How to Stand Out as a Freelance Writer: Tips to Attract Top Clients | Sakshi Udavant | GlaspTalk #18
This is the eighteenth session of Glasp Talk!
Glasp Talk delves deep into intimate interviews with luminaries from various fields, unraveling their genuine emotions, experiences, and the stories behind them.
Today's guest is Sakshi Udavant, also known as Luna, a distinguished freelance journalist and content writer. Sakshi has worked with top brands like PayPal, Mozilla, Business Insider, Investopedia, NBC, Digital Trends, and Big Think, delivering exceptional journalism and SEO + marketing content. With a course in journalism from Michigan State University and a degree in psychology from the University of Mumbai, she combines her expertise in consumer psychology with her writing skills to create compelling narratives.
In this interview, Sakshi shares her journey from a creative childhood to becoming a professional writer. She discusses the significance of building strong relationships with clients, the challenges of working with large brands, and her experience balancing creativity with SEO requirements. Sakshi also offers advice for aspiring writers on embracing creativity, building a diverse portfolio, and navigating the evolving landscape of AI in content creation. Join us as we explore Sakshi Udavant's insightful experiences and her impactful work in journalism and content writing.
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Transcripts
Glasp: Welcome back to Glasp Talk. Today, we are excited to have Sakshi Udavant, also known as Luna, a distinguished freelance journalist and content writer. Sakshi has worked with top brands like PayPal, Mozilla, Big Sync, and Business Insider, delivering exceptional SEO and marketing content. With a background in journalism from Michigan State University and a degree in Psychology from the University of Mumbai, she combines her expertise in consumer psychology with her writing skills to create compelling narratives. Today, we'd like to ask her about how to create compelling content or stories, and also delve into SEO, content marketing, creativity, and more. So, welcome to Glasp Talk, Sakshi.
Sakshi: Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.
Glasp: Thank you. So, first of all, I introduced you briefly, but could you introduce yourself to the audience or people who don't know you yet?
Sakshi: Sure. First of all, thank you for the lovely introduction; that was really nice. Basically, I'm a writer and I have done a lot of creative projects including digital marketing, content writing, web copy, social media marketing, digital marketing, PR—basically, if you need words, I'm the person you want to call. Like you mentioned, I've worked with a lot of big brands like PayPal, Mozilla, Business Insider, NBC, Investopedia, Digital Trends, Android Police, Chicago Tribune—so I have a vast experience. Because of my background in psychology, I think it helps me to find ways to connect better with the audience. Instead of just putting words out there—there's so much content out there that people don't want to scroll and scroll and scroll—I can help you find ways to engage the audience's attention, how to capture their interest, how to find the target demographic. These are some of the things I specialize in, but I am a very versatile person in terms of what I have done so far, so I'm always open to seeing what's out there.
Glasp: Interesting. Yeah, I think it's clear. So, what made you think, "I want to be a writer?" What was the first trigger or opportunity to become a writer?
Sakshi: Well, I've always been a creative person. Ever since I was a child, I used to write at a really young age. I remember when I was in school, one of my poems was published online, and that was a time when the internet was not a big deal—very few people had Google and computers at home. My stuff was online, and that was like an awakening for me. Like, "Hey, the stuff I'm creating is going beyond my diary, and it has a place somewhere. People love it, there's an impact to what I'm creating." I kept on pursuing my creativity. I never viewed it professionally at first, but people really enjoyed my work. I kept getting calls, emails, and texts, and people wanted me to write for them, and some of them wanted to pay me. So I was like, "Why not? I mean, who is going to refuse free money?" That's how I got started. But once I realized that this is not just a hobby, not just something I do for leisure, that I can actually really grow a business around it, I started taking it really seriously. That's when I started outreach to all these big brands, really putting in the effort to develop my identity as a writer, developing my skill set—like doing that course in journalism and really upskilling myself to be professional, going from a hobbyist to an actual writer.
Glasp: Interesting. So, continuing with what you like to do, following your curiosity, helped you open up your career paths. That's really interesting. You like to write a lot, and people want to pay you, but you went to university, right? Did you major in journalism?
Sakshi: No, I actually have a degree in psychology. Journalism was just something I pursued on the side because at that point, I was still planning to be a psychologist, and writing was just something that I thought would be like a hobby, like a creative project, just like having a blog or putting it on social media. I did not know this could become so big, like PayPal would contact me asking me to work with them. I would have never imagined that. If you had asked me as a kid, "You're going to work with PayPal," I would have been like, "No, no, no, why would PayPal want to work with me?" That idea never even occurred to me. So I was planning to be a psychologist, and that actually helped me in writing so much because, as I mentioned, my background in psychology helps me understand how to reach the audience beyond the words—what is the emotion here, what is going to motivate them to subscribe, buy your product, read your page, things like that.
Glasp: I see. That's impressive that you've worked and helped many brands like PayPal, Mozilla, Business Insider, and so on. How did you get those jobs? Did they reach out to you based on what you wrote in the past? How did you get to work with so many great brands?
Sakshi: I think a lot of it has come from my portfolio. At first, I just wrote for everyone because I was so new to the industry. I did not have the experience or connections—nobody in my family does this, so I didn't have those contacts that could put me in a good job or something like that. I basically had to start my business from scratch and really build my identity from nothing. I used to work for anybody and everybody who would pay me for it, but that really helped me build my portfolio. As I started working for better and better brands, I feel like it's also the relationships I built with those people. Because there are so many writers out there from every country at every skill level, how are you going to stand out? It's not just about skill. There are some really skilled writers out there, but they're not very good to work with—they miss deadlines, or they don't understand what you're looking for. That's something I paid attention to early on—I would always submit on time, and if I knew I couldn't make your deadline, I would let you know and work on a solution. I would try to go above and beyond to maintain the relationship along with the project. I feel like building those relationships and having that strong portfolio are the two things that really helped. That's when people started talking about me to their networks. For example, if I worked with Business Insider—this hasn't happened, this is just an example—but say the Business Insider editor said, "This is a great writer I worked with," and someone else says, "Oh, I'm looking for a writer like that, can you send me the contact?" That's how they would reach out to me and say, "We've heard good things about you, would you like to work for us?" It's a combination of having very strong clips, like a portfolio to back up my experience, but also focusing a lot on building those relationships.
Glasp: And as a writer, if I want to be a content writer or freelance writer, where should I begin?
Sakshi: Write. Start writing. I know a lot of people are like, "Oh, I want to be a dancer, I want to be a singer, I want to be a writer." What should you do? Write, sing, dance—do what you want to do. You have to practice, put in the work, develop your skills, and stop being very precious with what you do. For example, if I just started dancing and I'm like, "Oh, I cannot put a video online, I cannot dance in front of anybody," I don't know how I'm going to grow like that. I know a lot of people who write, but they're like, "Oh, I cannot put it online, I cannot show this to anyone." That's just not going to work. At some point, you have to get over yourself, stop being embarrassed, stop thinking about what people are going to say, and just put yourself out there. You have to do it more and more, grow from your mistakes, write for small brands, big brands—you have to write. That's the biggest advice: just write and don't be so afraid of rejections. For example, I emailed Business Insider, and if I had thought, "Oh, they're not going to work with me, they're going to say no," I wouldn't have that byline today. But it's because I sent that email and they said yes. You just don't know what's going to work out for you—you have to write and put yourself out there.
Glasp: I see. And also, you have a Medium account, right? You have a thousand followers now. Do you think writing on Medium or those platforms helps your career as a writer?
Sakshi: Yeah, it does because it gave me a creative space to explore my writing skills. If you see my stuff in Business Insider or Mozilla, it's professional, a little academic, business-like, not always very creative. But I also needed a space to use my creativity, like talk about books and movies. I do a lot of movie analysis, cultural analysis, or things about psychology. I wanted to dive deep into those topics, and initially, in my career, as I said, I didn't have those contacts. I couldn't just call The New York Times and say, "Hey, I want to write about relationships." They would be like, "Who are you?" So I needed a space to build myself up. That's when free platforms like Medium and Substack, or just starting your own free blog, are so helpful. First, it gives you the confidence to start putting your content out there. Even if nobody sees it, at least it's out there—you can share it with friends and family, ask people for feedback. The second is it helps you understand how audiences actually perceive your content. If you upload a lot of stuff on relationships and nobody's reading it, but if you upload something on finance and it goes viral, that gives you an idea like, "Okay, maybe my audience is interested in these topics," and it really helps you build that skill set.
Glasp: I see. At the same time, nowadays, there are many platforms like Substack where anyone can be their own media. For example, on Substack, if you're writing something about finance and technology, some people might pay you so that you can be an independent writer and earn some money directly from readers. Have you ever thought about that, not just becoming a freelance writer for brands, but having your own brand?
Sakshi: Yeah, I think that was always the plan because when you're working with clients, there are always restrictions. You have to do what they want, follow their style guidelines, and follow their rules. They are very specific in what they want, and that can be restrictive for your creativity. You cannot express your own style or do what you want—you have to do what they want. I feel like I really want to hone my own creativity and build my own brand. I've always wanted to have my own platform, maybe not even just text—maybe a podcast, a YouTube channel, a Substack. I'm very flexible with the format, but I think everyone should have it. Even if you're not making money out of it, even if it's just a hobby or a side hustle, it really helps you build the confidence and skill set—being regular, being consistent with posting, building some sort of readership, improving from your past work. It's so valuable, even if you're not making money. And if you're making money, that's a bonus.
Glasp: Interesting. You have worked with many brands, as you mentioned. Have you found any common points working with them? Each brand has its own branding guidelines and style, but they need your help, meaning they are struggling with something. Have you found any common mistakes that those brands make or anything you have found so far?
Sakshi: I think if you're working with bigger brands, there's just too many people involved. One person gives me the topic, someone else is giving me the outline, someone else is my editor, someone else is fact-checking it. There are like ten people telling me what to do, and it's not always aligned. Someone will be like, "Expand the introduction," but my editor is like, "No, cut the introduction." Maybe the CEO is telling me, "We need case studies," and the fact-checker is like, "This is all wrong." It's very confusing because I have to go back and keep working on the document 20 times, not because I've done something wrong, but because they're not very clear on what they're looking for. In those situations, we're all wasting our time and probably money because they're probably paying me to keep working on it again and again. I think I've seen this in most of the major brands I've worked with—there's such a disconnect between what the higher-ups want and what the editors or manager-level people are telling the writers. Then there's further disconnect if you're working with the freelancer for the first time because they're not familiar with the process. It can take a lot of revisions to get it to a place where everybody—like 25 people—are satisfied. It just doesn't work. I think this can be streamlined if there's a process in place. It can be so simple: the writer has a blueprint, a guideline, a style guide, something like that they can follow. The editor checks it, and it gets approved or whatever. The more you streamline it, the more you're saving time and money. Otherwise, it's frustrating for everyone.
Glasp: Totally makes sense. Eventually, they need to decide, "Okay, this is the one we should publish," right? Who usually decides this—an editor, a manager, a CEO? I'm curious about the process.
Sakshi: That really depends on the company. In some companies, the editors have the final say because they are the ones working so closely with the content. They know what the audience wants, and in a lot of companies, it's the editor who will say, "No, this is what we should do." But in a lot of companies, it's whatever the CEO says—that's what happens. The CEO says, "We want this," so that's what we do.
Glasp: How long does it take to write an article, on average, for those different major media?
Sakshi: It really depends on so many factors. Are there interviews? A lot of my articles have interviews with experts, so from scheduling the interview, getting those responses into the article—it can take time. Sometimes it's very scientific. For example, one of my articles for Big Think was about a science paper. I had to take information from the science paper, but I can't write like that because nobody's going to understand it—the average reader can't understand something so academic. So I have to do a lot of background research and condense the information into simple and interesting language. Those pieces can take a lot of time. But then there are also very simple articles like "How to Protect Your Mental Health," which is a lot of basic information, especially because I have a psychology background. It's stuff I can write really fast.
Glasp: I see. Listening to you, it sounds like sometimes there's a back-and-forth between what the CEO asks for and what the editor is guiding.
Sakshi: Yeah, I think those issues really only happen when there's a large team. If you're just working with midsize companies or publications, like not brands but publications like Business Insider, the process is more streamlined because the editor assigns you stuff, and then they will publish it. There's not a lot of back and forth. But I feel like brands in particular that don't have a very strong publishing unit—that's where I've seen this problem.
Glasp: Makes sense. Interesting. This is just a general question, but when you are writing a draft or an article, where do you write it—Google Docs, Microsoft Word, any other specific tool?
Sakshi: I think Google Docs has been the most helpful so far, especially because of the syncing features. Sometimes I'm writing on my laptop, and I have to step out, and I can just continue elsewhere. Or maybe I'm on my computer and I find some information related to the article—I can just add it on my computer, and it syncs everywhere really fast. Also, the track changes feature—you can see what edits were made, when they were made, or leave suggestions and comments. I think that's so helpful.
Glasp: I see. But at the same time, you need to go through the research process, right? You mentioned you interview people, collect information from the web, academic papers, and so on. Where do you keep the information? Do you put all the information in the same Google Doc, or do you use Google Sheets, Google Keep, etc.?
Sakshi: Sometimes it depends on what my clients want because some clients can be very involved in this process—they want to see what information you're working with, they want to see the draft version, they want to be involved at that stage. Sometimes they have preferred tools, like they want a Google Document, or a Notion page that I have to update. But for me personally, I think just collecting all the information and putting it in a Google Doc right next to each other is so easy because then I can just pick information and use it in the new document. It's just simple. With other tools, you have to have so many tabs open, like Google Keep, and it's just messy.
Glasp: I'm curious about making great content. You mentioned that if it's too academic, it's hard for readers to understand, so you should focus on the readers. Do you have some key pieces that you usually keep in mind? For some writers, they might put an action button at the end or include research, examples, and action advice—do you have a format or pieces you keep in mind when writing something?
Sakshi: That would depend on what kind of article it is. If it's a tips article, like "Five Tips to Make Your Resume," I think those do well with a takeaway section. If you can just sum up all the advice at the end or at the beginning, I think that works really well. But if it's more like a feature, where I'm talking about minority communities, it doesn't make sense to have a summary or something like that. If it's a very deep piece about someone's mental health or someone's story, then it's better not to have that. The format really depends on what the publication is already doing. For example, a publication like Investopedia has a very set format—they have the key takeaways, the pros and cons table, it's very specific, and it's not my place to change that up because I'm just a writer. But there are some publications that are more free in terms of being open to the writer's suggestion—you do what you think is best.
Glasp: I see.
Sakshi: Personally, if I'm working on my own articles and it's not for a client, I love to have very nice sections. Sometimes when I'm reading something, it's just too long, and I'm like, "Oh, this is interesting, but it's just a wall of text," and it can get so intimidating. So I like to put pictures in between. If you see my Medium stuff, I put a lot of pictures, GIFs, videos, headings. I try to put charts, italics, bolds, things like that, just to make sure the audience isn't getting bored.
Glasp: I've seen that, yes. I understand. At the same time, nowadays, people are using AI tools like ChatGPT, Anthropic, Gemini, and so on for writing, especially for email writing too. Do you use AI tools like ChatGPT when you write or to generate better ideas and perspectives?
Sakshi: I love this question because I'm so into this space. I've worked on both sides of it. First, I've been a writer before ChatGPT was a big deal, and then I started working as an editor, and my responsibility was to work with AI content. I've seen both sides of it, and it's so interesting to me how much has changed in terms of content. Often, when I'm interviewing people, they will send me responses that are so clearly AI-generated. I tell them, "Excuse me, is this AI-generated? I don't think we can use this." And they're like, "No, no, this is original, we never use AI," but it's so obviously AI, especially because I work as an editor on AI content. I read the first line, and it's so obviously AI—nobody's stupid. But I think if you scroll on social media, Instagram, Twitter, anything like that, it has become a meme because ChatGPT keeps using words like "delve" and "tapestry," and everybody's laughing at it. I don't think a lot of people think ChatGPT or AI-generated content is credible—people are literally laughing at it. I'm not saying AI is bad or that it cannot be used; there are definitely ways it can be used productively, and a lot of people are doing very good stuff with AI. But at this point, I don't think it can replace creativity—it cannot write like a human, not at this point. In the future, I don't know, but at this point, it just can't.
Glasp: Do you use AI in your working process, like when you brainstorm or come up with better ideas, perspectives, and so on?
Sakshi: As a writer, I don't like to use AI because of hallucination—it just makes stuff up, gives you wrong facts, and you have to verify every single thing. If you're going through that much trouble, you might as well write it yourself. Personally, I'm not a fan of using AI-generated content, but like I mentioned, I also work as an editor where I have to deal with AI-generated content. That is the biggest bulk of my interaction with AI—my responsibility is mainly taking the AI-generated content and making it seem more human. But a fun way I do use AI is to learn languages, and that's a very personal thing—it's not related to my job—but I love getting it to translate stuff, check my vocabulary, correct my grammar. Stuff like that is so helpful.
Glasp: That makes sense. You've worked with many editors as a writer and an editor. Have you gone through any interesting editing processes?
Sakshi: Editing is such an interesting experience, both for me as a writer working with editors and me as an editor working with other writers, because there's just a different perspective that comes in. Sometimes you think you've done the best job you can, but then the editor is like, "This sucks," and they make sense—they have very valid points. The collaboration in the editing process is very, very helpful. The most interesting parts of editing have been when the editor helps you understand why you are wrong, where you're wrong. If an editor just mentions stuff like, "Rewrite this, this is not good," that's not very helpful because it doesn't give me feedback on why I have to rewrite this, what should change here. But if an editor is more specific, like, "The tone of voice is very aggressive here," or "We need to simplify the language here," if there is specific advice there, that can help a writer get better.
Glasp: Do you care about keyword volume when thinking about SEO?
Sakshi: Yeah, I do work in SEO, so I have to. A lot of algorithms at this point require you to look into keywords, and a lot of times, clients will request me to include specific keywords a specific number of times, headings, stuff like that—a lot of SEO stuff. If the client wants it, that's definitely something I pay attention to. But you have to be very careful because you don't want it to come across as very robotic, like "best insurance policy is blah blah blah," and "best insurance policy," and "best insurance policy." You don't want it to sound like that.
Glasp: Thank you. Our audience includes aspiring writers, content creators, news writers, and bloggers. Do you have any advice for them to become or to be better writers in the future?
Sakshi: Sure. I would say, have fun. I know there's so much pressure, deadlines, getting work, and being perfect, but it's so important to also enjoy what you're doing. For me personally, there was a time when I was just writing to write because it was my job and my business, and that really sucked the passion out of me. Then you start dreading it, seeing it as a chore. You want to be able to enjoy it. So whether you're writing as a hobby or turning it into a business, have fun with it. Experiment a little, step out of your comfort zone. If you're always writing business articles, try poetry. If you're doing poetry, maybe try fiction. Just experiment—you don't have to publish it, you don't have to show it to anyone, but try new things and stretch yourself, stretch the limitations of what you can do. The second advice would be to read a lot and to read a lot of different stuff. Read a book about a different culture, watch a documentary, listen to a podcast about unfamiliar topics. What will happen is you will listen to something that will resonate with something else, and you can connect those ideas and become so much better at integrating new perspectives in your writing.
Glasp: Totally makes sense. This is the last question, by the way. Glasp is a platform where people can leave and share what they are reading and learning as their digital legacy. What kind of legacy or impact do you want to leave behind?
Sakshi: Wow. I look at creativity as a cycle. When I listen to my favorite artists talk about how they became artists, they always mention, "He or she inspired me," or "I was inspired by this," and they grow up to become artists, and then I grow up watching them, and I'm like, "Wow, this person inspired me." Now, when I put out content, sometimes I'll get emails or messages on social media like, "Oh, your work really inspired me to write," and I'm like, "You see how that continues?" That person is going to write something that will inspire somebody else. So I think the biggest long-term vision or legacy, if you want to call it that, is for me to be my best creative self and put a lot of creative work out there so other people can get inspired by it. They see it and they're like, "This is possible for me. I can do this too. I don't have to just write in my diary, I don't have to keep stuff hidden—I can put it out there." People like me are doing it, and if maybe you relate to me because I'm a woman or you relate to me because of my ethnicity, whatever—you feel represented, you feel like somebody is doing it, and you feel like it's possible for you too. I want that creative cycle to continue as long as I can.
Glasp: Yeah, that's beautiful. Thank you so much for joining today. We really enjoyed the conversation with you.
Sakshi: No, it was such a pleasure for me. I really enjoyed talking to you both. I hope you enjoyed it too.
Glasp: Yeah, we did. Thank you.
