Freelancing is hard.

Everything is new and overwhelming.

It's confusing.

It's stressful.

There’s no one else to point at when things go wrong.

No one shows up to cover for you when you’re sick.

Clients leave.

Monitoring your finances sucks.

Then there are taxes.   

And sometimes it’s lonely.

There will be days when you’ll second-guess every decision you’ve made in your business. 

But then you find yourself sitting on the beach on a perfect Tuesday morning, while others sit in traffic. 

No permission required. 

No coffee-breathed manager who has no business being a manager telling you how to do your job. 

Freedom.

Flexibility.

Who. What. When. Where. How.

You can tap into opportunities anywhere in the world. 

There’s no ceiling on your potential income. 

Work hard as an employee and maybe you’ll get a 10% salary increase. 

Work hard in your business and you could get a 100% salary increase.

You’re not climbing the corporate ladder. You’re on an adventure of your own.

Yes, freelancing is hard. 

But totally worth it.

So, how do you make it work?

First, drink lots of good coffee.   

Then, tap into freelance strategies for working less and earning more:

Be lean. 

• Focus on activities that directly add value to your clients. Stop wasting time on tasks that don’t.

• Automate repetitive tasks.

• Use software and tools to stay organized and deliver projects faster.
  

Keep building momentum with your personal brand.

• Be the face of your business. People do business with people - not faceless entities.

• P2P > B2B.
  

Be proactive getting clients.

• Make marketing a daily habit - the first thing on your to-do list. 

• Turn your marketing into an experiment. Figure out what works, then double down. 

• If you still hate marketing at this point, then look for ways to outsource. But don’t stop marketing.
  

Overdeliver for existing clients.

• Adding extra value for clients is never a waste of time. 

• Repeat business and referrals are way more cost-effective than landing new clients

Upsell existing clients.

• When you’ve proven you deliver extra value, upselling becomes a no-brainer. Clients who see the return on their investment will be happy to invest more. 

• The worst they can say is, "no" so keep upselling after every 3-6 months.
  

Plan for when clients leave. Not if. 

• Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify your clients and revenue streams

• Create a ‘rainy day’ account for months when projects are scarce, so you don’t feel pressure to say ‘yes’ to low-pay work or clients you don’t want to work with.

• Clients will leave. Make sure you plan accordingly and stop being surprised about it.