Rachel Honeyman is a content magician by day and a martial artist by night! With over 15 years in content marketing, she brings a wealth of knowledge, wisdom, and experience to the table. Here she shares insights on how freelancers can hit five-figure months, niching, delegating, and more!
- How many years ago did you first start freelance writing? Almost 15!
- Where are you from? I grew up in Miami, FL, but I currently live in Long Island, NY with my husband and our two pet rabbits, Tonks and Lupin.
1. Welcome, Rachel! I’m so thankful we connected through LinkedIn. It’s been amazing to follow your journey over the last couple of years! Can you share with the audience a little about yourself and your background in the marketing/communications world?
Thanks so much, Jessica! You’re one of my favorite people to follow on LinkedIn, so I’m pretty thrilled to be here!
I have a Master’s in English, and really started my journey in the content marketing world while I was in grad school, with my first few freelance gigs. I was kind of trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life once I’d decided not to stay in the world of academia.
My first job after graduating was in a marketing communications role for a nonprofit, which got me hooked on the marketing world. I went on to become the content director for an online fitness company for over 8 years, then an editor at Ro (a fast-growing telehealth startup) for a couple of years, with some other content marketing roles in between.
Throughout my career, I continued doing freelance writing, editing, and content marketing on the side, whenever interest projects came my way and I had the time to spare. Then, in November 2022, I decided to go all-in on my freelance business.
2. What a journey! How does it feel to be back in the world of freelancing?
It feels pretty surreal, to be honest! Even though I’ve done freelance on the side throughout the past 15 years, going full-time is a totally different ball game.
It’s been a whirlwind, for sure, with so many different parts of my business to keep track of, but it’s been great. I’m grateful to be extremely busy, so there’s definitely a learning curve to juggling everything.
3. That’s awesome you’ve hit the ground running although it can definitely be a lot to juggle! What all do you offer now through Honeyman Creative Solutions?
I offer a pretty wide range of services, including landing page content for websites, content marketing strategy, SEO strategy and execution, and custom projects. I have a lot of experience with many different aspects of content, so I’m able to offer services that match my client’s needs.
4. With today’s market being full of freelance writers, editors, and strategists, do you have a niche or have you differentiated yourself in another way?
For a while, I thought my niche was health and fitness content—and in many ways, that’s still the case, as most of my experience is in those industries. But, lately, my niche has shifted from being industry-specific to being more offering-specific.
One of my favorite service offerings is what I call my “Start-Up Launch Package”—it’s a relatively cheap way for new businesses to get a website up and running that’s optimized for SEO, user experience (UX), and branding, with clear and engaging copy. Because I’ve built up a strong base of experience in so many different aspects of content, I’m able to offer a one-stop-shop experience.
For new companies just getting off the ground, the cost to hire a web designer, SEO expert, UX expert, developer, writer, and branding expert separately is usually too cumbersome, so this is an attractive offering that’s been quite lucrative for me. You can take a look at a case study I just put together on one of my latest of these projects here: Case study.
5. You shared on LI that your freelance business had a $10k month your very first month back — that’s amazing! What advice would you give fellow writers/strategists aiming for that first five-figure month?
The three most important pieces of advice I can give are to charge what you’re worth, be selective with your clients, and whenever possible, charge upfront.
“The three most important pieces of advice I can give are to charge what you’re worth, be selective with your clients, and whenever possible, charge upfront.”
Rachel Honeyman
My clients come to me because they’re looking for excellence, so I’m comfortable charging enough to make sure I can put in the necessary time and effort to deliver what they expect. This helps me weed out clients who can’t afford my services or who are more likely to give me trouble when it comes time to pay for my services.
I’m selective with my clients because I want to make sure we’ll work well together, and I never want to experience those nightmares so many freelancers talk about with chasing down invoice payments.
And, yes, whenever possible, I charge upfront for projects (or at least a 50% deposit upfront). The last thing I want is to put my precious time into something, only to get stiffed at the end of the day. Your time is worth a lot. Treat it that way.
6. You’ve also recently shared that you brought on a few contractors! Can you share a bit about what drove you to make that decision and how you decided who to bring on for what?
I was feeling pretty swamped with new projects coming in (no complaints there!) so I decided to bring on some additional help. My first hire was a virtual assistant to help me manage the admin side of things, and she has been an absolute godsend! (Anyone looking for a VA should definitely get in touch with her! https://www.avivjoshua.com/).
I also brought a couple of freelance writers on board who can help me with the writing side of many projects. I don’t ever farm out strategy work, but often, I’ll turn to my freelancers for help with drafting SEO articles or writing less involved types of marketing copy.
7. Continuing on that note, do you have any advice for onboarding and managing contractors successfully? I know many people struggle with the “no one can do what I do” syndrome.
I got lucky with the specific freelancers I brought on, in that I had worked with them in the past so I knew their work was great. But in general, my approach is to provide as much detail as possible in project briefs, so your writers know exactly what you expect of them.
This makes it so much easier to get their work edited and live once they’ve turned in their drafts. I still struggle with the “no one can do what I do” syndrome, but I mostly try to reserve that for my strategy work 😉
“My approach is to provide as much detail as possible in project briefs, so your writers know exactly what you expect of them.”
Rachel Honeyman
8. Shifting gears here a little bit, how would you describe your content marketing philosophy? What do you think are the keys to success?
My philosophy is humans first. Whether you’re writing a blog post, creating a brand new website, or putting together a simple blurb for a social media post, you have to remember there is a human on the other side of the screen.
Humans want to be talked to like humans, not just as potential buyers. That person on the other side of the screen has a whole host of concerns and challenges and strengths that have made her want to engage with your company. Don’t lose that opportunity to connect with her on a human level.
“Humans want to be talked to like humans, not just as potential buyers.”
Rachel Honeyman
9. And when you’re not working your content magic, what can you usually be found doing?
When I’m not elbows-deep in content, I’m usually either practicing martial arts or teaching women’s self-defense. I’ve been a martial artist for about 7.5 years, and I do a combination of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Jeet Kune Do, Filipino martial arts, and Silat.
10. So cool! Lastly, what’s next for you? What do you have planned for 2023? Anything we should keep an eye out for?
Great question! On the business side of things, I’m hoping to keep growing my client roster and potentially bring on some more freelancers to fill out some other skills, like design and analytics.
I’ve also got a new site in the works for the work I do with women’s self-defense and I plan to launch a video course for that by early next year, so keep an eye out for that.
And where can people find you, follow you, contact you, etc?
- LinkedIn is a great place to see what I’m up to: LinkedIn
- You can also check out my website and set up a time to chat if you’re interested: Honeyman Creative
- And, finally, if you have any interest in seeing my silly martial arts videos in your Instagram feed, you can give me a follow over there: Instagram