How to make your freelancing business work for itself 📈
On reaching the "point of automation" in your business and bringing in clients while you sleep 😴
Today’s post is a follow-up to last Monday’s article, which uncovered the ugly truth of freelancing. This article can be read as a standalone post, but you can check out last week’s topic below for more insight into the “point of automation” in your freelancing business.
You may recall from last week that, as a freelancer, you’re aiming for what I’ve coined the “point of automation.” In case you missed it, here’s a quick review:
What is the point of automation?
The point of automation is when the initial hard work of freelancing starts to provide you with jobs and opportunities automatically. The initial work period can be 6 months, 3 years, or any length of time, but if your work is actually productive, you will eventually reach a point in your freelancing career where potential clients reach out to you through referrals, your website/socials, etc. Essentially, the goal is to do the legwork of building your business up front so that you start receiving job and feature opportunities on autopilot.
The period of working towards the point of automation can be stressful and anxiety-inducing. Without techniques for getting through it, this period can even leave you feeling downright helpless. It’s as if you took a nose dive off a cliff and now you’re in free fall, your arms flailing about as you try to grab ahold of something - anything - that will stop you from slamming into the ground.
Luckily, though, there are things you can do to shorten this period and get yourself on the fast track to reaching the “point of automation!”
How to get the incoming client ball rolling…
1. Professional Preparation 👩💼
I’ve spoken about this in the past, but before anything else, it’s vital to address professionalism and preparing your business for clients.
Let’s say you shoot a cold email to a comedian you’d love to write for, and - lucky you - they want to book a call with you!
They send back an email with the following questions:
“I’d like to meet to discuss this further. Do you have a digital calendar where I can book? Do you have a website I can check out, or a portfolio? Can I see some samples of your writing?”
Well, crap.
Your website isn’t up and running yet. You don’t have a neat portfolio in a single document. Your writing samples are scattered between Word documents, Google Drive, and physical files in your office.
So now you’re scrambling to put together something presentable for this awesome potential client!
The potential client quickly realizes you don’t have a website. When you send them your makeshift “portfolio,” it’s messy and confusing. There are even typos in the document.
They decide not to book a call with you after all, and you realize you can’t even reach out to them down the road because you’ve burned the bridge.
Don’t put yourself in this position!
Look, I get it: the first couple of months as a freelancer take a lot of legwork, which can be scary when the money’s not rolling in. But it’s far better to prepare the basics before reaching out to potential clients so that you can present them with a professional, put-together business that they can trust!
2. The +1 Client Rule 🚀
The +1 Client Rule is a little concept I invented to remind myself to always go one step further than I think I can.
I tend to hold myself back because I hold onto the limiting beliefs that I’m not “capable enough,” “smart enough,” or “special enough.” In fact, I wrote about how dramatically those thought patterns impact my personal and professional growth in a particularly vulnerable post.
To combat my “not enough” beliefs, I follow the +1 Client Rule. This is the idea that I should consistently go one step beyond what I’ve done before. I should always try to work with clients/take on projects that push my business or portfolio one step further. Perhaps that means raising my fees slightly with each client, only taking on a client that I’m more interested in working with than my previous client, or only pitching to publications that are one step above those that I’ve written for in the past.
Pushing myself to do bigger and better, even when I’m afraid to, is the only way to make my business and skills grow.
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