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April 3rd 2020:

I was a professional cricketer. I was beginning to accept the lockdown was here to stay for a few more days, so I better start learning new skills—it doesn’t have to be productive but fun.

Being a polyglot sounded cool. I started learning Malayalam. Nutrition sounded cool. I started reading a book on sports nutrition. Always wanted to learn dance; started following a few YouTube channels. Basically, I was hopping between all ideas that made me curious.

I got into writing the same way. I randomly opened Apple notes and wrote my thoughts on lockdown and how one can use it as extra hours to work on the skills or habits they have always wanted to develop but couldn’t find the time to.

I shared the piece with my friends. They all liked it (or so they said.) Instinctively I wanted to write more. I scribbled a few thoughts, had some ideas on my mind, and a few days in, I started writing a story.

It’s a short story in a thousand words. When I showed it to my friends, they said it was okay but finished too quickly and lacked nuances. I spent a month developing this short story into a ten-thousand-word novelette.

I published the ebook on Amazon’s KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing.) Three days before the launch, I cold-called 80% of my contacts—amounts to ~200 people—to share about my book and why they should read it.

This resulted in 200+ unique downloads on the first day and 450+ downloads in three days. That’s how I started as a writer.

You can read my first-ever published piece on Amazon. Forgive my writing, it will be a horror to your eyes. But it’s a good story, I promise.

What happened next?

I learned writing fundamentals and wrote lots of short stories in the next ten months. Not that I wanna flex but I participated in eleven fiction writing competitions, winning eight of them.

Then I realized I was winning prizes but not making any money. My college was ending soon, and I was certain I didn’t want to become an engineer. I badly needed a monetizable skill that would make me not look unemployed and pay my monthly cricket expenses.

Voila! Enter content and copywriting.

I enjoyed writing anyway and I loved the idea of making money from writing. I had to attend my cricket practice sessions and had matches on weekdays, which meant freelancing was more suitable for my lifestyle than a job.

I joined a mental health NGO as a content writing intern. They didn’t pay me, but it was a good start.

On 15th June 2021, I got my first paid content writing gig. I had to write a SaaS blog on cross-platform testing for a dev company. I finished the work in a week and got paid INR 1037 for the blog at a rupee per word.

Fast Forward to 2024, this is how the journey has been in the last four years:

Why write about about my career?

I am writing this issue to reflect on my journey and point out mistakes I made + right actions I took. I want this edition to be a notes to my younger self version of what I would have done differently in the last three years for better results.

I hope a point or two helps you in your freelancing journey.

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Notes to self: What would I advise a 22-year-old Vikra who knows some writing and wants to get into freelancing?

🤔 umm…

1/ Don’t wait for gigs.

I created lots of content, and I did get a good number of inbound leads. While that’s good, it’s important to pick your brands and reach out. You need to be the guy in control. You can’t just keep accepting what comes your way—or even worse, keep waiting for gigs.

Some gurus suggest 20-30 pitches per day. I believe that’s bullshit. 2-5 pitches per day are enough if they are hyper-personalized (read what pitches worked for me.)

2/ Impactful actions > Game-changing moments

You need to do less but be effective. My observations tell me: We think one decision would change the game for us.

We think an expensive cohort, a paid community, or a one-on-one mentorship will print $$$$. It is true that one moment can give you a big break and a portfolio boost. But it is also true that moments as such are rare. Most of us might never have these game-changers in our lives.

In fact, many people you admire didn’t have game-changers too. But they succeded. Because they focussed on Impactful Actions.

Impactful actions are small, conscious, effective steps that compound to favourable results. Like contributing to communities, pitching consistently, etc.

Hence, let me say this again: Impactful actions > Game-changing moments

3/ Skill? Self-learn.

I am sure there is plenty of content you can consume and learn—and so you should. But that’s not the full story.

What you consume is what everyone else consumes. Your self-learning abilities differentiate you from the rest. Learn all the rules. Then, learn to break them. That’s how I improve my writing. You give me 20 headline templates that work, I will experiment with a 21st headline to see how it turns out.

4/ Understand the stakes

I will sound hypocritical. Hmm.

Experimentation and trial-and-error are great. I love not following formulas and playing around. Most times I fail miserably, but when I succeed, I create a style of my own.

But (in all caps!!) you need to understand the stakes.

You can experiment with your content, but you can’t always do that with your client’s work. Real money is involved and the brands look for results. You can’t rely on experimentation’s uncertainty in such situations.

It’s safe to use traditional methods 70% of the time. You can experiment with the rest.

The results in content are not logical (meaning: it’s not x input = y output.) It involves multiple variables and is most often long-term. That itself is a huge roadblock for your clients to retain you. Don’t add more to it.

5/ You have to join two types of communities

• Similar service providers: Folks in your industry, services, and niches. This will help you build a network of individuals to understand the market, forward leads to each other, make friends, and build an audience.

• The knowledge banks: This has to be people from other industries, similar ecosystems, or folks ten steps ahead of you. Pick on their brains.

I am actively participating in six communities - and that’s all it is. You don’t need to join 30 WhatsApp groups.

6/ Track Quarterly Growth

Every quarter, I look at my earnings and what went right/wrong. I believe ‘what can be measured can be improved’ and am a proponent of data, tracking, analysis, and improvement.

I’d suggest the same: set targets, track progress - you will know what you can do differently.

7/ No systems, No scale

In jobs, there are brand books, rules, managers—in fact, an entire constitution to put you in check. That’s not the case in freelancing.

People lure you into believing you are your boss, but sorry to break it to you my friend, you are your employee too. You need to keep yourself in check—and systems do exactly that.

A simple example of a system would be a set of questions you ask every lead on a discovery call. Document and set up processes for anything that’s getting repeated more than thrice.

8/ Niche down, but explore first

I only do newsletters and emails now; one-liners sometimes as fun projects.

There is more money and opportunities in niching down but before I niched down, I wrote website copy, blogs, social media, video scripts, ads, and whatnot. I understood what I enjoy and what I do not. Same with industries and business models.

9/ Exposure first, Talent next

Talent will matter eventually, but it’s not talent that takes you places initially. It’s the exposure. Be picky with the people you surround yourself with—it can be the brands you work with, communities you join, people you follow, etc.

10/ Make friends and help people

I am tired of saying this a thousand times, but if it helps you: Don’t get into that networking shit and be all formal. Instead, MAKE FRIENDS!!

Secondly, I am not a spiritual guy nor do I believe in things like karma, but I believe in helping everyone around you—with opportunities, feedback, connecting with others, growth, etc.

I don’t do this because I get something back, but trust me on this: Be kind to people around you, and it will get back. Maybe not from everyone, but from the right people.

(damnnnnn, kind of gotten into Vikra’s Café’s tone for the last one hehe)

We are not done yet, but it’s already 1529-word long! I don’t want you to have reader fatigue.

I will continue in this month’s community round-up, where I will share:

• Where am I in my career currently?

• Will I quit or continue freelancing?

• What happened in the community this month?

…until next time 👋