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𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟏: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐁𝐨𝐬𝐬.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟐: 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟑: 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐭.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟒: 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟓: 𝐒𝐞𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟔: 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟕: 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟖: 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬.
Starting a freelancing business is hard AF.
That’s what you’ve been telling yourself for a month, maybe even years.
In the wise words of Professor Farnsworth from Futurama, “Good news, everyone! You’re wrong!“.
Becoming a freelancer (even when you have ZERO experience) is much easier than you think. Sure, it’s going to require determination, time and resilience – but it’s not IMPOSSIBLE.
By the time you’re done with this post, you’re going to know the exact steps you need to take to get out of your head and do the damn thing!
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟏: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐁𝐨𝐬𝐬
In my Topic, Road to Remote, I have an entire module devoted to mastering your mindset.
Why?
Because having the RIGHT mindset will dictate your success as a freelancer.
If you don’t believe in yourself and you don’t back yourself 1000%, you’re going to manifest failure.
Think about it this way. We all have these stories that we tell ourselves.
Maybe yours are:
“I’m not successful”
“Making money is hard”
“I don’t deserve money or success”
“No one will buy from me”
These stories end up becoming beliefs that influence your actions.
And if you believe that your business is doomed or that it’s hard to become a freelancer – you’re going to self-sabotage yourself and call that into your reality.
So before you create your portfolio site or start pitching to clients, you need to get your mindset right and embody your success before you achieve it.
Think about how you would act if you had already achieved your goal. Like you have that thriving full-time freelancing business that lets you travel the world whenever you felt like it.
You’re not going to worry about money because your business is profitable and sustainable.
You’re going to be organized and have processes in place.
You would be saving money for your next trip.
You would believe in your business and that what you’re selling can help people.
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐬𝐬.
Action Step: Identify the limiting beliefs that are holding you back, call bullshit and start acting like that successful freelancer.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟐: 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞
“What the heck is a niche?!”
You yell at your computer screen.
A niche is a PROBLEM you solve or a segment of a market you want to help.
The reason you need to niche the f*ck down is that you can’t be anything to everyone.
Trust me. I’ve tried it.
It didn’t go well.
When you aren’t SUPER clear on who you are trying to help as a freelancer, it’s going to make it hard to:
Position yourself as an expert.
Find potential clients and land freelance jobs.
Figure out how you can best serve your clients.
Think of it like this:
The whole world is the market. You can’t sell to the whole world because not everyone needs your service.
So you need to funnel that down until you have that one group of people you serve. You want one group that you can master.
Action Step: To figure out your niche, ask yourself: Who do I want to help and why?
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟑: 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐭
“What can I do as a freelancer? How do I become a freelancer?”
To be honest, that’s something only you can answer.
Things would be a bit too easy if we just had to message a stranger on the Internet and ask them what to build a business around.
The good news is that it’s “figureoutable” – and you have the answer even if you’re aren’t aware of it right now.
So what can you do to get clear on what you want to do?
List all your current skills and interests.
List what you want to know more about.
Identify which skills you can translate into a remote role.
Identify gaps in your knowledge and what you need to learn.
For example, maybe you freaking love Instagram. You have a passion for the platform, you’ve managed to grow your account to 10K followers, and you want to help other people reach this platform.
You can use your knowledge to become a freelance social media manager and specialize in Instagram.
Maybe the gaps in your knowledge are the nitty-gritty business details like client onboarding and sales pages, or you want to take an Instagram course to solidify your skills.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟒: 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞
If there is ONE INVESTMENT you need to make at the start of your freelancing career, it’s getting a website with a custom domain and a professional email address.
Some people say this step isn’t necessary, but I disagree.
We live in a digital age, I don’t know about you, but I automatically expect any business to have a website.
So why should you be any different if you want to get paid for freelance work?
A professional website will:
Help you look professional
Reinforce that you’re an expert
Capture the attention of potential customers
Give you an easy way to display your portfolio and services
The easiest way to get your freelancing website up and running within a week or less is with Squarespace or other Website.
It’s an all-in-one solution which means it will save you time and money.
For $16 per month, you’re going to get:
Professionally designed templates
Free custom domain (if you buy the annual plan)
Professional email from Google (free for the first year)
Website analytics
Email marketing integration
SEO features for boosting site visibility
Mobile-optimised websites
Free stock photos that are integrated into the platform
Features like Memberspace and so much more
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟓: 𝐒𝐞𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬
Start with 5$ for Each Task but Passage of Time you will increase upto 1K$, Try to Explore Freelancing Website for Find a right rates Idea for your services
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟔: 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡
Hands down, the most important skill for you to master as a beginner freelancer is learning how to pitch.
You’re going to need it for:
Replying to job board ads
Writing cold emails
Your LinkedIn profile
Podcast interviews
Guest posts
LinkedIn introductions
And whenever else you need to communicate what you do and how you can help people.
If you can write a pitch that does all that, it’s going to make it much easier for you to land that dream client, and start seeing sales in your freelancing business.
An easy formula to include in all your pitches is the following:
Identify a problem
Solve it with your solution
Position yourself as the expert
Back yourself up with testimonials, case studies, results or samples
If you have NO work experience, create niche-specific samples and host them on your site. You can also work for free for a short period to get testimonials and then transition those clients onto a paid module.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟕: 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬
If you want to become a freelancer, it’s not enough to create an Upwork profile and hangout on freelancing websites.
You need to make sure your online presence is attracting clients to your business.
After all, pitching every single day is going to eat into the amount of time you have each day to work. By optimizing your LinkedIn and Instagram profiles, you won’t have to generate potential leads manually – they will come to you!
Here’s what you need to do for each profile:
𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌
Add your main keyword to your “Name” section and username if possible.
Add your niche statement to your bio, so people know what you do.
Use a “Call-to-Action” for your bio link.
𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐍
Add your niche to your headline + related keywords.
Add your best testimonials and results to your about section.
Add keywords and skills people would use to search for you in your about section and work experience.
Use LinkedIn Publisher to answer questions for your niche.
Add your website to your profile.
For example, if you are a freelance writer, you could add the following:
Headline: Freelance B2B Tech Case Study Writer | Copywriter | Content Marketer
Skills: SEO Content Writing, Blogging, Ghost Writing, Technical Writing
LinkedIn Publisher: 5 Mistakes You’re Making With Your Case Studies and How to Fix Them!
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟖: 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬
The final step to how to start freelancing with no experience has to do with ADMIN.
You need to tie everything together to make sure you ready to welcome your first client. Make sure you have the following processes and tools set-up:
Client introduction pack
Client onboarding process
Contracts
Retainers
Invoicing and accounting software
Policies
Client off-boarding process
Project management
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𝙒𝙤𝙤-𝙝𝙤𝙤! 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙! 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙣𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 – 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨? 𝙃𝙞𝙩 𝙮𝙖 𝙜𝙪𝙧𝙡 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙬!
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