Will & Way: January 2024
"I want to freelance or consult, but I don't know how to get started."
Many people who tell me they’re interested in freelancing or consulting say the hardest part is knowing how to get started. Some folks have full-time jobs and families to manage, which really cuts into the amount of bandwidth they have to start a business.
January feels like a good time to offer some suggestions, so I’ll attempt to do that here!
First, to be transparent, I’ve never juggled raising a baby with a job, let alone a baby, a job, and a side hustle. At this point, I’m a stepmom to a second-grader that we have half of the time, and it’s incredibly hard to get things done when we’re all at home, so I can somewhat understand how this must feel, but not completely.
For context, this was my trajectory: I always knew I wanted to be a writer, but I finished grad school around the 2007/2008 recession and there were zero creative jobs to be found. I went into healthcare administration and worked in that field for 11 years.
Around 2011, I realized that climbing that ladder wasn’t fulfilling me. I wanted to make more money, and I wanted to get back to my dreams of writing. I started a blog to create a portfolio of published work, and I offered to do free work for some businesses in New Orleans, where I lived at the time. Eventually, I got my first (very, very low-paying) client.
In 2018, I decided to take a big leap. I quit my job and lived off of my savings for a few months while I focused on building up the freelance business. I told myself if it didn’t work, I’d get another full-time job, but I felt I owed it to myself to see what could happen.
Since then, I’ve been all-in—well, mostly, except for the time I scaled down so I could try my hand at law school. My income has fluctuated, especially at the start of the pandemic, but I’m happy to be in a place now where many clients find me via word-of-mouth, versus the constant cold-pitching I used to have to do.
Here is my best advice for how to get started, or even how to think about getting started:
If you aren’t clear already on what you’ll focus on, take an inventory of your skills and interests.
What do you love doing? What work can you get lost in? What feels like it flows effortlessly? What do people often ask you for advice about or for help with? Where does most of your experience lie? These questions can help illuminate some options for your freelance work.
Another idea is to reverse engineer your way by browsing job sites and finding out what type of contract work is in demand, and then figuring out how you can qualify for those jobs. I’ve had one friend start a virtual assistant (VA) businesses this way, while another got into editing resumes for people as a side hustle.
Map out the available time you have for this project.
This might require taking an inventory of your current time commitments. If you track time for a week, for example, you might find that there’s some “dead” time in the middle of the day you could use for freelancing. Or perhaps you’ll find that you’re spending a lot of time on family tasks, and you can ask someone else to step in or hire someone to help once a week for a set amount of hours so you can focus on your business.
A big caveat: As much as I try to view time as stretchy, I believe that there are always trade-offs involved when we choose to commit to something. We can’t do it all. In many cases, you will have to be honest with yourself about what you’re okay taking time away from in order to try freelancing.
I once had someone ask me how they could find time to write outside of their full-time job, and I suggested they write after work. “No, I can’t do that,” they said. “I have to do homework with my child.”
“What about after homework?” I said.
“Oh, I can’t do that either,” they said. “I have to make dinner for the family.”
“Can your partner make dinner?” I asked.
“No, they don’t know how to do that,” they said.
“What about writing after dinner?” I suggested.
“I don’t want to miss any of my child’s bedtime routine,” they responded.
“I think you might have to accept that you don’t want to write that badly,” I said.
That interaction stuck with me because it’s so common, especially for women, to feel like we can’t let go of any task. Would it really be so bad to let your partner make dinner, even if they aren’t the best cook, so you could have a couple of hours a week to focus on your passion?
This isn’t to say that any of this person’s priorities weren’t valid, but you can see how being so rigid calls into question how important this goal really is.
Once you know what kind of work you might want to do and when you’ll do it, brainstorm who might be helpful to reach out to.
Are there other people you know doing this work that you could talk to and learn from? Are there people you know who might need these services you’re thinking of providing? Are there companies that could benefit from your expertise?
Search on job search engines for keywords that apply to the work you want to do, and see what’s out there. Search on Facebook for Groups that might post jobs you’re interested in. For example, there are groups for writers on Facebook and many of them post writing, editing, and content marketing jobs. There are also freelance sites like Fiverr and Upwork that you can browse to see if any projects interest you.
If you have the financial ability to do so, starting out like I did with free- or low-paying work can help you gain some experience working with clients and build a portfolio of work to share with other potential clients. I realize it’s not ideal to work for free or less than our value, but sometimes it’s hard to prove your expertise otherwise. This is the reason that coding bootcamps have you start a portfolio with the projects you complete in school, so that you have something to show when you graduate.
Set goals, and then check in regularly on how your business is doing.
I would probably set small goals to start, if I were tying them to a deadline. It’s awesome to think big for the future and know where you want to end up (ie - pull in 50K from my side hustle) but if you hold yourself accountable to completing that goal quickly, you may become discouraged. Would it be more realistic to aim for working with one client in the next 1-3 months?
Another strategy is to set your 1, 3, and 5 year goals and then work backward from there. I did this when starting out and it was helpful. For example, I identified I wanted to have a fiction manuscript written in 3 years. That allowed me to break down goals in the years leading up to that 3-year mark so that I was on track to complete that goal. (Turns out I wouldn’t actually complete the manuscript until years later in 2020, but it’s all about the journey, right?)
Tell people about the work you’re doing and want to do.
Unknown needs can’t be met, so be sure to tell everyone in your life about your new plans and goals. If people don’t know you want to offer consulting services for nonprofits, they won’t think of you if they hear of a relevant opportunity. Don’t be shy! You should consider posting on social media as well, so that even your acquaintances are aware.
I have to remind myself to do this one, too. I feel like everyone knows what I do already, and I don’t want to be too promotional. However, I pushed myself to post across my social media platforms late last year and I’ve already had new work come from it. In fact, the person told me she knew I was a writer but didn’t even think about hiring me as a possibility until she saw my post!
Sometimes there’s a delicate dance involved with promoting your new business when you have a job already. My husband just became licensed as a real estate agent, and he works full-time as an engineer. This week, he’s at an in-person in-service and he asked me if he should tell his coworkers about his new venture.
We discussed how it was probably fine to share as long as everyone understood he wasn’t doing any real estate work during “full-time work time”—although let’s be real, there aren’t clear lines delineating areas of our life. But I think the main point is just making sure that your boss/company don’t feel like they’re the last to know, and they’re aware it won’t change anything in terms of the work you do for them.
Research affinity groups, clubs, etc. you could join.
Depending on what industry you’ll be in or which role you want to take on as a consultant, there may be networking or industry groups you can join. For example, a company named Goldcast runs a group called Event Marketers Live. If you were interested in growing your event marketing experience, that might be a good one to join.
If you’re interested in tech, there are lots of affinity groups for women, minorities, etc that can help you meet other people with similar backgrounds. Do some poking around or asking people and see what you come up with.
Look for relevant classes or certs that might help you.
You could also do some research and find out if there are any classes or certifications that might be helpful to you as you’re starting out.
Be wary of spending a ton of $ at this phase, though. I tend to think the most important thing here is to get some experience and establish a presence versus spending your money on classes. There are also lots of ways to get info for free, like following people on LinkedIn or reading industry blogs
Try project management tools.
You’ll have to find what works for you, but you’ll likely benefit from having a clear system in place to manage what you’re working on and even keep track of your goals.
I use QuickBooks Self-Employed (you can use my link for 50% off the plans) to manage all of my business finances. This might not be necessary when you’re just starting out, unless you have to incur a lot of expenses to keep things going. I’m planning to go into more detail in a future newsletter about how I manage the money side of things, but for now, don’t forget to pay your quarterly taxes! (Read up on it online if you aren’t familiar.)
I use Asana to track recurring or single tasks, both for personal and professional purposes. See below (yes, I have a recurring reminder to wash my car. I love a clean car!):
I use Trello to track more of the day-to-day work and deliverables I’m responsible for:
I have a column for each day of the week, and a column for each week of the month. Once each week arrives, I move every card on that week’s list to the day of the week I want to complete it on, and then I get rid of the weekly column. This helps me understand, at a glance, how much work I have going on in any one week, as well as what my days are going to look like THIS week.
There are tons of other platforms that do the same type of thing as the ones I’ve just shown you: Monday, Wrike, Basecamp, etc. These are just two that I’ve found I like and work well for me.
I also use a mix of a paper planner and Google Calendar (which also has my husband’s calendar on it) to write my to-do list each day. ( I like crossing things off a physical list).
Every morning, I sit down, look at Asana and Trello, add anything I need to complete to a paper list, and then check my planner and G-Cal to see if there’s anything else I need to be aware of for the day. For example, tonight I have a book club meeting at a friend’s house, and that doesn’t really belong on my Trello or Asana boards, but it is in my planner.
As I’m writing this out, I’m realizing it sounds a bit complicated, but it’s really not—for me, anyway. It works well, and things don’t fall through the cracks. All that matters is finding the mix of tools that make your life easier.
Consider building a website and separate social media handles.
A website is a great place to house your new portfolio. When you’re interested in working with someone, you can simply send them your website link and they can learn more about you and see your portfolio, all in one place. I feel like resumes are becoming less and less asked for as time goes on, and websites are the norm now.
It might also make sense to establish social media accounts just for your business, depending on what it is. Obviously if it’s a product-based business, you can use social media to sell and get the word out about it but in some cases, service-based businesses could use their own accounts, too. I don’t personally have a separate one for my writing biz but I do have one for my crafting projects.
Celebrate your wins and try to enjoy the process.
Building a business is no joke, and doing it while working and dealing with family responsibilities is something to be admired. Send yourself some love along the way, and try to be gentle with your expectations.
No matter what happens, you’re learning new information that you can apply in your life. The worst thing that happens is that you learn freelancing isn’t for you. The best thing is that you grow a sustainable business you love and are passionate about. Both situations are okay!
What do you think about these tips? Do you have any to add? I’d love to hear from you in the comments! To comment, use the chat icons at the top of the newsletter—that way, others can see your feedback, too.
Check out some of my latest published work:
The Heroes of Youth Organizing: Tides Honors the 2023 Jane Bagley Lehman Award Winners (Tides)
What We Can Learn From Sarah Dotson’s Pumpkin Spice Report (Managing Editor)
Top Tips for Event Marketing Success in 2024 (Goldcast)
If you need help with writing/editing at your company, let’s talk! I’m always open to new work and interesting projects.
And here's what else is on my radar this month…
Events/Opps:
The 2024 Freelance Journalism Conference of the Institute for Independent Journalists is happening 2/29-3/1; their mission is the emotional and financial sustainability of freelancers of color. Lots of good stuff in this lineup!
Listening:
PSA: If you have a Spotify Premium subscription, you can access audiobooks as well! We’re currently finishing The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
I started the Classy podcast and I’m looking forward to listening to more episodes. The discussion about money and class is fascinating to me.
Watching:
Watched and recommend: Killers of the Flower Moon, though it’s very heavy and very long.
I am obsessed with The Gilded Age. I don’t generally like period pieces, so I stayed away from this one, but then I started it on a whim and fell totally in love. It’s so comforting somehow.
I love introducing my stepdaughter to movies from my childhood. We watched The Karate Kid last weekend after she got her green belt in Taekwondo. I’m excited to watch the sequel soon.
Reading:
I read and loved: Stay True by Hua Hsu, which is a memoir and a reflection on grief.
Read and liked: The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters, about an indigenous girl who goes missing. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, about a woman who doesn’t want to live anymore and gets trapped into a fantastical purgatory.
Read and didn’t love: Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. I actually only made it 30% of the way through this one. I expected to love it because I enjoyed Demon Copperhead so much, but I think I might not be a romance person. I also started and could not finish Abraham Verghese’s long-awaited novel, The Covenant of Water, which made me sad because I loved Cutting for Stone.
This article about Korean-American church lunches made me miss my grandma so much! Someone talks about the importance of cooking with joy, which I feel like she always did. Also, this quote: “It often takes growing up to realize how much work goes into cultivating a network of like-minded people. It’s harder than you’d think.”
“Today, it’s genuinely difficult to find mainstream portrayals of moms who are not stressed to the brink, depressed, isolated, or increasingly resentful.”
“Dark Triads counted for about one in 14 people in an international population sample, a proportion that means all of us will meet them on a regular basis in love, in work, in politics, and—most obviously—on social media.”
LOVED this piece on the “absorption vacation”
Elizabeth Gilbert on aging: “So I said: fuck it. I bought some clippers and took off all my hair, and I also stopped messing with my face. And I love it. I think I look gorgeous. I think I look more like myself than I have ever looked in my life. Because when I look in the mirror, I see a woman who looks FREE.”
Other random things I’m recommending this month: unsubscribing from emails, cleaning up your inbox, putting devices in another room while spending time with family and friends, and getting back to reading physical, paper copies of books and magazines.
My word for the year is “presence.” I want to be mindful this year and focus on one thing at a time. Do you have a word? Drop it in the comments if you want to share!
xo,
Nikki
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My word for the year is "authority". In the sense of my own personal authority over my life and what happens in it. I have sort of lived life like a dandelion seed blowing in the wind. Authority repositions me to be self-determined and make things happens or not.