Emergency Survival Guide for the Accidental Freelancer

Survive, thrive and eventually become Awesomitised. Freelance copywriter Leif Kendall outlines first steps for the newly freelance. Have you been freelanced? Were you the victim of a surprise sacking? If you are new to freelancing, unprepared for this new way of life, don’t panic.

Here is an emergency survival guide, packed with quick-fixes to get you started quickly.

Firstly – try to remain calm. Take a few breaths. You may feel like life has just taken a crap on your head, but that’s not the case. The universe has a funny way of taking care of people (most of the time).

So fear not, and tell yourself:

I’m not unemployed; I’m FREELANCE!

Take Comfort, Take Action

Before I tell you how to survive the next few days and weeks, remind yourself of a few consoling facts:

• Unemployment is not a terminal condition.
• You’ve got the skills to pay the bills.
• Jesus/Allah/Buddha/The Universe loves you.

I hope you embrace this opportunity to experience untold riches and freedoms. Freelancing ain’t easy, but it’s a million times better than your day job.

Emergency Freelance Triage

You need to focus on finding work.

There are many ways to look for work, and many of them are incredibly inefficient. You don’t have time to be inefficient, so be direct. Your mantra in the early stages is ‘people buy from people’. If you don’t know many people that might employ you, then you need to get to know more people.

The suggestions that follow are all about meeting people, or letting people know that you exist. Successful freelancers are often well known within their niche or community. This is because freelancers need lots of clients, and it’s hard to get lots of clients if you don’t know lots of people.

Step 1: Call Your Customers

1. Make a list of the businesses in your area that could potentially employ you.
2. Prepare a document (samples, case studies or a fantastic CV) that you can send them.
3. Start calling the people on your list.

Tips for Calling Potential Clients

1. Be friendly. Smile. (They can’t see your smile, but they will hear it.).
2. Be brief. Quickly explain who you are and what you’re offering. Ask if you can send them an email with your details.
3. Send email. (Make sure you attach the sample of your work or the aforementioned fantastic CV.)

Step 2: Order Business Cards

It’s not hard. They cost £10 ($20) from Moo.com and you can have them in a few days.

Step 3: Meet People

Go to interesting meetings in your area. Turn up wherever your potential clients are hanging out. Don’t worry about selling to them. Just try to make friends with a few of them. Have a chat. Relax. Oh, but don’t forget to mention what you do and give them one of your business cards if you get the chance.

Step 4: Get a Website

It’s easy.

Websites take a little time to get working, so start building your site early on. You don’t need technical skills to get a good website. Here’s how:

1. Buy a domain. Go for your name (www.leifkendall.com), a snappy brand name (www.dotcomms.com) or something that describes the work you do (www.awesomecopywriter.com).
2. Buy web hosting. Many hosts offer installations of WordPress. WordPress is possibly the easiest way to get a website. If you don’t know much about the web, go with WordPress.
3. Fill in the pages of your site using WordPress.

Remember that a good website is not one that looks sexy and has an animated intro complete with music; a good website is one that clearly communicates who you are and what you do.

Freelancing – a Way of Life

By Leif Kendall – a versatile web and SEO copywriter in Brighton

Have you got any useful advice for new freelancers? What would your first steps be? Add your comments and suggestions below…