5 Years of Freelancing: The 4 Processes that Made it Possible ????

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Hey Reader,

n just a few weeks, I’ll be celebrating my 5th anniversary as a freelancer. ????

Part of me never thought I’d make it this far.

In fact, when I started, I was pretty sure that I’d end up destitute and begging for my old job back within six months.

But I’ve lasted a lot longer than that, and there’s no end in sight. (In fact, May was one of the most lucrative months for my business to date!).

I was reflecting recently on what’s made my business last so long.

Perseverance. Good networking. Support from friends and family. Plenty of luck. ??

But if there’s one word that explains exactly why my business still has legs half a decade later, it would be: Process.

I know, not the sexiest word.

But trust me, the only way to keep a freelance business going is through strong yet flexible processes.

Processes are the safety nets I fall into again and again, whenever things get shaky.

Processes save time, because you don’t have to do the same thing over and over.

And processes bring in more cash, because they show clients that you have your ?? together.

More time + More Money—that’s the freelance dream.

The only downside to processes?

Getting them set up takes time, and can often be a pain in the peach.

That’s a big part of why I started writing these emails for freelancers—so people could steal the processes I’ve developed over the years.

A fast-forward button, if you will.

Those processes are spread out in my courses, past emails, my free resources, and all over my LinkedIn.

But for the sake of making it easy, here are the processes I can’t live without—the ones every freelancer needs to succeed IMO.

A Note About Moxie

Moxie is the number-one tool I recommend for freelancers, I talk about it a lot in this email.

I use Moxie daily, so I'd be talking about them anyway, but for the sake of transparency: Moxie collaborated with me on this email.

That being said, everything I say about how I use Moxie is 100% true. I've also included alternatives throughout if Moxie isn't for you.

But if you don't have a management tool, I highly recommend trying the two-week free trial with Moxie. ??

Leads are the top concern for most freelancers, which is why I’m surprised at how few people have a lead-management process.

If you’re using the strategies in my lead-generation guide (first chapter is free, FYI), you should have a steady stream of leads for your business.

But if you don’t have a way to monitor, track, and organize your leads, you are going to lose track of them—which is the same thing as losing money. ??

In the past, I have used spreadsheets and Notion’s free template to manage my own leads, but Moxie’s Sales Pipeline feature is far superior.

Whatever tool you use, you need a process that tracks:

• Business details
• Last date of content
• Status of the client (prospect, proposal, negotiation, etc.)
• Notes and next steps

Also, track clients you don’t close, so you can revisit them again when it’s time to practice lead necromancy.

This system will prevent leads from falling through the cracks, and on top of that, it will make it much easier to predict your income.

Predicting your income is key to knowing when you need to turn up your marketing for more leads. (Also, it helps mitigate freelance anxiety. ??)

My favorite thing about Moxie’s pipeline manager is that it automatically does the forecasting for you, with a chart to make it easy to visualize.

Process #2: Fast, easy, and pretty pitches

I really hate pitching.

It taps into the parts of freelancing I find to be the most challenging: Promoting myself and asking people for money.

But pitching is unavoidable, so I’ve made a process that makes it a lot less painful.

The key here is what I call “Frankenstein Templates.”

These are templates I’ve built that outline—in the most engaging and enticing way possible—each of my services.

All I have to do when I want to pitch to a new client is “Frankenstein” together the different elements, update the pricing, and it’s done in seconds.

Originally, I had big Google Doc with my logo at the top that I would chop and change into a suitable pitch.

Now I use Moxie’s custom templates to do the same thing, and it looks a lot more professional.

Because it’s clickable/signable online, I find Moxie’s system closes deals much faster.

Here’s an example of one I just sent (and closed the deal within 12 hours, might I add!)

Delivering a clean, descriptive, and alluring pitch without drowning in busy work could give you the edge over other freelancers they’re considering.

Also, you can tweak the templates you’re using to see if different wording or pricing structures impact your revenue.

Process #3: Getting paid quickly, often, and in full

I have been through lots of payment problems in the past.

I’ve been stiffed.

I’ve been overcharged fees.

I’ve lost jobs because technical problems made it impossible for clients to pay.

Now, some of my most robust processes are designed to help me get paid ASAP.

First, I am upfront about payment plans with clients all the time, and my policy remains steadfast:

1. 50% upfront, 50% upon completion
2. Invoices are due one week after they’re sent
3. Retainer clients pay in the first week of the month

I rarely make exceptions.

But because I have strict rules, I go out of my way to make it super easy for clients to pay me.

Moxie helps here too—they connect with Stripe and my bank accounts, and let me turn the agreements clients sign into invoices in just a click.

I also highly recommend making a free Wise account, which allows you to get payments for low fees from foreign countries without drama.

There are other invoice makers out there, like PayPal and Quickbooks, but ideally, you want to generate invoices through the same tool you use to monitor your finances.

Which brings me to the last process that keeps my business going.

Process #4: Managing the money and math

I have written before about my money-phobia. Yes, I like having money—but I hate thinking about it and talking about it.

This is something I had to overcome early on as a freelancer, because I learned the hard way (via a huge tax bill) that not knowing where every dollar is going is a recipe for disaster.

I use a number of apps to stay on top of my finances, including my own spreadsheets.

Most recently, I started using Monarch as my budgeting tool, and I like it a lot. It does everything Mint did (before it was swallowed by Quickbooks), but better.

Word to the wise: Monarch has a promotion right now where you get 50% off, so it’s only like $50 for a year. Totally worth it, IMO.

That’s what I use for personal finances, but for business finances, I once again rely on Moxie. (I’m a sucker for a tool that does everything at once.)

I’ve hooked Moxie up to my bank accounts, so I can organize transactions, monitor reports, and share my data with my tax accountant.

I will say, Moxie is perfect in a lot of ways, but I’m hoping they update their expense tracking soon. It lacks some of the automation capabilities of other tools I’ve used, so it can sometimes be a manual slog if you fall behind.

But having it all integrated into one place, plus the helpful reports, make it worth it. Here’s a look at my year so far. (Blue = Income, Orange = Expenses, Green = Revenue).

I could go on about the different processes I have—and I almost certainly will!

But these are the big ones I’ve seen many freelancers overlook.

If you need any help getting set up with any of these processes or want to refine other processes you’re working on, I’m always here.

Reply to this email with your questions, or sign up for a free mentorship call. ??

Until next week.

-- Liam