Hello Reader!

A few years ago, my best friend invited me to go on a cruise. I was swamped with work and declined the invitation.

Months later, she was gone.

Mary Oliver beautifully poses the question that rests—sometimes nitpicks—at the back of all of our minds:

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

With your one wild and precious life?

I can say with certainty the pile of extra work I had a few years ago that I chose over time with my bestie means nothing to me now. I don't remember the client. I don't remember the work. I don't remember the check.

I do remember the reget.

Now, I'm not saying that you should quit your job, shirk your responsibilities, and Thoreau yourself (get it?) into the woods to live more deliberately. Although that would be super cool.

I am saying that if you have the luxury (which sometimes we don't), it's okay to slow down. It's okay sometimes to choose your family, mental health, or plain old fun with a friend.

As an independent business owner and natural overachiever, slowing down is PAINFULLY hard for me.

While I do intentionally slow down at times, I am also continually looking for ways to work smarter and free up my time. Here's what I've learned so far.

1. Consider the opportunity cost.

That grand ol' economic principle of "how much will it cost me to do this myself vs. how much will it cost me to hire help?" should be a polestar in life and your business.

If I can make $100 in an hour writing an article, it makes more sense to pay the neighborhood kid $20 to mow my lawn and take on another project.

The same sentiment applies to subcontracting to writers you trust and with full disclosure to your clients.

Similarly, if the pay is low on a time-intensive project, it's a better idea to say no to that project and yes to a better client.

2. Don't waste your time on things other people have already done for you.

If you're learning a new skill or building a new business, you don't have to start from scratch. Several experts and proven resources are available to help you avoid gobs of research and falling down a rabbit hole.

For example, I am continually looking for ways to improve my writing methods and business strategy.

Trial and error work, but it takes so much time to do everything myself.

Looking for help from top industry blogs, Google, and other freelance professionals saves me time (and a headache). I am always trying to learn what others do to be successful and using their strategies to speed up my work.

If you're in need of help with organizing your content team, I offer templates with proven systems and processes that help you get your *ish together.

Learn more about the templates here

3. Raise your prices.

I started freelance writing penny/world articles during downtimes at my 9-5. While I had to decrease my funny cat video viewing on YouTube, it was a fun way to get my feet wet and learn a new skill.

It would not be good if 15 years later, I was still charging .01/word.

I've raised my prices several times since those first days, and now I don't look at a project unless it at least starts at $1/word.

If you're looking for information on how to benchmark your rates, check out this report.

4. Create processes and invest in automation.

I cannot stress how important it is to solidify your processes and automate what you can.

Stats show that the average worker spends an additional 4 hours a week on mundane tasks that could be automated.

If you're working 20 hours a week, that means you're wasting 20% of your time—time where you could be making more money or doing something more enjoyable.

Here are some tools that will automate or speed up your work:

A content brief
An automated introduction email
An automated onboarding email
Proposal software
An easily customizable contract
An accounting and invoicing software
An editing software
A project management tool

There are several other tools and processes I use to make writing faster, SEO optimization easier, and work move along more quickly (see above).

5. Hire a research assistant, virtual assistant, and/or optimize AI

If you can take some time to slow down, do it. If you can't afford a break, then use the strategies listed above to speed up what you're already doing.

Either way, hopefully, you'll experience my favorite benefit of being a business owner—flexibility and fewer time constraints. And that you'll take the extra time to take care of yourself in whatever way you need.

Thanks for reading,

Ashley R. Cummings

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Newsletter Rec | Harlow

The Harlow newsletter is a treasure trove for freelancers, creators, and entrepreneurs. Each week, you’ll receive hot job opportunities delivered straight to your inbox, along with timely resources to support you as you grow and evolve. Samantha Anderl, the author and co-founder of Harlow, offers a genuine and authentic perspective based on 10+ years of experience and creates an environment for freelancers to build thriving businesses.

Join the list -> https://meetharlow.com/subscribe-newsletter/

Expert Interview | Michal Eisik

1. Tell me more about yourself and your career journey.

I started in speech therapy and journalism — two fields that taught me the power of clarity, empathy, and saying just enough. I worked as an agency copywriter for 5 years before going out on my own, then 10Xed my business in 18 months thanks to consistent LinkedIn-ing and a strong website.

Today, I run Michal Eisik Media, a boutique copywriting agency that helps B2B tech brands turn their messaging from a (buyer-repelling) liability to a competitive advantage — with website copy that’s crisp, conversational, and impossible to ignore.

I also help freelancers build thriving businesses through 3 live mentorship programs and an array of products. CopyTribe is our flagship course — a 7-month university-level copywriting & marketing certification program.

2. What’s the most outstanding piece of advice you’d give someone about website copywriting?

Web copy lives and dies by readability. You can have the most strategic, persuasive messaging in the world… but if it’s in a chunky wall of text or buried in a confusing layout, nobody is gonna read it.

Great website copy is structured with visuals and layouts in mind. The best way to do this is to wireframe your copy. Wireframes can be impressive and useful without complicated software — we use Gdocs and clients love it. They hand it to their designer just like that. (Fun fact: our bestselling product is a Mama Wireframe Template that we use internally for every web page we write. Saves us 3+ hours every project.)

Bottom line: your words matter. But so does how they show up on the screen.

3. What’s one mistake you see B2B businesses make on their websites (in regards to copy)?

Playing it safe with copy that sounds like everybody else.

So many businesses default to buzzwordy, bloated messaging — “goodbye spreadsheets, hello efficiency.” 🙄 Not because they love jargon. But because they see the big-name players doing it and think that’s what credibility looks like.

If you’re not the Goliath in your industry, you can’t afford to blend in. Your messaging needs to sound fresher, clearer, and more differentiated than the category leaders. Use vivid, simple, customer-first language. That’s how you stand out, get remembered, and stay on the shortlist.

Snapshots | Best In Content This Week

This week's sharpest content marketing, search, and social articles.

1/ Google I/O 2025: The Background Google Didn’t Tell You (SEJ): This article critiques how Google presented its AI capabilities at I/O 2025, arguing that the "complex" baseball example used to demo AI Mode was actually simple, relying on well-known stats and public info already stored in Google’s Knowledge Graph. The author warns marketers not to follow Big Tech’s lead in overselling AI’s sophistication, urging honesty and clarity when promoting AI products—because savvy audiences will eventually see through the hype.

2/ Are AI Chatbots Replacing Search Engines? (onelittleweb): AI chatbots like ChatGPT are growing fast, but they’re not replacing search engines yet. A two-year study shows chatbot traffic surged 80% year-over-year, but still accounts for only 1/34th of search engine traffic. Google and Bing continue to dominate, especially as they integrate AI features. The takeaway? Search isn’t dying—it’s evolving. For marketers and SEOs, the future means showing up in both traditional results and AI-driven answers.

Content Marketing Today Is Like This 👇

Am I right?

AI Updates | Bot News

The latest AI tools, updates, prompts, and how marketers use them.

🤖 AI in Search: Going beyond information to intelligence (Google): Google just rolled out its most powerful AI search update yet, with live camera chat, deep research reports, personalized results, and even the ability to buy things for you.

🤖 Top ways to ensure your content performs well in Google's AI experiences on Search (Google Developer): Google shares how to get your content to show up in Google's AI overviews.

🤖 Breaking down the AI Mode Patent (Mike King, LI): Michael King breaks down the patent behind Google’s AI Mode, revealing a multi-stage, intent-driven system that reshapes how content is discovered and ranked, making traditional SEO tactics largely obsolete in favor of semantic coverage, chunkable formats, and influence over AI-generated syntheses.