I increased my prices by 2.5x...

Hellooooo!

How are you doing?

I can already smell the festivities in the air (yes, it starts with the Amazon Great Indian Festival), and I can’t wait to celebrate all of them (the actual ones) with my family.

(without spending 10k on one-way flights from Bangalore)

Anyway,

The September wrap-up and whether I made my first lakh can only be covered in the next one, so I’ll stick to how things turned out in the past week.

Spoiler alert: I am in a better mood now.

As I mentioned before, I started with ₹1.5 per word with my first client in May.

A post by Asif (his posts are gold for freelancers, go follow him) mentioned that anything under ₹2 is underpaying. So, I got my first nudge to increase my prices there.

After that, I started pitching my services at ₹2.5 and ₹3 per word and hoped for the best.

I filled out forms for people looking for freelance writers and quoted ₹2.5 for some, and ₹3 for others. (I don’t even remember which form I filled for which company.)

Then, two prospects—one for ₹2.5 and one for ₹3—reached out saying they’d like a paid sample blog. I submitted both, and converted the ₹3 client.

I’m still in talks with the ₹2.5 one, as the sample is still 'under review' and my payment is stuck. (I shared this in the last newsletter.)

The first half of September was very flat—little to no work from existing clients and zero inbounds.

So, I focused on outreach.

I cold-pitched my services to two SaaS companies, both of which, I knew, work with freelance writers. Here’s how it went.

Company 1:

I shared the pilot blog yesterday. I’m hoping to convert this.
(Can’t share the name as I’ve signed an NDA.)

I also sent a similar message to Manoj, Co-founder of TripleDart. Here’s what he replied:

I took it forward with the client and successfully closed them. I also joined TripleDart’s SaaS writer network for any future opportunities.

If you are a SaaS writer, you can check more details here!

For both companies, I pitched ₹3 for SEO blogs and ₹4 for blogs with keyword research, and they agreed.

Reply to this mail and I’ll share the exact message I sent them :)

I’ve been talking to more and more fellow freelancers, understanding how the market works (both Indian and international), and adjusting my rates accordingly.

Slowly but steadily, we’re getting there.

A few things I think have helped me:

1. Having my website:
Having my own domain (which I created from scratch) with my work laid out, including results, portfolios, and my story, has advantages. It looks professional and generates inbounds.

Inbound prospect journey: LinkedIn > Website > WhatsApp

2. My portfolio:
I’ve created very targeted portfolios for the different services I offer. I also have one master portfolio that compiles all these mini-service portfolios.

It has my experiences, results, samples, and contact details.

Check out my blog portfolio.

3. LinkedIn presence:
My profile is optimized with a clear headline (I keep updating it as my services evolve), a featured section highlighting my best posts and portfolio, and a link to my website.

A little backstory:
I hadn’t shared any samples or my portfolio with Manoj when I pitched him. I just asked if it was okay to send them. So, when he referred me to his client, they didn’t have anything except my name.

We got on a call the next day, and she said, “I don’t have your CV or portfolio with me, let me quickly check your LinkedIn profile.”

She immediately searched for me on LinkedIn, and I showed up in the top results.

Bottom line:

Build distribution. Reiterate your services. Have a killer portfolio.

Have a strong ability to negotiate and an even stronger ability to say no.

Be resilient—everything will eventually work out.

What I’m planning next:

1. Draft a contract to protect my interests.

2. Add a 'Process' section to my website explaining how I work.

3. Build a system that helps me track time, effort, and money more efficiently.

4. Close an international client by the year-end, scale further, and figure out taxes.

Was this helpful? What are you up to?
Any suggestions, feedback, questions, or even a simple 'Hi'—everything is welcome.

See you next Friday!

Love,
Nikita