Nurse Kaycee Here

Hey everyone, I wanted to give my first update on my journey to becoming a nurse entrepreneur as a freelance RN health writer. I have been working hard and am excited to share how things are going.

Where I started

If you aren’t familiar with my journey, my name is Kaycee, and I started a freelance health writing business where I use my knowledge and years of experience as an RN to write content for different health publications. I just got started on my journey and it’s going well. I started a blog to help document my journey and to inspire other nurses to go for nurse entrepreneurship. I also started my blog because I enjoy writing about different nurse things and about my experiences in nursing.

What I’ve Been Doing

For the last five weeks I have been sending what are called LOIs (letters of introduction) to multiple non-profit organizations in hopes that I can volunteer to write content for them in exchange for a chance to get published. This allows me to add clips to my professional writing portfolio. I have sent almost twenty LOIs so far in total, if not a few more. I had a handful of companies respond back to me and two that I am currently working with.

The first nonprofit organization that I met with asked me to write a blog post for them. We scheduled a meeting and discussed what this would look like and the specifics of what exactly they needed. I took a week to write the blog post and during this week we e-mailed back and forth to discuss details such as format, word count, and citation styles. I just submitted the final draft for the blog so hopefully I will have my first published clip in the next 1-2 weeks! How exciting!

I added a portfolio section to my professional website and plan on adding the clip to it so clients can view my published writing pieces easily.

The second non-profit organization I met with about three weeks ago and we had a similar discussion about what they needed. The Development and Outreach Coordinator wanted to meet with his team to see if they had specific topics that they would like me to write for their blog. Once they get back with me, I will be able to get into the details about the blog they would like me to write for them.

Tips if You’re in the Process

It took about four weeks of me sending LOI’s to hear back from one client. If you are in this process and feeling discouraged, keep going! It can be so hard to be patient but it is so worth it once the inquiries start coming in. If you sent an LOI and haven’t heard back in a week or two, try sending follow up e-mails to remind them that you are still interested in helping them and maybe even try pitching a topic they may be interested in? This can help take the mental load off of their plate and I have had success pitching ideas to nonprofit clients.

Another tip I have is that you do not have to be an expert in the field the nonprofit specializes in. Feel free to send LOI’s to any companies that specialize in any topics you are interested in. You can always do research to find out more about a topic.

I am extremely grateful for the opportunities to be able to write for these nonprofit organizations. It can be nerve wrecking reaching out to companies and waiting to hear a response back from them. But it does go to show you that if you don’t ask, the answer is always no.

If you find something you are passionate about, go for it!