If you’ve read any of my blogs you’ll hear me banging on about the benefits of recurring revenue. In other words, clients who pay you regularly for work, usually every week or month.
So, in this post, we’re going to take it one step further and discuss three simple ways that dental writers (particularly those that are new to the industry) can obtain a regular income.
But before we do, it’s worth discussing why recurring revenue matters to freelancers and the advantages it can bring.
Essentially, having a regular income does many things:
It provides predictability – Because you know where your money is coming from and the minimum you’ll earn at the start of each month, it gives you peace of mind to work on or pursue other aspects of your business, or indeed, other projects.
Irons out the feast/famine cycle –As freelance writers, it’s not unusual to expect some degree of feast or famine during our careers. That’s just the nature of the beast.
However, with guaranteed recurring revenue you have fallback, so the road isn’t quite so rocky. If you do happen to lose a client or miss out on a project, it isn’t so much of a panic to find the next paying gig.
Decreases stress levels – Financial stress is the number one reason freelancers quit, particularly when they’ve been accustomed to receiving regular paychecks in a previous life. Having recurring revenue eases the burden of financial instability and some of the stress associated with freelancing. And, with the fallback of recurring revenue, you can start to enjoy the flexible lifestyle you’ve created.
Focuses the mind on working rather than pitching – One of the biggest benefits of regular client income is that you don’t have to spend as much of your time pitching for new projects. This in turn allows you to focus more of your time on the project (and client) at hand. Most freelancers enjoy working a lot more than they do pitching, so why put yourself through it if you don’t have to?
Get higher-paying projects – When you have a steady and regular income from dental writing, any spare time you do have can be focused on seeking out, and landing, higher-paying projects.
Since you aren’t focused on taking on any project because you need the cash, it makes it easier to create a stable of well-paying clients who truly value what you bring to their business.
As we know, having a stable of well-paying clients is the holy grail of freelancing and is something every content creator should aspire to.
Fosters great relationships – As you continue to work with clients, you’ll get a better feeling for what they want and how you can better serve them. Because trust has already been established, it allows you to leverage existing relationships and come up with further content suggestions that will benefit them, and indeed, you!
Leads to other work – Once you start working with dental clients in the long term, they may recommend or refer you to others in their industry. Because recommendations are the most powerful form of advertising, one client can quickly become two, three or even more.
As you can see, that’s seven ways to show how regular income is a lifeline for freelancers. So, with this in mind, let’s now take a look at three simple ways to obtain recurring revenue as a dental writer.
#1 Blogging
It’s no secret that I’m a huge advocate of blogging and the benefits they bring to dental businesses Yet, even in 2023, many dental practices don’t have an up-to-date blog. They either started blogging and ran out of steam, have the initial couple of posts that came free when the agency built their website, or they have the obligatory “Welcome to our blog page”, and nothing else.
Either way, that’s good for you because client blogging is a great source of regular income. Moreover, it’s a relatively easy sell from your point of view.
Most businesses (including dental practices) know they need to blog, but often, they don’t have the time or skills to do it themselves. This is where you come in.
Because blogging is a long-term marketing strategy, you can propose one or two posts a week for the foreseeable future. Naturally, ensure every post is engaging and well-researched and if you continue to produce great content, it isn’t unheard of for freelancers to work with the same client for a decade or more.
So, how do you find dental clients who need blogs?
Run a Google search for “dentists in (your area)” check out their website and see what their blogging status is. If it’s non-existent, or it hasn’t been updated in a while, then drop them a line explaining how you can help, simple!
#2 – Social Media Content
Social media has become an ingrained part of our culture and is just as important to businesses. After all, dental companies want to be posting where their clients hang out and companies who aren’t are missing a trick.
Ultimately dental businesses require a steady stream of regular social content and who’s going to supply that content? Yep, you!
While a daily post might not be worth much individually, time that by five or seven, and then monthly and it soon mounts up.
According to research, as of 2023, the average person spends 151 minutes per day browsing and interacting on their social media channels and this will only increase. So, like blogging, this is something that’s only going to become more in demand.
Again, do some research and check which dental practices in your area are not currently using social media and ask them if they need any assistance
#3 – Agency work
It’s fair to say that not all agencies are created equal. While some tend to commoditise the work that writers do, others are more strategic and treat their writers as valuable members of the team. When this happens and they position you as an expert with their clients, they can be an outstanding source of recurring revenue.
As a top tip, in addition to the numerous dental marketing agencies, don’t forget to talk to the generalist agencies as they too may have dental clients on their books. There’s no harm in asking anyway.
Remember, just as you would prefer to work with the same great clients, agencies who value what you bring to the table, prefer to work with good writers in the long term. So get the fit right and you could be on to a winner.
So there you have it – three (not so) secret sources of recurring revenue for dental content writers.
Trust me, once you have two or three clients providing regular income in exchange for regular work, your freelance business will be in a much better position to grow.
If you’re new to dental content writing and want to know where to start, you can download my free guide to becoming a well-paid dental content writer from scratch.
Alternatively, If you’re already up and running, don’t forget to subscribe to my blog. In the coming weeks and months, I’ll be tackling some of the most frequently talked about subjects that new writers want to know. So keep watching.
In the meantime, here’s to your success!