A story from a decade ago on Salon.com remains a running theme I hear in the freelancing world. And I’m here to gently challenge the thinking around it.
The article, called “I Never Should Have Followed My Dreams,” is about a man who quit his job in a social policy research organization to become a freelance copywriter.
Basically, he took an advertising class, built his portfolio, and then couldn’t find any jobs.
Why did he fail at his attempt at freelancing? It’s simple. Freelancing is like any other skill. You have to learn how to do it.
All too often people think I’m just going to “go freelance.” But no matter what field you’re in—whether it’s copywriting, graphic design, financial services, nonprofit consulting, or whatever—you need to learn how to be a freelancer. You likely already mastered your job skill set. It’s the element of freelancing that you need to learn.
So, what do you need to learn? Well, let’s dig into a few reasons why freelancers fail and how to ensure you achieve freelance success.
Eliminating the Risk Factor and Other Objections
As a freelancer, you’ll often hear it’s “too risky” or you’re never going to make money. Or at least consistent money. There’s this ingrained belief that working on staff is “safe.” But your career is only safe when you are in control of it. Freelancing is the best way to control not just where and when you work, but who you work with and how much you’re earning.
At a company, you don’t get to choose who you work with. You often don’t get to choose your projects. And you are 100% at the mercy of what the company decides. If they merge with another company, downsize, or shut down completely, your job is always at risk of the business’s decisions.
Going freelance, most people’s first concerns are financial. What if you miss your mortgage payment and the bank takes your house? What if you miss your car payment and your car is repossessed?
But why aren’t we asking these questions when we’re on staff? A consistent paycheck is an illusion when you’re on staff.
As a freelancer for two decades, I know it is possible to make a consistent living entirely from freelance income. In fact, you can make a great living as a freelancer, including a six-figure income if that’s your goal.
Successful freelancers will tell you it’s absolutely possible for you to hit your income goals. And you should always be learning from people who have been successful at what you want to do. Those that never learned to freelance? It’s not that they couldn’t achieve success. It’s that they jumped in without a plan.
Freelancing is more than just possible—as long as you know the correct steps to take.
Why Freelancers Fail
Freelancers fail because they don’t have a game plan for their business.
To be successful in any field as a freelancer it takes hard work, establishing and maintaining a good network, creating a process for invoicing, understanding your financial obligations and taxes, distinguishing yourself from the competition, pricing your services correctly, and so much more.
The only way to build a successful, predictable freelance business (without working crazy hours or for peanuts) is to follow a proven, scalable, step-by-step system for finding and landing high-paying clients.
That involves a blueprint for your business. You can get started today with our free video training. (Since 2012, we’ve taught more than 10,000 students how to create predictable, scalable freelance income.)
Feast or Famine and Dry Spells
Freelancing doesn’t need to involve dry spellings, begging for work, or cold calling.
If you’re relying on external forces to make something happen, you’re at the mercy of fate.
For example, if you’re waiting for clients to come to you or even waiting for one of your recurring clients to hand you projects, you’re leaving control of your career in someone else’s hands.
Being a successful freelancer means being a proactive partner. You’re reaching out to clients and potential clients with value-packed ideas for their business. You’re not giving them the how to do it, you’re giving them the why they should do a particular project. And then you’re offering to help execute the how.
Dry spells happen because freelancers stop being proactive. If you have a lull in work, look at what actions you were taking two or three months ago. Were you reaching out to clients with value packed ideas? Or were you assuming work would keep coming?
And job bidding sites like Upwork and Fiverr are not the easy solution they seem. On sites like these, you are still putting control of your career in someone else’s hands. (Not to mention it’s a race to the bottom when it comes to project pricing.) Sites like Upwork allow a client to post a job and then pick from any number of freelancers competing for the work. You, as the freelancer, spend valuable time putting together a proposal that may not be selected.
Clients Are Critical
The author of the Salon.com article took an “advertising class.” But I’m guessing this class didn’t teach him how to find clients. He mistakenly thought he would graduate and get enough work to support himself full-time. Shame on this “advertising class” for not making that a key topic of learning. Any course that doesn’t make finding clients a major focus of what they teach is setting their students up for failure. (Read more about the five signs of a quality freelancing course here.)
If you currently have a full-time job, it’s absolutely possible to learn to freelance and start amassing your first clients as a part-time freelancer. That way, you’re still earning income while you build up your client roster (and a financial safety net). While some people believe that if you jump, the net will appear, it’s not what we advocate to our students.
Clients don’t just fall into your lap or come via robust referrals. You need a system, a process, for finding clients.
And, again, Upwork or Fiverr are not systems! These are low-paying job-bidding sites.
Remember: You’re transitioning into a brand-new career and it will take time to get a foothold. And it will take much longer if you don’t know how to find clients.
The quickest way to limit your freelance business is to forget about your clients after you’ve completed one project with them. The easiest way to grow your freelance business is to focus on landing more work with your current clients or clients you’ve worked with in the past. Pitch to current and past clients to keep your network strong.
3 Keys to Changing Careers
As you’ll hear us say over and over, the three keys to changing careers are:
- Get training
- Get experience
- Get a job
Most people don’t succeed because they skip to #3 without taking steps #1 and #2.
And please don’t think that I don’t have sympathy for the writer of this article. I do. Being in a bad job is an awful, dispiriting place to be. But that also means you’re especially susceptible to bad advice that will hinder you from following your dreams.
Let me step back. “Follow your dreams” is an inaccurate phrase. Dreams won’t be followed—they need to be pursued. You need to have a plan. And not just a plan for how to pursue your dreams but also a plan for how to provide for yourself along the way.
How To Change Careers To Become a Freelancer
It’s not easy to change careers. But nothing that’s worth anything is easy. You can still enjoy the process and benefit from learning to overcome self-doubt.
And it doesn’t even take that much to successfully transition to a new career. It takes a willingness to learn, self-evaluate, and put in some work and persistence. These are the characteristics that make successful people in every area of life—from careers to parenting to artistic endeavors to sports achievements.
I’m very sorry that this author feels like his dream let him down or that it was the wrong choice to try to change careers. I’m especially sorry that the way he went about it was what set him up for challenges.
Becoming a freelancer is completely possible. Nobody ever says, “Oh, it’s impossible to become a mechanic.” Or “It’s impossible to break into engineering.”
But like everything else in life you need to learn how to do it…before you can do it. Keep in mind that just because you can’t do something yet, doesn’t mean you can’t do it.
Freelancing is just like any other job except the difference is that most people try to get into it in the wrong way. And it doesn’t have to be hard or a dispiriting experience. Sure, it can be a challenge. But knowing how to do it, step-by-step, certainly makes that challenge a lot easier to overcome.
Get started today with our free video training. We can’t wait for you to join our freelance community!
Tune In To Learn More About Freelancing
The Freelance Success Framework limited podcast series is 11 short, info-packed episodes that answer some of the most common freelancing questions, bust through the biggest myths, and prove that it’s 100% possible for YOU to make a great living as a freelancer. Check it out here.
Watch To Learn More About Part-Time Freelancing
If you’re ready to start your freelance business but not quite ready to leave your full-time job, this is the perfect episode for you! Freelancing part-time without leaving your day job is definitely possible, but you need to know how to do it correctly.
In this episode of the Freelance Success Framework podcast, Nicki and Kate offer guidance on how to navigate freelancing part-time while being employed full-time.
Your Turn
What are your thoughts? Are there any points I missed? Let us know in the comments below!
Last Updated on March 22, 2024.
