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So, you’re ready to launch your freelance career are you? That’s great news! It can take some people a whole lifetime to get to that stage, but once you know what you want it’s just a case of going out there and getting it.
Easier said than done, right?! Right.
I’m definitely not going to go on record saying it’s easy to launch your freelance career, because that’s far from the truth. However, like I mentioned in this post, if you create a step-by-step action plan that’s manageable (a.k.a. doesn’t make you break out in a cold sweat), launching a new freelance career can be both exciting and stress-free.
For today’s post, I’ve gathered together some of my favourite freelancers’ tips to bring to you in a neat guide that will show you how you can launch your freelance career in just 10 steps (well, you know, it might take a little more than that, but at least you’ll be making progress, hey?).
Underneath each tip, there’s a little guide for how you can best implement the advice given in a way that’s easy to digest.
Let’s crack on and get you launching that freelance career of yours, shall we?!
Tip #1: Figure out your who, why, and how
Your who: The kind of clients you want to reach. Don’t be afraid to get really specific here – think about what makes your dream client tick, what they want to improve in their industry, and how they want to reach THEIR ideal clients/customers.
Your why: Think about WHY you want to help these people in particular. Is it because you have experience working in a company just like theirs? Is it because you’re passionate about the work they do? Is it because you want to help improve that industry in some way?
Your how: Now it’s time to think about HOW you’re going to help these people. Bring together their pain points and discover solutions that work for them – whether it’s by creating great social media content or writing blog posts that are shareable.
When you bring these 3 things together, you can really make an impact on your ideal client because a) you have a really specific group of people to market to (so you can reach them without wasting time and money), and b) you can really speak to them on a level that resonates with them (by using the language they use and tapping into their pain points and offering the ideal solution!).
Make it work for you
- Write down a list of traits that your ideal client has. Are they a big-name brand or a start-up? Where do they position themselves in the industry? What do they sell? Who is THEIR ideal audience?
- Get really specific. This is important – at the end of it, you want to have a single brand in mind that ticks all your boxes.
- Create a post-it note that details this client and stick it somewhere close by. Whenever you do ANYTHING related to your business (whether it’s posting on Twitter, sending an email, or handing out business cards at a real life event), consider whether you’re speaking directly to this client. If not, re-work and try again!
Tip #2: Create Your Happy Place
Create a space that’s solely dedicated to your writing and your business. Whether you have a small corner or an entire room, spotlight your personality, use inspiring colors, organize it, and make it your ‘happy place.’
Tip from Shelby Deering of Tea and Ink
Make it work for you
- Scroll through Pinterest for some inspiration and start a mood board of work spaces you absolutely love.
- Pick up three items that emanate the vibe you want your workspace to have (it could be a photograph of your family, a painted quote, a plant, or a piece of art).
- Keep experimenting. It takes time to find a space that works for you! Experiment with colours, items, and organising tools – but whatever you do, make sure it’s a place that reflects YOUR values and is true to who you are as a freelancer.
Tip #3: Focus on Connection Before Conversion
You need to get paid for your work and, in those early hustle days, you will likely chase the sale. We market, we network and we use our lists to create revenue. Here’s the thing: when you focus on connection, conversion always follows. When you make an impact with your work, it will always be reflected in the numbers. So, focus on connection. Focus on impact. Focus on your delivering value to your dearest people and you’ll convert-like-crazy.
Tip from Olive of Dearest Olive Studio
Make it work for you
- Research your target client (you should have a list of their qualities now from tip #1!) and figure out where they hang out – is it on forums? At networking events? On Twitter?
- Start showing up in these places and making genuine connections (that means absolutely no selling). Offer advice, share their stories, and take a genuine interest in what they have to say (this will be useful for later).
- By now, you should have an understanding of what it is your ideal client needs. Now you can use everything you’ve learnt from hanging out with them to create really valuable services and content that make an impact on the people that matter.
Tip #4: Just Start!
If you want to become a successful freelancer, the best thing you can do is start and then keep moving forward. Sure, it’s great to learn and take courses and stuff, but if you never actually put yourself out there and try, it’s all for nothing. So instead of waiting until you feel 100% prepared, go forth at 50% and learn the rest on the fly. I promise, you’ll be better off for it in the long run
Tip from Gina of Horkey Handbook
Make it work for you
- Write down something you can do today that will take you one step closer to being the freelancer you dream of being. It could be something as simple as sending a Tweet, creating an “About” page on your website, or reaching out to a brand you absolutely love.
- Go right ahead and do that something!
- Do this every day for one month. Make the one task you do each day small and manageable, and don’t forget to evaluate what works and what doesn’t (e.g. if you sent out a Tweet and nothing happened, tweak the copy or consider a different platform)
Tip #5: Create a One-Pager
Create a 1 page document outlining the terms and conditions of working with you from the start. Having this in place prevents so many stressful situations with clients. You can keep it short and simple when you start, but it should include things like your terms of payment and number of revisions to your work. It states your boundaries and creates a professional impression.
Tip from Sam of Horsepower Creative Media
Make it work for you
- Grab a piece of paper and write down these headings: Pricing, payments, revisions, communication
- Envisage the perfect project with the perfect client (use your findings from tip #1 and tip #3 for this) and, under each heading on your piece of paper, write down what you did for each section – why was the pricing so successful? How did you handle payments? How many revisions did you do and how did you manage them? What was the communication like throughout?
- Now piece this together into a one-page document that highlights your working process on an IDEAL project. Remember to be realistic here!
Tip #6: Add Personality to Your Pitches
When I was looking for a researcher for a project, I received SO many generic pitches and proposals that could have been written by anyone about anyone. Remember that we ALL make connections on a human level, so it’s really important to BE human in your pitches.
Make it work for you
- Get specific with your skills (DON’T just saying “I’m reliable and can write well” – that should be a given!)
- Inject a little bit of YOU into your pitches (whether it’s a brief sentence about yourself outside of work, or the unique way you sign off emails)
- Create a conversation (don’t just reel off your skills, qualifications, and credentials. Instead, create a conversation with the potential client – answer their questions, and even ask some yourself).
Tip #7: Know Your Worth and Stick to It
Don’t allow anyone to tell you that your services/products are too expensive. People pay for what they value, and those who don’t value what you have to offer aren’t people who deserve your time. Be patient, provide excellent work, and you’ll have plenty of clients who will pay what you’re worth.
Tip from Vanessa R Williams
Make it work for you
- Know that it takes time to figure out a pricing structure that works for you and very few freelancers get it right first time (and there’s no right or wrong way!)
- Go with your gut – if you feel like your prices are too low, they usually are. Try increasing them bit by bit with each client until you reach a price that you’re comfortable with
- Keep your ideal client in mind. Your ideal client is VERY willing to pay the prices you charge because, well, they’re your ideal client. If someone balks at your prices, the chances are they’re not your ideal client
Tip #8: You Don’t Have to Do It All Yourself
If you find yourself dreading your inbox or putting together invoices, do yourself a favor and hire a virtual assistant. They will give you the freedom and head space to focus on doing what you love and make more money in the process.
Tip from Maria of Carras Creative
Make it work for you
- Track the time it takes you to do EVERYTHING in your business, from writing invoices to marketing to actually doing the job you were paid for
- Figure out which things are getting you the best results (for example, specific marketing strategies), and figure out what’s taking up too much of your time and stopping you from doing those things that get the best results
- Consider outsourcing those time-sucking tasks to a virtual assistant. It’s worth working out whether the time you save from carrying them out yourself will increase your revenue in the long-term
Tip #9: Put Yourself Out There
It can be really hard when you’re first starting out to put yourself in front of potential clients. But if you think about it as making connections and building relationships rather than shoving your services in peoples’ faces, it gets so much easier. So, start joining in conversations on social media and making contact with brands you love via email
Make it work for you
- Use Twitter and Google to make a list of potential clients you’d like to work with and who look like they could do with your help
- Craft personalised pitches to each of them showing the value your services will give them. Ask them questions, be personable, and think about building relationships NOT selling your services
- Send out three emails a week to these clients
Tip #10: Always Be Hustling
As a freelancer, you never want to become complacent. You may have a full schedule of client work and feel on top of the world, but you should never assume this will last.
Ask any experienced freelancer and they can tell you, it’s entirely possible to lose many clients over a short period of time, and then you’re back at square one. So, get out there and always be hustling.
Tip from Elna Cain
Make it work for you
- Have back-up systems in place even when your workload is good or too much
- That could be things like continuing to email three new brands a week to build connections, or guest posting on new sites once a month to expand your reach
- Build a collection of client-grabbing methods that you can diversify your marketing with so you don’t rely on one single method (for example, you might swap between marketing on Twitter, reaching out to brands directly, and applying for jobs on jobs boards)
These tips are coming to you straight from the mouth’s of experienced freelancers – it’s the things they’ve learnt to implement over time and it’s the things that have got them to the stage they’re at now.
That doesn’t mean all of these tips will work for you, though. Freelancing is a different ball game for different people, so it’s well worth spending the time figuring out what it is you want to get out of freelancing, who you want to help with your services, and what’s holding you back.
Your turn!
What one tip would you give to budding freelancers? Or which of these do you think you’ll give a go this week? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Oh yea! These are great tips, even for the veteran freelancer to remember! My biggest problem is putting myself out there for fear I may not be able to complete a task. I hate to say “No” and I really hate defeat. I’m trying to get past it, though. 🙂
Thanks for sharing. Signed up for your workbook!
Bren
Brenda Pace recently posted…How To Increase Your Content Shareability
Thanks so much, Bren! I’m one of those people that hates to say “No”, too, but I’m really trying to work on that this year. I’ve come up with a list of questions I ask myself about potential clients to see if they’d REALLY be a good fit!
These are so great and true! I had so much trouble when I first started with #7 & #9 . It’s all about believing in yourself and just going for it! Great post!
Those were the EXACT two tips I had problems with, too – it’s so hard figuring out what you’re worth when there’s nothing to compare it to! Thanks for stopping by, Janet 🙂
I love number #8 – add personality to your pictures. It’s funny I was just discussing this with my Facebook Group, it’s a great way to stand apart from the competition!
Yes! That’s a tip I ALWAYS give new freelancers when they’re worried about pitching. Definitely a way to stand a part from the competition and show that you’re a personable kinda person to work with!
Seriously AWESOME post! Number 4 all the way! I regret not starting earlier than I did because I didn’t think things were ‘ready’.
Thanks, Nikki! YES, number 4 seems so simple but it’s SO important. There were so many times I wanted to start, but kept putting it off for one reason or another!
Thanks for the tips Lizzie, Even though i have been freelancing for over a year now, there is one tip, the #8 one which could be quite useful to me at this stage. I would also like to share a website that publishes articles like this one, and is always there with useful articles, tips, apps in order to help freelancers called The Freelance Perspective http://news.freelancingamerica.com, the one that brought me here.
Yep struggling to do everything myself is a battling I’m facing at the moment! Thanks for stopping by, Will, and for sharing the Freelance Perspective site – I’ll go check it out now.
Business is always a struggle and to lessen the fears of failure on it, it is wise to get help in how to run it.