Week 8

Currently, I’m writing articles for one client around 15 hours per week.

At the end of October, I was contacted by another potential client to schedule time to chat about building a social media marketing plan and executing the strategy for his business. At first, I considered if I could do it. But that lasted all of a few seconds because of the excitement I felt building my client base. And this was for social media marketing, which is ultimately what I want to spend most of my time doing.

I’ve done contract social media work in the past, so this is not a new industry for me. I know what it takes to build a plan from the ground up, and implement it. I love doing it and I get a thrill out of watching the metrics increase week over week.

Unfortunately, I never heard back from the prospective client. My excitement weaned. And honestly, I was bummed. One client isn’t going to get me to where I want to be!

So, what is the best way to build your book of clients? Here’s my plan:

1. Submit three proposals per week through Upwork. The more proposals I submit, the higher chance there is of getting contacted by someone for work. I enjoy working through Upwork because they deal with all of the invoicing and payouts, I can track my time through their desktop app so there’s no worrying about tracking and submitting time, and it’s easy to find and submit proposals to clients. It helps me get on my feet and understand the process before taking it on myself.
2. Continue optimizing my website and creating content.I’ve been slacking when it comes to working on my site and uploading new content. But the more content I have and the more I promote my industry expertise, the more legit I seem. I want to showcase my knowledge that I’ll apply to my work. I also need to add sections to link to an online portfolio, build a charging sheet, and improve the section that shares what my freelance options are.
   1. Something you wish every client would know about type of work I do – content creation, content marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, etc.
   2. What questions should clients be asking to accomplish their goals and get things done?
   3. Quick fixes clients could make to their business to be more successful
   4. Success stories
   5. Resources I’d like to share, books I recommend, words to live by, etc.
3. Develop business cards, a brochure/FAQ sheet, a contract template and a personal rate sheet. While I’m currently only working through Upwork, my goal is to have at least one client contracted on my own by June 2019. In order to promote myself and recruit clients, I’ll need business cards to share my contact information and website, and a brochure to share the services I provide. Once I land a client, I’ll have to have a personal rate sheet to help determine what I’ll charge, either hourly, by article or by milestone. Then, once we settle on a rate, having a contract template will streamline the process and keep me from having to re-create the wheel for every client. 

4. Contact local businesses. Once I have everything in #3 developed, I’ll be ready to start soliciting! I’ll start with local, small businesses – after researching what they already have and do on social media and on their website, I’ll be able to formulate ideas and create an elevator-speech proposal for them. I’ll tell them what they are doing well, but how hiring me can make it better. I’ll also talk to people I know who own their own business. I’ll focus on problems and pain points they may have, offer my take on their existing products, and what results and goals they are hoping to accomplish and how I can help. 

5. Promote myself on my social media sites.My biggest supporter and cheerleader is… myself! Between my Facebook and LinkedIn profiles, I have hundreds of followers and people I can share with. Not only can I promote my freelance services, but I can share my blog and generate organic traffic, which will help boost my SEO, engagement and traffic. 

6. Consider registering as an LLC. This will make me my freelance business legitimate, as well as provide assistance when it comes tax-time.

Becoming an independent freelancer is going to take time and effort. In my opinion, I already have a leg up by working through Upwork. It gives me a foundation, as well as giving me time to develop myself on my own. I can read, write and learn how to be successful, and put those learnings into practice.

Do you have any tips for becoming a successful freelancer? Leave your comments!

Week 7

Positive thought. Positive action. Positive attitude.

This is the mantra I’m trying to live my life by – personally and professionally. I’m trying to eat healthier, work out, be more positive and not complain as much, see the good in situations (even if it’s a stretch) and be more mindful.

But I’ve found that trying to fit eight hours of a desk job, two hours of writing, working on my own blog and building a business, making dinner, working out, cleaning up and other adult chores every day is a GIANT struggle. I love sleeping, so for me it’s virtually impossible. But if I want to be successful and have my own contracting business, this is the new normal. At least until I can become established enough to quit my desk job.

Honestly, I’ve had a difficult time logging the requested 15 hours a week for one of my clients. And that’s just one client! What happens when I have two, three or four clients? Sure, the additional dollars in my bank account is wondrous to see, but at what toll?

“Expect your day to be great today. You have conquered challenges in the past and you will be successful today. You will find a way today to get it done. Expect the best today.” – Dr. Mel Campbell, motivational psychologist/author/speaker. 

The toll is I’m building my portfolio of articles I can use to attract new clients. I’m understanding what it’s like to be a freelancer and what it takes to deal with clients, meet deadlines, and work on my own schedule. I’m working on increasing credibility, building my own website with my own content and expertise, and creating a business plan that will give me the freedom to make a living working from home, on my own.

This new normal, as hectic as it is, is totally worth it.

Weeks 4-6

How to stay motivated

• Take it one day at a time.
  • When I first started this, I got really excited. I felt really inspired and motivated and ready to take on the world. Nothing was going to stand in my way. And for three weeks, that was true. But in week four, my full-time job got busier. I started working more hours for my first contract. And my motivation changed. I made up excuses. And then I got frustrated with myself for losing my motivation. I had made so many goals and to-dos for myself that I got overwhelmed, and as I got behind in checking things off, I got even more overwhelmed and just stopped working. Reminding myself to take it one day at a time helps me celebrate the little wins and be more realistic with my goals and timelines.

• Surround yourself with positivity.
  • Besides making changes in my professional life, I’m making changes in my personal life. Focusing on eating healthy. I started a workout program and exercise every day. I’ve made a commitment to limit/eliminate complaining from my conversations. I try to see the positive in every situation, even if it doesn’t seem possible. My friends and family are supportive and believe in me. Positive life = positive results.

• Create a vision board.
  • About 10 years ago I created a vision board. It was full of the average 16 –year-old vision of my college degree, big houses and engagement rings, lots of money and success, a family and a dog. Today, my vision board would still be very similar: health and positivity, a home, a family, my own LLC. My board will be hung up in my office space at home so I can be reminded every day what I’m working towards and why.

• Make SMART goals.
  • One of the first things I did when I started down this path was set goals. Without goals, you don’t have anything tangible to think about or strive for. It’s something to keep yourself steady against so you know if you’re falling behind or pushing ahead. And it feels so good to cross those goals off when they are accomplished!

• Reward yourself.
  • I’m not great at this. I love doing things for others but I am pretty stingy when it comes to doing things for myself. It’s important to reward yourself, though, in order to stay motivated. Maybe you set all of your freelance money aside to save for a vacation. Or maybe you splurge on a new desk or notebooks or a bookshelf after you get your first assignment.

• Believe in yourself.
  • Why haven’t I started a blog or kicked off a freelance business before now? I didn’t believe in myself. It took years of studying, working and practice before I had enough confidence in myself to go out on a limb and take a jump. I wish I did this years ago. If you don’t believe in yourself you’ll never get started – and you’ll be missing out!

• Acknowledge your positive attributes.
  • Write down five reasons you want to do this, and write down five reasons you WILL. What are the positive things about yourself that you’re proud of, and what will help you accomplish your goals?

• Recognize your progress.
  • When I look back at the past six weeks, I think about what I have and haven’t accomplished. The ‘haven’t’ list seems to be longer than ‘have.’ But I got my first contract. I’ve submitted four articles so far, logged dozens of hours, and made some money. I put myself out there and it paid off – literally. So while I still have a long way to go, I started. And that’s what counts.

• Visualize accomplishing your goals.
  • Whenever I feel overwhelmed or like I’m not making progress, I read my list of goals and repeat them out loud. I think about how great I will feel when they are accomplished. I envision being able to quit my full-time job to work for myself at home on my own time. I practice the conversation in my head when I tell my family.

• Be kind to yourself.
  • Even when I don’t feel as accomplished, or I should have logged hours and didn’t, or I don’t work on my blog for longer than I should, I have to remind myself how far I’ve come. That I stepped on that ledge and took that leap. It’s farther than I was 3, 6, 12 months ago. And I’m so proud of myself!

• Don’t compare yourself to others.
  • It’s easy to look at friends or people you know or work with and think about how much more successful, wealthy or accomplished they are. But everyone has downfalls, negativity, or unsuccessful moments in their life. They may hide it well, but no one is perfect! Continue to work hard and work towards your goals. Every day you are better than you were the day before and closer to your goals and success. Keep working!

Week 3

To be successful, you must be:

• Attentive
• Bold
• Dependable
• Determined
• Enduring
• Enthusiastic
• Takes initiative
• Orderly
• Resourceful
• Thorough
• Truthful
• Wise
• Trustworthy

There’s a lot that goes into starting up your own freelancing side hustle. I knew it was going to be a lot of work and effort, but the more research I do, the more items I never would have thought of are being added to the to-do list.

So far, I have three lists – one for each week I’ve been doing this thing. Each one has completed items, but each one has uncompleted items as well. It’s taking longer than anticipated to read about and make final decisions on some of these things…

Some remaining items include:

• Developing a contract template.
• Developing a personal rate sheet.
• Gathering work samples for my online portfolio.
• Opening a business checking/savings account.
• Developing a full business plan that includes goals, outline of type of work I’ll do, financial results to achieve, personal marketing plan, and an overcoming obstacles plan.
• Sharing my blog on my social media sites (which believe it or not, I’m nervous to do).
• Developing a business FAQ sheet.
• Setting up a meeting with a small business attorney to talk about setting up an S-corp or LLC, tax implications, and other considerations that I don’t know about. (I’m not sure exactly what this means yet, or what it entails. TBD.)

In addition to working through my lengthy to-do lists, I’ve been working hard to develop content for my personal professional blog. I’ve been focusing on content and social media marketing, which are the main focuses of my freelancing jobs. The more content I have, the more SEO optimized the blog is, and also the more professional and industry expert I appear to be. I published five this week – not a ton, but a solid start.

I also officially logged my first week of hours and submitted my first article to my first freelance client. While I had to spend more time on it than I liked, I wanted to make sure the tone, voice, style, and information was up to the client’s standards. My goal was minimal revisions.

I got the first round of revisions back the other day. Mostly style and tone suggestions, which will take time to prefect anyway. Overall I was pleased with revisions they felt they had to make.

Submitting my first article and logging my first time also means working through what it actually means to be an employed freelancer. I found that with only one article for the client, it was impossible to log the hours outlined in the contract. I also had to adjust my personal way of working in order to fit the client’s needs and style. While this was a tad difficult for me, I think it’s a critical skill for a freelancer.

During Week 4 I’ll be working to add more content to “The Industry” tab of the site, check off items on my to-do list, and hopefully close out my first article assignment for my client. I also submitted four more proposals this week, so I’m looking forward to hearing someone and starting a second contract.

Advice: Keep pressing on. It’s overwhelming and scary. Make the to-do lists, work through them one task at a time, and ask for help when you need it. Do the research. Put in the time and effort. It’s still the beginning!

 

Week 2

Even though it’s only week two of this journey, it’s been a busy and surprisingly successful week.

But then again, it’s proof that hard work and determination pays off.

I started this week working through my to do list and immersing myself in learning about how to be a successful freelancer and build my personal brand. I started with creating my website. The goals for my site are to share about myself, showcase my work, and bring people along on my journey to my new career.

In case you’ve never done it before, building a website is not easy. Even following the ‘made for beginners’ guide from WordPress, I struggled to get the template, pages, tags, widgets, layout, and images that I wanted where I wanted them and how I wanted them to look. This site will be a continual work in progress. But the excitement currently coursing through me is propelling me forward. Normally I’d be so nervous of others reading and seeing my work I wouldn’t even make my page public. I’m going to ride the wave of motivation while I can.

The importance of getting my site and blog up and running was even greater when I was sent, and accepted, my first freelance contract. $30 an hour, 10 hours a week, writing articles primarily about auto, home and life insurance for a credit and personal finance blog. While I’d submitted a handful of proposals this week, I wasn’t expecting a contract so soon. Honestly, I was nervous to click accept. What if I got screwed? Was I missing something legally important? Am I ready for this?

Not having answers to any of those questions, I still accepted. I took the leap. I’m making it happen. I know I do have some legal and financial protection through Upwork, so I’m hoping the further down the road I get the more at ease I feel. But I think this is what it’s all about – taking risks, feeling uncomfortable, and trudging through the mud to success. So next steps this week are to work with my new client to talk through specifics in terms of types of articles, word count, deadlines, submission and review process, style, etc. I’ll do additional research on the client, and begin my first assignment!

In addition to figuring out what it means to freelance, including developing a contract template, gathering work samples, researching LLCs, and finding a good timekeeping/scheduler solution, I’ve bene reading two books for additional support: 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris and KNOWN (the handbook for building and unleashing your personal brand in the digital age) by Mark Schaefer.

Getting started as a freelancer takes time, effort, and commitment. Building your personal brand and committing to it is critical. And while I consider myself knowledgeable on how to have a good social and online presence, I’m not afraid to admit I’m not as familiar with what it takes to be a contracting success.

As I work through these books, I’ll share with you key learnings and takeaways.

One piece of advice I have for others just starting out: find support. Whether it’s family, friends, significant others, or your dog, you can’t do this alone. You need someone standing in your corner cheering for you. Because there will be times you feel like giving up. There are a million excuses – you don’t have time, you’re not yet finding the success you were hoping for, it’s hard. Yes, it’s hard. And yes, it takes time. But if you really want to be your own boss, work on your own time form anywhere in the world, and find personal success, you’ll find a way to get it done.