This Is How To Become a Freelancer

Gabrielle: You know, one of the most critical essential things you could do to get started as a freelancer is just understanding your why. As long as it was true to you, that's the biggest measure of success. Like, some things you can't even measure. There is no ruler for authenticity. There is no ruler in my being myself. There only you know. Do you. Be authentic and find joy.

Gabrielle: How did I become a freelancer? Wow. That's a really great question.

Kaitlyn: I'd always had an inner desire to want to be a freelancer. Like, I'd always kind of wanted that, but I was always scared to do it.

Rob: I always thought there was something cool about being a freelancer or being your own boss.

Farah: I hit a ceiling somewhat in my industry and I thought I needed a way out. So I started, you know, looking for new ways to branch out, develop new skills. I thought that's a great idea. This is interesting. So I jumped.

Ed: Now I'm a freelancer on steroids because of the platforms that are available today. Upwork being, to me, the best one that is out there and available.

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This is How to Get Started

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Kaitlyn: So the advice I'd give someone if they're just starting freelancing is you can create and start any business you want. So build one and start one that you actually care about.

Ed: If you're trying to decide to be a freelancer today, I wouldn't hesitate one minute.

Rob: Just do it. Jump into it. Don't be afraid because you can't lose.

Farah: Blow their mind. That's the secret.

Gabrielle: My first year freelancing, for me, it was every day, I was learning something new. It was exciting. It was challenging. It was anxiety inducing because every single day, you are challenging yourself to show up in a way and stretch beyond anything that you had ever known before.

Ed: Because of the support that's out there, the platforms that support freelancing, Upwork is one that I'm very passionate about and have used for many years. And, that helps you get the game going, get your game on. You know, you have to do the work. You have to do the support behind what you do and deliver a quality product on time, all of those things.

Rob: Don't listen to the noise around you. Just focus on who you are, what you believe in, and everything will happen for a reason.

Gabrielle: So, I became a freelancer after I got out of the Navy. Hooyah, Navy. And I told myself I was never going to work for anybody else ever.

Kaitlyn: So, I always knew it would be a really cool roller coaster ride if I embarked on it. There's an emotional and mental journey you go through every step of that way.

Gabrielle: What's the lingo? Am I saying this right? Am I doing this right? Am I as legitimate as my competition?

Kaitlyn: I did not realize who I was in the first 6 to 12 months. I thought I knew it all. I didn't.

Gabrielle: And so what I learned though is that in any space, any new space, you don't know the language. You don't know the lingo. That's something that you just have to get used to and that you have to learn, and you will learn it, and you will be more confident in how you communicate with your clients. But that's, this doubt, is natural. It's normal, and so I've learned to just embrace it.

Kaitlyn: Everyone's journey is unique, and you just need to embrace it exactly as it is for you.

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This is How to Find New Clients

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Ed: For new freelancers to find new clients…

Rob: That is a good question…

Farah: Can I, like, think? Can I sleep on it?

Ed: You know, how did I get my first gig? I persevered. I was always available. I responded promptly. But when I got that first gig, I felt confident in my abilities, and I then started marketing myself more. I started getting more work.

Gabrielle: When I meet new clients, I always am vulnerable, open, and transparent with them about the process and the journey. I always try to educate them. Secondly, I send them a capabilities deck, and I just send it to them and then wow them.

Rob: My portfolio has helped me land the right clients with bigger projects because they see who I'm working with. So I'm always updating to make sure that my newest projects, my newest campaigns with clients are up to date. They can see that, and they can justify the price that I'm charging because I have experience with that kind of industry.

Farah: K. Now that I'm established, I don't really need to prove myself anymore. My profile speaks for itself. Like, hey, read my read my happy clients, what my happy clients have to say about me.

Ed: Continue to dial back to clients you've worked with. They're in a business where they know other people that are in the business.

Kaitlyn: If you're presenting something, you wanna show them a glimpse of what you do. And everything I do as well is about connection.

Gabrielle: You know, I'm confident I am confident in my skills, and so now I can relay that to my clients.

Ed: Listen. I've worked with you in the past, and I would love to expand beyond your company. If you could hand off my information to, you know, somebody else at another company, I would appreciate it. They gladly do that because you've done a great job for them. So, I think the key there is relationships.

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This is How to Vet Your Clients

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Gabrielle: When I'm vetting clients these days, when I first started off, it was desperation, so it really didn't matter. But, now I have a little more space to consider the energy exchange.

Kaitlyn: Over the last four years, I've really been able to trust my gut and intuition with what feels right for the types of clients. And if my client doesn't care about other people, then they're not the right client for me.

Gabrielle: And if you interview clients who don't align with your values, your principles, even your creative interests or the skills that you've acquired, it's okay to pass. You don't have to … you just don't have to do it.

Rob: I feel like once you connect, they can understand who you are, the value you offer, and how real you actually are, and see them as really a great partner to expand for long term, really, partnership.

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This is How to Set Your Rates

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Gabrielle: It's like everybody's talking about money, but ain't nobody talking about money. So it's like that taboo already is baked into this freelance situation. I can guarantee you, you're undervaluing yourself. You're undercharging yourself.

Kaitlyn: It's like, oh my god. Yeah. You can get it cheaper, but you can get it from somebody else cheaper, or you can work with me and get all of this, or you could work with somebody else who's gonna be even more expensive than me to get something else.

Gabrielle: Focus on the transformation. If you are unsure about your worth, that's okay. But at least try to understand the value of the transformation that you are giving your clients. Stop limiting yourself based on some elusive ceiling.

Kaitlyn: One of the biggest lessons I've learned, that I didn't expect to learn, was that your business will only grow as much as you do. So you've gotta be willing to do the work in order to grow your business.

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This is the Secret to Sucess

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Gabrielle: My secret to success is my authenticity.

Kaitlyn: I think people like to work with me and hire me because I genuinely care and listen, and you can tell when I say that that I'm being truthful.

Gabrielle: I think what attracts people to me is my transparency.

Kaitlyn: I'm a very honest person and I will tell somebody if I don't think I can help them, but I also have a lot of experience in a lot of different ways and I just want the best for everybody. So I think that's been a really, really nice way to connect with people and when they care about other people, they like to work with me because we value the same things.

Farah: I think my secret to success is how I am personable. I try to be personable with my clients. I put some effort in making sure that I'm a human. You know, of course, sometimes you forget that, you know, when you work online, it's easy to miss, you know, the human side of you.

Gabrielle: I wanna enjoy this. I don't want it to be a funky transfer of energy. I don't wanna live like that. And so for me, it's like, listen, we're gonna have some fun. We're gonna do what we have to do, and people love that.

Rob: Boom. Mic drop. Recorded.