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Which Freelance Writing + Marketing Relationship Is Your Recipe for Success?

With holidays with the family coming up coming up, I got a little ahead of things and started thinking about pumpkin pie versus that delicious chocolate thing my sister-in-law always brings. Which one should I go for? How much? Now or later?

Like all important choices, it depends. Choose one or both? Sliver or chunk? With or without whipped cream? One thing’s for sure – too much of a good thing is no bueno. Hence my obsession with planning ahead.

Which brings me back to this pressing question: what freelance writing and/or marketing communications relationship is the recipe for success? This is something on many people’s minds how best to allocate marketing dollars in 2025. After the budget-constrained, inflationary economy of the last couple of years, many companies are choosing to hire freelance talent over full-time employees for marketing and writing roles. It certainly makes sense for startup companies and small- to medium-sized companies that prefer not to add traditional employees but do need the expertise for key roles.

If you’re leaning toward choosing freelance over full-time, there are several types of relationships to consider:

  • By Project – You hire a freelance writer or marketer for a specifically defined project with a set budget.
  • By Retainer – You have ongoing writing and comms needs so you commit to a specific number of hours per month at a set monthly fee for specific services.
  • As a Contract Marketing Director – You want your freelancer to be an extension of your team with an expanded role that includes all things communications.

Each has its own benefits. Let’s dive in a little deeper on the advantages of each.

By Project. This freelance relationship is perfect when you have limited and/or very specific needs. This allows you to engage a writer, PR person, or other creative who can meet very specific needs as they arise. Here are two examples. 

For the last three years, I have written technical case studies on a project basis for Triplepoint Environmental. Known as the “lagoon experts,” Triplepoint is a leader in wastewater treatment and these case studies are invaluable for business development. Yet they only need three or four written a year. Knowing they can bring someone in who knows their industry on a project basis for a set rate is attractive and budget friendly. As a freelancer, I welcome the assignments as I know Triplepoint’s industry and expectations. And the people who work in the wastewater industry are fun.

Here’s an example of an expanded freelance project relationship. Five years ago, the Notre Dame IDEA Center hired me for an ongoing project: writing a series of alumni profiles called the FouNDers Series. We agreed on the format, the frequency (average of two per month), and the fee per profile. This relationship gave the IDEA Center exactly what they needed: a consistent flow of high-quality content for their website and social channels, a no surprises budget and no need to hire a full-time writer. As the freelancer, I appreciated the ongoing project and writing the profiles of interesting people. See the FouNDers Series here. 

By Retainer. This relationship is for those who have ongoing communications needs and want to make sure they have access to the writer and/or comms person with the right skills and knowledge base. The retainer agreement includes specific services covered by the retainer, services not covered such as outside vendor costs and, of course, an agreed upon fee. It’s important to create a retainer contract so both client and freelancer legally agree to the arrangement. If there are disagreements, the contract is an important point of reference.

Retainers are extremely flexible, allowing you as the client to choose your level of commitment. You need 20 hours a month for creating and managing blogs and social posts? Perfect! Have a broader scope requiring 10-15 hours a week? That works, too. Retainer clients get priority service from their talent as it’s an ongoing gig. Another bonus is clients with larger time commitments may get a “volume discount” from the freelancer. Make sure you ask!

Here’s an example of a Lux-Writes retainer client: VisionTech. For the last 15 years, I’ve been on retainer with VisionTech to promote all of their investor pitches, profile the pitch companies, create and manage their e-newsletter, redevelop and maintain the website, and handle PR. This is a successful relationship for everyone. VisionTech has not had to hire a full-time person, which they don’t need, but they do have an expert on their team who gets the job done.

Contract Marketing Director. This is like a retainer but on steroids. A contract marketing director (CMD) – also called fractional marketing director – literally becomes part of your team, performing all agreed upon marketing and communications-related tasks. Instead of a full-time salary, you pay based on the experience of the person, time commitment and scope of services. Typically, such relationships are more formal than other freelance gigs. Companies will often give their CMD a title, email address, business cards if used, and access to platforms like Teams. CMDs can work on-site, remote or combination thereof.

The advantage to you the client is having a high-level person both accessible and capable of handling a broad range of things – strategy implementation, budgets, social media, digital advertising, writing, etc. – without the full-time commitment. Too, this is not a lifelong commitment; you and your CMD agree to the length of the engagement, responsibilities, deliverables, and associated fees; put it in a contract; sign; and boom! You’re ready to go.

For startup companies, the CMD role can be fluid, meaning the individual handles all marketing communications, or extremely focused on a clear end game. In 2022, I was hired as the CMD for an agtech startup called Smart Apply. My role was to rebrand and reposition Smart Apply for acquisition. The engagement included:

  • New logo, brand identity and website
  • Creation and management of social media channels
  • Public relations
  • Investor relations
  • Sales literature + dealer support
  • Blogging
  • Email marketing
  • Trade show and speaking engagement support
  • Video scripting and production

Fifteen months into the engagement, Smart Apply was acquired by the John Deere Company. I remained in the role  for 15 more months to ensure a smooth transition and continued elevation of the Smart Apply brand. When the engagement ended, there was no person to “let go” or severance to pay. The mission was accomplished.

When it comes to hiring freelance writing and marketing communications talent, there is no single recipe for success. The services, time, and financial requirements are defined by your needs and budget. The challenge lies in finding the right person as your go-to freelance writer or marketing director. How to do that is a whole other discussion!

If you have any questions about this topic, don’t hold back. Find Lux Writes’ contact information here. Happy to chat or jump on a Zoom. Pie optional.