So you’re reading this because you want
to become a freelancer. You’ve thought
about what you want to freelance in,
you’ve got a couple of useful email
addresses and you’ve even bought
yourself some sweatpants that will look
great with your slippers.
So you’re ready to dump that job and get
cracking on your first assignment, right?
Wrong.
One of the biggest misconceptions about
freelancing is that you sit at home and
work comes to you. When the reality is
you have to fight for it, and fight hard.
As our friend Leif Kendall aptly put it:
"First: you must strive. Nothing
good is ever easy."
I hate to break it to you, but working
freelance means working. And I mean
really working. Unlike your 9-5 cubicle,
there is nothing cushy about freelancing,
nothing stable about it until YOU have
made it that way.
"One of the biggest
misconceptions about
freelancing is that you sit
at home and work comes
to you"
But there are some simple secrets to
becoming a successful freelancer which I
am going to share with you in this blog
post. In fact, using these steps - and a bit
of determination - I’ve seen people get
out of their desk jobs and start working
comfortably for themselves in 30 days.
If they can do it, so can you. As Leif told
it:
"Your first few days, weeks and
months are probably going to be
challenging, and likely to take
everything you've got."
So what did I do when I first went
freelance?
Let’s be clear here, because what I did-
what made me successful-was done
BEFORE I went freelance, not after.
Granted, my path to the flexible profession
was abnormal. Having decided in college
that “normal jobs” weren’t my thing, I
used time in between studying and a
karaoke bar job to set myself up. But
when you read how I made the transition,
you’ll realise that if you have any
experience in your field at all, you’ve got
it easier than I did. Just always remember
that becoming a successful freelancer
doesn’t begin the day you quit your job,
but the day you decide it’s the lifestyle for
you.
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In between deciding to become a
freelancer and becoming a freelancer, you
need to prepare to be a freelancer.
So how did I do that?
1. I Contacted Everyone I Have
Ever Known
Literally. Everyone.
The very first thing I did when deciding to
make the switch was to get in touch with
every single person I have ever known and
told them my decision. I told them the
field I was going to be working in and as
it became clear, even the date I was
planning to leave my awful day job (in 30
days time).
I also told them that I would be more
than happy to take on projects straight
away.
If I was still studying, and working a job,
why did I say I could take on projects?
Wasn’t I a bit busy already, studying/
working 14+ hours a day and organising
myself to go freelance or to take on
projects in my free time’?
The reason I told my friends and friends of
friends, colleagues and ex-colleagues that
I was willing to take on projects straight
away was for three reasons:
Experience
Contacts
References
And the earlier you send this email the
better. Do it 30 days before you want to
go freelance, or do it six months before.
But the point is, don’t leave people
hanging. Not only do you want to make
your announcement actionable, but clients
take time to develop. Don’t put yourself in
a position to do the work “in a month”,
when the discussion you need to start
may take that much time anyway!
The more experience, contacts and
references you have when you go
freelance, the easier making that final
break from your job will be.
And when people asked me to do a job for
them that they couldn’t pay me for I
would again consider:
Experience
Contacts
References
If I was going to get just one of these
things out of the arrangement then there
was no way I was turning down that work,
money or no money. If in doubt, remember
the wise words of freelance expert Jon
Norris,
"Building a network and finding
work are two sides of the same
coin."
Here I just want to include a note for
those of you who have already started
freelancing, as for you guys too I cannot
emphasize the importance of this step
enough. It’s never too late to start
reaching out to people and expanding
your network. If you have work to show for
your efforts already, your outreach will go
much further, a reason why this step
should be repeated annually even once
you are a successful freelancer! Keep
yourself fresh in people’s minds and be
their go-to person when they need a
professional in your field.
So after I’d contacted my entire network,
what did I do next?
2. I Got To Work On My
Personal Brand
So what does my personal brand have to
do with anything? I’m an experienced
[insert profession here], not a social
networker - why can’t I just make an ad
and put it online/buy a spot in the
newspaper/stick it to a tree/leave under
windshield-wipers in the parking lot?
The reason is that as a freelancer, YOU
ARE YOUR BRAND.
So help me god [or deity of choice], this is
a truth among truths, irrespective of
whether you’re a web developer, a user
experience designer, a writer or a
marketer.
What do I mean when I say you are your
brand?
I mean that when you are selling your
services, you are actually selling yourself.
So how you come across online or off is
reflective of your success, your ability, and
your professionalism. Your personality
counts. Big time. If people don’t like you,
they won’t buy what you’re selling .
So, how did I build my personal brand?
1. I got myself on LinkedIn and I fully
filled out my profile. Every single detail
of my experience. Every relevant job I
ever had. Every morsel about me that
could be interesting.
2. I then did the same thing on
Facebook. I joined relevant groups for
my field and started asking questions,
lots of questions, as well as answering
any I could.
3. I did the same on Twitter
4. And on Google+
5. And on Meetup
6. And when it was made available I did
the same with Quora , which has
become the fact-filled platform for
experts.
7. I then went to every industry-relevant
event I could find, afford and get to,
and hustled like a maniac...
If you’re someone who still believes social
media is the devil, you’re in trouble,
because it’s never a single tactic that will
get you anywhere, its a combination of
many intelligently coordinated pieces.
Asking and answering questions is the
easiest way to get people involved and
invested in what you do, and while you
could meet 15 people during a night out,
you could meet 100 online. And perhaps
yes, the contact is “shallower” but you
can be a hell of lot more targeted. So I
recommend starting online, understanding
who’s important for you, pre-empting
offline events by connecting with people
via Twitter, and leveraging LinkedIn
connections into meetings for coffee.
If you combine a strong digital brand with
meeting people in person, you’ll make
yourself:
Easy to find
Easy to remember
Good to know
You want to be understood as an expert
and an influencer in your field, and in a
world where most industry communication
is digital, you better be all over it!
Just remember not to get discouraged if
you don’t get 1000 Twitter followers
instantly, because what’s important here
is that quality wins over quantity every
time. Stay focused, stay targeted and talk
to every new connection like they’re your
best friend.
And vice versa, if you’re awkward and
depend entirely on social media to drive
your network, you’re doing it wrong. You
have to get out, you have to meet people
and confirm that you’re real and worth
investing in. As Jon Norris explained:
"Although it can be awkward
attending networking events, it’s a
great way to build contacts. Get
out there, hand out business cards
and make friends."
3. I Wrote A Plan Of Action
I want you to pay very close attention to
the next statement.
Never, ever, undervalue time taken to plan.
Never.
For each of those 30 days before I quit my
job I had a goal. Sometimes that goal
was to email a relevant contact in my
field asking for advice. Sometimes that
goal was to expand my network by X
number of people, answer a certain
number of questions, or attend a meetup.
And sometimes it was simply to plan out
the next steps.
For each of those 30 days I wrote down
my trials and tribulations into a short
(often emotional) blog post, charting my
ups and downs in that final month before
taking the leap.
I also carefully drafted and redrafted a
personal business plan , including my
financial requirements, goals, and how I
thought that would actually translate into
work. I realized that if I landed the
equivalent of 2 short projects a month, I
could survive. Well barely, but it’s good to
know where your survival limit is, because
when push comes to shove, it’s
accomplish that goal or be stuck eating
dry toast for a month.
Unless you’re one of these eternally
adventurous types, freelancing is no fun
as a hand-to-mouth game. Nobody
chooses this path with the goal of living
on a financial knife edge. And by the way,
it’s ok to be scared, in fact if you’re not,
you’re either invincible or a dumb ass, so
keep your eyes open, know your limits,
and plan accordingly.
I also used this as another excuse to grow
my network, reaching out to experts in my
industry to ask for advice:
How much should I charge?
Where do I best find my clients?
How difficult is it to close a deal?
Should I template my pitches or create
new ones every time?
This created an opportunity to learn,
improve and perfect the skills I would
need in a month while growing a power-
network of professionals in the field. Two
birds in one stone at its finest!
4. I Did My Research - And
Paid Attention To Competition
Whether it was hours scanning social
media, reading blog posts like this one,
offering my services to friends, or just
generally building a network however I
could, I absorbed as much information as
possible.
Sure, it’s overwhelming; anyone who has
spent a 4 hour stint on a single topic
online knows that the rabbit hole is deep,
and easy to get sucked into. At the end of
the day, you have to pick and choose
what’s important for you, but what I
found most helpful was taking a real good
look at what my competition were doing.
And there is always competition.
Looking closely at what others were
doing, I found out 3 things that helped me
a lot:
1. I had local competition, and I mean
local. As in down the street from me.
But even if they had been doing it for
a while, they didn’t seem to be
effectively marketing themselves, it
took effort to find them.
2. People who were looking for someone
of my expertise had no central data
bank to find me, or other freelancers
like me. I had to be in the right place
at the right time.
3. I could easily differentiate myself from
my competition by having an
attractive personality, and a digital
presence.
Leif Kendall likes to tell people to
“Deliver work that is better than
anything your competitors are
doing”
and truthfully, I couldn’t agree more.
Maybe you have a lot of experience, and
maybe you don’t, but your job is to
perform better than everyone else in your
field, both in the work you do, and the
way you act.
But how did I know what my competition
were actually doing?
Remember that old adage “Keep your
friends close and your enemies closer”?
This is one way of looking at it, but in a
world of freelancing where your network is
everything, you can’t afford to have
enemies at all. So try this instead:
“Keep your friends close, and
make friends with your enemies.”
Don’t be guarded, don’t be defensive.
Share, trade, and exchange what you can
from your own knowledge and then keep
doing it better, and better, and better, and
better, and better, and better. In the end,
you’ll find that some people have big
egos, but a lot of people are happy to
have a friend. Freelancing can be a bit
lonely sometimes as by its definition you
often lack those daily colleagues who
understand the work you do. A lot of
people out there are just like you, and
happy to have someone they can relate to
about work, and even share a bit of
knowledge and experience.
5. I Got Myself A Mentor and
Landed A Real Client
The best piece of advice I ever received
was simple in theory and tough in
practice:
“Don’t burn any bridges.”
If you’re a freelancer, this quote should be
read in all capslock and underlined,
because you can’t afford to. Every contact
counts , and on behalf of your reputation
and livelihood, although it’s very tempting
to give your boss the finger as you storm
out the door, it’s not something you can
afford to do, ever.
No one likes “kissing ass” and I don’t
really recommend it, but now that you’re
leaving you need your employer more than
ever before, because face it: your current
employer is your strongest link to your
first job as a freelancer. If your job is at
all related to what you plan to do, they
may themselves be your first client.
In my case, the karaoke bar owner would
eventually make it very clear that he
“didn’t give a flying f&%$” what I was
doing beyond his bar. But I needed
something, so I went and found myself a
mentor. Aka, I willingly became a slave to
an influencer in my industry. It was the
smartest decision I ever made because
despite totally over-working myself, I sure
enough gained Experience, made Contacts,
and walked away with one hell of a
Reference.
Oh, and yes, I did this on top of the study,
the job, and the prep. If you want
something, don’t half ass it.
So how did I manage to get myself a
mentor?
Well if you have a boss who knows
anything, that’s the best place to start.
But if you’ve read this article then you can
probably guess how I did it: I networked
like a maniac, showed my plan of action,
and proved I knew how to work like the
competition.
In the end, I convinced my would-be
mentor that I was worth that little bit of
time and effort, and sure enough Richard
Levy passed me my first client after only a
couple weeks. And Bam! I was officially a
freelancer, on schedule and making
money.
Whether it’s a boss, mentor, professor,
uncle, slave driver, or homeless dude with
good advice, the people you see daily are
most likely to have the biggest impact on
your transition. So be accommodating, be
thankful and be willing to work your ass
off for an opportunity to do what you
love.
As Rik Lomas wrote in his blog post
about freelancing on Medium :
Do not piss people off. Remember
that you’re a professional and are
soon to be leader of your own
company. Act like it.
So finally....
So what’s my last piece of advice? What’s
that final nugget of understanding you
need to open the doors to your new
career, new lifestyle, and impending
financial freedom?
The simple answer is that there isn’t one.
There is no one solution, there is no one
path. Your puzzle is your own! And
understanding how the pieces fit together
is what will guarantee your success.
If you’re hunting for that single piece of
magical advice that will get you out of
your job and thousands of clients a year,
let me tell you, it doesn’t exist. Like in
life, relationships, and all other forms of
comedy, it’s your ability to understand
the big picture and refine each detail to
pixel-perfect clarity that makes you who
you are and good at what you do.
So my advice is don’t forget that, don’t
get hung up on singularity in a world full
of complication, because what will make
you successful is knowing how to apply
who you are to what you want to do to
the best of your ability.
As for the rest of what you need to know?
Start by reading this article! People will
say you’re crazy to set out on this path of
uncertainty, which if you’re like me is just
confirmation that you should be doing it!
Freelancing is something you really have
to want, and be prepared to work hard for.
And the result of that is a lifestyle, and a
sense of freedom that is unrivalled by any
other job in the world.
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