[Jessica]

It’s going pretty well so far!

1. Challenges

Initially, my challenges were knowing how and when to set boundaries with clients and also knowing when to say “no”. I’ve become better at both of those things. I’m still struggling to manage project-based clients. Scope creep comes up and I don’t really know how to address it so I end up putting in a lot more hours of work that what I initially budgeted for; that’s on me though and I need to learn how to bid project-based projects (retainers, too) better. I need to learn to speak up professionally when scope creep happens, but the only person who can do that for me is me!

2. Benefits

There are so many benefits to freelancing and I wish everyone did it so they could experience it. The biggest benefit is freedom and that comes in so many different forms — location freedom, schedule freedom, the freedom to choose with whom you want to work, the freedom to choose how much you get paid, etc. My life was really stressful before I started freelancing and there are still some stressful moments now, but I feel more in control because I don’t work for anyone. I work with people and set my own rules (which, as stated above, I could improve for project-based clients, but for hourly-based clients, it’s going just fine!).

3. Tips To Find New Clients

Always be looking for new clients. And I mean every day. Upwork is a great platform to find clients, but there are countless other platforms to use, too. Seek out opportunities every day and perfect your pitch/proposal. If you’re sending out a lot of proposals/pitches and not getting responses, you need to look inward and figure out how you can make it so a potential client wants to respond to your proposal. Learn some sales techniques and integrate them into your process for getting new clients. Freelancing is a business so to get new clients, you need to up your sales game.

A lot of people have set up systems where clients come to them. That’s amazing and clearly a lot less work than searching for new clients, but I have not set up that system yet. I probably will in the future but for now, I reach out to clients to get the ball rolling.

Portfolio samples:
1. How-to guide for an EdTech solution: https://candle-hamster-99e.notion.site/Adding-Text-In-Canopy-69420c85dbd1423ebef894aed0698824
2. Standard operating procedures (SOP) sample: https://candle-hamster-99e.notion.site/CEO-Store-Audit-Procedures-for-a-Fast-Food-Restaurant-Chain-cb4d7507d0d14ae4bfcfb71117fcef67

candle-hamster-99e.notion.site

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