Content Strategist Earning $120,000/year

Welcome to another post in the $100k Club series. You can see the full series here. This is "My Morning Routine" for content marketing folks making six figures. The goal is to shed light on the skills and habits that enable people to achieve lucrative jobs and help get more people in this club.

These will be anonymous and updated regularly. If you make more than $100k/year and want to contribute, fill out the form here.

For more info on content marketing salaries, check out our salary report.

If you'd like to see more info on salary by job title, check out these resources: Content Marketing Manager Salary, Content Strategist Salary, Head of Content Salary, and Content Director Salary.

What was your first full-time job in content? What was the salary?

Sunbasket. 65K/annually.

List out your income by year for as long as you've been working in content marketing.

• 2014: 65,000
• 2015: 70,000
• 2016: 70,000
• 2017: 65,000
• 2018: 40,000 (started my own startup)
• 2019: 40,000
• 2020: 98,000
• 2021: 100,000
• 2022: 118,000
• 2023: 120,000

How much do you earn today? What's your job title?

120K, Independent Content Strategist

What's single biggest salary jump you've made? (either from job-hopping or a promotion/raise)

Job hopping from doing my thing to working in-house was the first big jump. The next big jump was going freelance after my last full-time role.

What is your most valuable skill?

Storytelling, interviewing and integrating teams.

What's the best book you've ever read on writing, marketing, sales, business or productivity? (Feel free to suggest more than one!)

Everybody Writes By Ann Handley

Have you had a career mentor/coach? If so, how did you find them and what have you learned from them?

Not officially. But, I have peers that I consult with. We meet regularly and hold each other accountable.

What skills or habits help you thrive at work?

Collaboration across people, teams and competitors. Also, I never assume I know more than my client or their team. Working in partnership with team members, clients and leaders—as opposed to pretending to have all the answers—has been a big driver of referrals to my freelance business.

Tell us about your current job. What does a week in your life look like? What are your primary responsibilities?

Right now I work with a handful of small businesses on retainer. I typically have 6-month engagements to flesh out marketing plans, train teams, and create systems that help them with sustainable content plans well after I'm gone. A typical week looks like three days in client work and meetings, and two days on my owner marketing and creative projects. It's a nice balance.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to join the $100k club?

First, get the experience you need. Either in-house, at an agency or working with smaller clients. Once you know you can provide true value, charge what you're worth. I started with a handful of clients at smaller retainers and realized I could only handle three at a time with larger retainers. I've only once had a hot lead say no because they couldn't afford me.

Where do you live?

San Francisco, CA