3 Things I wish I knew before I start freelancing

When I started freelancing in 2008, I made tons of mistakes, I learned how to be a successful freelancer by failing hard.

I couldn’t believe my luck when a publisher called me, she was looking for a beginner illustrator, and she found me on a list. I put down my name and my Flickr account on that list a week before because “why not?”, I never thought it was possible for anyone to find me, or contact me. There were more than twenty thousand names on that list.

I still remember how shaking my pen was when I signed the contract without reading (don’t do that), I received 50% upfront, and I spent all the money right away, I treat myself to a fancy dinner and an expensive set of watercolours.

For half of my life, I felt ashamed about freelancing. I felt like I was less valuable not only because I didn’t have a job but because while I was trying to pay my bills I could also go to the movies at 2 pm on a Wednesday. I felt guilty for having time for myself in the middle of “work hours”. Can you imagine?

Enough of that, let’s dive into these 3 things I wish I knew before I started freelancing.

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1 | Everything is sales

My parents had a clothes store for more than 20 years. It’s funny how life turns a full circle. I went to university to learn how to be an animator and visual designer but nothing there prepared me to sell.

To be a freelancer/solopreneur you need to have this skill, you need to know how to sell.

It’s scary, it paralyzes you sometimes, but once you get the gist of it, it gets better.

When I realized that everything was sales, things became easier.

You need to have a service first otherwise they have nothing to buy. Once you do, here are some overlooked things that are sales:

• The way you speak about your work and clients
• Onboarding clients and prospects
• Any post you do on social media
• All the comments on communities’ posts related to your work
• Your email and email signature
• Your website
• Answering things in a timely manner
• Your organization
• Having a calendar
• Your personal branding (The way you dress, talk, answer the phone, your patience limit, answer your dm’s, your promptness)

My mom taught me the most valuable lesson on sales:

You don’t even have to be likeable; you must be good at what you do, find the people you want to help and help them.

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2 | Knowing your value as a freelancer

The less you charge, the more clients will try to take advantage of you

Pricing is one of the hardest things you need to do on freelancing. It’s even harder when you’re starting out, and you have no references

because talking about money feels like a taboo.

Before you think about naming your price, I want you to understand that you can’t compete with The Philippines. Some graphic designers charge as low as $1.25/h.

I don’t want people who think it’s okay to outsource as $1-10/h to be my clients and neither should you. I think people in The Philippines should start to raise their prices and charging $2/h should be illegal.🚫

👉🏼People who can’t pay reasonable rates shouldn’t have a business.

Think about the people who receive minimum wage in your region, how are they treated?

Unfortunately, we live in a world that puts too much value on money. The less you charge, the fewer value people will put on you.

Clients will think you need them more than they need you.

You both need each other, same value, you are exchanging skills for money. You are the one choosing how much value you are bringing to the table.

3 | Niche down is the most important thing when starting 

Just because you have lots of skills and can help everyone, it doesn’t mean you should.

Niche is important. You are probably tired of reading about niches, but my freelance career was a fluke until I chose my niche. My portfolio was a mess, I couldn’t figure out how to market to everyone, and I wasn’t solving anyone’s problem. I was one more freelancer in the sea of freelancers.

Finding clients was a hassle, I was constantly second-guessing myself and the pre-work was humongous.

Marketing to one group of people is the best thing you can do. There’s nothing wrong with making your life easier, finding a niche will solve half of your problems.

Let’s say you are a graphic designer, you’re just starting out, and you have no portfolio. Think about the type of project that would excite you the most and invent your ideal client.

That’s right, you will create a briefing, give it a time and do it. There are lots of websites to help you with that, like Sharpen Design, where you can generate challenges, to help with your briefing.

Another way you can show your work and ideas, it’s taking a famous product and creating a solution for it. Make sure to embed your personality into it, because being yourself helps to get like-minded clients. Take a look at this project from Isabel Hamdan, an art director from NYC.

Building a portfolio around the type of work you want to do and the type of people you want to help, will attract more of this type of people and work. 

You can expand as you go. Niche down doesn’t mean saying no to good opportunities. But attracting the right ones. 

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Finding the type of clients and the type of projects you want to work with are key to improving your skills and career. If you want to work at a place where you have no say in the type of work you can do, get a full-time job.

Freelancing is about freedom, you choose your hours, the projects, and clients you say yes to, and you also choose your rate.

I know it’s hard to niche down when you have no clients, but they will come the moment you say who you help.

It took me a while to understand this, but the pressure we feel is other people’s insecurities and jealousy. Freelancing is not for everyone. We can not live our lives based on other people’s projections of what’s perfect for us. There are lots of paths for freelancers, you just need to find yours.

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But the thing I wanted more was the Notion Dashboard I have today, with everything a freelancer needs to start. 

I am now offering it to you.