New things we are trying in our business in 2026

Rachel: For so long, where you just, no meetings or only online or only on the phone or whatever, and I can’t spare the time but, I think things are changing, and getting face-to-face with people is becoming really, really important and critical to getting work in a lot of cases.

Lynne: It’s been so good.

Rachel: Hello and welcome to The Content Byte, a podcast for freelancers who use their words to make money. I’m Rachel Smith, a freelance journalist, copywriter, and content producer. I’m also the founder of Rachel’s List, a jobs board and community for Australian writers and other creatives. 

Lynne: I’m Lynne Testoni! I’m a journalist and content writer as well. Rachel and I are your weekly co-hosts, and every week we bring you all kinds of tips, tricks, and some fabulous guests to help you make the most of your freelance business.

Rachel: Hey, Lynne, how are you? 

Lynne: Good. 

Rachel: We’ve got just the two of us. 

Lynne: We’ve been doing this once a month, and it’s worked really well, hasn’t it? 

Rachel: Yes, it’s been good. And I think it was another question from a listener who wanted to know what we’re doing differently in our own business this year, which is a big question. 

Lynne: It is a big question. I had to really think about what I’m doing differently this year, and I think there’s a lot of changes out there, definitely. 

Rachel: Yes. Well, I’m doing, obviously have two businesses, so I’m doing a lot of different things, in both of mine. But yes, it’s interesting. I’m just experimenting a lot at the moment and I think everybody is. 

Lynne: I think you can do that with your own business. Sometimes experiment, that’s how I’ve done a lot of stuff, done things for my own business, got confident with it, and then offered it as a service for clients. Do you do that too?

Rachel: Yes, yes, for sure. Or I just come across something where I think, “Oh, I have those skills, and I could turn that into some kind of offer or service.” Because often we just don’t think about it. We just did this co-working thing, and Sue White spoke at that. And she was talking about how she’s using her journalism skills to train executives to ask the right questions so that they can do faster reports, for analysis and stuff like that.

Lynne: Oh, wow. 

Rachel: It’s things like that. It’s like, what skills have I got that are transferable in a way I wouldn’t have considered before? 

Lynne: Yes, that’s nice. Really good. 

Rachel: That can mean another little income stream.

Lynne: So, what are you doing differently in your own in freelance business?

Rachel: Firstly, I’m like the builder with the worst house on the street because I do lots of newsletters for Rachel’s List and for clients and everything, but my own client newsletter is very neglected. So, I’m really going to set a date, a bit like we do with our newsletter, just a date in the month that it goes out and stop being so ad hoc with it. And I also think, this is something we’ve talked about in the Facebook Group as well, is starting a newsletter just for your existing clients so that they see what you’re going to be up to or what you’ve been working on, and you’re top of mind. I just think it’s a real no-brainer to do that. But when we talked about it in the Facebook Group, so many people just didn’t do it and didn’t have a client newsletter. 

Lynne: No, I don’t do it. I did but I haven’t done it for a while. 

Rachel: I think that could be a really good thing to do right now, because people are needing so many more touch points at the moment.

Lynne: It does show your versatility for some of the new things, like writing an email newsletter does show that you can do this, and they may not know you’ve got that skill. 

Rachel: Well, that’s it, and that’s the other new thing. I’m doing that I’ve been working on for a while, is actually starting a formal email marketing offering. And I have one retainer client that I do this for, but I’d really like more, because I think email is this critical channel for reaching customers. And I really think, we’re so sick of the AI generated emails, that people want that human-led writing, that really personality rich email that gets people opening and reading. It fits nicely in with web copy, and content, and the other stuff I do. So, it’s kind of like a natural upsell. I’m going to release that soon-ish. 

Lynne: Oh, that sounds good. Good idea. 

Rachel: Yes. Yes. The only other thing I’m getting requests for, which is really interesting, is kind of thought leadership on LinkedIn – people wanting LinkedIn posts in their own voice. Basically, I was just mentioning Sue’s doing, where you might interview them, once a month and get lots of ideas what they’re thinking about and sort of bringing those threads together and writing posts for them, and turning that into a content service of sorts. So, I’m putting proposals out about doing that kind of work as well.

Lynne: Oh, that’s interesting. I feel like I’m not doing a lot of new things this year. However, what I have been doing is going deeper into the ones that I do. So, I’m particularly, I’m working with the tech stuff I’m doing, because it seems to me all the existing tech I use is now offering a lot more.

So, everyone’s… Obviously, AI is everywhere, but some of my existing tools, like Dropbox, is doing some really good AI things. Zoom is doing some AI things. So rather than having heaps of subscriptions, I’m trying to go a bit deeper with some of those things.  And I do find being clever with the tech is impressive for clients.

If I do AI sort of automatically generated meeting notes, that’s really impressive for clients. In fact, some of my clients have been doing the same thing for their own meetings, and it makes me look really ahead of the time. So, I try and get a bit of expertise in some of the tech tools I use. And I’m pretty well all digital now. That’s been something I’ve done. Everything’s in my calendar. Everything’s on Trello, and whereas before I just used to have major projects, now I have everything, including writing scripts for the podcast, and even sometimes things like my tax and stuff I have in there.  So that makes it… It is making me stronger and more organised. 

So, the other thing, with all that in mind, I’ve been doing a lot of upselling this year. A lot of my work are blog posts and case studies, so I’ve been offering a bit more strategic ideas. I’ve seen opportunities when I’m writing a blog post and suggested other ones, or I’ve suggested adding extra stuff to their website.

I’ve been doing more website copy, which I haven’t done as much of lately, and with that I’m offering blog posts. So instead of just doing a website, I’m saying, “This is great, but have you considered that some of this stuff is really valuable – might be better in a news section?” And I’m offering ideas. And that gives you consistent work. So, it takes it from a project to an ongoing relationship. 

Rachel: But have you thought about, like, upselling the case studies and blog posts into more content, different kinds of content, like newsletter content and LinkedIn content or social copy generally? 

Lynne: Sometimes most of… I guess the challenge with a lot of my clients is that they’re usually working with agencies. So, I supply them, and their agencies manage the uploading and to LinkedIn and to Instagram or whatever. I have been doing social media posts sometimes when I’ve done a big piece of content. But it depends. At the corporate end of town, they often have a system already in place. I just find… but it depends.

There is something. It’s just deepening that relationship. And they go, “That’s a great idea. Would you do that?” “Yes.” And it does actually extend a relationship, and sometimes, especially with things like case studies, you start with that. And also, I do a lot of case studies. I think they’re something that AI doesn’t really do, involves relationships and involves interviews, which I quite like.

And often some of the case studies I’ve worked on, say it was with some of the building supply companies that I write for, and I might interview architects or builders about that. I’ve often ended up doing work for those architects and builders. And even, when I do stuff for the design media, like Home Beautiful or Better Homes, sometimes those relationships, they see the story, and that gives me a relationship. So, I think then I get deeper into it and stuff like that, and I suggest things.  

Rachel: And are you still doing as much in-person stuff? 

Lynne: Yes, I am. I try and do one a month. Sometimes I do two a month, just the opportunities, and then less. I’ve had a really busy personal life this year, so I haven’t done as many. But I think picking and choosing, some personal stuff, because I do think… I’ve actually had a few clients this year also wanting me to go and visit them for interviews.  I’ve done two on-site stories and interviews, which wasn’t happening for the last few years, and each time has been really good.

One particular website project, it’s ended up developing more as per, what I was just saying about upselling, because when you’re there, you really see their business, you get an understanding. Plus, also, it deepens the relationship. 

Rachel: Yes. 

Lynne: Yes. So, for one site visit to meet everybody in the senior management team has made a difference. It embeds me more into the business. I think that’s been a good policy. You don’t normally do it. You always worry about the time out of the office. But I do think that was a really – as long as you don’t do it all the time – it was a really valuable thing to do. I guess the other thing is you go out and you see other opportunities for other clients.

So that was my second point, is, I know travel writers do this a lot, which I don’t really write travel, but you go and do a trip, and you find five different stories for different sort of publications. So recently, I’ve been doing some work with the Royal Agricultural Society and the Easter Show and their publications, and I was out at the show, and I saw so many opportunities and story ideas for other clients that were unrelated.

Interesting people that I would not have met normally, and I pitched a couple of ideas to various editors, and they’ve been picked up because they are a bit different because I’m out there rather than just waiting for media releases to come in. 

Rachel: I love that. 

Lynne: Or just what you see online.

Rachel: It makes total sense. And I think we mentioned in a previous episode meeting someone for a coffee who might be close to you and building that relationship or doing a light proposal of how you’d approach a job for them or something can be a really quick way – a quicker way to build trust than getting on a Zoom or something like that.

Lynne: Well, I did have coffee with a PR company, a couple of people who are really impressive who work in the interiors industry. So, I’d never met them, on email. But, because of that, they’ve got all these great clients in my niche. And I’ve learnt, I get great information, also access to really good people for stories and it was actually really good. I made it convenient for me. I picked a venue that was easy and close for me to go to, like a coffee shop, and so that was good, but it was a really valuable use of my time. And I also get invited to their best events now, and those best events have also got clients.

And really, I guess the other thing is subject matter experts, they also get like other architects and interior designers go to these things, so I end up learning more and getting… It’s really good. It was a really valuable thing to do. I mean, I think you can spend all your time going to coffee rather than getting work. But I think carefully chosen coffee meetings are really helpful. 

Rachel: I agree. Yes. It’s something I’ll do more of as well, which is so different to how I’ve run my business for so long, where you just, no, no meetings or only online or only on the phone or whatever and I can’t spare the time. I think things are changing, and getting face to face with people is becoming really, really important and critical to getting work in a lot of cases.  

Lynne: It has been good.

I also find particularly, this is maybe the building industry, I have to say one of the reasons that they need people like me is they’re not really strong on writing or the written word. So, if I’m relying on getting good answers via emails, it’s never going to be as good as when I meet them in person. It’s a much better experience, and I get much better copy out of it. So, I think that’s something to be said. 

Rachel: Yes, definitely. 

Lynne: And the other thing I’ve been doing differently – I’ve really been working on giving really positive feedback back to my clients. Instead of just trying to elicit good feedback from me, for whatever, I’m being positive with them about, when they’re nice to work with, I say how great it is. And it’s funny because one of my clients has said I did a proofreading of a magazine, and it was a really impressive magazine, and I said that. And she said, “Oh my God, thank you. That means so much coming from you.” And I just thought, that’s nice. It was a really good product. I wasn’t just doing it. And I thought, I’m going to tell more of my clients when they do something really good, that their product might be good. It’s really impressive or whatever. 

I think sometimes when you complete a job, you just send off the copy, they sign it off, you send the invoice, and you move on. And I find just saying nice things, what a joy it was, not just, like, pap – actually something genuine. I think it, for genuine reasons, praising them for their work, it really helps build that relationship, and I find it finishes the project on a positive note. And sometimes also if they’re being great to deal with, I also give them a Google review. And that makes a difference, to relationships and also, I think it rewards people for doing, working well with freelancers. 

Rachel: Yes, and also you could be mentioning that on LinkedIn when you spruik the project – this is a great magazine to work on or blah, blah.

Lynne: Oh, I did … 

I got one of the nicest things because I did that with a big project I did last year for Bunnings, and I did a thing how, what a joy it was to work with them, and that, it really was. And then the guy from Bunnings chimed in and said what a great relationship it was.

So, I think that was, it worked in my favour, but I just did it because they are nice to deal with. 

Rachel: Yes, yes. 

Lynne: So, what are you doing…You’re doing a lot differently at Rachel’s List, aren’t you, really pushing the envelope a bit? 

Rachel: Yes, yes.  It has changed a lot this year. I’ll just give a few things that we’re doing differently because they might be useful. For someone listening in who has, who can maybe take that thing and run with it with their own business.

Well, firstly, we’re a jobs board. There’s probably not a lot of people out there listening who are jobs boards. But when we relaunched, we went from being a, you had to pay to post a job, and we went to being a completely free jobs board, and that has been the best experiment that I’ve done.

We went from a trickle of jobs in January and February to twenty-six this month, which was our biggest month in ages. So that helps draw in new members, and it helps draw in new job posters who kind of see other people are posting and trust us, so that’s been a good experiment.

The other thing I’m thinking, we’ve talked about getting in person with people more, getting in meeting in real life. We’re doing that with our members as well.  So, I think when you get people in the room, and you would know this from Collaborate and I would know as well, having gone there, you see the conversations that you have with people that you might never have over email or in a Facebook group, and it can be really powerful for your business. 

So, I think we’re doing more of that.  We’re about to do our first member challenge, which is a bit of fun but also quite useful, called Booked Out Bingo, where you get a bingo card, and you have to run through all these tasks to try and fill your pipeline with work, basically. So, I’m looking forward to doing that sort of thing. 

And the other thing that I’m doing differently, which I think could be something that other people could take and run with, is I’m doing – we’ve talked a lot about the trust recession that we’re in and how it’s getting harder to sell and harder for clients to part with their money and that sort of thing.

What I’m trying at Rachel’s List this year is welcome videos where I just do a quick personalised hello and a speedy tour just walking them through the site, and there’s been huge feedback from doing that. 

Lynne: You’re just doing it on Loom, are you? 

Rachel: No, I’ve moved from Loom because Claire actually said to me, “Why don’t you just do it on Zoom, because you’re already paying for Zoom.” And you can just press clips in the Zoom client and just do like a Loom-like video that’s really easy to send to people as a screenshot, and they can just click on it and play it. And I think for anyone out there, if you’re serving any clients at all, really consider getting on that, that video bandwagon because you can use it as part of your onboarding like we do at Rachel’s List, or you could, take a client through your proposal and really explain it all.

Lynne: Back to doing that personal touch, isn’t it? 

Rachel: I think so, and I think it will really set you apart because so many people don’t do it, that it’s quite a surprise to see the person you’re considering working with pop up in your inbox, and they’re saying your name on a video and all of that.

I mean, it came up at the Retention Games recently that I was at – an online summit. Belinda Weaver was talking about it, and she said people just love a personalised thing from the person they’re thinking of hiring or the business owner or that sort of thing. So, it takes a bit of time, and also you need to get into a flow with it if you hate videos.

Sometimes I’ve recorded five before I’ve got to the point where I think, “Yes, this is good to send.” But then it becomes easier, and you can just do it really quickly. So that would be one thing I’m doing differently that I think is really good and worth trying. 

The other thing that I’m doing differently is I’m trying a new membership for early career freelancers which is a big experiment. I’ve been doing more talks to graduates and people who are moving into freelancing from other areas, and I know it can be really overwhelming. So, I’m hoping Rachel’s List might end up becoming a soft place to land for people to get resources and beginner-friendly jobs and access to me if they want, they have questions and that sort of thing. And I even started a private podcast for that membership, which is very weird after doing our podcast for so many years. It’s very different to our podcast and has no bells or whistles at all, so it’s quite funny, and it’s only me, so that’s interesting.

But they’re just kind of some ideas, I guess.

Lynne: Yes, it’s good to keep pushing, I think. I listen a lot to podcasts, as you know, and I feel there’s a lot of great information out there. And I also think it’s good to not just listen to freelance ones. 

Rachel: Yes, yes. 

Lynne: I think I mentioned in our newsletter there’s a great podcast I listened to was with, can’t remember, but he called himself a futurist, specialising in AI. And he talked, I’m having a blank about the podcast name, but it was such a good discussion about the implications for AI on things other than journalism and some of the other ramifications for society, like having, people having virtual companions, education and all these other things.

I found it really thought-provoking, and it turned up a lot of uses for AI that I didn’t even know were happening. Because you tend to get stuck in your own little bubble. So sometimes it’s good to just get out of your bubble. So, I try sometimes not, spend a whole week of not listening to freelancing podcasts, but listen to other ones. So, you hear about what else is happening in the rest of the world. 

Rachel: I know. I always look at the podcasts that you and I are listening to in the newsletter, because that’s when we kind of talk about it and put them in the newsletter, and I think, “Oh, wow. She listens to such different ones to me.”

Lynne: I know. You listen to a lot more sort of work ones.

Rachel: But sometimes health ones. 

Lynne: So, I’ll be listening to out there. Oh, the health ones. I like that. 

Rachel: I get drawn into health ones, because I sometimes think they’re really an easy way to get information that you can’t find or whatever. 

Lynne: It does feel good.

So, I do think it’s good to get outside your bubble because just like the best way to improve your writing is to widen your reading. 

Rachel: Yes, absolutely. 

Lynne: Even doesn’t have to be content. It can be reading fiction or, nonfiction. It could be something random. Plates.  And then it does inspire you to think about different ways to write and different ways to structure sentences.

Rachel: Yes. I agree. 

Lynne: Wow. That’s a lot. Hopefully that gives people a bit of an idea of some different ways to freshen up your business and your offering this year. 

Rachel: Absolutely. I just think, try to be experimental. Don’t feel like, oh, this isn’t working so it’s all crap. Because there’s always things you can do. There’s always ways to create deeper client relationships. There’s always ways to build new offers and give them a crack. 

Lynne: Exactly. 

Rachel: Yes. 

Lynne: Exactly. So, we’ll be back next week with another guest and look forward to it. Okay. 

Rachel: Okay. See you, everyone. 

Lynne: All right. Bye. 

Rachel: Bye. 

Credits:

Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com

Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au

Rachel’s List www.rachelslist.com.au

Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel’s List Gold Members? Email us at: hello@rachelslist.com.au for the details.

Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co