Balancing Business, Homeschooling, and Networking in the Freelance World with Lauren Ward

Join us as we take a deep dive into the world of freelance writing with the talented and inspiring Lauren Ward. Her journey from dabbling in freelance work to running a full-fledged business while managing a busy home life offers a wealth of insights for both seasoned freelancers and those just starting out.

In this episode, Lauren shares how she began her freelance writing journey about the pivotal moment when she made the brave leap from side hustle to full-time freelancing. Lauren also discusses how her husband joined her as a freelancer and how they work together to juggle their freelance businesses while homeschooling their three children. 

Whether you're a freelancer looking to scale up, a mom or dad trying to balance parenting with work, or just someone interested in the world of freelance writing, this episode promises to be an enlightening and empowering listen!

Time Stamps

00:01:56 How Lauren began her journey into freelance writing

00:06:31 The moment when Lauren decided to scale freelance from a side hustle to a full business

00:08:40 How Lauren and her husband manage their freelance businesses and homeschool three children

00:11:17 How networking with fellow writers changed the freelance game for Lauren

00:14:53 Lauren’s tips for growing your network on LinkedIn

00:18:16 Lauren’s tips for managing freelance income and workload

00:24:01 Lauren’s biggest lessons from her freelance journey

About Lauren Ward
Lauren Ward is a personal finance freelance writer who went from a part-time side hustle 10 years ago to a six-figure business today. Her work has been featured in a variety of publications, including USA Today’s Blueprint, Fox Business, This Old House, and more.

Connect with Lauren on Instagram and LinkedIn!

Full show notes here.

Transcript

Ashley Mejia: 0:08

Welcome, everybody to another episode of the top freelance to me podcast. I am so excited today to welcome Lauren ward of right with Lauren, to the podcast. Lauren, thank you so much for being here today. How are you doing?

Lauren Ward: 0:23

Hey, Ashley, I'm so great. And so excited to be here and chat with you.

Ashley Mejia: 0:28

I have found your content found you on Instagram and all of your content is just so rich. So value packed. And I just was like, Man, this. She knows what she's talking about. You know, she must be

Lauren Ward: 0:42

oh my gosh, that makes me so proud to hear that. Thank you.

Ashley Mejia: 0:46

Yes. So thank you for being open to connecting with me on Instagram and for carving out time in your day. Freelance fam, I wanted to read a little bit from Lauren's bio, so you can kind of get to know her a little better. So here's a bit. Lauren is a personal finance freelance writer who went from a part time side hustle 10 years ago to a six figure business today. Congratulations. Thank you. Her work has been featured in a variety of publication, including USA Today's blueprint, Fox Business, this old house, and more. Congrats, congrats. Congrats. These are big outlets. That's incredible. Lauren, thank you so much. Thank you for being here. So that's huge to be in freelance and you hear even just about businesses and business owners that a lot of times after two years, there seems to be the sweet spot where some folks, you know, entrepreneurship, working for yourself is not easy. You've been doing this for a long time. So how did you get into this? How did you decide to start the side hustle first, and now scale up to full time business?

Lauren Ward: 1:56

Yeah, so I started a little bit after my first son was born, I quit my full time job, my husband was a high school English teacher. And I just wanted to earn a little extra money and just kind of keep up my skills in case I ever wanted to go back into the full time workforce. And so I think like my first gig I found on Craigslist editing novels for a local fiction writing group. That was really fun. And then I was like, Oh, I wonder if I could find more work like this. And I found Upwork, which at the time was oDesk. So I had worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond before that, and I started off as an assistant, and then like, worked up into just sort of like a research support, not like an economist, researcher, but just sort of like helping with documents, events, that kind of thing. And that was during the recession when there's a mortgage crisis. So I learned about all that just working there. And I found a job helping create, like study courses for mortgage loan officers. And I was like, I can do that. I like know what works. Yeah. So and it was really just reading and like simplifying stuff. And then after that, I got an editing job at a personal finance website, like editing credit card reviews. And my boss there asked me if I wanted to write and I was very resistant, because I felt I'm not a writer. I don't know anything about personal finance. But you know, everybody knows something about credit cards, or at least you can learn this stuff. And so I was very fortunate that he pushed me a few times, and I took on that first assignment. And it's kind of snowballed from there just researching and learning new things. And like, as I was going through adulthood, and getting a mortgage of my own, that kind of thing that sort of led into other areas that I wrote about,

Ashley Mejia: 3:29

that is amazing. And personal finance, I mean, just talking about something that's so applicable to everybody, and so important to everybody. It's such a big part of our lives, right? Being able to have a proper credit score to get a loan for your house for a car for business, if you need a business loan. So really important work that you're doing. I love that and the ability to take complex, maybe even intimidating topics and make them easy to understand. That's a gift. Not everybody can do that.

Lauren Ward: 4:00

Yeah. And over the years, it's really exploded as an industry for online content, both on websites that sort of do maybe earn money from affiliate links, but also just financial services companies, you don't really advertise those bylaws Because oftentimes, it's ghostwriting. But, you know, think about every investment firm, CPA, all those people need online content, really any business, but everybody's really realized they need that online content to reach their customers. And so there's just such a good amount of work for other writers who may want to explore that area.

Ashley Mejia: 4:32

That's amazing. And I love the diversity too, and the types of copy and content that you've written. I mean, from courses to blogs to ghost writing, I mean, that's, that's amazing. And so I know you mentioned that you had that background, kind of that for the Federal Reserve. You said in Richmond.

Lauren Ward: 4:49

Yeah, but I can't say like I thought like I had an economics degree or anything. I mean, I just happened to get a secretary job. They're basically out of college and then like, just sort of moved my way into other departments. You know, I'm So you need this really formal background, get started writing

Ashley Mejia: 5:03

area, right? But I love that, you know, even just taking this as an opportunity that landed in your lap, and you took it and grabbed it and learn from it. And now look at you. I mean, that's really, really admirable and inspirational. I love that. In addition to personal finance, I know we talked about your mom of three as well. And I'm sure you have other passions and interests. Are there any other topics that you consider knishes? Is personal finance, you know, what made you choose that one to kind of forge ahead with?

Lauren Ward: 5:32

Yeah, that's the one I kind of advertise myself as I put my different keywords in on my online presences of like what I cover, but I do write in other topics, especially when you start working with like a digital marketing agency, and they might pull you in for a personal finance project, and then give you offers or you know, projects in totally different other areas. So I also write and like fertility, digital marketing tactics are just like just some stereo stuff the other day, just because it's kind of easy work that can come in. So I may not advertise that. But if I see something that I've had experience with, I would apply to it or you know, I just kind of say yes, when it's something interesting.

Ashley Mejia: 6:09

That's incredible. Talk about inspirational. You know, there's people always thinking about doing a side hustle or doing remote work. And you you've done it, you've taken it and you've scaled it. Can you tell us about the point where you reach that critical mass where you said, Okay, this is more than just the side hustle. How did you know what does that process look like to say, I'm going to scale up, this is going to be my company. Can you tell us about

Lauren Ward: 6:32

that? Yeah, it's kind of a personal story. So I mentioned my husband was a public school teacher at the time, and we were just starting to have kids. And he was relatively new teacher, he just never had time off when a kid was born. And so when our second child was born, at the end of summer, they had like, a week, and then he had to go back to school stuff. We're like, this is our year, like this freelance thing. I wasn't doing a ton of work, but I was working on getting my rate up, you know, the kids were napping, or my mother in law would come and babysit. And so we're like, let's take this school year to get our financial house in order. And when summer hits, we're going to try both freelancing and like see if it works. And it did like so he quit his job, and like, we both freelance and homeschool our kids now. And so that's been eight years since we did that. And then I found out I was pregnant with our third child, like, during that year, I was like, freaking out, but like, Whatever, let's just go for it. This is the plan. So that was really the inspiration was just the lack of flexibility in his schedule. And I was like, I think we can make up your teacher salary. And we did.

Ashley Mejia: 7:31

That is amazing. That says the kids say hashtag goals. I mean, to be able to like not only take this remote, work this freelance life and create it, use it to cater to your life and to what's important to you, but also to bring hubby along and have him do it. That's awesome.

Lauren Ward: 7:50

Yes, and it sounds super cool. But I just want to give the caveat like obviously, there's a lot of hard work and late nights and a lot of tiring years are totally worth it, though. And like the ultimate goal is just for us to both be around and have that time in everybody's lives when they're so young. So that was kind of the catalyst.

Ashley Mejia: 8:06

I am so inspired by that, especially being a mom of three also, and just, you know, the nature of schools and things that are happening, you know, homeschool is an option that more people are considering now. But figuring out how do you make that work? How do you even do that? So, and writing and doing research and where you have to focus, you know, you're not doing something like data entry that you can have Netflix, you know, you're thinking, so what kinds of things do you and your husband do now to find time to write but also make sure the kids are doing their lessons and progressing in their curriculum.

Lauren Ward: 8:40

So we split up the work day, so one of us will work. So I'm working in the morning, this half of the day, and he's with the kids doing their lessons, and then afternoon will switch and he'll go work and I'll be with the kids. And now I feel like we have a pretty good routine where we usually we're getting stuff done in the work day, there have been times where when COVID hit we're all afraid of like what's going to happen to our income streams, like we worked non stop just out of fear, because you didn't know who was gonna freeze it freelance budget, but that wound up not being super problematic. But we're just pretty structured in like, what the workday looks like what the school day looks like, the kids, you know, we have certain activities that they do with groups, he has a teaching background, so it's a little more like easy for him. I think what the lesson is, for me, I'm like very much like I need a curriculum to follow and like, tell me what to do. But I just think making those processes and like deciding on you'd have to make decisions. I think early on having so much flexibility like I don't know, what do you want to do? I don't know, what should we do, especially when the kids are little and it's like preschool stuff. But now I think it's just important, like create a schedule, create a system, make decisions and stick to it. Obviously be flexible. You know, we're talking about my daughter has a dental appointment this afternoon. So that'll you know be a thing but it's just about not being too wrapped up in the flexibility. I think that's where it's almost like too much choice sometimes can be unproductive.

Ashley Mejia: 9:55

That's so interesting. I love that you could write a whole book on that a whole YouTube channel. I'm on that because there's so many people that I and you probably do I know you work with freelancers, and have a lot of writer friends that figuring out how to do with parenting and this type of work. I know that's something we'll talk about how do you create more consistency in a field where the name of the game is inconsistent sometimes. So I love that. And I love it. You're not just taking these lessons that you've learned through all this hard work, but you're also sharing them, that's super generous, you could just ride into the sunset, you know, with this knowledge and just be successful. So in addition to writing this content for clients, you also have this amazing Instagram account, right with Lauren, I suggest everybody go follow her. Now. You have your website, the right was Lauren website, and you have a shop where you've done the heavy lifting and creating resources for freelancers. And you have those available. Super cool. I love your company values, especially the one about abundance and that there's so much work and much work. Yes, there's so much work. And we're all just kind of tinkering in our little laptops, and wherever we live, that we're all doing it. And we're all making money. And there's enough, there's enough, I think that is such a beautiful value to share. Why has this been important to you do become a resource for other freelance colleagues.

Lauren Ward: 11:17

That's so important to me, because connecting with a couple other writers really changed my game. I was really, I don't know, maybe five or six years ago, I was just chugging along and thought I was doing well. And I went to a conference and just like met a freelance writer, and we're talking rates and I realized she was charging like three times more than I was in the same industry. And like my stomach just dropped. And then I went to a it was I don't know if you're familiar with fin con. It's like financial media conference. Yep. Yes,

Ashley Mejia: 11:45

that makes sense for your niche. Yeah,

Lauren Ward: 11:47

they have a freelance writer track, I went to a couple presentations, where I just learned really great prospecting skills from those freelancers who are like a little bit ahead of me, and found a course that was just a couple $100, I made that back within like a week of learning that taxes that she had put out in the course. And it was just like, if I hadn't met those people who shared information, I would still be chugging along at third of the price. Like Think of how many years I was not charging my value. And probably people clients thinking like, Boy, that's a bargain. And all the hours that it took to meet my goals are beginning like is this the maximum kind of like in that mid tier, and that was when I was able to kind of scale up to six figures. And of course, like learning, like Pinterest experience helps with speed, research quality. I mean, all of that goes into account too. But it's so important for me to share, because I had that and it changed everything. For me.

Ashley Mejia: 12:36

That is incredible. I love that. Yeah,

Lauren Ward: 12:39

it was a lot of really good interaction, that just helps so much.

Ashley Mejia: 12:43

And I think we need more of that. We need more collaboration, we need more transparency, more talking to each other, because that's how we all do better. That's how we can all have more sustainability. And dare I say joy, dare I say enjoyment, like, Could this be fun?

Lauren Ward: 12:59

Yeah, it can be fun, it's gonna be stressful. But yeah, it can be fun. That's why I'm so excited for your podcast, because I have the type of business model I've created just because that's how I figured things out. But I'm so excited. And I love hearing from other freelancers of how they structure things or types of projects they do. Because there's no one resource of learning how to do this. There's so many different ways and how else do you learn if you don't listen to what other people's experiences?

Ashley Mejia: 13:26

I agree completely. Like, I'm talking to another guest on the podcast, who's does UGC, user generated content? And I'm like, Okay, well, that makes sense. Who knew, right?

Lauren Ward: 13:36

Who knew? Who knew? Yeah. And like, if you're not doing that right now and are interested, like, you can learn that and like, start, like, I focus on long form content, but like, I'm trying to learn more short form email type stuff, because I think it's interesting and something different to do. So I think it's always good to keep learning and building out your skill set, then you have more to offer your clients. I do too.

Ashley Mejia: 13:59

And it all starts with writing. That's something that I just believe in, like writers, we need to pick ourselves up. And we need to charge fair rates. And we need to not buy into these ideas of scarcity and fear and things like that. Because every motion picture, every amazing Netflix series, every campaign that generates tons of money for nonprofits, or even a business plan for a company that gets venture capital funding everything.

Lauren Ward: 14:26

Yeah, every app, like everything has words on it.

Ashley Mejia: 14:30

Everything has to start with writing. Right? It starts with words, it really does start with words. So I love that. And I love you talk about LinkedIn a lot, which I think a lot of people have heard about the value of LinkedIn, but you know, there might be more comfortable with some of the other apps. Can you share some tips for freelancers, specifically who want to leverage LinkedIn to grow their network?

Lauren Ward: 14:54

Yeah, so I think there's a couple of things to do. First of all, I would really optimize your posts profile of just putting in all the topics you cover whether you pick a niche, or you consider yourself a generalist, if someone's looking for a freelancer, they're looking for the words related to their business. So just have like I covered topics such as and list them out. So it's not, you're not cutting yourself off from other opportunities, but it gives a way for people to find you. Also, I know people get really nervous to make connections on LinkedIn. But the whole point of being on LinkedIn is to make a connection. So don't be nervous, like you really need to grow your network and try to get to like 100 people. And you can, I think you're allowed to connect with 20 or 30 people a day, I don't remember but just both other freelance writers and maybe editors or companies, content directors at places you would want to write for and you don't have to cold pitch right away. Just say like, Hey, love your work, love your website, whatever I'd love to connect those when people are there for and then that just brings in automatically is because if an editor ever posts for need on their LinkedIn, like ham looking for a writer that comes to the top of your feed, a lot of work is being found not in formal job postings. But just within the posts of LinkedIn. And anytime a freelance writer in your network comments on another post, that boop bumps into your feet, so you're getting like this natural ecosystem of job leads just by building your network.

Ashley Mejia: 16:18

I love that. I think that's amazing. Actually, I'm talking to a friend, she works for AEC marketing firm. And she and her colleagues are looking for freelancers, they don't know how to find freelancers, they're wondering, where do we find great writers, and I'm like, there's a ton of them. So you're right, being that optimizing that profile and allowing yourself to be found, I mean, that's a huge,

Lauren Ward: 16:41

you can proactively search posts as well and just use or it's like looking for a freelance writer and like filter, it takes digging, because you have people like me or whoever, like writing about freelancing, but you can dig through and just find those posts, even if you're not connected with people. And then one other recommendation I have for LinkedIn is I do recommend when you're like really actively looking for work on there, pay the $40 a month for LinkedIn premium, because you can send direct mail, rather than just commenting on someone's post and hoping they follow up with you. That puts you in more control. And then you can send your relevant writing samples just straight in their inbox, and it just helps you stand out more. And then you can just cancel if you're not really looking for work or want to scale back.

Ashley Mejia: 17:23

Great tip. Thank you for the gym. I hope that Freelands fam I hope you guys are listening because that was a golden freemium tip for free. From Lauren.

Lauren Ward: 17:31

Yeah. tax deduction. $40 a month. There

Ashley Mejia: 17:35

you go. Exactly. 100%.

Lauren Ward: 17:39

Happy Tax Day, by the way.

Ashley Mejia: 17:41

Oh, yeah. That's true. That's true. So happy. glad it's over. My goodness. That's so good, so much goodness in that. So a lot of freelancers struggle with this feast or famine nature of freelancing. And that's something that I hear too. And maybe you hear too, from aspiring freelancers, or folks that are thinking about it is well, you know, that instability? You know, how do you manage that, but you have created like this genius around this and have some great ideas about this. So can you share some tips for managing and consistent income and even workload?

Lauren Ward: 18:17

Right, so yeah, I mean, it's always a juggling act, but I just kind of have these touch points I do throughout the month, so that I always know where I'm at. So I think you always need an income goal each month, like what's your minimum you want to make. So it might not be a full time thing, it might just be your monthly side hustle. And I want to make an extra $1,000 a month, but you're always tracking that. So I have like a Google Doc, where I have every single project the price and then like the total for the month that I know, I'm going to make that money might not be in my bank account. But I know I've earned it. And so that kind of gives me a sense of how much more work I need to book and then I am like looking on a paper calendar of like, where I have every deadline or everything I'm going to write that day, I kind of know how much I can do in one day. So like, No, you're be realistic with how much you can get done in a day. And so you're like scheduling that out. But I'm really tricky, like, at least a couple times a week to make sure if I'm not booked for the next week or two, you can bet I'm pitching somebody or following up with a client or looking for new work. Like I think just to have that constant outlook of what's coming up, and what do I need to bring in, in order to meet my goal? You just always have to know what's going on in your business.

Ashley Mejia: 19:21

And I love that that's so empowering, too. I think sometimes it's kind of in line with personal finance and people with their budgets. And sometimes we're just charging it and charging it and we don't really oh my goodness, look at my balance. You know, look at what I'm doing but not being so passive with it. And just okay, I didn't receive any inquiries. No, we actually have to go out and like you said, always be pitching. Always be noticing kind of where we are in relation to our goals. So it's quite advice.

Lauren Ward: 19:47

And then it's easy. Like when you list everything out in such a way it makes it really easy to follow up with the last three to six months of people you'd be like, who haven't I worked with lately. Like I just did that the other day. I was like, Oh, I don't have this person booked yet this month. Let me see if they need topics and she was like, Oh, can you send me some pitches. And you know, I just booked two blog posts to get done by the end of the month. And actually add this. When you review, like where all your projects are coming from, you can see what works for you like, that's when I realized LinkedIn was where I was getting the most of my work beyond referrals. It wasn't job boards or anything like that, when I realized that that's when I really decided to go all in, I'm trying to like, post and maximize my thing and make my little Canva banner that was pretty, you know, absolutely. That like, just see what's working for yourself gives you insight into like, where your ideal client is hanging out.

Ashley Mejia: 20:35

100% And which clients, you know, are really bringing home the bacon and which ones are not, maybe the juice isn't worth the squeeze, and maybe we need to let them go. Maybe we need to move on a little bit. And yeah, that's really great stuff.

Lauren Ward: 20:50

Yeah, and then if you don't, maybe your calendar is full, but you have like that bottom hanging climb that you don't love or takes too much time for the effort like then you can kind of maybe job hunt, or you know, pitch a little less aggressively, but to try and replace that income with something more enjoyable.

Ashley Mejia: 21:05

I love it. Love it, love it. Love it so much wonderful, wonderful golden advice here. And you've been freelancing for a long time, a decade is not easy. It's actually been over a decade anything. So to what do you attribute your success and your staying power,

Lauren Ward: 21:21

never wanted to walk through office doors again.

Ashley Mejia: 21:24

For the money, say it louder for the folks in the back

Lauren Ward: 21:29

is worth it to me to be working on a Saturday to meet my income goal than to go work for somebody else. That's it, I will hustle my butt off just to have my freedom of time.

Ashley Mejia: 21:40

I mean, I just think about that, that so much. And I think with our generation, it was all these material things that this is what success is right? Yes. Yeah, these titles, this corner office, this, I don't know, I just and now I'm with you. It's all about that freedom of time having that control, having that autonomy to say, Yeah, I'm gonna take these couple days off to go be with my kids doing this or that.

Lauren Ward: 22:07

Or let's go travel on a non school holiday. And I think to like, it's funny, because not everyone's values are the same, like you're talking about, I remember going to like a bridal shower with some former co workers several years after I was freelancing full time. And it was like kind of corporate people. And they felt sorry for me, I'm like, Aren't you proud of me, like, I'm so stoked that this is what I get to do. And they were like working for the promotion, or, you know, it was eye opening, like, Oh, that's not their values, but it's my values. And their values are totally great for them.

Ashley Mejia: 22:36

100% it works. And it's you know, they're happy to a lot of them are happy. I have a girlfriend, same thing. Sometimes she'll say, are you still doing that? You know, that contract stuff? And I'm like, yeah, and you've been doing it for

Lauren Ward: 22:48

so long, too, right? Yeah. And she's like, Don't

Ashley Mejia: 22:50

worry, you'll find something soon. I'm like, like, Girl, I'm not looking. This is my thing. It's so funny. But yeah, yeah, everybody has different values.

Lauren Ward: 23:00

I just think it's fun. Even though I know prospecting can be stressful. I think it's fun, like that thrill. When you get the new client. It's a good time.

Ashley Mejia: 23:08

It is. And you think about it, like that negotiation piece that pitching yourself pitching your ideas. You got to do that in every aspect of your life. So whether you're working for the man, and you have to say, Hey, boss, here's the business case of why I should be promoted, and why I deserve more compensation. Or you're working for yourself, like us. And you're saying here, prospective client, this is what this writing product, how it's going to impact your bottom line, how it's going to generate income for you increase sales, or what have you, you're always gonna have to do that. So that's a skill that like you said, I'd rather be doing that all day long and having the freedom to have fun. That's right. I love that. So what has been I'm sure you've talked about this, all these lessons that you've learned and how you've perfected kind of your rhythm. Now, what has been the biggest lesson that you've learned in your freelance journey?

Lauren Ward: 24:01

So I think I'm always still learning this lesson is that I can be my own worst enemy, and like my own worst critic, and it's so easy to focus on just the negative feedback and not the great feedback, or like maybe the client who doesn't really give you feedback, but they keep giving you tons of work every month. So you know, you're doing something right. I think just trying to set the ego aside and not add in negativity where it doesn't exist, or like, even if there may be some negativity with some client feedback. Like that's not my whole day. That's not my life. That's, you know, that's one aspect of who I am. So I guess it's just some internal self work that I always learned that I think I've gotten better over the years like I was just posted on LinkedIn the other day about how I had a recent client and he didn't like my first draft. And he wasn't really clear on like the target audience, I realized he just is the kind of guy who needs something to respond to maybe doesn't have like a lot of upfront specifications. And when I the first time I read the email, I was like, Oh my god. Hey did it blah, blah, blah. And I read it again, like, Oh, he's just like as these couple of notes that are like very specific and easy to implement. And then like the second draft was great, and we moved on and like are still working together. So I think it's easy to add in negativity that isn't there. And that's what I've gotten better at. But I'm like always working on.

Ashley Mejia: 25:19

Amen, sister. I feel that so much because you know, this type of work is vulnerable.

Lauren Ward: 25:25

Yes, you're putting yourself out there to so many people all the time. Yes.

Ashley Mejia: 25:29

Every time, every time every draft, every email, every blog, I mean, it's you're putting it out there and kind of just waiting to push

Lauren Ward: 25:39

something. Even just like posting the stuff on Instagram or LinkedIn. Like, what are people gonna say? Who cares? It's the internet, whatever.

Ashley Mejia: 25:47

Yeah, it is. And you know, one of the things that I've learned too, is just that. And I think Jennifer Hudson said it in an interview on a podcast. And she said, it's not so much about your talent, I mean, talents, important. 100%. But it's how pleasant you are to work with?

Lauren Ward: 26:05

Oh, yeah, that's a great point. Yeah.

Ashley Mejia: 26:07

So I think about that, too. And it's like, you know, these folks, our clients, they don't want to be searching for other writers, right. It's true. They want to get done. And, you know, annual report is done, you know, or whatever email drip campaign is done. And they don't want us to go anywhere. So we're both kind of us as the provider and them as the client, we're on the same team. And if we can just kind of keep that and you know, okay, well, let's work on it. Let's tweak it, anything can be improved. I mean, it's easier said than done. But yeah, I love that. I love that advice.

Lauren Ward: 26:43

And that it's great when you find those awesome clients that are just fun to have those touch points with throughout the month.

Ashley Mejia: 26:48

Yes, absolutely. And you get to see your impact on their business and grow with them and see them succeed, and their wins are kind of your wins. It's fulfilling. Really, I love this. Lord, you've given us so many generous tips so much really great advice. So where can people find you? How do you prefer that they connect with you? I also feel like you do a great newsletter, can you share some of these resources that folks can sign up for?

Lauren Ward: 27:13

Yeah, so you can sign up for my newsletter at right with lauren.com Send it out every week, I try to get a little more behind the scenes on that. Because I know like clients aren't signing up for that. And like I was talking about my little insecurities with feedback yesterday. Also on Instagram, if you like video content, sometimes I'll just get on there and talk on reels that's also at right with Lauren on Instagram. And then I'm also happy to connect on LinkedIn. It's fun to see what others are doing on LinkedIn. Take a look at each other's profiles. Yeah. And it's a good way to like, practice, you can connect with me. And I'll say yes. Because that starts somewhere if you're growing your LinkedIn network.

Ashley Mejia: 27:49

Absolutely. So here's that folks, you can count Lauren as one of your first 100. Folks, your first connections, and you can add me to I'd love to connect with you. So there you've got to

Lauren Ward: 28:00

Yay. Yay. It gets easier after that. Just snowballs.

Ashley Mejia: 28:04

Absolutely. Lauren, thank you. Thank you. Thanks for being on the top freelance me podcast. Absolutely. Thank you for the work that you're doing for everything you're doing for our profession, because that's what it is. It is a profession. And these resources are going to make a huge difference in people's lives. So thank you for that.

Lauren Ward: 28:23

Thank you, Ashley, for your work to I'm so excited to hear all your other guests and all of your experiences as well.

Ashley Mejia: 28:29

Thank you so much. And with that, we've come to the end of another episode. Please make sure you hit subscribe if you haven't already done so. And give me a five star review on Apple. This will help out a lot and getting the word out about this brand new podcast. I invite you to check out the show notes and also grab my free niches get riches, freelance writing worksheet to brainstorm the best niches for your writing business. If you're not a writer, you can still use it to get business ideas. And until next time, this is actually a talk freelance to me. Don't forget, we all get this one precious life. Don't constrain yourself to a box that you were never meant to fit in. It is your right to profit from your own creative gifts. This podcast was created by Ashley Cisneros makiya our music was composed by Donna Raphael of world instrumentals talk freelance to me is a product of Phoenix creative studio