Lessons

Lesson Info

Class Introduction

First off, great job. You're here. The hardest thing that I've seen with people who are transitioning into freelance, or looking to do something new, is that they realize it's okay to make that decision to do something for themselves, right? We go through that period of I'm afraid because I can't, I'm afraid because I don't know, I don't know what to do in this phase. So, what we're gonna do today is first off say, congratulations, you made it. So now we can go ahead and start talking about specific action steps to take to move into your freelance career. And that's where I work with people who are freelancing to make some extra cash, and that's the sidehustle. Also, we have people who are saying I don't want my permanent job anymore, I want to move into a freelance career where I get to be my own boss. And then, I work with a lot of people who also are picking up freelance jobs because they want experience in their field so they can be considered for permanent roles. So, it works in t...

he opposite as well. I work with a lot of people who need a few bits of experience in order for companies to say, "You know what? You're ready to go. Why don't you come and work for us?" So, we're gonna talk about that today. The other thing I want to remind everyone is you're allowed to make mistakes. And you're also allowed to have fun, and that's probably a lot of what I'm gonna do today, right? We're able to make mistakes, we're able to go ahead and do what we want to do, and learn a little bit from it, and have some fun. So let's get started. This is how I work as a coach. This is what I find to be most effective. Often when people move into a new job, a new career, freelancing, they're in this place of please pick me. It's that fear-based idea of, "The client has all the power. I don't know what I'm doing. I have to pretend I know what I'm doing and take every job that comes my way." And that's that please pick me state, where it's, "I hope you like me, and I hope that you pick me for this job." And what I like to do is move you to an area which is, when do we start. We've got some really basic tips today. I've got some great worksheets to work through to help you get set up so you have that information. So, when you talk to a client, you're ready. And the idea is, when you walk in the door, and when you look them in the eye, and say, "This is my rate. This is how I work.", you're in that when do we start phase. And they go, "Oh, cool, you're ready to go. I'm not concerned that you don't have a ton of experience. I'm not worried because you've told me everything that you do, and I'm ready to go ahead and write that check. And that's kind of what we're gonna talk about a little bit today. And that goes along with this section, which is: Allow yourselves to make mistakes. We kind of live in this world where things are either perfect or they're a failure. So, when we start something, we try something new, what happens is if I do something first, for the first time, if it's not exactly the way I expected it to be, if it's not perfect, then it's clearly a failure. And the truth is, we actually live somewhere in the middle. And that's what we're gonna talk about today. We are always in that middle, and we're gonna talk about this idea of yes, I have goals, but if I only hit that goal 100%, if I only achieve that goal the way I expected to achieve that goal, then things are okay, right? So, we live in this world then where I'm only happy in it this moment when I hit that goal. And what we don't realize is the work we're actually doing, the stuff we're learning, the people we meet, all that good stuff is where we live most of the time. And that's in the middle. And if you can achieve that, and if you can realize it doesn't have to be perfect, then you really don't have this failure, right? You're sitting somewhere in the middle and kind of enjoying the experience, and that's what I want to do today, right? I don't know how this class is gonna work out. But I don't expect it to be perfect or a failure. Sometimes it'll be somewhere in the middle, and that's really what we're working for today, right? And that goes along with growth mindset. Anybody understand what growth mindset is? Jess, what's growth mindset? I guess, the mindset that you will always be improving. Rather, you're not at one level. There's always another level to move up towards. That's exactly right. That's great. So the idea behind growth mindset is that all of our talents, all of our abilities, we can actually improve on them, right? So, if I have a sound strategy, I'm willing to work hard, and I will take input from others? I can improve my skills. I'll get better at what I do. So, you're gonna get better at the skill that you offer, or the services you offer to your clients, but you're also gonna get better at meeting clients. You're gonna get better about telling your story. You're gonna get better about how you actually enter the market, how you compete against the people out there that are doing exactly what you do, right? The opposite would be that fixed mindset, which says things like, "I'm not good at math. So, therefore, I'm not gonna be able to put my pricing together. I'm not very good at talking to people, so therefore, I'll never be engaging when I talk to people and try to get clients. And so, we're gonna work in this growth mindset, which is: start somewhere. Be honest with yourself, evaluate yourself, and then we'll move to the next step. So, that's exactly what we're gonna do today. Me. Let's talk about me for just a second. As Chris mentioned earlier, my background is in freelancing. I freelanced almost my entire working career in one way or another. It's either been to make extra cash, or because I was leaving a permanent role, and I wanted to see what I could do, and do on my own. So, it started out for me, I was a performer in New York, and I needed extra cash. So, I took skills I had learned in college, skills I had learned from my father, which were carpentry and welding, and other areas, and I started a freelance business. And when I did that, it grew. My reputation grew because for me, my goal was, I want to do it a little bit better than the person who's doing exactly what I do. And so, it started out my first freelance job, I actually took care of the building I lived in in New York, and it reduced my rate in rent. So, it was a deal I made, and it was a barter, right? My landlord said, "Here's your rent." And I was trying to be an actor, so I said, "Listen, how about I take care of your building, and this will be my new rent?" And they agreed. The beauty of that, and we'll talk about this in networking a little bit, is my landlord started telling people what a great job I did. Because my goal was to keep that business going. And then eventually, what happened for me was, my freelance business turned into a company. All of a sudden, I have an accountant I have attorneys, I have all these things going on. And I'm hiring people, and it started out I hired freelancers. So my staff in the beginning were freelancers, which then became employees. And then I became someone who handled payroll, and I was no longer doing a lot of the things I did when I started freelancing, but my job was to help other people grow their businesses. So, it was really kind of a nice experience. Now, when I come into career coaching, what I've done over the last several years, is I coach and I work for General Assembly now, and I coach for their immersive students, but I freelance with people on the side. And so, I'm always doing something. This, today, is a freelancing job for me. So, it's nice. I'm always looking to see what else is out there. What services can I provide? And for me, and one of the things we'll talk about today is I love what I do. So, for me, I get to help other people. And I found something that I find value in, beyond just I'm getting paid for it. I find value in it, and that motivates me to do the work. Otherwise, I will do a job and not really put my effort into it, right? So, I could go back into a role, maybe I had in the past, where I was just collecting that paycheck, but for me, the hard work I put in, I want it to pay off, and part of that is I enjoy what I do. And we'll find out today how much I enjoy what I do. So let's talk a little bit about what you're gonna take from this class. I'm gonna give you simple business tools. And the idea behind this is you don't have to have a business degree. It's really hard, and one of the first things I talk about with freelancers is this idea of, "I don't know anything about business, but I wanna do this." And I'm gonna give you simple steps to enter the market. Test today, learn a little bit more, but this idea that I have to have everything perfect, and I have to know everything, and I have to have a perfect website, or my marketing materials, or all that, it's just not true. And I usually tell my students there is no one sitting behind a desk with a big cigar saying, "You'll never work in this town again.", if you make a few mistakes. The opposite will probably happen, where you'll realize, I'm actually okay. I'm doing exactly what I need to do. You know, I like to say I offer information, motivation, and a little bit of reality. And the reality, for me, is ... people assume that reality is your stuff isn't good enough, you're not ready, but the reality is, you're probably ready. You can start today. You can go out there, and you can test the market, and you can see what you're capable of. And that's really what I like to work on, is why not try it? Otherwise, it's theoretical. I'm at home, I'm hoping I can do this, and it's all aspirational. How do I get out there? What do I do? Because, yeah, there are people out there who are doing it right now. The assumption is: I have to do it like them. And for me, I don't. I do what works for me, and we're gonna talk about it today. So, we're gonna do specific action steps to enter the market. I'm gonna talk about building your network. Best part about it is you get to meet people. They will help you, you'll learn more, and that's how you're gonna get your clients and keep your clients. I don't love this idea of passive marketing, which we'll talk about in a little bit. Which is, I put my materials together, I have a website, I've joined a couple freelance websites, and I'm waiting for clients to come get me. That's based on price often, and so then you end up working for a price that you're not really comfortable with. So, we're gonna talk about actively going after people who will hire you. And I love that, and that's the when do we start model, right? I've done the work, let's get going. So that's what we're gonna talk about. And then, pricing your work. That's my favorite. 'Cause whenever I talk about pricing my work, everyone goes (loud breath in), 'cause we've all had an experience. I talk to people all the time, and I say .... They ask me, "Well, they asked me what I was supposed to charge them, and I gave them this number." And I'll say, "Well, how did you come up with that number?" And the answer is usually, "I have no idea. I just gave it to 'em 'cause I thought it sounded good." So, today we're gonna talk about a couple of examples: pricing yourself for some extra cash, pricing yourself if you're building a business and you actually want to give yourself a salary. So, we're gonna give you a couple of models for that today, just so you have an idea and say, "Look, oh you know what, when I quote a price, I know I'm making money." Rather than, "I think I have to give my work away for free because that's how people always enter the market." Or "Because I'm new" or "I don't have a lot of experience". You are all problem-solvers here. I do not care if you're a writer, if you did what I did, which was welding and carpentry and other things, or if you're an artist, a designer, a photographer. You're all solving a problem. And your clients will need that problem solved. They cannot do it themselves. So, we're gonna talk today about how you figure out what that problem is, and then show them why you will, and how you will, solve that problem. So, that's what we're gonna talk about. This is your plan of action workbook, which we've put together. Ta-da. So this comes with the class and some of the things we're gonna talk about today is that plan of action. We're gonna talk about networking. We're gonna do a simple brand, then a couple of simple brand exercises. You have to know who you are, and you have to know how to represent yourself when you talk to people. I don't like this idea of sell yourself. We always talk about this, "I don't wanna sell myself, and I feel like I always have to be on." The way that I like to work is this idea of authentically representing yourself. If you know who you are, you know what you do, and you're able to share that with somebody else, they'll have a good idea of who you are. So, we're gonna talk a little bit about brand today, 'cause that's something everyone looks at and says, "I don't know what that means." We're gonna talk about that, 'cause we are human beings. So, I'm not someone who says I represent me with this color, or this that or that, because I'm a human being. What we're gonna talk about is how to tell your story. How do you let your network know what you do, and how do you do it effectively? So, that's what we're gonna talk about. We will talk about researching your competition. Everyone here will have competition. Perhaps at some point, you will be my competition. So, we have to look at that and say, what is it this person does, what's their strategy, and how do I then match it, or how do I make myself something a little bit different? We will determine pricing, and then, literally, go and test. If you did this workbook today, you could go out tomorrow, and start checking with your network, and testing to see if you have someone who would actually purchase what you do. There is no reason why you have to wait. This idea that "I'm not ready" comes from that fear. I work with another coach, and she always says to her classes, what would you do if you couldn't fail? And my answer is: everything. If I didn't think I couldn't fail, if I was like, "I'm not gonna fail at this today.", I would do it. So this idea that I have something in front of me preventing me, or this barrier from going out and testing the market? Is something we're gonna get rid of today.