We recently connected with Hailey Hudson and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Hailey thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?
Yes! I’m a big believer in vacations. I typically take off a week during the year for my family’s beach vacation; the two weeks at the end of the year; and various three- or four-day weekends throughout the year for different things. This year I also took off a week in September. I had a staycation catching up with family and friends, and then took myself on a solo writing retreat to north Georgia – I got an Airbnb in the mountains and spent three days outlining my next novel (outside of my writing for work, I’m also a YA/MG author and I write fiction as I have the energy). It was absolutely glorious. And not only am I a believer in vacations, but I’m a believer in doing vacations right. Turn on your out-of-office email response and think about anything but work.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
The short version: My name is Hailey Hudson and I’m a 20-something full-time freelance writer and content marketer based out of Atlanta, Georgia. I work from home about 20 hours a week, writing content for healthcare, digital marketing, education, and pet companies. I’ve been doing this since I graduated high school (I didn’t go to college) and in 2022 my income was right at $90k for the year.
The extended version: I never wanted to be a freelance writer or content marketer. In fact, if you’d asked me in high school, I probably didn’t know what those terms even meant. (FYI – freelance means I run my own business and work as an independent contractor, and content marketing is any type of marketing that relies on content [like blog posts, ebooks, or social media copy].) But because of my health issues (I live with several serious chronic illnesses that significantly affect my daily life), I was unable to go to college. And that meant I needed to find a way to earn some $.
I had always loved to write; I was a good writer and I wanted to be an author growing up, so turning to the written word made sense. A reread of Little Women inspired me, like Jo March, to begin submitting articles to magazines. And I fell into the world of freelance writing from there.
I got my first client the week after I graduated high school. It was a marketing agency that created content for CrossFit boxes (gyms). I wrote ten articles a month and was paid per piece. When I worked out the numbers, I realized I made four times the hourly rate I’d earned as a nanny in high school. Plus, I worked far less hours per month and worked them whenever I wanted. I was hooked!
I spent the next year researching freelance writing and slowly accumulating more clients, mostly in the fitness industry. After a year had passed, I felt as if things had plateaued. I’d gone as far as I was going to go on my own. So I took the plunge to invest in a six-month intensive course that was designed to help freelance writers 2x their income. By the end of the course (which taught me how to run a freelance business and how to market myself to find good clients), I actually ended up 7x’ing my income, and I knew I could sustain my career at the level it needed to be.
Two years after graduating high school (during that time I was privileged to live at home with my parents), I moved out into a luxury apartment complex by myself and became financially independent. Right around that time, my health – which was already poor – started rapidly declining. I’ve been through some major medical stuff since then, with more on the horizon. But I’ve been able to keep working the whole time. I’m proud of myself for that – and I’m extremely thankful this career has worked out, because there is no other job that I could physically handle.
Like I said, I work primarily with clients in the healthcare, digital marketing, education, and tech industries. The large majority of the work I do for them is blog posts or articles, and I prefer to work with clients on monthly retainers. A few of my favorite or most notable clients over the years have been Healthline, Dell, Lenovo, Barnes & Noble Education, Bodybuilding.com, Runner’s World, Hello Fresh, Cengage Learning, Google EDU, MetLife Pet Insurance, Chewy, Sitejabber, CNO Financial, and The Discoverer.
I call myself The Hardworking Creative. I tell clients that, growing up as a bookworm and writer, I’m a storyteller at heart – that’s where the creativity comes into play. But I’m also a hard worker – and in some cases, that can be even more important. I’m a self-motivated, detail-oriented productivity freak. I’m not going to miss a deadline – or, if I do, I’m going to communicate with you about it as soon as possible.
I’m also really big on taking whatever life experience you have and using it to show clients why you’re the best writer (or, fill in the blank) for them. Need someone to write healthcare content for a target audience of patients? I’m a professional patient who spends half my life in hospitals and knows almost as many medical terms as some doctors – who better to understand and relate to your audience? Someone asked me recently what experience they needed to get into freelance writing, but I felt like that was almost the wrong question. Instead, I recommend asking what experience you already HAVE and how you can leverage it to get the clients you want.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
When I first started out, I spent a lot of time applying to freelance writing jobs on job boards. (I don’t necessarily recommend this – the large majority of jobs advertised on freelance writing boards aren’t worth your time.) These days, it’s all about referrals and networking! I’ve gotten so many clients on LinkedIn, Twitter, and in a couple of Facebook groups and Slack communities that are intended for content marketing professionals.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
A few of my favorites are:
– The Heart & Hustle Podcast with Evie McLeod and Lindsey Roman https://open.spotify.com/show/64u8Kz9kk2SUJoxgKgn2VY
– What’s Best Next by Matt Perlman https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Best-Next-Gospel-Transforms/dp/0310533988/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3E1NPWT9V5S2R&keywords=what%27s+best+next+book&qid=1671315846&sprefix=whats+best+next+book%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-1
– Make A Living Writing https://makealivingwriting.com/
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thehardworkingcreative.com
- Instagram: @haileyh412
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/atlantafitnesswriter/
- Twitter: @haileyh412
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI4Jd–Cb-VgqWNKMtqIXQA
Image Credits
all images belong to me