Elna Cain is a freelance B2B SaaS writer who has written for amazing clients like Walmart, GoDaddy, Blogging Wizard, OptinMonster, Zapier, Wordtune, and dozens of others! She is also the founder of the award-winning blog, ElnaCain.com, and provides coaching to freelance writers.
- When did you start freelance writing? In 2014.
- Where are you from? Canada.
1. Can you share a bit about how/when you got into freelance writing and the writing services you offer today?
Back in 2014, I was a new mom to twins. I was on maternity leave (in Canada, you get a year off) and had to decide to go back to work as a special education assistant. I didn’t want to leave my babies, so after talking with my husband about it, he suggested I find something online, like being a virtual assistant or freelance writer.
I was intrigued, so while my twins were napping, I looked online to see what all of that was about. After my research, I liked the thought of freelance writing rather than being a VA since I’m more creative and often fly by the seat of my pants. Fast forward ten years, and I’m still writing for businesses. My current service is SEO blog posts or long-form articles.
2. Scaling comes up a lot in conversations amongst freelance writers and you’ve scaled in a variety of ways. Can you share what you’ve done, beyond writing for clients, to generate income online?
One of the earliest things I did to scale my business was offer coaching. I offered this service to new freelancers interested in doing what I was doing, writing for online businesses.
I found that I had limited time to coach since I was writing for clients, writing on my freelance blog, and taking care of my twins. I thought it would be better to create a course about what I was teaching to my coaching students. My course started generating income, allowing me to pick and choose my clients and work part-time.
With my extra time, I started another blog, Twins Mommy. This is a blog helping moms make money blogging. I started affiliate marketing and also created a course. From there, I started more niche websites and then a YouTube channel. So, the main ways I generate income besides freelancing are affiliate products, digital products, and ads.
“The main ways I generate income besides freelancing are affiliate products, digital products, and ads.”
Elna Cain
3. What advice would you give to a freelance writer who wants to move beyond solely writing for clients and use their skills to earn online in other ways? Where should they start?
As writers, we have an advantage when starting another business or blog. My writing skills helped me with my sales pages and landing pages. I learned email marketing and sales funnels, which all helped me create a side business.
If you want to move beyond writing, try affiliate marketing or create your first digital product. It can be an eBook or masterclass. Many of my students have started as freelance writers but moved on to opening up a membership, starting a podcast, or offering content strategy sessions.
4. I’d love to pick your brain about the award-winning blog you built from the ground up! Can you share a bit about how, when, and why you started it?
When I started freelance writing, I created a service-based website with a blog. I ended up blogging about freelancing, so about a year later, in 2015, I decided to move that blog to its own domain, elnacain.com.
I built a good following by networking with bloggers. I would read their blog, and comment and they would do the same. I would also guest post on their websites and share their content on social. A few years later, I learned about SEO, search engine optimization, and started focusing on that with my blog.
Eventually, my blog grew from 10,000 pageviews to over 120,000 pageviews. For a while, my blog traffic from Google was doing well, but over the years, it’s slowed down because of competitors, the changing landscape of SEO, and my niche, freelancing.
I also started a newsletter once I moved my blog to elnacain.com. I created a free course called Get Paid to Write, which grew my audience.
5. And what do you think are the key factors that have led to the success and reach your blog has achieved?
My writing seems inspirational and practical from what my followers have told me. I usually cut to the chase and explain exactly what I’m talking about, and I don’t come off as “better” than my audience. I talk as if I’m in the trenches with my audience, and that becomes relatable to them.
“I talk as if I’m in the trenches with my audience, and that becomes relatable to them.”
Elna Cain
6. You mentioned that you’ve routinely made $1,000 from your email list with just one email. How did you get there and what advice would you offer writers hoping to get similar results?
Not every email generates this income, but I’ve used copywriting principles over the years when launching a new product (PAS) or updating an existing product. I also added a testimonial blurb and product links in every newsletter. This helps with evergreen sales of my courses and masterclasses.
7. You’ve shared you use ChatGPT and Jasper AI to create niche website content. Have you seen a difference in the results between your 100% human content and your hybrid human/AI content?
Most of my AI writing is for my newest niche website. So far, it hasn’t been impacted by the HCU, but I also edit it to make it sound like my voice and I have a writer, too, to help. So, any AI content is always edited and I only use a sentence or a paragraph here and there whenever I’m writing an article.
Regarding my website Elna Cain, the very FIRST HCU I was heavily impacted. It’s only this latest HCU that I’m slowly recovering from, but my traffic took over a 50% hit. I have no idea why this happened since this blog has my own thoughts and tips/advice.
8. Oh no. I’m so sorry to hear that I hope it rebounds soon. What advice would you give to writers/site owners who want to integrate AI into their writing but don’t want to sacrifice on the fronts of quality and authenticity?
My suggestion is to use it mostly for ideation and information you need help understanding. If you use the output, avoid using it for your introductions. I find AI-generated introductions lack depth and angles. Focus on AI-generated content as supportive. For example, if you’re writing about Pinterest marketing, you can use AI to create a small bullet list of features about a tool or service you use for marketing on Pinterest.
9. Amidst all you do, you’ve also shared you are the mom of twin toddlers! How do you do it all?! Would love to hear any tips you have on work/life balance, schedule management, boundaries, etc.
My husband is a big help! He stepped in and worked behind the scenes about year two of my freelance business. He helped with customer questions, invoices, setting up email funnels, and any other tech. He’s also responsible for all the website designs for my courses and sales pages.
Different ways I optimize my day: I have ghostwriters for my other content, I use ChatGPT to help with social media topics, YouTube topics, and other short-form content, and I don’t have more than 3 clients at a time.
10. Lastly, what are you planning for 2024? What should we should keep an eye out for?
ATM, I’m just keeping my head down and focusing on client relationships, networking, and affiliate marketing. I will also lean into video more than usual, as short-form videos will be necessary for 2024.
Where can you find Elna Cain online?
- YouTube
- For any new freelancers, Elna has a free email course called Get Paid to Write. It gives you the tools to land your first client.
A huge thank you to Elna for sharing her insights with the ATFW community!