When I first quit my job in July, my plan was to be a “professional freelancer.” It sounded like a dream job, and in ways it is. I learned freelancing has its ups and downs – from a flexible schedule to not knowing where your next paycheck is coming from, if it is coming. While I still freelance, most of my work is through my public relations business, Media Maven. Still, many friends ask me, “How do I become a freelancer?” After I posted my freelance income report (which was a one time deal), three different friends reached out to me asking the same thing, so I figured, why not blog about it and help more people?! If you’re wondering how to start freelancing, check out these things that worked for me.
- Facebook Groups. Not only are you in a group with people just like you, but you are in a learning environment. Imagine this blog post with tips times 100. That’s what you get in certain groups geared toward people who are looking to make extra money, passive income, start their own business, or freelance. You learn from people at many different stages in their freelance career.
- LinkedIn. If you want to be successful in your career, you should be on LinkedIn and you should be using it to network with people in your industry or the industry you want to be in. This is where people go for business, so it’s where you should be to grow your business.
- Promote Yourself. Do not be afraid to promote yourself! Tell people what you do and that you are good at it. How else are they going to know?!
- Friends in the Industry. I owe a lot of my referrals and work to friends in the industry. Before I started freelancing and launched Media Maven, I had tons of friends in the business. I worked in it for about 10 years and most of us stay in touch. They are my biggest supporters!
- Pinterest. Remember the Facebook groups I mentioned? Pinterest is similar, except it isn’t a moving feed. Whatever you want it always there – just type “freelance” in the search bar and BOOM! You have so much free information to become a successful freelancer!
Note: Many people online, whether it be Facebook or Pinterest will link you back to their site and charge you to teach you how to make money doing this or that as a freelancer. Don’t pay for it. With social media, blogs, youtube videos, etc., you should not have to pay to learn anything anymore. Well, almost anything.
In addition, a lot of these people you are paying may talk a big game, but have they really done what they claim they are helping you achieve? For example, I attended a webinar once (for free) to learn more about freelance writing and how to make money doing it. Halfway through the webinar, I learned I was not only already doing these things, but I was making much more than the person hosting the webinar and I started making more money in a shorter amount of time. I could’ve hosted the thing, then hit people up later to pay me to hear more! Lots of people are making their money “coaching” whether it be in business, life, blogging, etc., but I wonder how many of them really have the credentials to back it up… like the weirdos who message me on Twitter telling me they could get me 10,000 followers in 10 days. Uh, If you can do that for me, then why do you only have 17 followers? That type of thing. (Don’t pay for followers. Fake followers bring nothing to your party.)
Do you want to promote your new business? You can! Sign up for my FREE e-course to learn how you can promote your brand by doing PR yourself. Click here to master your PR.
