How to start as a Freelancing Creative
Turns out, when you DIY a business, the DI part is really. really. hard. As a freelancing creative, every minute spent on the clock can be intimidating, every networking opportunity a minefield to explore.
In the beginning, I was asking myself very big questions: Where do I start? Am I getting enough done? What should I do next? Should I pay someone to make a website? What systems should I implement? Ok, um, how do I get clients!??
I also talked myself up a lot. Which was good and bad, I guess, because while it kept me going, it also kept me busy doing a lot of things that were actually distractions. I told everyone I was freelancing and seeking clients but looking back, I did a lot of poking and prodding around the deep corners of the internet.
But…I’m here to say, that’s not entirely bad. Here’s what else happened, and how I really felt like I got a push forward in my entrepreneurship journey…
Just start — they say.
Really, they say this. Every blog, every entrepreneurship podcast, every mentor, and probably every husband/partner out there who is trying to “firmly encourage”, as mine did, . “Just start” is the de-facto advice for getting a start as a freelancing creative.
But on the receiving end, it’s just frustrating — because a) that is obvious advice, and b) it wasn’t like I wasn’t starting.
I was just not sure how to get going.
Looking back, I had a serious mix of imposter syndrome, freshman jitters, and just plain ol’ startup challenges. A wallop of a barrier to get work done on the daily, for sure — but luckily, not insurmountable.
I continued to take on regular contracted work while I asked the stupidly big questions and tried to figure my business and clients — to no avail during Year 1 or Year 2. But through these contracted opportunities, I would work on things that would uncover, each time, pieces of the puzzle — administratively, creatively, functionally, systematically — that I wasn’t doing for my own business. But that I was doing for others!
So really, the advice should have been” “Just start doing things that you are already doing for others!”
Also to say, it took my own work to figure out how to do my own work. *Sigh. This world is a funny place.
I’m sort of on the up and up now, having moved on from the despairs of not having clients or work, and onto being for more productive everyday. Here’s how I could have done it faster, from the get go—when all the people were saying “just start”.
Six tips to really get started.
1. Set up Your Home Office
Don’t just work at coffee shops, or at your dinner table — even though I do these, a lot. Did you know two years ago, my office had no door, and was located on the same floor as my kids’ rooms? Yeah, we all know that did NOT work. Don’t know why I even tried. Shortly after I moved my home office onto our top floor, where no one really wants to go but has a ton of great light PLUS a door, I started gain more focus with each work session. I bought a simple rug, some fake plants that I don’t have to water, and most recently a standing desk attachment. It’s done wonders to keep me focused, and is far and beyond the EASIEST thing you can do when you start out.
2. Block Out Your Schedule
I have a very successful friend who recently told me she doesn’t use Google Calendar (or any digital calendar). To which I almost fell off my chair. I don’t think my work or home life would function without my online calendar. A few months ago, I started blocking off recurring activities for every weekday from 8-5. This includes blocks for regular client work, blocks for my own admin, and blocks for creative writing. It has personal blocks for morning workout times and weekly pickleball games, to a standing health/beauty block every Thursday morning for which I only book appointments at that time now.
If I do client work when I was originally scheduled to self-develop, I swap blocks or just make a note of it. Blocking has kept everything on track and moving. It has enabled me to create and network and do things that I was not doing before. And while I know this is powerful now to keep me committed, I know even more it will keep me organized and able to tackle more as my business grows.
3. Brand Yourself
This is the number one thing I ask the clients I work with: do you have a brand kit already? (And if not, I will make one for them!). This isn’t just about colors and fonts, although that really helps, too. It’s about having a focused mood or inspiration board, about having a written-down brand mission and or voice or vision (hopefully all of those). When I work on a project or with a client who already has these things, I can easily jump in and build content, research competitors and industry. Without it, it’s so. hard.
Once I set up my own brand bible (which was just a few weeks ago, so…..about two years too late in the startup process), I became confident talking about what I was doing, sharing my ideas more easily, and has also made content and social media less of a chore.
4. Share Knowledge
It’s taken me awhile to realize this, but I know a lot. I may have been scared to share it at times, but I’m quickly realizing that there’s no point limiting what I know with whom. I just need to be willing, and confident, and know where to share it. For example I find half of my writing these days to veer off into topics that fall under parenthood and raising children. So I started a substack where I talk more about it there. So I don’t have to constantly be editing myself, my knowledge, my opportunity to create content about things. I’m now getting it all down, and then finding paces to put it. And I will share it, whether people pay me or not. And I’m finding slowly, that people will pay for your knowledge. Share, share, share.
5. Make Smart, SMALL Investments
I’m not talking about a $3000 website overhaul or jumping in to $1500 headshot package. Although, that would be SO nice, wouldn’t it!? After fawning over super professional websites from established creatives, I finally came to the realization that without very much income, I had to reconcile my desires to look like an established creative with my meager income. In the end, I’ve made two “investments” that have been financially manageable for me, both going a long ways for marketing, production, and client work. Right now, these are Canva, and Squarespace. But I’ve got a long wish list for more…
6. Taking a step back from AI
The allure of ChatGPT is real for someone who is DIY’ing, and I used it a lot. Not always to write, but often to aggregate all my writings and ideas, to edit, to brainstorm, to come up with wittier headers than I thought I was capable of. I found after several months that while it was making work go faster in many early stages, I was losing myself, the process, the thinking involved, and in the later stages of work, I was beholden to even more ChatGPT. Anyways, I’ve scaled back, and have been exploring other ways to use it in my processes, not just to write things for me. It’s been refreshing. And now you get blog posts like this!
Bottom Line? Just don’t stop.
Ok, so I can’t advise about starting maybe, but I am really good at continuing.
This month, I finally gave myself the gift of my own services. I created my brand guide, sat down with myself and wrote down my Mission and Values etc,, and from that polished my website. I’m working on Content Pillars next, and a Social Media plan after that. These are all things I do for clients….I just never took the time to do it for myself. The perfect example of ye ol’ cobbler who has no shoes thing, eh?
With this new energy and intention, I’m looking forward to sharing more about how I build my business, the clients I work with, and the projects I do.
For more personal musings on expat life, motherhood, and general freelance woes, head on over to my Substack page.