How To Become A Full-Time Freelancer (Part 1 of 2)

I recognize that many of you are working a 9 to 5 job still at this moment. I know you are ready (or feel ready) to leave that job to do your side gig freelancing life right now, right? And you want those sales to come flowing in so you can transition to working for yourself full-time. So, in today’s article, I want to share five steps to becoming a full-time freelancer.

How Long Before I Can Transition

I wish I could tell you exactly how long it will take you before you can transition to a full-time freelancer. This is highly dependent, however, on YOU.

No matter how fast you set up your business, get a website up, and establish your LLC, your business and most importantly your brand awareness and reputation take time to build.

Step One: Consistency Not Supersonic Speed

I know you are ready to hit the ground running and keep going. You will quickly learn, however, that it’s all about consistency and not necessarily about your supersonic speed.

We all know that people will not work with us until they…

• KNOW
• LIKE &
• TRUST

Helpful Or Pushy and Spammy?

Your potential clients have to see you more to get to know you more. The more visible you are, the more they can begin to know you. From that point, you can work on likeability and trust.

If you push yourself onto others too quickly it is a good way to establish a bad reputation and ultimately sound or appear spammy. And then people will not want to work with you. Instead, stay consistent and build your reputation and brand awareness. This all takes time and strategies.

I know, I hate to be the one who has to break it to you, my friend. Hang in there because you are on your way and others will be attracted to the genuine you, it simply takes time.

Step Two: Know Your Numbers

What do I mean by “know your numbers”? It means that you must be aware of all of the following:

• Budget
• P & L (Profit & Loss) Report
• Social Media Metrics
• Email Marketing Open and Click-Through Rates

Of all of the numbers you should know none are as important as your Google Analytics numbers. Pay attention to these and especially how traffic comes to your website. This will tell you what is and even more importantly what is NOT working for you.

It will help you make decisions moving forward. Google Analytics will help you know where to put the most effort (energy and money) into your digital marketing.

If you do not know your numbers you are not making wise choices as you journey along your entrepreneurial journey, my friends. It is not always easy but it is necessary if you want to be a full-time freelancer.

Step Three: Touchpoints

As you build your brand’s reputation and awareness your audience will begin to notice and follow you. Rest assured that as they click that follow or connect button they have seen you at least a few times already. This is a good sign because they are beginning to warm up to you.

It will not be their first time seeing your content. By the time they choose your opt-in or start following you, they have already interacted on some level. Whether they are seeing and reading your content, clicking on your posts to reveal more, or even following your link to a blog article. No matter what it is they have chosen to take action and that, my friends, is always a good sign.

How Many Touchpoints Does It Take?

Touchpoints are not necessarily actual ‘touching points’ but are the points of contact your potential clients have with you or your brand. The ways someone can have touchpoints are too numerous to list here, but I want to share some of the basics from some great sources.

In the past, we had the rule of seven (7),

Today, it can take as few as one or as many as fifty (or more) touchpoints before your potential client will purchase from you.

Take a look at this example below.

The example here can have numerous ways to connect with you if this were your client journey mapping.

For Example:

• Opt-In may be their first touchpoint
• Perhaps from there, they are added to your email list
• They receive a weekly email in their inbox
• They could then set up a Free Mini Coaching Session
• And then could read the entire blog article
• To come back to you to purchase your services

We named six touchpoints in this example but it is not limited to that number. At any point, they may wait to receive a month of newsletters and go back to set up a mini-session (if they have not already) and it can go on and on as you can see.

Another way to put this is that it may take as little as a couple of interactions with you or as many as 50 interactions with you before they decide to trust you and finally purchase your services.

You cannot know how many it will take but you can show up consistently. A big part of this is having solid processes and systems in place.

Know your numbers and your funnels. Understand your customer’s journey clearly.

We are not finished yet, look for the next article to see the conclusion of this topic.

Step Four: Build Up Your Clientele

As we discussed the one to fifty touchpoints, Emailtootester.com further explains how those touchpoints may look on your end:

Inactive customers only need 1-3 touches on average a warm inbound lead will need 5-12 touchesWhereas a cold prospect can require 20-50 touches-Emailtootester

When someone begins to interact you can move through these stages (or touchpoints) with them or the prospective client may want to discover you and your services all on your own. Offer help as they go along but do not push at any time. When they are ready they will be happy to reach out to make that purchase.

This is how you will build up your clientele. This is a necessary step in getting you to become a full-time freelancer.

Check back for the second half of this article. I’ll see you there!

Tammy S. Durden is a?thought leader,?speaker, and business coach for online service providers, new online coaches, freelancers, virtual assistants, OBMs, and other small businesses. Tammy has established herself as an?authority figure?over the last 16 years in the online service industry, being called the “Godmother of Virtual Assistants" (or Freelancers). Her leadership is evident through her coaching, speaking, and teaching to audiences on topics such as business startups, business growth, digital marketing strategies, scaling your business (with a virtual team), and much more. Tammy loves to empower women and helping disabled professionals to thrive in the online services industry.

[article originally published on Fearless Business Boss Blog ]