cmd + create

issue #1

The monthly newsletter for freelancers and writers who want bold, relatable content without the fluff — just stories and insights to help you create with more intention.

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​Ni haody, Reader!​

If January could be summed up in two words, it would be "circle back."

You know the drill: dusting off those projects you filed under "maybe later" last year. Watching your inbox light up with messages from clients who pulled the old vanishing act in December (only to materialize like clockwork when January comes around). Hey, I’m literally not even mad about it.

Why? Those circles brought fresh faces to my pipeline (cue the confetti! 🎉). We're talking the kind of January momentum that everyone wishes for when content calendars flip to the new year.

It also marked an exciting first for me: the official launch of command + create after months of living in my head rent-free. (another round of confetti! 🎉) To everyone who’s been following along, and especially to those of you joining from my blog list, welcome! Here’s what you can expect from this newsletter, cmd + create, month to month:

• A roundup of my most-read posts (aka "what resonated with other writers")
• An honest look at my monthly financials (because freelancing deserves pay transparency too!)
• My take on current media and the wonderful world of SaaS (spoiler: it's always something)

Look, I know inboxes are sacred space. If my particular brand of rambling isn't your thing, there's a handy unsubscribe link at the bottom – no hard feelings! But if you're up for monthly doses of freelance real talk, client stories (both wins and facepalms), and SaaS industry musings, I'd love to have you stick around.

Without further ado, let’s circle back to this month’s roundup.

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My most popular posts

You all had some pretty clear favorites this month, and I'm not surprised — these posts tackle the questions I get asked most often in my DMs. From "how do I actually make money at this?" to "what tools do I need?", here's what resonated most with readers in January:

From $0.30 to $1 a Word: How I Scaled My Freelance Writing Rates Turns out y'all are really interested in making more money (and honestly, who isn't?) Read Now

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How to Build a Freelance Writing Portfolio (Tips & Examples) To Google Doc, or not to Google Doc. That is the question... Read Now

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Tools of the Trade: My Freelance Writer Tech Stack Because sometimes having the right tools makes the difference between a good writing day and a great one. Read Now

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Monthly financial review

After a decidedly dry December where I had 0 projects lined up, January bounced back with a boom as an incredibly successful month for me. (Thank goodness, the bank account was looking pretty sad there...)

• Clients worked with: 7
• New clients signed: 2 (including one enterprise client I’m very excited about)
• Total deliverables: 12
• Total revenue: $11,040
• Highest ticket item: $1200 blog post for Borderless AI​
• Lowest ticket item: $520 blog post for an agency
• Hours spent writing: 20
• My average hourly rate: $556
• My average per word rate: $0.72

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What's on my mind this month

• What I’m listening to: Work by ATEEZ (gotta make that money make purse)
• What I’m watching: Squid Game Season 2 (I’ll finish this season eventually!)
• What I’m reading: Gideon the Ninth (for the second time)
• Thoughts about SaaS/content marketing: The recent hubbub about Hubspot’s traffic tanking had me laughing. I think Alex Birkett from Omniscient Digital said it best in his newsletter, aptly titled “armchair SEO” — “Critiquing from the sidelines is easy. Execution is hard.” It’s tempting to say that SEO is dead or that Hubspot is failing at it, without having any inside info.
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  I for one, believe SEO is alive and well, just changing as it always does. SEO writers like me will continue to have jobs. There will always be people looking for answers via search. It’s just a slightly different game now, one where the stakes are higher and the readers are more discerning. EEAT and all that, you know.

That's all for this month's issue of cmd + create! I started this newsletter to create the kind of honest conversation about freelancing that I wished existed when I was starting out. No sugar coating, no humble brags — just real talk about what it's like to build a sustainable writing business while trying to keep your sanity (and your tea warm).

If you found any of this helpful, consider forwarding it to another writer in your circle. We're all in this together, and sometimes knowing you're not alone in the freelance wilderness makes all the difference.

Until next month,

Hsing

P.S. Got thoughts? Hit reply — my inbox is always open for good conversation (and dog photos. Always dog photos).