if this is a viable topic to write about for one of my niche websites.

From my analysis, I can see that YES, this is a good keyword to target for Christmas.

What’s niche about this content idea is that I can create several different posts around that idea like":

2026 Top Christmas Hairstyles
Creative Christmas Hairstyles for Kids
Glamorous Christmas Hairstyles for Women

I would also use “hairstyles” for other occasions like back to school or for graduation.

I usually take a morning to build out my content keywords for each of my niche websites to work on for the next few months.

3. I Don't Create Just One Pin Anymore

Before I “cracked the code” to Pinterest marketing, I was always making one feature pin for each of my blog posts.

But over the years I learned that Pinterest wanted fresh content so I started making different pins with different angles and keywords for the same blog post.

Now, let me preface this by saying YES, Pinterest wants FRESH content but what they really want is NEW content and that means new URLS (that I share how to make a schedule out of this in Pin & Win).

But it’s okay to create 4-8 pins per blog post.

For me, I have one feature image and that’s my main pin design for the blog.

I also create three alternate pins that I put in the blog post.

If you need help creating clickable Pins, make sure to grab my Canva Pin Templates.

When creating alternate pins focus on:

Multi-image pins
Warm colors
Easy fonts to read for text overlay pins
Single images (for visual niches)
New key terms to use

So, think about how one blog post can equal:

1 blog post → multiple pin designs → multiple headlines → multiple opportunities to get discovered.

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4. I Automated My Pinterest So I'm Not Pinning All Day

I have six niche sites (including Twins Mommy) and all of them are on PinGenerator, a Pinterest scheduler.

PinGenerator also helps me create even more alternate pins too! Here’s a video where I show you how (and also in Canva).

Why use a scheduler and not do manual pinning?

Well, I don’t have time and honestly, I still get great results from using a 3rd party scheduler (there are some Pinterest gurus who swear by manual pinning and hate schedulers).

I try to build out my schedule for the next few months.

But, Elna, how many pins do you pin per day?

This varies depending on the niche and the season (and if I’m active on the blog).

So, for a few of my blogs, I’m not creating content regularly so I set my schedule to 10-15 per day and let it run for 5 months or so.

This maintains traffic until I’m ready to ramp it up.

For the active blogs it can vary between 25-45 pins per day.

5. The Part People Get Wrong About Pinterest Growth

Most people think to really grow you need a viral hit. I mean, I still think that too! When I started Substack and wasn’t growing as fast I wanted to, I thought, well the people who have over 1,000 subscribers probably had one viral note or article/newsletter.

But I should know better. Overall growth on any platform relies on you showing up.

Sure, you can automate a lot of the posting but you still have to show up with engagement and being consistent with creating new blog posts.

And FYI, monthly views don’t equate to traffic. Yes, I have 2.7 million monthly views on Pinterest, but I don’t have 2.7 million pageviews.

You need a lot of Pinterest views (10 million or more) to see a noticeable difference in traffic.

What I'd Do If I Were Starting Over

If you want to grow on Pinterest, start with creating seasonal content 3 months ahead.

This might mean you have to pivot your blog niche. For the longest time Twins Mommy was a blogging blog. I blogged about marketing topics. It wasn’t until I started blogging about making money selling crafts that my traffic grew.

I then pivoted to that type of content.

It’s hard though. My freelancing blog doesn’t get a lot of Pinterest love and that’s because the content is evergreen (for the most part). So I’m trying to add more relevant and current topics but it’s hard.

Once you have the ideas, check the keywords and then create the content. Blog posts don’t have to be long, around 1500 words. List posts do well but you don’t have to always do list posts. Some how-to’s do excellent on the platform so play around.

If you just need a plan to go along with your Pinterest strategy, then my eBook on 15 Genius Pinterest Secrets can help you.

Over to you –

Are you using Pinterest to grow your traffic? Or maybe you’re using it for your Substack posts? Tell me all about it!

About Being a Paid Subscriber

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Once you become a paid subscriber, you’ll get your first eBook and have many more perks:

Dedicated podcast The Million Dollar Chapter where I share my best secrets to help you thrive and build
Special codes for deals off any new digital products
Free eBook every month!
Videos showing you how to create the things I have created so you can make money
Q/A sessions. Ask me anything!

It’s time to treat yourself and your business!

My Client Said I Could Use AI. They Still Hired Me at My Highest Rate

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 16:33:39 GMT

I wasn't expecting this prospect to say this to me.

I asked them what their stance was for AI and they proudly said,

“Oh, we are very AI-friendly here.”

This phrase surprised me because freelance writers have spent the last few years hearing the opposite., Well, I have heard either clients don’t care about AI or they strictly say absolutely no AI can be used.

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There was a time when I even heard writers worry that admitting they use ChatGPT will make clients question their work. But they still questioned their work even if the WRITER WROTE IT.

And I’m sure you’ve caught wind of how some businesses try to replace writers with AI altogether (and then end up hiring a content writer to do 5 jobs for them).

All of this is showing the AI bubble is bursting and businesses are now trying to figure out how to use AI for everything but for published content.

So once I saw how this client’s team was actually using AI — and what they still expected you to bring to the assignment — it gave me a good idea of where freelance writing may be heading.

My Client Uses AI Before the Assignment Even Gets to Me

During my discovery call why was this prospect eager to tell me they were AI-friendly?

Because they readily use AI in their business.

The person told me AI helps them create content briefs, research ideas, organize information and speed up parts of their workflow before an assignment ever lands in a writer’s inbox.

So it would be pretty strange for them to turn around and tell their writers they’re forbidden from touching it, right?

(I do know some businesses operate like this. No to using AI for writers but the business is open to using AI).

But for this new client, their definition of AI-friendly has boundaries.

They don’t want me dropping the brief into ChatGPT and asking for a 2,000-word article.

They want AI helping with the process rather than becoming the process.

And this was great to hear because in my everyday life I use AI similarly. I have other niche websites, two email lists, and a Youtube channel and I use aspects of AI for all of that.

But, if this client allows writers to use AI, how come they agreed to my highest rate?

If AI Can Write the Article, Why Are They Still Paying Me?

If the company already pays for AI tools, creates AI-assisted briefs and knows perfectly well that ChatGPT can generate a blog post in seconds, why are they hiring an experienced freelance writer at a high rate?

Because the words aren’t what clients are paying me for.

Clients want freelance writers who are experienced in their niche or industry.

For this client, they wanted someone who had a shop and sold digital products. They wanted to leverage that experience for their content.

Of course, they wanted a writer that already knows how to research the topic, determine what's credible, find examples, bring in outside perspectives, understand the company's positioning and turn all of that into an article that sounds like their brand.

If you know copywriting, that’s a plus too and can help you make even more money.

It’s the freelance writer that can pull in all this information and present it in an easy-to-read manner. This is something I do a lot and can do well.

If you’re a new freelance writer, there is some catching up to do on your end but you can take your time on it.

I would really carve out a niche for you and learn the ins and outs of it and maybe even dabble in this niche.

For example, I knew of a SaaS writer and she actually built a SaaS tool. This definitely helped her make more money than me.

Realize that being able to produce 1,500 grammatically correct words isn't much of a selling point anymore. You have to stand out even more.

So, How Do I Actually Use ChatGPT for Client Work?

I’ve been using ChatGPT (paid version) for a while anyway, so an AI-friendly client didn’t dramatically change my workflow.

I treat AI like an assistant sitting beside me while I write.

So, as a writer, how do you do that? Here are the top ways I use AI for my client pieces:

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Find Stats

I prompt ChatGPT to find credible sources and I list what publications and sites to use. I then fact check each stat and tweak the prompt if the stats are too old or not that relevant.

Find Quotes

I have ChatGPT source social media to find quotes and examples from people. I might tell it I need quotes from a CEO or editor or social media marketer.

Once I prime it for examples, then I might narrow it down to CEOs and things like that.

Find Examples

If I need more examples (that I haven't already thought of or found in my swipe file), I'll prompt it to see if it can give me some highly niched down, relevant but not well known examples. Sometimes this is a bust but I try. One time I needed examples of people who had a podcast and sold courses. I tried Google and social media and couldn't find any good examples so that's when I asked ChatGPT.

Fix up Grammar

I do have Grammarly but in the moment I might need help with finishing a sentence or just tweaking what I just wrote to make it sound better. I don't do this for every sentence, just a few I get stuck on.

Summarize Content

If there's a report or article I can feed it to ChatGPT to give me a summary or what's relevant to what I'm writing about. I don't do this often but I have once or twice.

I personally don’t do this method too often because I have to remember that clients are hiring me for my BRAIN essentially. I am the one who can parse out information that is more nuanced and more dialed in than what AI can tell me.

If all I did was rely on summaries and key points from AI, I’m not forming opinions, stances and important observations on my OWN.

So, be careful about using AI in this capacity. That’s why I try not to use AI to GENERATE ideas for me. Providing examples are fine because I usually have my own example and may need a few more.

Here are some other ways I don’t use AI for.

What I DON'T Use AI For Matters Just as Much

The main reason why I can get paid $1.00 per word or more is because of my judgement, my angle and my understanding of a client’s audience.

I also bring in my experience as a SaaS writer and content creator. And because I know my niche inside and out, I can tell if AI gives me information that isn’t really useful or valuable.

So remember clients are paying you on the research, analyzation and value you bring to the words on the page.

I Think "AI-Friendly" Clients Are Going to Become More Normal

Not every prospect you talk to will be fine with using AI.

But I feel more and more companies, especially in tech and SaaS, are relying more and more on AI and know when it works and when it doesn’t.

AI is good for organizing and delegating but it’s not that great at writing. It might be in the future, but even then, humans bring soo much more richness to their writing that isn’t robotic or just generic.

What are your thoughts on all of this? Are you finding clients are okay with you using AI as long as you hand in “humanized” content?

About Being a Paid Subscriber

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Once you become a paid subscriber, you’ll get your first eBook and have many more perks:

Dedicated podcast The Million Dollar Chapter where I share my best secrets to help you thrive and build
Special codes for deals off any new digital products
Free eBook every month!
Videos showing you how to create the things I have created so you can make money
Q/A sessions. Ask me anything!

It’s time to treat yourself and your business!

The Low-Barrier LinkedIn Method I Recommend for Brand-New Writers

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 13:48:30 GMT

Pitching sounds easy until it’s you who has to ACTUALLY do it.

That was me when I first started freelance writing. I was nervous about reaching out and asking if they needed a writer. Why would they read MY email? Why would they care?

And there isn’t just one way to pitch either. There’s cold pitching and then there’s warm pitching.

Cold pitching is reaching out to a business that isn’t even on the lookout to hiring a writer. They aren’t launching a new app or trying to grow their brand by having the CEO on podcasts or writing thought leadership content on LinkedIn.

No. These businesses are focussed on growing their website and that’s it.

With warm pitching, you are getting in front of the right people that would eventually hire you (or another freelancer). These people make up your network that you can leverage for years to come.

But if you’re a brand new freelance writer, you don’t have a network and you have no clue how to get a network that will hire you.

For me it took about a year to be comfortable with pitching, either cold or warm. I ended up just jumping in cold and doing the work. But I know there are many writers that don’t like that approach. It’s harsh and doesn’t alway pan out.

So, over the years of teaching new writers, I’ve created a low-barrier method that you can use on LinkedIn (or Facebook or Instagram).

This method, luckily, doesn't involve pitching, sending awkward DMs, or trying to connect with hundreds of strangers. Instead, you're going to intentionally build a network around the type of writing work you eventually want.

Easy peasy right?

So let’s dive into this low-barrier, non-cringey, method.

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1. Don't Start By Connecting. Start By Following

In 2021, LinkedIn launched its creator mode, allowing users to grow their followers along with their connections.

And by 2024, the creator mode is it’s most standard form, meaning most people “turn it on” to help them grow their brand.

Because this is fairly new, many new writers still think they need to hit “Connect” every time they find someone interesting, but they don’t.

Plus hitting the connect button means you should probably write a quick note and for many, this is just too much. It is for me at times.

Instead, following others is a zero pressure method. There's no invitation for someone to accept or reject, and you don't have to come up with a clever connection message.

What’s more important is, following them is initially for YOUR benefit, not theirs.

You’re intentionally changing what appears in your feed so LinkedIn starts becoming less random and more useful to your freelance writing business.

Now it’s your turn:

Go on LinkedIn and follow 15-20 editors, content marketers, CEOs and other thought leaders in your niche. Take your time to find the RIGHT people to follow (and eventually fill your feed).

Not sure how to do this? That’s okay, I break it down in the next steps so keep on reading!

2. In the Beginning, Follow Writers Who Already Work in Your Niche

Now I know I JUST told you to follow people who will eventually hire you, but I want you to also follow other writers to grow your network.

These could be copywriters, authors and other freelance writers in or around your niche.

This might seem backwards because writers aren't necessarily the people hiring you, but they're often the easiest entry point into the industry.

I particularly follow writers that write for the brands I want to write for.

For example, here’s a journalist that writes for Shopify that I can follow.

You’re seeing what they’re writing about, which companies they’re working with, what terminology they use, and what they’re charging or talking about.

You’ll also see who they’re interacting with in their feed, helping you find things to engage with also. This is looking into their network.

That becomes important for the next step.

3. Now Find the Editors Those Writers Are Talking To

Once you've found writers in your niche, start paying attention to the editors around them.

Who comments on their posts?
Who are they tagging?
Where are they getting published?
Who is sharing their work?

You might find the people you are following aren’t that active on LinkedIn. If that’s the case, you don’t have to keep following them, just find another person in the company you want to write for that you can follow.

For me, I try to carve out 20 minutes each morning to reply to comments on my posts and to look through my feed to find:

Potential writing jobs
Freelance tips
Posts to comment on

It doesn’t matter if the post has 2 comments or 50 comments, it’s enough to add something of value and move on (we will talk about that soon).

This is where your network starts expanding beyond other freelancers.

Follow editors who work for publications, companies, agencies, eCommerce brands, or whatever makes sense for your niche.

Again, you’re not asking them for work.

You’re getting closer to the people who exist in the same professional circles as the clients you eventually want.

And don’t worry if those people don’t know who you are. That’s okay. Over time you will respond to their posts or maybe look at the articles they have written or any links they share and comment on those with your audience.

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4. Don't Stay Trapped Inside Your Exact Niche

Even though I’m a SaaS writer in the digital marketing niche, I try to connect with and follow people outside of my niche like eCommerce companies, AI companies or other tech companies.

If someone writes about AI prompts for marketing teams, for example, they’re still close enough to my world that their network could be valuable. So, for you, think of your niche as a circle and then build another circle around it.

This can also open the doors to pivoting your nice or trying a new niche idea later on.

5. Your Next Low-Barrier Move: Start Commenting

Now that the right people are actually showing up in their feed, you can start participating.

That’s where I would advise you to take a few minutes each morning to peruse your feed and see if there is something worth commenting on. For me, I don’t always find it right away and so through out the day I will check LinkedIn to find something to comment on.

Make sure to leave comments that add something to the conversation. This is usually your perspective or experience.

Try to make it a fun activity and engage in an authentic way to boost your comment (i.e. get more likes, replies and impressions).

Commenting is an especially low-pressure way to get your name in front of people because you're joining an existing conversation instead of trying to start one yourself.

6. Make Sure Your LinkedIn Profile Is Ready for the Click

The goal of all this LinkedIn marketing stuff is to get people to view your profile.

LinkedIn does give you analytics to see if this is happening.

When you see people coming to your profile, make sure you have the right words and titles.

There’s a lot that goes into marketing on LinkedIn (I share my best tips in my program Writeto1k) but here’s a video on how to optimize your profile.

Those first few steps might feel like they’re not accomplishing much because nobody handed you a client after leaving three LinkedIn comments.

But you’re building something more important first: proximity.

You’re getting yourself into the same digital rooms as writers, editors, marketers and companies in your niche.

Remember, this isn’t a quick fix method. It’s a low-barrier method and that will take time.

The Final Step: The Warm Pitch

Once you have a network of the right people you’re following and your profile is optimized to close the deal, it’s time to now nudge these people.

Remember, just because you are following them and commenting on their posts doesn’t necessarily mean THEY SEE YOU or KNOW YOU.

That’s where emailing them or sending them a DM comes into play.

If you can message them, here’s a template that can work for you:

Hi [Name],
I saw your post about [specific topic/update] and your point about [specific detail] really caught my attention, especially since I write quite a bit about [related niche/topic].
I took a look at [Company]’s blog afterward and really liked what you’re doing with [specific content/topic]. I’m a freelance [niche] writer, so I wanted to reach out and see if you ever work with freelance writers or need some extra content support.
Happy to send over a few relevant samples if you’re looking for writers right now.
Elna

If it’s too wordy, parse it down to fit what you want to say. The idea is to NOT make this sound like cookie-cutter copy.

It’s a template where you can add your relevant ideas and experiences.

I hope this helped you! Let me know in the comments if you are going to try this low-barrier method or you have your OWN method you’d like to share!

Also, don’t forget you can check out my:

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Dedicated podcast The Million Dollar Chapter where I share my best secrets to help you thrive and build
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Q/A sessions. Ask me anything!
Plus free Ebooks, guides and more every month

It’s time to treat yourself and your business!

I Thought I Landed the Client. Then This Happened.

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 19:22:31 GMT

In this podcast, I go over a freelance writing opportunity I was sure was going somewhere…and then it didn’t. I share what happened, what I learned from the experience and what I’m doing differently now because of it.

I Thought Publishing on Substack Was Enough. I Changed My Mind.

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 20:02:35 GMT

I started my Substack newsletter in June 2026. It’s been barley two months since I started this Substack newsletter that you’re reading right now. 😉

When setting up my newsletter, I decided I didn’t want to share it on other platforms.

I wanted to see how Substack worked and I needed time to figure out what my newsletter will be. See, I have two newsletters already with Kit.

I have one for my freelance blog and one for my mommy blog. And for a while I even had a beehiiv newsletter for my LinkedIn audience (but that eventually got absorbed into my freelance newsletter)

Needless to say, I am familiar with newsletters and blogging so when I kept hearing about Substack, I thought, “nah! No need to!”

But this summer something shifted.

I don’t know if it was because my twins, who are 13 years old now, didn’t NEED me to be everywhere all at once or that we had our driveway paved and had a tree removed (it was dead or had parts that were dead leaning on the house) which caused us to stay mostly indoors or go somewhere else to spend the day outside, BUT I had more time.

This was usually an hour or two late in the evening and early morning. So, after seeing the hoopla of people on Youtube praising Substack and how much money you can gain from starting a Substack newsletter, I thought, “what the heck?”

So here we are, two months in, 150 subscribers and even some paid subscribers too.

A Month of Posting on Substack

For the first month I did not tell my two email lists or anyone on LinkedIn or Youtube that I had a Substack newsletter.

I wanted to see if I could grow authentically.

I did, but very slowly. It wasn’t until I changed up my posting schedule that I saw faster growth.

This growth lead me to believe that I could turn on Paid subscribers. I mean I was getting good engagement and followers, so why not?

Well, that backfired and I had to stop gating all my content (I share that story in this post).

Over time I realized that staying on Substack just wasn’t working. I had to share my newsletter to my existing audience.

I spent over 12 years building an audience and not once did I tell them I had a Substack newsletter.

That was a stupid mistake!

So for the next month I started sharing my content outside of Substack.

And slowly, but surely my audience started growing from different sources.

I can definitely add more platforms like X, Facebook and maybe even TikTok and Instagram to this list eventually.

The more places I can share it, the more eyeballs to this newsletter and that means growth potential.

Leveraging What You Already Have

I soon realized: Why am I trying to start completely from zero when I don’t have to?

A new Substack doesn’t necessarily mean a new audience and for some reason, that didn’t clue in until month 2.

If you are on other platforms then leverage that audience like I’m doing right now.

Here are some ideas to start with:

an email list
LinkedIn followers
a blog
Pinterest traffic
Medium articles
Instagram followers
YouTube subscribers
even old content ranking in Google or Bing

Before you try to find a brand-new audience for your Substack, look at the audience you’ve already built.

Go ahead and make a quick list of everywhere you are online to help you market to those people.

You Don’t Have to Be Everywhere

When I looked at my Growth and the sources I was a bit surprised that I was getting traffic from Google and my blog. I haven’t shared it and I’m not SEO’ing my Substack articles (although I know that Google pulls from LinkedIn and Reddit and probably Substack for the AI overviews).

If I did SEO my articles it can open the doors for ChatGPT finding my Substack and maybe even having it searched on Bing.

What’s important to note is that I’m creating distribution points, and not giving myself seven more platforms to manage.

For me it might look like this:

LinkedIn: Share an idea or takeaway from one of my Substack articles and link back to the full post (which I recently did).

Pinterest: Create pins for evergreen Substack articles that could continue sending traffic months later.

Your existing newsletter: Occasionally tell subscribers about a Substack article they might enjoy rather than constantly asking them to “subscribe to my Substack.” This is something I’m starting to do.

Start With 2 Places, Not 10

Now if you’re new to being a content creator, you can still grow your Substack with a few platforms for sure.

You don’t need X AND Pinterest AND Facebook. Pick two platforms to share your Substack articles.

These are platforms where either:

You already have an audience, or
Your content has a chance of being discovered over time

For one person, that might be LinkedIn + their existing email list.

For a blogger, Pinterest + Google might make more sense.

For someone who loves video, maybe YouTube + TikTok.

The point is to grab an audience that might want to read your Substack articles.

Check Your Substack Growth Sources Often

I’ll be the first to tell you that I actually never checked my growth sources AT ALL.

That’s really weird since I’m all about analytics. I check my traffic and my followers and other platforms but for some reason I never did with Substack.

The only analytical things I did was check my subscriber growth and the engagement on my posts and Notes.

But once you start tweeting your posts and sharing it in other places, about a few weeks later check your Substack growth sources.

I’ll be more mindful now with sharing my articles in other places that weren’t shown on my sources to expand my audience.

My New Rule: Don’t Make One Platform Responsible for Your Audience

I started Substack wanting to see whether Substack could grow my subscribers.

And it did for a bit. But now I’m thinking I need to go all in with this newsletter and share it ALL.THE.TIME to my existing audience.

This doesn’t mean I’m going to ignore marketing on Substack! No way. I’ll try to do more by:

Restacking my posts
Writing more posts
Schedule my notes
Commenting on other people’s notes and articles
Creating more chats to grow my community (that’s a slow one for sure)

But yeah, I need to treat this as almost another blog that needs an audience.

So, for you, where are you sharing your Substack articles?

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Once you become a paid subscriber, you’ll get your first eBook and have many more perks:

Dedicated podcast The Million Dollar Chapter where I share my best secrets to help you thrive and build
Special codes for deals off my digital products
Videos showing you how to create the things I have created so you can make money
Q/A sessions. Ask me anything!

It’s time to treat yourself and your business!

The Business Tasks That Help Me Earn Income Every Month

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 16:51:34 GMT

Summer is typically a slow month for my content creator and freelancer business.

Looking at a snapshot of my sales and what my niche sites are generating, I can see I’m relaxing too much and not putting in the time to create content.

*This post shows you the breakdown of my income streams

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But I’m okay with that. I have seasons in my life, and this summer I wanted to focus on our house renos and spending time with family.

As the summer ends and another school year starts, I can dial down into my business.

But I wanted to share with you the business tasks that I do almost every day that help me generate income every single day.

First, how do I make money online?

Freelancing: I’m a SaaS freelance writer for companies like beehiiv and Woocommerce (this is the only income stream I don’t share out of respect of my clients since I don’t take on many clients)
Ad placement: I have several niche sites that generate income ( I give a breakdown of what I make from my niche websites in this post)
Affiliate Marketing: I use Amazon, Awin and tools like Pinclicks to make money. This income stream typically works in the backend of my business, and I don’t pay too much attention to it. This income stream earns me between $100-$500/month. Here’s a screenshot of my Awin earnings as one affiliate partner.
Digital products: I have a digital shop where I sell courses, guides and one hour masterclasses. Here’s a snapshot of the income for the last month. This fluctuates wildly based on sales and times of the year.
Youtube: I have two channels but together they don’t generate more than a few hundred a month. (the first image is my blogging one for TwinsMommy and the second one is my freelance YT channel.
Substack: This is my newest income stream and I’m loving this platform more and more. I currently have less than five paid subs, so I won’t share my income from Substack until I have a few more paid subscribers.

Here are the business tasks I do every day to keep my business running

Before I run down the list of tasks, I want to make sure you know that my husband does help me run my business. He signs me up for affiliate programs, handles any tech issues with my websites and manages any affiliate or ad income I receive since it goes under our business name and not directly to me.

So while he works on coding and managing tech questions from students, here is what I do to run several websites, write for clients and sell products.

I check my email every morning

Without fail the very first task is checking my email.

I see what sales I generated and if there are any pending questions or jobs available for me. I also trash any marketing or spam emails that I don’t need.

I usually spend a good half hour in my inbox.

I check comments on social media

I’ve been working hard at growing my LinkedIn presence and to do that I have to keep up with posting and engaging there.

I do preschedule my posts but they go out every M-F and that means monitoring each post for comments.

If I don’t answer them in the morning I will check again later at night and spend 20 minutes answering comments.

I also toot around and check my Substack notifications. This tells me if my notes are engaging and if I’m growing my subscribers.

I sometimes also check my YT channels to see what’s happening there and decide if a video is in store for me that day.

I don’t check X, IG or TikTok on a regular basis. Those platforms are either automated or on “pause” until I have content worth sharing.

This process takes another 20-30 minutes.

I make my to-do list

Over the years I’ve had different ways to schedule my day and what’s working for me in this season of life is to generate a to-do list every morning.

These tasks can be carried over from the previous day, but it’s a loose list so that I’m not mindlessly on social media or watching a YT video…I’m being productive.

So, for today’s list I have:

Substack article?
workout
Write marketing emails
pitch to 3 companies/job ads
video?

I try not to add too many things but since I work a few hours a day over the summer, I want tasks that I can whip out in about two to three hours.

The video on its own is a 3-4 hour job so I may not fit that in today.

But my freelance work takes precedence.

What about when I have an idea for a product or have to update products?

Over the summer I created two eBooks and have been updating and adding new lessons to my flagship course.

For these types of tasks, I dedicate a day for this. Sometimes it’s the weekend or a Friday.

Throughout the week, I work on business tasks like creating blog posts, writing emails and forming topics.

Then at the end of the week, if there’s some breathing room, I can update my course and create products.

Many of the lessons are video-based so I’m redoing the video and adding new information and this can take more than one day.

So in the beginning of July I focussed on lessons that needed to be updated and then added some new ones.

For big tasks like this, I start to “neglect” other tasks.

I don’t pitch, I don’t write an email to my audience and I forget about writing a blog post for one of my sites.

And that’s a hard thing for many new business owners.

If you have a lot on your plate, it’s hard to say no or to just “forget” about one aspect of your business to focus on the current thing.

But if that current project makes you money, then that’s what you focus on.

My flagship course has generated over a million dollars in sales, so I have to make sure it’s up-to-date with any new AI or marketing things available.

I build upon income generating tasks

Every day I try to focus on the things that actually make me money or have the potential to. When I started Substack, it wasn’t making me money but since it was new, I decided I could spend a bit more time on this to grow it.

It’s a fine balance though. A lot of creators start a YT channel and have a difficult time growing it or using it as a marketing channel.

My channels help me make digital product sales and affiliate income so what little income I make from ads on my videos, is inconsequential to what I can earn by marketing in my videos.

I don’t work 8-hour days

My entire business for the past 12 years has always been part time. I started this business when my twins were toddlers and I could only work during their nap times and at night.

Then when they started school, I would work during school hours…and I’m still doing this.

Summers are a challenge for my business but I get through it because of what I’ve built during the other 10 or so months of the year.

If you are a mom like me and have an online business, what are your daily tasks? If you didn’t do them could your business still work for the next few days?

Let me know!

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Once you become a paid subscriber, you’ll get your first eBook and have many more perks:

Dedicated podcast The Million Dollar Chapter where I share my best secrets to help you thrive and build
Special codes for deals off my digital products
Videos showing you how to create the things I have created so you can make money
Q/A sessions. Ask me anything!

It’s time to treat yourself and your business!

I couldn't believe what happened when I turned off paid articles

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 01:01:49 GMT

I finally crossed the 100 subscriber milestone!

I’m so happy about the growth, even if it’s slow, at least I’m growing.

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Sustack is a new platform for me. I started in June of this year and after I reached that milestone I decided to turn on the paid feature.

I updated my About page, added sections to my menu and tried to make my home page more professional looking.

I started thinking of what special features a paid subscriber should have. I also made sure to write my “welcome email” and added any links or discounts to that email.

I Gated My Articles

I then spent some time gating my articles. Under the “more” tab I added a paywall.

This would put a line in my article and to readers it would look like a box that covered the rest of the article.

Since I’ve been on Substack and reading other people’s articles, I noticed this is what they did. I mean if they’re doing this then they’re probably making money, right?

So I waited…..and waited.

I wrote a new article and I kept writing Notes to keep growing. I tried to brush off any excitement off and kept doing my things every day.

Weeks Went By And Nothing…nothing…nothing….

After the third week of no paid subscribers I thought this was odd.

Comments I had before were zilch, nada after gating my content.

Views went down.

I was losing subscribers.

What is happening? Is this what happens when people first turn on the paid feature and gate all content?

Maybe if I wait it out it would all correct itself.

It Didn’t, It Just Got Worse

When I first heard about Substack I didn’t think anything about it. I just thought it was another platform like Medium. I was already on Medium so I didn’t want to stretch myself thin by adding another platform.

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About two years went by, Medium lost its appeal and after seeing on Youtube how Substackers were making money with a paid newsletter, I thought, why not?

I’m a professional writer and I’ve been blogging since 2014.

So this summer I started and was amazed by how generous people were. I immediately got subscribers and comments on my articles.

People were commenting on my Notes and I was amazed.

This felt different than LinkedIn, the platform where I spend a lot of time on.

So I jumped on the Substack train and tried to learn everything about it and many said to turn on paid right away. So I figured why not?

Everything is Built On The Know Like Trust Factor

I have always known that to build a raving audience that will always buy from you is to provide over-the-top content.

This could be emails, blog posts, podcasts or videos.

Give, give and give a ton more.

Always free, never paid….just free.

And once you have an audience that listens to you, trusts you, THEN, then they will buy anything you offer.

It’s the “know-like-trust” factor that I completely pushed away when I started my Subtack newsletter.

I wanted to start fresh, organic and build from the ground up.

And it was working for the first month.

I’ve always had two audiences over the years: the mom bloggers who follow me on Twinsmommy and the freelancers who follow me on Elna Cain.

So for my Substack I wanted to appeal to both, the online business owner and focus on midlife moms and women.

And while I was growing I decided to stop all of that and turn on the paid feature.

I UnGated My Contend

I guess I didn’t cultivate a strong audience before I turned on gated content.

That’s why it never worked for me. So, I reversed and self corrected.

I ungated my articles. I turned it off and focussed on what really mattered, building a community.

I didn’t turn off Paid all together, just paid articles.

I could gate my podcast and eBooks and that would be a start. Over time I can add to my paid features but this is a start.

And when I made everything free….

I Immediately Got a Paid Subscriber

The next day after marketing all of my articles FREE to read I landed a paid subscriber. I don’t know if they will stick around but it’s a good sign that what I’m doing is working.

Always give, give and give a whole bunch more.

Be helpful, friendly and stand up to what you know.

About Being a Paid Subscriber

Subscribe now

Once you become a paid subscriber, you’ll get your first eBook and have many more perks:

Dedicated podcast The Million Dollar Chapter where I share my best secrets to help you thrive and build
Special codes for deals off my digital products
Videos showing you how to create the things I have created so you can make money
Q/A sessions. Ask me anything!

It’s time to treat yourself and your business!

I Added One Word to My LinkedIn Profile. Then a Client Found Me

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 19:22:15 GMT

One word. That was it.

That was all it took to gain the interest of a big SaaS brand.

They were looking for specific freelance writers and found my LinkedIn profile.

That was in my inbox waiting for me one afternoon.

I was surprised because “this” seems to always happen to me.

What I mean is, when I decide to look for clients, start pitching, clients start coming to me. I’m not complaining, but I’m always shocked when this happens time and time again.

And when we got on our discovery call (I share EVERYTHING in a BTS of landing a client in my Writeto1k program) she told me she was looking for writers with ecommerce experience.

And I didn’t speak. OMG…this is the WORD I JUST used for one of my experiences/jobs on my LinkedIn profile.

One of the things I did after gaining 10,000 followers on LinkedIn, was to tweak my profile. I wanted to not only grow my followers but also leads for more writing jobs as a freelancer.

But why did I chose ecommerce? Why not more specifically with CRMS or tech related?

I’ve Been a SaaS Writer for Years…So Why Ecommerce?

See I’ve been a SaaS writer in the digital marketing niche for over a decade. Over the years I’ve focussed on creator platforms like beehiiv or SEO focussed companies like Smartblogger but I always stuck in my lane of digital marketing.

But in 2026 things have changed. AEO and GEO and AI are all hot topics and things businesses are seeking.

But ecommerce interested me because it overlaps with so much of what I already write about: marketing, email, SEO, conversions, content, customer acquisition, etc.

And since many writers in SaaS also write about ecommerc, I thought, why can’t I?

Plus, I opened up my email writing to write for DTC companies, which ties into ecommerce writing well.

So I wasn’t really learning a new niche, but I was instead, expanding my niche to include more businesses and ecommerce stores.

So I Added One Word to My LinkedIn Experience

I mean this isn’t a huge LinkedIn strategy with multiple steps. It’s a simple tweak you can do for your profile.

By optimizing and paying attention to your LinkedIn profile, you’ll have a better chance at getting noticed. At least it did with me!

Once you understand how to do this, clients will come knocking down your door. Here’s how to do it.

Freelancers Usually Market Their Past (So Don’t Do That)

I’ve been freelance writing for 12 years and I know I’m not sharing content I wrote 12 years ago.

It’s not relevant or even shows my best writing anymore. For many writers, they list niches they are already in and show old stale portfolio items.

I’ve also seen people on LinkedIn – who hire writers – say they aren’t even looking at portfolios if they show old tactics like list based posts or heavily SEO’d posts. Instead they are opting for seeing a personal brand and/or doing test articles, but it does show a shift in content marketing.

So if you have old portfolio items (five years or older), I would try to do this to update your portfolio in the interim of gathering brand new articles for new clips.

Create A “Bridge” Into Another Niche

What you can do easily is marry or bridge another niche with your niche. So if you are in beauty you can add tech to it. Beauty tech.

Or, if you are in retail you can add ecommerce to your niche since they are very closely related.

So, for me I bridged my SaaS writing with ecommerce and hoping that will open up a new space for jobs.

Doing this also safeguards you against the feast and famine idea where writers struggle to find work mont-to-mont (which isn’t the case once you build a brand).

If you can’t find any jobs in retail then you know you can lean more into tech and ecommerce.

For me, while SaaS is still a huge niche, I want to grow my skillset to bridge neighboring niches.

Here’s a list of niches and how to bridge them

Healthcare ↔ Insurance — health insurance, benefits, claims, patient costs
Real Estate ↔ Legal — contracts, property law, landlord/tenant issues
Travel ↔ Lifestyle — experiences, destinations, remote work, leisure
HR ↔ Business — hiring, leadership, workplace strategy, management
Cybersecurity ↔ Legal — privacy laws, compliance, data protection
Food ↔ Hospitality — restaurants, hotels, guest experiences
Automotive ↔ Manufacturing — production, supply chains, automation
Parenting ↔ Lifestyle — family routines, products, activities, home life
Sports ↔ Health — performance, injury prevention, recovery, fitness
Education ↔ HR — professional development, employee training, L&D
Real Estate ↔ Home & Garden — renovations, homeownership, property value
Travel ↔ Finance — travel rewards, credit cards, budgeting, insurance
Legal ↔ Business — contracts, employment, startups, compliance
Healthcare ↔ HR — employee wellness, workplace benefits, mental health programs

This applies to services you offer. I’m a blog writer but I can also write landing pages or case studies.

But be careful NOT to be a jack of all trades. A lot of writing jobs are posting that writers have to do a million things and act like 5 people.

You don’t have to manage influencers or a company’s SEO strategy. You don’t have to learn design or be responsible for fact checking everything.

That is the role of a content marketer and that is not you.

What Do You Want Clients to Find You For?

Remember to ask yourself what you want clients to find you for on LinkedIn.

I change up my title all the time to see which combination of words work.

But by also changing up the wording under each experience, I also found other ways for clients to find me.

For a while I wanted to work with video marketing companies so I hyped up my two YT channels and courses with video lessons. I pitched my services as videos just to dial into those types of companies.

So once you pick your angle, go all in!

I hope you found this helpful! Tell me in the comments if you’re on LinkedIn as a writer. If you have any questions I can help you or write a newsletter about it!

About Being a Paid Subscriber

Subscribe now

Once you become a paid subscriber, you’ll get your first eBook and have many more perks:

Dedicated podcast The Million Dollar Chapter where I share my best secrets to help you thrive and build
Special codes for deals off my digital products
Videos showing you how to create the things I have created so you can make money
The best writing tips so you can get PAID to write
Q/A sessions. Ask me anything!

It’s time to treat yourself and your business!

The 6 Platforms I Post on the Most (And that Make the MOST Money)

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 22:15:42 GMT

When I first started freelancing and being a content creator I focussed on one main platform.

At the time it was X but it soon moved over to Pinterest.

Because I have two distinct businesses: freelance writing and blogging as a content creator, it feels – to others following me – that I’m everywhere all the time.

But I’m not.

I mean, I am on more than six platforms but I’m not active on all of them. I’m only active on the ones that I know generate me income…money…sales….OR…I’m trying to grow.

These are the platforms that have helped me grow a community of freelancers or content creators.

Since I’ve been out of the workforce for 12 years all I KNOW is what I’m doing online…and that’s sharing and building.

So, let’s focus on where I’m sharing and why I’m not sharing on other platforms.

1. Pinterest

I’ve had a Pinterest account since around 2016.

I specifically used it to market my Twins Mommy blog. Currently my Pinterest account has 61.5k followers and 2.3 million monthly views.

It’s crazy I know, but I’ve been at it for a while. When I first started growing Pinterest, I focussed on what was popular back in the day:

Create pins ONLY for your most trafficked posts
Join as many group boards as possible
Keep repinning old pins

And…that strategy worked like gangbusters.

I grew my following and started making money with affiliate marketing and selling my digital products.

But then Pinterest changed and over the last few years, the Pinterest algorithm has updated so much that my strategy had to change.

So, what is working in 2026 for Pinterest?

Use a Pinterest SEO Keyword Tool

You can get away with using Pinterest trends for free but realize that the majority of creators are using that tool too.

What’s better is to use a specific Pinterest keyword tool. I use Pinclicks.

I’ve been using this tool for two years now and it has helped me make thousands a month with my blog.

How does it work?

I find a keyword I can use
I write the post (or use help with ChatGPT)
I create the pins (I create more than one)
I create the Pinterest boards (if I don’t have a board, I create a new one)
I pin all the pins I made (up to 5 at a time)

Use a Pinterest Scheduling Tool

I use PinGenerator to schedule my pins. This is the next step I use so that I’m not glued the Pinterest 24/7.

One thing new Pinners worry about is whether or not they can ONLY pin THEIR content or if they have to pin 3rd party content.

The only time I pin 3rd party content is when I’m creating a new board and I don’t do that every day, so it’s safe to say that you can generally ONLY pin YOUR content.

With PinGenerator, you can easily upload the images you have in your post and create pins that get clicked.

Here’s a Pin’s analytics for the pin I created in PinGenerator.

As you can see, Pin design – at least in my niche – doesn’t have to be complicated.

A beautiful image with a text box is more than enough to get clicks back to your shop or website or even Substack.

If you need more help in scaling this process so you can make $5,0000/month or more with just a blog, then check out my Pin & Win course.

Here are the other platforms I’m using to help me make even more money

2. LinkedIn

For 2026 I’ve been leaning into using LinkedIn more consistently.

I mean, every single day (except weekends).

This was hard because I do this to myself. I say to myself I will post every day on LinkedIn and connect with the right people but…I stop…I forget….life just gets in the way.

I couldn’t create a habit and so I would stop and start multiple times a year.

Until 2026 happened. This is when I was intentional and….it stuck.

I was able to grow my LinkedIn to 10,000 followers and 127,000 impressions.

This also helped me land several clients and one BIG SaaS brand client (equaling over $6k/month for freelance income).

So, what changed? How did I go from not posting consistently to creating 145 LinkedIn posts?

I Pre-Scheduled My LinkedIn Posts

I’m happy that I can pre-schedule my LinkedIn posts weeks ahead.

To fill my schedule I will:

Repurpose emails, blog posts or Youtube videos (not often but I will)
Share my writing process or what I do for client work (research, inteview, negotiate)
Find inspo by reading other people’s posts and doing my verison or my take on it
Sharing trending ideas like the AI slop button that was recently announced on LinkedIn.

Use Hashtags to Reach More People

I don’t normally use hashtags and I haven’t for years but for this stint, I decided to give it a try.

I don’t know if it’s actually working but I use hashtags that relate to what I’m writing about.

The most common ones are:

Freelancers
freelance writer
content writer
copywriter
work at home
content strategy

Let me know if you use hashtags and if you’ve noticed a difference.

Pitched to Jobs I Saw Posted

Another thing I NEVER did was pitch to jobs I see in my feed.

I always say to myself, “I won’t get the gig because hundreds of people already commented on the job.”

But, because I was on the platform morning and throughout the day, I would see a job posted with no engagment.

This meant it was just posted so I would apply and that helped me land some easy writing gigs.

Changed Up My Profile

One thing I did was change my LinkedIn banner, my photo, my title and the titles I used under Experience.

I wanted to optimize my profile with better keywords.

I also wanted to showcase my new services: AI citation writing and LinkedIn executive writing.

Overall, I think this just gave my profile a breath of fresh air and improved my analytics (i.e. people were finding my profile).

3. Youtube

I have two Youtube channels:

I will say that I don’t make much money with Ads on these two channels. At the most it’s around $100/month.

But, I do make money in other ways.

Not only do I market my digital products but I also do affiliate marketing. I will share the tools or services I’m using and that will help me make more money.

Typically in any given month I can make anywhere between $500-$1,000/mth.

For both of my channels, I don’t upload consistently and I suspect when I do, I will make more Ad income and more sales.

Until then, I’m not prioritizing these platforms right now.

4. Substack

This is my newest platform. I currently have over 100 subscribers and excited to see where this goes for my business.

I do have payment on but no paid subs right now. That’s okay, I’m sure I have to provide more value for readers to see if I’m legit and worthy enough.

I was hoping to grow faster but I think doing it this way has taught me that posting less does work.

I had to find the rigiht cadence to Substack. At first I was balls to the walls and wrote articles almost every day and posted a note every two hours M-M.

But as soon as I slowed down by posting Notes less and publishing articles less, my account grew.

So now I’m more excited about growing my community than generating income.

I’m sure that piece will come eventually!

5. Email

My email lists has accounted for most the money I have made (over 1 million dollars).

Both emails have a converting email funnel for my digital products. My freelance one is a 39 day funnel and converts the MOST.

For my Elna site, I have a free 6 day email course that starts the funnel.

I have over 20,000 subscribers and currently almost 400 are going through my free email course.

Once they are finished they are put into my continuation funnel that’s 39 days long.

In this funnel I give subscribers a sneak peak of a lesson in the main course I’m marketing and nudges to buy.

This is my bread and butter as an online business owner and is what has helped me for all these years.

If you don’t have an email list, go sign up ! You can use Kit, Mailer Lite of MailChimp to start.

This is different than Substack as this is more traditional and you can create op-tins to get people to sign up to your newsletter.

And if you need an email funnel for your services or products, then hire me!

6. My Blog

And the platform that started it all? My blog/s.

The first one, in 2014, was my freelance blog, Elna Cain.

This little blog grew a thriving community and I received hundreds of blog comments on both my freelance and mom blog.

Here’s a post I wrote in 2017 (but it’s since been updated)

But as the years went by more and more people were commenting on social posts and NOT on blogs.

So what I did instead was create more blogs and used ad platforms to make money.

As I mentioned before, all my blogs had made me over 24,000 in the first six months of this year.

So my blog/s are very profitable. If you need help growing your blog try these tactics:

Use ChatGPT/Claude

Look –

I know I’m a freelance writer and I make money with MY words, not AI’s words. But for my blogs, it’s much easier to pump out blog posts about food, beauty, parenting, DIY, decor, and crafts.

I find the right keyword via Pinclicks and write a Pinterest friendly blog post to market it on Pinterest.

(again my Pin & Win course helps with all of this).

Ignore a Posting Schedule

In the beginning I tried to schedule all my blogs.

Monday: write a Twins Mommy blog
Tuesday: write an Elna Cain blog
Wednesday: focus on client work
Thursday: focus on client work
Friday: write a (niche website) blog
Saturday: write a (niche website) blog
Sunday: write a (niche website) blog or Substack or do a YT video

But, over time, everything got muddled and I just told myself, focus on what you want to focus on.

Some days it’s only about freelance writing.

Other days it’s only about Substack.

And the weekends are more for my niche websites since those are passion projects (as is my Substack).

Stopped SEO’ing the Blog

Another thing I stopped focussing on was SEO. My blogs used to get globs of SEO traffic but after the big EEAT and the AI overview, it lost about 40% of the traffic.

That is why I’m putting all my eggs into Pinterest marketing and it’s working.

Last summer one of my niche websites reached 200,000 pageviews.

So, I know I can get much more traffic from Pinterest than from Google.

Posting on Platforms to Make Money is Real

I hope this inspired you to try one or several of these platforms.

I know they work and have been working for me for over a decade.

As a paid subscriber, feel free to chat with me privately and ask questions if you need help with any of these platforms.

I’m here for you.

About Being a Paid Subscriber

Subscribe now

Once you become a paid subscriber, you’ll get your first eBook and have many more perks:

Dedicated podcast The Million Dollar Chapter where I share my best secrets to help you thrive and build
Special codes for deals off my digital products
Videos showing you how to create the things I have created so you can make money
Q/A sessions. Ask me anything!

It’s time to treat yourself and your business!

Grow Your Substack By Posting Much Less

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 13:46:31 GMT

I started on Substack in June 2026 so it’s only been about 1 month and a bit since I started on Substack and I’m almost at 100 subscribers.

That’s a far cry of what I thought I could gain in 1 month.

I mean 100 is pretty sweet and I’m actually excited about the recent growth I’m getting.

Why? Because I’m barely posting. During this time, I posted on 1 article and my notes? Well that’s what this article is about so I won’t spoil it right now.

But, I also decreased my posting A LOT…A LOT…A LOT.

My Substack Growth Suddenly Exploded

As you can see from the graph, I’ve been consistently growing all through the month until around July 19.

Up until then, my growth grew by one subscriber almost every day.

But starting on July 19 I went from 69 subscribers to 78. Then I jumped to 86 until what it is now, sitting on 93.

What Changed?

When I started on Substack I read as much as I could about the platform and how to use it.

How often do I post an article? How often do I post in Notes?

I saw some creators write an article every day. This was very ambitious but it seems to work in gaining subscribers.

I saw other creators focus on notes and to write notes like every hour or at least, every day.

So, when I started I wrote an article every day for a bit (life got too crazy with teen twins) and I started writing notes as often as I could.

Once I figured that you could schedule Notes, I then scheduled Notes to go off every two hours.

I did this for weeks and for weeks my subscribers grew..slowly…but grew.

During this time, I published less articles and focussed on publishing more Notes.

But, then something changed. Really, it was a mistake I stumbled upon.

The Mistake That Grew My Substack Subscribers

For a few weeks in July I was pretty busy with my children’s sports. One had tennis on one side of town and the other wanted to go mountain bike riding with a friend, and I had hair and dentist appointments…and well the city decided to come and tear up our sidewalk to replace it…so I was distracted but thought…

At least I didn’t have to worry about Substack because I scheduled my notes.

Four or five days passed and I decided to check my Substack notes and realized I had nothing scheduled.

It was days and days since I last posted (every two hours).

So I scheduled everything again (every two hours).

A day goes by and I realize that my subscriber count was going up.. a lot.

That’s When It Changed

I read a few more articles about Notes and decided I would drop to three notes a day.

That’s it.

And then I throw in a, “and I’ll publish an article every four days.”

So now that’s my new Substack schedule.

3 Notes a Day (9 am, 3pm, 6-8 pm)
Every four days, publish 1 article

Will I continue to grow? I hope so.

I also unlocked paid and worked on my paid content and tiers, and changed up my theme. I also worked on my About page and welcome email and even created an eBook for my paid subscribers.

So, not sure if THAT also contributed to more growth.

Either way, I’m almost two months in and I’m excited for what the next two months will bring.

I hope this helps with your Substack growth!

About Being a Paid Subscriber

Subscribe now

Once you become a paid subscriber, you’ll get your first eBook and have many more perks:

Dedicated podcast The Million Dollar Chapter where I share my best secrets to help you thrive and build
Special codes for deals off my digital products
Videos showing you how to create the things I have created so you can make money
Q/A sessions. Ask me anything!

It’s time to treat yourself and your business!

My 90 Minute Pitching Process to Land Client Work

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 17:00:34 GMT

One of the hardest things new freelance writers struggle with is finding clients that will pay good money.

We’re not talking Upwork types of bottom-of-the-barrel rates. We’re not talking Fiverr rates also.

No. not on my watch.

What I’m talking about are the low paying gigs you might see on a job board or on LinkedIn. These gigs don’t value writers and it reflects the rates they pay them.

The jobs I teach in my program Writeto1k lays out the foundational elements you need to look attractive and have the credibility you need even if you’re brand new.

So, if you’re a writer here on Substack and stuck at trying to make money with your writing and want to pick up some clients, I’ll share with you my 90-minute pitching process workflow for you.

See –

I’m in Canada and I’m not really suppose to send dozens and dozens of cold pitches to businesses. This means sending an unsolicited email to them.

So, I’ve relied on inbound marketing to land clients and it has worked successfully for over a decade (hence my Writo1k program).

But I have done a couple of cold pitch stints and they’ve been fruitful. I’ve either landed clients right then and there or they came back a month or quarter later for a writing role.

It’s 2026 and the writing industry looks a tad different from 2018 or 2020.

So I want to be authentic and not be one of those course creators that have courses but they don’t do the work anymore.

Like a photographer has a learn photography course and because they make more money selling courses, they stopped being a photographer.

That’s not me. I love writing for clients and I want to keep writing for clients even if I’m also a content creator and sell digital products.

So, starting in August I’m going to pitch 100 businesses in 2 weeks….

That means if I can snag 3-5 clients I can feasibly make $5k a month.

I’m going to pitch either my:

LinkedIn executive content
DTC email copywriting
AI citation blog content with SME

For these businesses I’m not going to worry if they are a start up or not. I’m going to use Google and LinkedIn mostly and may have to dip into job boards or newsletters to fulfill my queue.

I’m also going to try two new tactics that I’ve been learning about from other content creators. One will be how I find clients and the other will be how I pitch my services.

At the end I will post the results here on Substack.

See what the 90-minute pitching workflow is, weekly updates and the results.

My 90 Minute Pitching Process

Goal: Send 10 highly personalized pitches everyday (100 pitches in 2 weeks (10 days))

Step 1: Find 10 Companies (25 minutes)

☐ Search Google for companies in your niche or surrounding niche, use ChatGPT or Claude, use LinkedIn, job newsletters

☐ Save 10 potential clients

☐ Skip obvious poor fits

Step 2: Quick Qualification (10 minutes)

Tactic 1:

Look for companies that already rank on Google but have weak or outdated blog sections.

Find a niche keyword on Google
Open the top-ranking websites
Identify content gaps in their blog
Send a personalized pitch with one specific content idea

Tactic 2:

Look for companies that are actively investing in content.

Look to see if the company has:

☐ Active blog

☐ Resource center

☐ Newsletter

☐ LinkedIn activity

☐ Recent product launches

☐ Marketing team

At this point you may not keep all the 10 companies you researched. That’s okay. Over time you can add more to sourcing.

Step 4: Find the Decision Maker (10 minutes)

☐ Marketing Director

☐ Content Manager

☐ Head of Marketing

☐ Founder (small companies)

Find their email and LinkedIn profile.

Step 5: Write 5 Personalized Emails (40–50 minutes)

This should be the longest step. Aim for 8–10 minutes per email. Work on making each pitch unique and personalized. Read on to learn how to structure your email subject line.

For each company:

☐ Read their About page

☐ Read one recent blog post

☐ Check LinkedIn or recent company news

☐ Mention something specific you noticed (make your email subject line something new the business did or you noticed ex: 10 years of events by (company, when you noticed they are celebrating their 10 years in business)

☐ Reference one content opportunity

☐ Explain how your experience relates to that company

☐ Include a few relevant writing samples (up to 4). Focus on samples that aren’t list-based or that feature SME quotes or case studies.

☐ End with a simple, low-pressure call to action

Form each pitch like this:

Use my PACT pitch method:

Praise (or Personalize)
Acknowledge the opportunity/problem
Credibility by giving proof
Talk (continue the conversation)

Here’s a breakdown of each component:

Praise. Give compliments or context of why you’re emailing. This shows you’ve done your research. ( I like how you structured your About page or content for AI citation)
Acknowledge. State the problem and don’t criticize them (noticed you haven’t updated your blog/LinkedIn profile in 6 months). Instead state it as an observation. I was going through your blog and noticed you haven’t updated them in a while. I noticed that your last post was published in march last year and I was wondering if you’re overwhelmed….
Credibility by giving proof. Your credibility. Ex: I’m’ always reading blog posts and following content marketers on LinkedIn because i write b2b SaaS blog posts and LinkedIn posts. It was during one of these researches that I stumbled across your website. Then state how long (I’ve been doing this for x years OR state competitor. I did the same thing for this company a few years ago and this is what happened).
Talk by continuing the conversation. End with a question, “I’m curious, Do you usually work with freelancers? “Are you thinking about expanding your blog cadence?” “Are you working on formatting your blog for AI citation?”

As I mentioned, I will start this in August and I will post updates when I can here in Substack for my paid members!

Let me know if you’re excited for this!

About Being a Paid Subscriber

Subscribe now

Once you become a paid subscriber, you’ll get your first eBook and have many more perks:

Dedicated podcast The Million Dollar Chapter where I share my best secrets to help you thrive and build
Special codes for deals off my digital products
Videos showing you how to create the things I have created so you can make money
Q/A sessions. Ask me anything!

It’s time to treat yourself and your business!

How My Blogs Generated $24,825.30 in Six Months While Everyone Said Blogging Was Dead

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 01:57:45 GMT

For the last six months, my blogs generated $24,825.30 in ad revenue, and before anyone asks, that number has absolutely nothing to do with affiliate income, digital products, YouTube revenue, or anything else happening in my business right now. This is simply what ad platforms paid me for the traffic my blogs generated during the first half of 2026.

And honestly, that’s exactly why I wanted to share these numbers with you AND give you a full breakdown on where this income comes from.

Because over here on Substack we’re all talking about building audiences and creating sustainable businesses around our writing, and I genuinely think blogging deserves to be part of that conversation far more than it currently is.

The beautiful thing about pairing a blog with a Substack is that the two businesses solve completely different problems for creators.

Your Substack helps you build relationships, conversations, and trust with the people who have actively chosen to invite you into their inbox every week.

Your blog, on the other hand, quietly works behind the scenes introducing brand new readers to your world while you’re making dinner, driving your kids to activities, taking a weekend off, or sitting outside with your laptop and a cup of coffee pretending you’re not actually working.

It’s pretty satisfying waking up on the first of every month and seeing income arrive from articles you wrote six months ago or even two years ago, because it reminds you that your words can continue creating value long after you’ve moved on to your next project.

That doesn’t mean blogging is passive.

I don’t think blogging has ever really been passive.

But there is a huge difference between constantly trading your time for money and building digital assets that continue working for you after you’ve finished the work.

That’s one of the reasons I still believe blogging remains one of the best side hustles a Substack writer can build alongside their newsletter, especially if they’re looking for another way to diversify their income without having to chase sponsorships, brand deals, or clients.

What became really interesting as I reviewed these numbers wasn’t necessarily the grand total at the bottom of the spreadsheet, but the patterns hidden inside each site and the lessons they were trying to teach me about what content is still working in 2026 and where I probably need to spend more of my time moving forward.

By the time I finished digging through the spreadsheets, I realized this wasn’t really an income report anymore.

It felt more like a postmortem, a strategy session, and a content roadmap all rolled into one. Because hidden inside those numbers were answers to questions I’ve been asking myself all year.

What content is still working in 2026?
What niches are proving more resilient than others?
How much should we really worry about Pinterest changes?

And perhaps the biggest question of all: where should solo creators actually be spending their time if they want their blogs to survive the next wave of changes?

The $9,098 Site Income Breakdown

My first niche site was started back in 2021 and, looking back, it was probably the first time I stepped outside of my comfort zone as a creator.

At the time I already had Twins Mommy and my freelance writing site, but I kept hearing SEO creators talking about affiliate sites making tens of thousands of dollars every month and I wanted to understand whether that model actually worked.

So I built one because I was curious to see if it would work for me.

Over the first six months of 2026, that site generated $9,098.82 in ad revenue.

One thing I was suprised was how dramatically RPMs shifted depending on the season.

Spring and summer outperformed what I expected.

This means that certain content categories are significantly more valuable and something to pay attention to when blogging.

And that changed how I’m thinking about content planning for next year.

Because if advertisers are paying more during certain seasons, I want my content ranking before those months arrive rather than trying to catch up once they’re already here.

The Blog That Spent Months Going Nowhere — Until It Didn't

My second niche site launched in 2024 and currently runs on Journey by Mediavine, and it’s taking a bit of time to really take off, which is normal for newerish sites.

January came in at under $300 in ad revenue, and if you’ve ever built a website from scratch, you know those kinds of numbers can play games with your mind a little bit. You spend hours researching keywords, writing content, creating images, publishing posts, and then you log into your dashboard only to see numbers that don’t exactly scream, “Keep going, this is definitely working.”

There wasn’t anything particularly exciting about those early months. There was no viral post or huge Pinterest spike.

Instead, what happened was something much quieter and much less exciting. The site simply kept doing what blogs often do when we give them enough time.

Traffic slowly improved and the RPMs gradually improved.

And before I really noticed what was happening, monthly revenue had quietly crossed the thousand-dollar mark.

By the end of the first six months of 2026, the site had generated $3,870.34 in ad revenue.

Now, for experienced bloggers, that number probably doesn’t sound particularly remarkable.

But for newer creators, know that most blogs don’t grow immediately and it does take time to see your efforts pay off.

Most blogs grow so slowly in the beginning that it’s incredibly easy to convince yourself nothing is happening at all.

This niche website also has higher RPMS in spring and early summer so it’s something to note for future content.

This Site Got Hit By Pinterest — Here’s What I'm Doing About It

This particular site originally started out on Journey by Mediavine before eventually making the move over to Ezoic as a way to diversify my income streams.

Over the first six months of 2026 it generated $2,528 in ad revenue, which isn’t the greatest but that’s because Pinterest didn’t like this site.

Revenue had dropped quite a bit compared to where it had previously been, and unfortunately traffic had followed the exact same pattern.

Part of that was due to Pinterest updates, because this particular site seemed to get hit harder than some of my others when the platform started making changes to how content was being surfaced and distributed to users.

During that same period, I stopped scheduling Pins with the same consistency that had helped grow the site in the first place, because life became busy and other projects demanded more of my attention.

And because of those changes, Pinterest sort of dropped this site and it will take a long time to recover. I don’t think my pins are surfacing much or at all. I don’t think I’m blocked or Pinterest things I’m spam and isn’t showing my pins to no one, I just think it’s showing my pins to very few people.

Here’s my current traffic for this site.

So you see, it IS getting views, but compare that to before Pinterest decided not to show my pins to many people. Here’s a 90 day view.

So, to resurrect this site I will:

Post less frequently and rely on Pin Generator to pin for months to come (until I figure this out)
Post some “how to” posts instead of relying on listicles
Look at my analytics and focus on core topics for now so instead of trying to gain viral traffic I’ll just go what my audience already enjoys

Twins Mommy Blog Income Breakdown

My Twins Mommy blog is one of my oldest public blog and continues to generate ad income with Mediavine.

The site generated $9,328.14 over the first six months of the year.

What surprised me most wasn’t the total, it was January and February.

For whatever reason, I had convinced myself those weren’t particularly important months for my audience. The analytics completely disagreed with me.

Making practially double the income as all the rest of the months was interesting for sure. I thought maybe home decor blogs would do well in Jan and Feb but not Twins Mommy. I share more work from home and crafts to make money with ideas.

But now that I know this, I can work in December to create Jan/Feb content for my audience.

What About My Other Sites?

I have two more niche websites that haven’t gotten into an ad platform yet and that I’m still growing.

Here is traffic for the first site:

Here’s traffic for the other site:

Because these sites aren’t making money I really don’t have the bandwidth to create content for them but I know I have to.

It looks like the second site has some potential with some spikes there and a bit more traffic so I will probably just create fall and winter content right now so at least it will be up and I don’t have to worry about it.

As a paid subscriber I will post the next 6 months income breakdown for my blogs so be on the lookout for that come December for Jan 2027!

Your Next Read:

About the Author:

About Being a Paid Subscriber

Subscribe now

Once you become a paid subscriber, you’ll get your first eBook and have many more perks:

Dedicated podcast The Million Dollar Chapter where I share my best secrets to help you thrive and build
Special codes for deals off my digital products
Videos showing you how to create the things I have created so you can make money
Q/A sessions. Ask me anything!

It’s time to treat yourself and your business!

eBooks for Paid Subscribers - Welcome eBook For You

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 02:32:36 GMT

Hi!

To welcome you to The Next Chapter Club, I will drop a new eBook for creators and freelancers every month.

But for now, I have a welcome one about AEO/GEO for freelance writers. As a content creator you can read it as it’s informational about AI citations and how to get cited by AI.

New eBook for Paid Subscribers

After your welcome eBook, check out this post for more free eBooks for you!

The next one is your Pinterest Starter Kit. It will help you ramp up your traffic and make more money with all these actionable up-to-date tactics.

Here’s Another New eBook for Paid Subscribers

If you are a content creator and interested in monetizing your audience, here’s my eBook full of the right ladder path to scale your digital products. It will show you how to start your digital products offers and what to sell at different offers.

I Gained 127,000 LinkedIn Impressions and 10,000 Followers. Here's What Actually Worked

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Sun, 19 Jul 2026 14:00:17 GMT

Right now I’m sitting on 127,000 impressions and crossed over the 10,000 follower milestone on LinkedIn.

And I did this in a matter of weeks, which is highly surprising since I have a love hate relationship with LinkedIn.

Many times a year I would go on stints where I will challenge myself to write a post every day and be engaged on the platform….so I can grow my brand and followers.

Monday would start and boy oh boy, I had a post up and scheduled.

Then I would schedule another one. I would spend Monday morning just filling my schedule for a good two weeks.

I wold post and get comments and I would like the comments and sometimes I would respond, but over time, I got distracted, or busy with life. Laundry calls, my son’s hungry AGAIN and oh man, we ran out of milk and now I have to go grab some for the morning.

Yes, that’s my life with two teen TWINS.

So, by week three, I would forget to schedule posts, and I wouldn’t even go on the feed to check other people’s posts to comment.

Five months would go by and I would try all over again. Maybe you connect with this and maybe YOU have done this also.

The most I would get is a few dozen new followers and my impressions would hover around 20,000.

So, when I tried again for the umpteenth time, I was shocked that I have these numbers.

What changed? Why did this iteration work and none of the other iterations had legs?

When breaking this down, I developed a 5-step process to grow on LinkedIn in less than a month.

So, if you’re struggling to grow on LinkedIn, follow this five-step LinkedIn growth plan below!

1. Like Posts

Sounds easy right?

Well, this is something I rarely did and when I did Like posts, I would do it haphazardly, without conscience or reverence. A Like here, a Like over there.

That is until I noticed that in my LinkedIn feed I was getting posts of people I followed. They liked a post so then that post went in my feed.

And a light bulb went off. Maybe if I like more, then I would be in people’s mind so that when I do post they will see it more often.

So, I began liking a ton of posts, but mostly job ads. I would Like any freelance writer job post and while this was happening I would also share on Facebook or X that I’ve been seeing a lot of jobs and if you want to see them to just follow me.

I’m not sure if that worked because I didn’t see much growth in the beginning.

It wasn’t until I started doing the second thing that things slowly started to build.

2. Write a Post Every Day M-F

Since LinkedIn is a business platform, you can get away with writing daily M-F.

What’s nice is that you can schedule your posts on LinkedIn. I’m not sure how far in advance but I’m sitting on around 2.5 weeks out.

So, how do you fill up your schedule? What do you post?

For me, it’s a lot of things I’m noticing and sharing handy resources. I will also use what is already working.

Since I’m liking a lot of posts, I’m reading a lot of posts and seeing the amount of Likes and comments. When I see one that interests me, I will write my own take.

I will also look at my own daily posts and if I see one that has higher engagement than previous, I will write a similar post. For example, my LinkedIn post on job boards was a big hit. I followed that up with a list of newsletters to find writing jobs and that did well too.

Do I use AI? If I do I just use it to paraphrase something I already have in a newsletter or on a Youtube video.

Otherwise, it’s just my writing. If you need help with some LinkedIn post ideas, grab my handy guide with 60 prompt ideas to help you figure out what to post.

LinkedIn post Ideas

And as before, I have no problem filling up a schedule. The problem comes when I have to keep ADDING TO IT.

Fortunately, because I’m on Substack, I now have a content day to fill up my queue on Substack notes and LinkedIn posts.

3. Reply to Comments

This is a no-brainer for any content creator, but for me, life gets in the way, and I am on more than one platform, so comments are a low priority…BEFORE..

Now? I make sure to answer them every time I go on LinkedIn. My Notification is always alerting me and I just take a few minutes to comment.

When you start publishing daily, you will start getting people to comment and the more comments are on a post, LinkedIn will share it to a wider and wider audience, so keep the engagement high on our posts.

4. Comment On Other People’s Posts

Go to your LinkedIn feed and scan all the posts until you see one that interests you. Go ahead and drop a thoughtful comment.

The point is to add a perspective or thought that gets noticed by the author and others. When this happens, they might follow you.

How often do you do this? For me it’s very organic. After I respond to comments I then go to my feed and comment on 1-2 posts I see. I’m really there to find freelance writing job ads, but if I find a post that interests me, I will comment.

5. Write a LinkedIn Article Once a Month

LinkedIn has a publishing platform where you can publish long-form articles and you can even start a newsletter.

I haven’t looked into starting a newsletter since I already have a Substack and two email lists for my blogs, but it looks like it would be a good thing to have for brand building.

Similar to Substck, you can write out an article and when you publish it, LinkedIn will share it in your feed.

What does this do? Well, for me I’m writing articles once a month for AI search visibility.

Google AI sites from LinkedIn and since my blog and Youtube channel is already been cited by AI search, I wanted to see if my LinkedIn articles will.

AI search only cites people (not companies) and long-form content, not short posts.

So, that’s why I’m writing a long-form article once a month

And my most recent LinkedIn article was cited in Google.

But writing articles on LinkedIn just helps grow your brand. You can repurpose newsletters and Substack articles if you want but if you want to get Google to surface your LinkedIn content, it should be original.

And once you do all these five steps guess what happens?

More people will Like and comment on your posts. Yup. Instead of 15 comments you will get 75 comments.

And then…out of nowhere you will start to get reposts. I’ve never had a repost before and now two of my posts have been reposted dozens of times.

For me, that’s pretty cool because those people are sharing it to their audience and maybe, just maybe, those people will follow me and read my posts and articles, growing my brand.

Once You Have New Followers and Your Impressions Are Up

Congrats! Your follower count is growing and you’re noticing more impressions on your content.

My LinkedIn results in less than a month

Now what? As more an more people view your profile and follow you, you might want to audit your LinkedIn profile to see if it fits your brand or if you can do something more or add something new.

For me, I recently started on Substack so I wanted to feature that but my featured content on my LinkedIn profile has mostly client posts.

While I want my LinkedIn profile to help me gain writing clients, I also wanted to show my content creator business too.

So, I removed the articles and added my digital shop and my Substack newsletter alongside my writing services page.

My feature section on my LinkedIn profile...

So prospects can look at me as a subject matter expert or LinkedIn writer and hire me based on that.

Another thing I did was change my LinkedIn banner copy and added a color to make my banner pop (because prior it was only white).

I’m not sure if purple is what I want but since I’m wearing a yellow hoodie I can’t use yellow (which is the color I want).

Remember This One Thing

Now that you have your LinkedIn profile working for you, be sure to keep at it.

Try to visit your LinkedIn profile once a day or more. Because I have a Substack, I’m checking both Substack and LinkedIn when I’m my laptop. They go together in my brain.

So maybe pair your LinkedIn with Substack or your blog or something else that needs frequent checking.

I hope you found this helpful. If you’re on LinkedIn, share your profile in the comments so we can all follow each other (of course, if it makes sense).

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About the Author:

Hey! I’m Elna, the midlife mom of TEEN twins and a decade old freelance writer. I’m the woman behind The Next Chapter. This is the place were I reflect, create and learn from all of YOU! I’ve met soo many wonderful people here. If you find my articles enjoyable and it resonates with you come join the Next Chapter club!

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If You're Writing on Substack for Free, There May Be a Much Faster Way to Get Paid

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 21:00:58 GMT

If you’re on Substack writing every week and you still aren’t making money from your writing, there may be a much easier and faster way to get paid.

And you don’t need 10,000 subscribers or wait until your paid newsletter takes off.

You could feasibly start getting paid for your writing this month.

Because while many Substack writers are trying to figure out sponsorships, affiliate marketing, paid subscriptions, and audience growth, thousands of companies are actively looking for people who can already do what you’re doing.

What is that you ask?

It’s writing clearly when you explain ideas or share stories. It’s when you keep your reader’s attention because everything you write makes complicated things look simple. If that’s you then you’re NEEDED.

Companies are seeking writers who can do that for them.

There are probably more writing opportunities available today than when I started freelance writing back in 2014.

Here are only a few jobs I saw recently for writers.

See –

The writing you do on Substack is making you a better storyteller and companies now realize it’s that thing that’s been missing all along. They were using AI for the past two years and realized AI just wasn’t cutting it and are now backtracking.

And once you understand how companies hire writers in 2026, getting your first paid writing job can happen much faster than most people think.

Every week I see newsletters filled with opportunities for content writers, email writers, case study writers, LinkedIn ghostwriters, SaaS writers, thought leadership writers, and copywriters.

Some weeks there are literally thousands of open writing roles across job boards, agencies, startups, and brands looking for help creating content.

So, if you want to get your first client or grow as a freelance writer, let me know you how in this article.

The Difference Between a $50 Article and a $500 Article

In the world of freelance writing you will see job ads that pay very little and ones that pay A LOT A LOT A LOT.

Why is that?

Why are there $50 article jobs and $500 or $1,000 writing jobs?

When I first started freelance writing, I genuinely thought the difference came down to word count.

Surely the longer the article, the higher the pay.

That seemed logical enough.

But after twelve years of doing this work, I can tell you that clients are almost never paying for words.

They’re paying for the thinking behind the words.

The lower-paying jobs are often looking for content that anyone could put together after a quick Google search and a handful of ChatGPT prompts.

The higher-paying opportunities are asking for something completely different.

They want someone who can pull together statistics and studies that support an argument. But they also want examples that make your claim easier to understand. And it’s always good to throw in some expert opinions and industry insights into your article.

Many companies will pay top dollar when you weave in customer stories (using THEIR language), screenshots of what you are talking about and any observations that make the content original and trustworthy.

In many ways, what they’re really paying for are journalism skills.

When I first learned this I was a bit anxious and scared.

I don’t have a journalism degree, I have a BA in Psychology. I’ve never written a news story before, so how could I make good money freelance writing?

Well, you don’t need to be a full-fledged journalist to write like one. All you need is one simple hack.

It’s called the inverted pyramid.

Most new writers don’t write like this. How do I know that? Because I never wrote like that. I’m only using this NOW and learning how to adopt it into my client pieces!

Here’s how new writers write an article (and maybe you write on Substack):

You start with the background information about your topic. This might be stats, facts or a story to set up your topic of the day.
You then add some context. This might be why this topic is important to know or why you must learn it now.
Then you explain the set up or the things they need.
Finally, you get on with the point of the article

Sometimes the most interesting idea in the entire article doesn’t show up until halfway through the piece.

Journalists do the exact opposite.

They start with the most critical information first. This is called the lede.

Then they spend the rest of the article supporting that idea with examples, evidence, stories, and context.

The same approach works incredibly well for blog posts, newsletters, LinkedIn articles, and honestly almost every type of content writing.

For example, instead of opening with something like:

"Many business owners struggle with consistency on LinkedIn because they often don't know what to post or where to begin..."

You could simply say:

"Most CEOs don't have a content problem. They have a time problem."

Immediately your reader understands the point you’re making and where you’re going to take them in the article.

More importantly, they’re curious enough to keep reading.

I’ve found that this one shift alone can make someone’s writing feel instantly more confident, more authoritative, and frankly more professional.

It also happens to align perfectly with the way people read online now.

Journalists have been doing this for decades, and in an internet full of endless filler and AI-generated content, it might be one of the easiest ways to immediately improve your writing and start sounding like the kind of writer companies are willing to pay more for.

The Copywriting Technique That Can Help You Charge More for Your Writing

So now you know what high-paying clients are seeking from a writer. But, there’s more to it than just adding some journalism to your writing.

It’s best to also incorporate some copywriting techniques – like social listening – to ensure you’ll ALWAYS get paid more for your writing.

Instead of trying to guess how your audience (or your client’s audience) thinks or what words they use to describe their problems, you go directly to the places where those conversations are already happening.

That might mean scrolling through Instagram comments, watching TikTok videos, reading Reddit threads, digging through Youtube comments and through any social media platform.

For more eCommerce writing, you might spend time looking at product reviews on Amazon. People tell you everything when they’re talking to each other online.

As writers, that’s incredibly valuable information.

If I’m writing for women in their thirties, I’m probably spending some time on Instagram seeing how they’re talking about work, motherhood, burnout, or whatever topic I’m covering.

From this post and comments, I can pull out phrases and words to use in my article like:

power through
fill my cup
what' it’s like to feel exhausted

If I’m writing for creators, I’m reading creator newsletters and LinkedIn posts and paying attention to the conversations that keep surfacing.

From Millie’s posts I can gain insights into what she’s talking about and use her for quotes and subject matter expertise.

When I was recently applying for an email copywriting opportunity for a yoga apparel company, I spent time looking on Instagram at how women talked about their workout clothes and what actually mattered to them. Were they talking about comfort? Confidence? Style? Performance? Did they use slang or TikTok language?

Those little details become the difference between content that sounds generic and content that feels like it was written by someone who truly understands the audience.

So this copywriting technique, social listening, is a gold mine for your articles.

Your Substack Is Already a Portfolio

A lot of people assume they need to build this huge portfolio before anyone will take them seriously as a freelance writer.

They picture needing twenty samples, a polished website, testimonials, bylines from recognizable companies, and maybe even a few years of experience before they’re allowed to call themselves a writer.

I understand why people think that because, from the outside, freelancing can look like a club where everyone else already has credentials and you’re the only one showing up empty-handed.

But that’s rarely how it works.

If you’ve been writing consistently on Substack, you’ve already proven something that businesses care deeply about: you can sit down, organize your thoughts, and publish your ideas for other people to read.

You would be surprised how many people say they want to write and never actually do it.

You’re already doing the part that trips most people up.

The next step isn’t creating fifty random portfolio pieces and hoping one of them lands with someone.

It’s creating two or three strong samples that look like the type of work your ideal clients are already publishing….if you don’t have that on your Substack atm.

My Writing Sample Starter Kit for You!

If you want to work with SaaS companies, spend some time reading SaaS blogs and write the kind of article that would fit naturally there.

Or creator businesses interest you, write the kind of content that creator platforms and online businesses publish for their audiences.

And if health brands appeal to you, create content that sounds like it belongs in their resource center or newsletter.

When a client looks at your sample, they’re usually asking themselves one very simple question:

“Could we publish this tomorrow?”

They’re not counting how many portfolio pieces you have.

They’re trying to picture your article on their website with their logo at the top.

If they can see that happening, you’re probably much closer to landing your first client than you realize.

In many cases, two or three strong samples that feel relevant to the business are worth far more than twenty generic ones.

Take That Leap And Apply

Instead of waiting until you have the right sample or the right niche or industry, why not just try your hand at applying to content writing jobs you see on LinkedIn?

Every application teaches you something. You learn how companies describe their problems, which samples get attention and which skills show up over and over again in job descriptions.

This will help you see what skills you need to learn and which ones you already have.

So if you love writing and feel that Substack is going at a snail’s pace, why not try writing for OTHERS and getting paid to do it?

Enroll in my FREE email course

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I Fed ChatGPT My Website and It Built Me a Resume

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 15:57:52 GMT

For the longest time, I didn’t have a freelance writing resume.

I mean, I never thought I needed one.

When I started freelance writing back in 2014, clients weren’t asking for resumes. They wanted to know if you could write, if you understood their audience, and if you had samples that proved you could do the work.

Your website was your resume. Your portfolio was your resume. Sometimes even a well-written pitch email was enough to land the project.

And for years, that worked perfectly well.

But it’s 2026 and AI is running rampant.

Over the last year especially, I’ve noticed more and more content writing, copywriting, and remote writer positions requiring resumes as part of the application process. Not suggesting them. Not making them optional. Requiring them before you can even hit the submit button.

Upload your resume to continue.

Every single time I saw that little upload box staring back at me, I had the exact same thought:

What resume?

Freelance Writers Didn’t Really Need Resumes

Enroll in my free Get Paid to Write email course...

One thing I think is important to mention is that there has always been a subtle difference between being a freelance writer and being a remote employee writer, even though the two can sometimes look very similar from the outside.

As a freelancer, you’re collaborating with a business. You’re offering a service, managing your own clients, setting your own rates, and running your own business.

When you’re applying for a remote content writer role, however, you’re often applying to become part of that company itself. You’re joining their team rather than partnering with them as an outside specialist.

Different relationship and different expectations.

And one of those expectations increasingly seems to be a resume.

A few years ago, if a company asked me for one, I could often get away with writing a short note explaining that I didn’t typically use resumes as a freelance writer and that my website served as a more accurate representation of my experience, portfolio, and services.

Sometimes that worked. In 2026 though, it feels like companies want more than that.

They want more context and with that they require more details and PROOF from the content writer.

And, with the number of talented writers applying for the same opportunities right now, I can understand why.

My LinkedIn Resume Wasn’t Doing Me Any Favors

For years my solution was simple.

I’d go into LinkedIn, click the little “Save to PDF” option, download my profile, and upload that file as my resume whenever I absolutely needed one.

Problem solved.

Or at least I thought it was.

Then one day I actually opened the PDF I had been sending companies.

That was a humbling experience.

It wasn’t terrible exactly, but it definitely wasn’t doing me any favours either.

The document had simply pulled everything from my LinkedIn profile and shoved it into a PDF format whether it made sense or not. My About section became my introduction. My work history looked inconsistent because sometimes I’d added dates and sometimes I hadn’t. Certain experiences overlapped and the overall document somehow stretched to six pages long.

Six pages.

If I were hiring a writer, I don’t think I’d read a six-page resume.

And I have a hard time believing most hiring managers would either.

Looking back, it felt cluttered and disorganized and, more importantly, it didn’t really reflect the business I had spent over a decade building.

Then I Had An Idea

Around this same time, I had been seeing some exciting writing gigs showing up in my LinkedIn feed.

Not just random content jobs either but from recognizable brands.

The kinds of opportunities that make you stop scrolling for a second and think, Well that would be fun.

Inside my Write to 1K private Facebook group, I’d been sharing opportunities from companies like Jeopardy, Vans, Red Bull, and other brands that many writers would be thrilled to add to their portfolio.

And eventually I had a realization.

I wanted to apply to some of them too.

One opportunity in particular caught my attention because it involved LinkedIn content and thought leadership writing, which is something I’ve become interested in as LinkedIn continues growing as a platform.

There was only one problem.

They wanted a resume.

Again.

That’s when I had a thought that felt a little ridiculous at first.

I wonder if ChatGPT could actually build one for me.

I Fed ChatGPT My Website

So that’s exactly what I did.

I gave ChatGPT my website and asked if it could create a professional, stylized resume based on the content already living there.

What happened next surprised me.

Instead of immediately producing a document, it started asking questions.

What type of role are you applying for?

What style do you want the resume to have?

That part fascinated me because it wasn’t simply pulling information from a website and rearranging it onto a page.

It was forcing me to think strategically about how I wanted to present myself.

I explained that I was creating this for a LinkedIn content writer role and that one of my strengths was my understanding of LinkedIn marketing after spending over a decade using the platform to grow both my business and my personal brand.

I wanted something clean, professional, and easy to read.

Then it generated the resume.

And, I was shocked by how good it looked.

It Already Knew My Business Better Than I Realized

The resume included sections for my experience, selected clients, achievements, tools, platforms, and website information.

But what really stood out to me was that very little of the information was actually new.

My experience was already on my website and my client work was already there and even my positioning was there.

The AI wasn’t inventing anything.

It was simply organizing the information in a way that made sense for a hiring manager instead of a website visitor.

In many ways, it felt less like AI writing my resume and more like AI acting as an incredibly efficient assistant who knew how to connect all the dots.

Then I Took It One Step Further

There was one thing missing though.

The resume listed brands I’d worked with, but it didn’t explain what I had actually done for those companies.

So I asked ChatGPT if it could pull additional context from my LinkedIn profile and create short descriptions for those client projects.

And somehow it did that too.

Then I asked it to integrate those descriptions directly into the final version of the resume.

Again, it worked.

At that point, I wasn’t looking at a generic freelancer document anymore.

I was looking at something that reflected an actual business owner who had spent twelve years building experience, working with clients, growing websites, and learning an industry inside and out.

Because that’s exactly what I am.

Canva Was The Final Step

I still wasn’t ready to simply download the AI version and send it off to companies though.

I wanted it to feel like mine.

So I uploaded the file into Canva.

That ended up being another pleasant surprise because the document wasn’t flattened into a giant image. Canva actually separated the sections and text boxes so I could move things around, change wording, adjust spacing, and customize the design however I wanted.

I pulled colours from an older resume I had made years ago, added my photo, included my education and training section, and adjusted a few areas so it felt more aligned with my own branding.

This Might Actually Be What AI Is Best At

The whole experience reminded me of something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.

AI isn’t always about replacing writers.

Sometimes it’s simply about helping us organize, package, and communicate the expertise we already have.

The information didn’t come out of thin air.

It came from my website and my LinkedIn profile. This is MY experience it drew from.

The AI simply connected those dots much faster than I would have been able to do myself.

If You’ve Been Avoiding Resume Requests, Maybe Try This

If you’ve been freelance writing or copywriting for years and keep running into job applications that ask for a resume, don’t automatically assume you’re disqualified because you’ve spent the last decade without one.

If you have a website, feed it to AI.

If you have LinkedIn, feed it that too.

Answer the questions it asks.

Tell it what type of role you’re targeting and what kinds of companies you’re hoping to attract.

Then take what it gives you and make it your own by customizing it in Canva.

Will this become my forever resume?

I have no idea. It’s brand new and I just started using it.

Now I’m curious.

If you’ve been freelancing for years and a company asks for a resume, what are you doing?

Are you skipping those opportunities altogether? Are you using the LinkedIn PDF trick?

Or have you tried something similar to this?

I’d genuinely love to hear what other writers are doing because I have a feeling I’m not the only one who stared at that upload box and thought:

“What resume?”

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Once you become a paid subscriber, you’ll get your first eBook and have many more perks:

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It’s time to treat yourself and your business!

The hardest part of freelance writing isn't finding clients. It's believing you're good enough.

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 18:11:07 GMT

There’s a question almost every aspiring freelance writer asks themselves.

Usually late at night, after scrolling through job boards and finding a writing gig that actually looks exciting.

“Am I actually good enough to do this?”

I know I asked myself that question more times than I can count. And to be honest, I still do, especially when I want to start a new service like DTC email copywriting or learning to be a marketing strategist like .

What’s funny is that I’ve now been freelance writing for more than a decade and I’ve worked with brands I once admired from a distance. I’ve built courses, a blog, a newsletter, and a business that has allowed me to stay home with my twins and completely change our lives.

From the outside, it probably looks like I left self-doubt behind years ago.

I didn’t.

That little voice still shows up every now and then. And while I don’t have the magic pill to wipe away those thoughts, I have, over the years, done things to help me see that I AM a good writer.

When I started, confidence wasn’t part of the plan

I started freelance writing while I was on maternity leave. I was given a year off of maternity (in Canada) to take care of my newborn twins.

But, there were bills to pay. We moved in with my in-laws to help me take care of my twins, but if we wanted to move out and really start our family, we needed money.

My husband can work anywhere but I left my teaching assistant job and it was hard to get into the school system here ( we moved across the country).

So, one day my husband told me about these moms online doing staff writing.

I had no journalism degree and no portfolio. I mean I didn’t know anything about freelance writing.

All I had was this tiny feeling that maybe... just maybe... writing could become something.

But every time I found a job posting, I’d immediately convince myself someone else was more qualified.

When I viewed the website of some writing jobs, I would see bylines of writers I saw on X or LinkedIn. These were the “real” writers and I was a fraud.

Sound familiar?

The biggest myth about successful freelance writers

I used to believe successful writers started because they felt confident and like knew how to start.

Looking back, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Most successful freelance writers started while feeling uncertain but took the leap anyways. They didn’t have to be confident to start, they just took action.

“Good enough” doesn’t actually exist

One of the problems with asking whether you’re good enough is that nobody knows what “good enough” even means.

Maybe you think it means:

Having an English degree.
Years of experience.
A polished portfolio.
An impressive LinkedIn profile.
A niche you’ve mastered.

The goalposts keep moving.

Because every time you reach one milestone, you’ll compare yourself to someone who’s five years ahead. I certainly did with every new client I landed or any new service I started.

I wondered:

“What if a client asks me something I can’t answer?”

“What if they realize I have no idea what I’m doing?”

When I landed my very first client, I honestly felt like I’d fooled them. I mean, besides the content mill client that paid me a $1.62 for some toy ad that took me 3 hours to write, I landed a writing job for a division of the Toronto Star newspaper.

Like eventually they’d discover I wasn’t the expert they thought I’d hired.

Of course, none of that happened.

Instead... I two articles and got paid like $400.

I continued to write more articles for them while I gained more writing clients.

And slowly, I realized there was no need to spiral out of control because I felt I wasn’t good enough….

Clients aren’t hiring perfection

This was one of the biggest mindset shifts I ever had. Clients aren’t looking for perfect writers. Instead, they’re looking for writers who can solve problems and write clearly for their audience.

They also want writers that meet deadlines, follow instructions and communicate professionally.

Those are skills that can be learned if you’re a new writer.

Look –

Landing your first client doesn’t magically erase imposter syndrome. Neither does landing your tenth or your hundredth.

Every time my business grew... I felt nervous again and those thoughts do creep up. No matter if it’s a well known brand or a new start up wanting my writing services.

But those feelings are fleeting and don’t sit with me for days. That’s the differnece after doing this for many years.

Signs you’re probably more ready than you think

One thing I wish someone had told me when I was starting is that readiness rarely feels exciting. It looks surprisingly ordinary.

You explain things clearly.

Clients pay for clear writing that’s easy to read and understand.

And for most women, this is a no brainer. We like to gossip, share stories and talk talk talk.

So if you t aught your child something new...

Or helped someone understand a confusing topic...

You’re already practicing one of the most valuable writing skills there is.

You’re curious.

Fromt he 12 years of doing this, curiosity matters far more than expertise.

The best writers ask questions, and are willing to LEARN.

I had a freelance writing student give up once ChatGPT exploded. They didn’t want to learn AI tools and didn’t want to compete….they just didn’t want to grow as a freelance writer.

And that’s okay, but if you want to succeed, you need to adapt and grow and being curious helps with that.

You finish what you start.

Talent is wonderful but reliability as a freelance writer is better.

Business owners want writers who meet deadlines, or better yet, exceed deadlines. I always pride myself in turning my work in days earlier for a client….and they notice too.

This works with responding to emails right away and being available while you write your article.

Being dependable is one of the fastest ways to build a long-term freelance business.

You actually care.

Ironically, the people who worry the most about whether they’re good enough are often the ones who care the most.

You want to do good work and you want to improve.

That’s a strength—not a weakness.

You can handle feedback.

Your work will be edited and critiqued.

After all these years, clients still request revisions from time to time and that’s normal.

When I first stared I didn’t like that process of being a writer. I felt it like it was an accusation and they critiqued ME as a WRITER. I couldn’t dissociate from my article.

It took me a while to learn that writing is collaborative and that feedback isn’t proof you’re failing. Instead, it will help you become a better writer over time.

You’re willing to start before you feel ready.

Looking back, I don’t think I’ve ever felt completely ready for any major step in my business.

Not my first pitch.
Not my first client.
Not raising my rates.
Not launching my first course.

Confidence always showed up after I took the leap, never before and it will be the same for you.

Here’s something I’ve never forgotten

When I was in college...

I got a C in English. A freaking C man!

If someone had told me back then that one day I’d build a writing business, create courses, write for companies around the world, and help thousands of writers start their own freelance careers...

I would’ve laughed.

Clients have never once asked to see my English grades. They’ve cared about whether I could communicate clearly and could solve their content problem.

That’s it.

So... are you good enough?

Yes. You probably won’t feel ready and you won’t feel confident.

But every freelance writer you admire once stood exactly where you are now.

Wondering if they were good enough. The only difference is that eventually...clicked send.

And that one decision changed everything.

I’d love to know...

What’s the biggest thing making you hesitate to start freelance writing?

Tell me in the comments. I read every one, and if I can help you move one step closer to your first client, I’d love to.

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It’s time to treat yourself and your business!

Anyone Can Be a Copywriter With These Tips

Elna Cain - Next Chapter Club — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 01:07:57 GMT

I’ve been freelance writing for 12 years and over the years I’ve learned copywriting tips and principles that have effectively helped me make more money writing.

I recently posted a video over my Youtube channel on finding copywriting jobs RIGHT NOW so I thought I’d now give you these proven copywriting tips to help you with those new gigs.

With AI taking over on social media and on blogs, companies that are hiring copywriters and content writers are looking for THESE specific things.

1. Start with the Readers Problem

A lot of new writers like to introduce the topic instead of the problem when they write for clients.

I often made this mistake as a brand new freelance writer. I would go on and one about the topic itself and never connect it to a problem. It took a few clients and articles to finally figure out that people only read something if it’s for them…the whole what’s in it for me “WIIFM” idea.

When you think about it, readers don’t care that you’re writing about email marketing for example. What they care about is that nobody is opening their emails and the client’s service is an email marketing platform.

Professional copy always enters the conversation already happening inside the reader’s head.

Instead of saying:

Email marketing is an effective way to grow your business.

Write:

If your open rates have fallen off a cliff, you’re probably wondering whether email marketing still works.

The second version creates immediate empathy because the reader feels understood before you’ve even begun teaching.

2. Enter the Conversation Already Happening in Their Mind

Legendary copywriter Robert Collier famously said,

“Always enter the conversation already taking place in the customer’s mind.”

Instead of introducing your topic, start where your reader already is emotionally.

Are they excited about something or flustered instead?

Maybe they don’t know how to feel but you got them curious enough to keep reading.

The reader is already those things and also skeptical, excited, or overwhelmed before they click your article.

When writing great copy you are acknowledging those feelings right away in your article.

For example, don’t write:

Freelance writing is a flexible career.

Instead write:

You’re tired of scrolling job boards and wondering if anyone is actually hiring freelance writers anymore.

The second example makes the reader think, “That’s exactly what I’ve been wondering.”

That’s the feeling you’re aiming for. Try to make your sentences things that a reader would nod too every single time.

3. Show. Don’t Tell

Anyone can make a claim about a product, service, or idea. The challenge is giving the reader a reason to believe it.

This is the challenge as a SaaS writer like myself. I talk about intangible things so describing it is difficult.

Businesses make claims all the time:

“Our software is easy to use.”
“Our customer service is excellent.”
“Our product saves time.”
“We’re the best in the industry.”

The problem is that every competitor is making the exact same claims. Simply telling readers something doesn’t make it true in their minds. Professional copywriters understand that belief comes from evidence, not adjectives.

Instead of saying:

Our software is easy to use.

Show what “easy” actually looks like.

I connected my CRM, imported 2,000 contacts, and sent my first email campaign in under ten minutes without watching a single tutorial.

Now the reader can picture the experience. You’ve replaced an opinion with proof.

The same applies to almost every type of writing. For example, I applied to a DTC email copywriter job and in the ad they wanted a sample of my writing for a piece of apparal. They made sure to say that they wanted the writing to SHOW and not just TELL about the raincoat.

4. Use Specific Details

Specificity is what makes writing believable. Any good book you read lays out the scene and as a copywriter, you have to do the same for the reader.

Readers trust concrete details because they feel grounded in real experience. The more specific you are, the more human your writing feels.

One thing AI still struggles with is specificity. It is very surface level and doesn’t speak to the reader (I feel).

Human writers naturally notice the little details that make writing feel authentic.

Instead of

She was nervous.

Write

She refreshed her inbox fourteen times before lunch.

Specifics create credibility and it’s a good copywriting skill to have.

5. Use Bucket Brigades

Professional copywriters rarely let paragraphs end abruptly. Instead they pull readers into the next sentence with bucket brigades.

For people reading, they want to “complete the loop” in thought so they HAVE to keep reading the next sentence. And that’s your job as a writer.

Examples:

Here’s why.
But there’s a catch.
Even better...
That’s when everything changed.
And it gets even more interesting.
Let me explain.
The surprising part?

These tiny transitions dramatically improve readability.

6. Replace Big Words With Simple Ones

When writing for clients, writers almost always choose shorter words because they’re easier to read and understand.

The goal isn’t to sound impressive—it’s to communicate clearly. Simple language keeps readers moving through your copy instead of making them stop and interpret what you mean.

Instead of

Organizations should leverage innovative workflows.

Write

Your team probably wastes an hour every day switching between apps.

One sounds like marketing and it’s boring and hard to read. The other sentence sounds like a conversation.

7. Make the Reader the Hero

Businesses naturally want to talk about themselves—their products, their features, and their achievements. The same goes for use humans. People LOVE talking about themselves.

But readers aren’t looking for another company story or monologue about your dog.

They’re looking for a solution to their own problem. Great copywriters make the reader the hero by focusing on what they want to achieve and how their life or business will improve.

When readers can see themselves succeeding, they’re much more likely to stay engaged and take action.

Instead of

We built the industry’s most innovative software.

Write

You’ll spend less time updating spreadsheets and more time doing actual work.

Readers are always asking one question.

“What’s in it for me?” Professional writers answer that question in almost every paragraph.

8. Use Proven Copywriting Frameworks

Strong copy follows a logical flow.

Instead of jumping from one idea to another, it guides readers through a series of psychological steps that build interest, trust, and motivation.

That’s why copywriting formulas have remained relevant for decades—they’re based on human behavior, not writing trends.

The two most famous are:

AIDA

Attention - Interest- Desire- Action

PAS

Problem- Agitate- Solution

Neither formula writes the article for you.

They simply organize ideas in the order humans naturally make decisions.

9. Remove Needless Words

One of the best writing lessons I learned during my first year as a freelance writer was to omit needless words.

At first, I thought longer writing sounded more professional. In reality, the opposite was true.

Every unnecessary word slows the reader down. The more I learned to trim my writing, the clearer and more persuasive it became.

More than a decade later, this is still one of the first things I do when editing a draft.

Here’s a list of some words to replace.

10. Vary Sentence Length

Many AI-generated articles have a predictable rhythm because the sentences tend to be similar in length.

Human writing feels more dynamic.

Mixing shorter and longer sentences creates movement, adds emphasis, and gives your writing a voice that readers naturally connect with.

For a full breakdown, watch my video!

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It’s time to treat yourself and your business!

The Next Chapter

How Much Social Proof You Actually Need to Land Writing Clients

But after freelancing for over a decade, I don’t think social proof in a pitch is nearly as black-and-white as we make it sound.

You’re Article Isn’t Really Your Article

“What can I show this client that makes hiring me feel like less of a risk?”

Show That You’re Easy to Work With

Focus on the Things Clients Actually Care About

Think About Their Real Problems

Get my Pitch archive and the pitches that land clients + strategies for LinkedIn and cold pitching in my Write Your Way to Your First $1k program.

You Don’t Need Fancy Results to Be Valuable

Read Next:

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A New Substack Strategy I Learned (But Probably Won’t Use)

I Thought We Just Stayed On this Platrom

I Can Move People From Substack to Email

If I start a new email list, I can add a link in my articles to get people to sign up. Then I can be more personal and promote my content better.

STEP 1: Get discovered on Substack

STEP 2: Give them a reason to join your outside list

STEP 4: Create an intentional nurture sequence

STEP 5: Make the paid offer

Why This Won’t Work For me

Brand Building Will Look Like This

If you’re a paid subscriber, check out my latest eBook: The Creator Offer Ladder (What to Sell at $9, $29, $99 and Beyond). This is located in the eBooks Menu tab.

Building Through Substack Is the Way to Go

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How I Grew My Pinterest to 2.7 Million Monthly Views

Blog Traffic Isn’t Stopping (Which Means the Money Will Keep Coming)

In two months I grew from 904.32k monthly views to 2.7 million monthly views

1. I Plan My Pinterest Content 3 Months Ahead

2. I Dial In on Keywords Before I Create Anything

3. I Don't Create Just One Pin Anymore

4. I Automated My Pinterest So I'm Not Pinning All Day

5. The Part People Get Wrong About Pinterest Growth

What I'd Do If I Were Starting Over

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My Client Said I Could Use AI. They Still Hired Me at My Highest Rate

“Oh, we are very AI-friendly here.”

My Client Uses AI Before the Assignment Even Gets to Me

If AI Can Write the Article, Why Are They Still Paying Me?

Because the words aren’t what clients are paying me for.

So, How Do I Actually Use ChatGPT for Client Work?

Find Stats

Find Quotes

Find Examples

Fix up Grammar

Summarize Content

What I DON'T Use AI For Matters Just as Much

I Think "AI-Friendly" Clients Are Going to Become More Normal

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The Low-Barrier LinkedIn Method I Recommend for Brand-New Writers

1. Don't Start By Connecting. Start By Following

2. In the Beginning, Follow Writers Who Already Work in Your Niche

3. Now Find the Editors Those Writers Are Talking To

4. Don't Stay Trapped Inside Your Exact Niche

5. Your Next Low-Barrier Move: Start Commenting

6. Make Sure Your LinkedIn Profile Is Ready for the Click

The Final Step: The Warm Pitch

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I Thought I Landed the Client. Then This Happened.

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Start With 2 Places, Not 10

Check Your Substack Growth Sources Often

My New Rule: Don’t Make One Platform Responsible for Your Audience

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The Business Tasks That Help Me Earn Income Every Month

First, how do I make money online?

Here are the business tasks I do every day to keep my business running

I check my email every morning

I check comments on social media

I make my to-do list

What about when I have an idea for a product or have to update products?

I build upon income generating tasks