How to Start Freelancing (5 Tips for Beginners)

So many people are out there thinking "I'll start freelancing some day".

Well, "someday" is not a day of the week. It's very rare in life that the stars align. If you are waiting for the right time or if you've been busy "planning" for more than even a couple of months, it's time to let go of perfectionism and dive right in.

The life you want won't happen by itself. But it also won't happen if you keep letting the need to have things figured out drive your actions. At some point you just need to take the plunge.

Of my 5 freelance tips that I share here, this is actually the only piece of advice I didn't need. I left my full-time job with a £700 freelance project - that's it. You might say that is too risky, but the truth is that I knew I could get another job if it didn't work out. 

But here's the real thing about perfection: it doesn't exist. You will always, ALWAYS be growing and iterating. There is no "done" state in business. So take your half-baked business plan and get out there today!

If you ask somebody "how do I become a freelancer?" the advice often given is to work for free at first to build up your portfolio.

But there are two reasons why I strongly disagree with this advice, and why I think you should start freelancing from day one doing only paid work. 

The first reason is because your time is valuable. Even if the work you're doing in the early days is sub-par. Charge accordingly. I'm not saying you shouldn't give discounts. I'm saying you should never work for free. Putting money on the table makes it serious. You're less able to deliver a good service if you don't feel respected by the client or if you're worrying about paying the bills. Value your time and your work, and the rest will follow.

The second - and most important reason - is that selling is what freelancing is all about. A lot of people don't like this, but the truth is you can't create a flexible and profitable freelance life if you don't know how to sell. And the best way to learn is to do. So why would you rob yourself of the opportunity to get into the money conversation with clients? Ask for payment.

Don't use "free" as an excuse to avoid selling. And don't work for free whilst you build your portfolio. Start as you mean to go on, by creating a proper mindset aimed at building a real business.

If you currently work at a marketing or design agency, you might feel the temptation to start freelancing for these types of businesses. After all, you can earn more as an agency contractor, doing fewer hours than a full-time employee.

That's fine if this is the sort of business you really want to build. But IMHO working for agencies is a bit of a cop out. You let the agency find the work, negotiate the scope and price and manage the client. This is probably (though not always) an easier life than building your own business working with your own clients. But such is the abiding rule of life: great things do not come from taking the easy route.

When you work directly with clients, you create the opportunity to become real partners, with genuine influence and respect. Your day rate isn't capped by an agency, and the possibility to create a serious income is unlocked.

So take your service to market. Don't stay tethered to the safety of the shoreline. You want to leave your current agency for a reason, right? Don't hang around as a contractor. Make what you really want, happen.

This is one freelancing tip that didn't really hit me until shockingly recently. 

When you're figuring out how to start freelancing, you'll hear a lot of stuff about how you can live life on your own terms. It's completely true, you can. However, this doesn't mean you can sleep in all morning and take random days off whenever you feel like it. Well - you can - but at some point you'll be wondering what it is you're actually working toward.

As a seasoned business owner who's been freelancing for ages, I wish I could tell my younger self to be more disciplined. To figure out WHY I'm freelancing, to define WHO I'm helping with my service and to build a positive daily practice toward making it happen. Without this anchor, your lazy lie-ins are bittersweet. In fact they feel more like distractions than perks. Take your freelance business seriously, from day one.

Whilst I strongly believe you should take your business seriously, I think it can be very easy to take ourselves too seriously. Even if my business grows to multiple employees and turns over a million dollars, I want to have fun along the way.

In my first few years of business it was all about trying to get sales and make money. Every conversation seemed haunted by the spectre of failure, and tainted by the pressure I put on myself. This is not fun.

So my parting tip for freelance beginners is to make having fun a part of your business plan. Forget about all the stuff you think you should be doing (including what I'm saying here, if you want!) and decide for yourself what a fun and exciting business looks like to you. Then do it.