3 Things I Had to Unlearn to Break $150k as a Freelancer

When I hit $150k as a freelance writer, I expected to feel like I’d figured it all out.

Instead, I realized how much of what got me to that point almost kept me from it.

The strategies that worked at $50k actively hurt me at $100k. The mindset that helped me land my first clients became the thing holding me back from better ones.

Breaking through required unlearning habits that had become invisible to me.

Here are the three freelance mindset shifts I had to get embrace.

1. I Had to Unlearn “More Clients = More Money”

For years, I operated on a simple assumption: if I wanted to earn more, I needed more clients.

It made sense early on. More clients meant more projects. More projects meant more invoices. More invoices meant more income.

So I kept adding.

At my peak, I was juggling 12 active clients simultaneously. No amount of color-coded spreadsheets could keep track of all the information. I was responding to emails at 6am and 11pm. I worked on weekends. I felt busy and completely overwhelmed.

Because here’s what I didn’t understand: client count has diminishing returns.

Going from 2 clients to 6 dramatically increases your income. Going from 6 to 12 just fragments your attention and burns you out.

The math that changed everything:

• 12 clients at $1,000/month each = $144,000/year
• 4 clients at $3,000/month each = $144,000/year

Same income. One-third the mental overhead.

Now, I aim for 4-5 anchor clients who provide recurring revenue. And as I’m increasing my income with longer-term recurring clients, each relationship is worth $4,000-6,500 a month.

I know my client’s businesses, their voices, and their goals really well since there’s only a handful of them. So I’m not scrambling to remember what “Project X for Client Y” even is.

The result? I work fewer hours, deliver better work, and have bandwidth for strategic projects instead of just keeping up.

2. I Had to Unlearn “Clients Know What They Need”

This one was harder to let go of because it felt like good client service.

Until very recently, I was an order taker writer.

Client says they need a blog post? I write a blog post.

Client asks for 500 words? I deliver 500 words.

Client has a bad idea? I execute the bad idea.

I thought this made me easy to work with. In reality, it made me replaceable.

The shift started small.

I began paying attention to gaps in what my clients were doing.

If I was writing blog posts, I’d notice they had old content sitting there doing nothing, so I offered to update and optimize it. If I saw a competitor putting out a good lead magnet like a whitepaper, I’d suggest we create one too. And if we’re doing a whitepaper, I can write the copy on landing page and the email sequence that goes with it.

A lot of my banking clients run webinars. Those recordings usually just sit there after the event. So I started offering to repurpose them: turn one webinar into 1-2 blog posts, 4-5 LinkedIn posts, a couple of emails. Now, my package turns a single piece of content into a month’s worth of material.

What I learned

Clients often think they need more content. What they usually need is better content. Content that actually speaks to their customers.

Now I offer content audits. I go through everything they have and tell them what to cut, what to combine, and what to keep and update. We clear out the junk and leave them with a tighter content library that’s laser-focused on their audience.

And since I know all their content, I can offer to revamp their social media, newsletters, and whatever else makes sense. I pitch these as strategic upgrades that fill the client’s pipeline and bring them money.

So, instead of waiting for clients to come up with assignments for me, I come to them with five different things and say: “I can take care of all of this and take it off your plate.”

In my experience, clients love that. They’re not hiring an order taker who creates more work for them because they have to come up with what they need. They see me as a partner who solves problems before they even have to think about them.

3. I Had to Unlearn “My Work Should Speak for Itself”

This is the belief I’ve struggled with most.

I genuinely thought that if I just did excellent work, clients would keep hiring me, refer me to others, and I’d never have to “sell” myself.

And honestly? My work is good. I’ve built most of my career on referrals. But as I’ve gotten more targeted — focusing on the 100 or so companies I really want to work with — I’ve realized that referrals alone won’t get me there.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Great work is table stakes. It keeps existing clients coming back.

But it doesn’t build your reputation with people who’ve never worked with you. It doesn’t make you visible to the decision-makers at your dream clients.

Over the years, I’ve watched people who had the courage to put themselves out there climb the ladder and land bigger opportunities. And yea, full transparency, that has pissed me off more than once.

But it’s also taught me something important.

I treat visibility as part of the job.

• I post on LinkedIn twice a week (even when I don’t feel like it)
• I spend time engaging with potential sources and PR agencies so I’m the first person they think of when they need a writer
• I share wins and lessons publicly instead of keeping everything to myself

It still feels uncomfortable. It probably always will.

But here’s what I’ve realized: if you let people know you exist, and then they read your work, you become the easiest hiring decision they’ve ever made.

The work still matters. But visibility is what gets you in the room.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Breaking $150k wasn’t as simple as adding new skills or working more hours.

I had to reframe the beliefs that were holding me back.

The old beliefs:

• More clients means more money
• Clients know what they need
• My work should speak for itself

The new beliefs:

• Fewer, better clients equals more money and less stress
• Clients hire you to solve problems they can’t always articulate
• Visibility is a skill, and it compounds over time

If you’re stuck at $75k or $100k, the tactics that got you there probably aren’t the tactics that’ll get you to the next level.

Sometimes the breakthrough is about letting go.

What I’d Tell My $75k Self

If I could go back, I’d say:

• Stop adding: You don’t need more clients, more services, or more hours. You need focus and commitment.
• Start diagnosing: Every conversation is a chance to understand what the client really needs, not just what they’re asking for. Then show up with solutions and take work off their plate.
• Get visible: The best opportunities come to people who show up consistently.

The jump from $75k to $150k felt massive before I made it. Looking back, it was just three mindset shifts and the discipline to stick with them.

The biggest shift? Going from order taker to business partner. I’m still learning this as I pivot more toward it. But it comes down to having confidence in my skillset and knowing I have valuable insights that can help clients make more money.

You probably already have the skills. The question is whether you’re willing to unlearn what’s in the way. These freelance mindset shifts will help you get there.

Liz Froment

Liz Froment is a full-time freelance writer and the one who keeps Location Rebel running like a well-oiled machine. If she's not writing something informative or witty for her clients, she can most likely be found reading a good book.