Find your first freelance client
There is a limit to how much you can save, but there is no limit to how much you can earn. Finding a new job or changing careers takes time (we’ll get to that). But in the next few days you can set up your first side hustle and make money fast.
And the best part: you’ll only get BETTER at freelancing. Unlike cutting back on the things you love, which you’ll never get better at. Once you get paying clients, the easy ways to make money only grow in number.
First thing: So many other websites will tell you to troll for freelance gigs on places like Elance or Mechanical Turk. These places work if you want to compete with people all over the world in a race to do the most work for less. No thanks.
Look at what you’ve already got. 95% of jobs can translate into some sort of side gig. Ask yourself: What do I enjoy? What do I do with my free time? What do people ask me to do because I’m so good at it?
People are very bad at identifying their own skills. They’ll say things like, “I dunno….I guess I’m good at writing and communication, and, like, general organizational skills…” AMAZING!! HERE’S a $4,000/MONTH RETAINER!!! (Sorry, won’t happen.)
Repeat this over and over: People pay for solutions, not your skills.
For example, I was on a webcast where I was suggesting ways for people to earn money on the side, and I mentioned that I hate cooking, am not good at it, and would love it if someone cooked for me. I got an email later that night from someone who said, “Ramit, I can help. I can teach you everything you need to know over one weekend, and you’ll know 3-5 great dishes to cook.” I appreciated the offer, but wrote back, “Thanks for the offer! But you don’t understand. I don’t want to learn — I want someone to do it for me.”
Again: People have problems. They want solutions.
They don’t care what you’re “interested” in. Are they too busy to organize their closet? Do they need someone to help them redesign their website? Maybe they want someone to teach their kid how to play flute.
Start off by assessing the skills you use every day at home or at work. Things like:
• Do a little PHP coding
• Organize systems
• Automate complex processes
• Project manage
• Create technical documents that can be understood by lay audiences
• Lead a team
Don’t get stuck here. Ask yourself: Which of these skills can solve a specific problem? Brainstorm those out.
• I could do some PHP coding, but I’m not the best. Don’t censor yourself — put everything down.
• I could help businesses automate and streamline their income-generating processes. Vague, but okay.
• I could manage projects and lead teams towards deadlines / organizing. This is super-vague, any 22-year-old college grad would say he could do the same, and it doesn’t take advantage of my specific skills. Skip this.
• I could be a technical writer and help companies demystify their technical-support documents. I could even rewrite the technical portions of their websites to make them more comprehensible to normal people, especially companies in the consumer-energy field. Very promising, especially since I follow a few of these companies online.
Each of these individually is a potentially viable freelance trade – can you pick one and do it? The answer should be YES/NO to each. Put “YES” if even remotely feasible.
• PHP coding: YES
• Automate systems: NO (too vague for me to know where to start)
• Project manage: NO (too vague)
• Technical writer: YES
Excellent. Now you have a list of skills that might potentially be profitable. Optional: Combine skills together to make a more compelling, more niche offer.
You can often charge more and help clients more by packaging offers. In this case, it’s not very relevant, since technical writing and PHP coding are pretty different. But one of the people who helps on iwillteachyoutoberich pitched me to do video editing + marketing. Perfect fit. I hired him.
Next step: How can you prove to people that you’re knowledgeable enough for them to pay you?
The first thing I do when evaluating someone is look at their portfolio and past clients. At least half of potential hires don’t have this section. Easy solution! I move on to someone who does.
• For our systems engineer, can he point to a PHP project he did on the side?
• What about a sample of technical writing where he turned something very complicated into something totally palatable?
Having one portfolio entry increases your odds of landing a client by at least 200%. Having 5 increases it significantly more.
Last step: Start finding clients. With your offering in place it’s time to find potential clients. Sure you could randomly print business cards or set up a blog. But before doing ANY of that you need to make sure you have something people want.
– Identify your clients. Who are they? What are their hopes and dreams? How old are they? What do they do? Are they married? How big is their company? ( More on getting your first 3 clients here )
– Reach out directly. Lots of people set up a Twitter account and wait for the world to come to them. DON’T DO THAT. Once you’ve identified your potential client email them directly. Example email:
"Hi Mike,My name is Ramit Sethi and I’m a recent Stanford grad. I’ve been reading your blog for two years (I loved the post about using virtual assistants and got BOTH of my brothers to start using one), and it’s really helped me be more efficient with my work.
It occurred to me that you’re probably interested in growing your blog. I might be able to help. I’ve done video editing (http://www.fakesamplesite.com) and Powerpoint design (http://www.anotherfakesite.com). Imagine doing a great video on using virtual assistants, then distributing it through your newsletter. I could do one for you in about 2 days if you’re interested.
How about chatting later this week? My # is XXX-XXX-XXXX or I can give you a call at your convenience.
Thanks,
-Ramit"
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