the complete beginner’s guide to freelancing in 2024

this is the complete beginner guide to freelancing  I have made hundreds of thousands of dollars as a freelancer worked with 40 plus clients and  if I had to start from scratch today this is the exact checklist I would follow to do just  that all right here's our table of contents of what we're going to cover today level one we're  just going to focus on earning that first dollar and we have three tasks under level one level two  we're going to talk about earning your first $100 how to do that t

here are two tasks to do this  and level three we're going to talk about how to earn your first $1,000 and we have two tasks  here as well and if you pass all three levels we'll talk about our bonus level which is earning  your first $10,000 as a freelancer so this is our little game of freelancing we're here at level one  and we're going to advance via our first task so let's start the level so the first task of level  one is we have to choose your are character choose your character so there a

re three components to  choosing your character one we have to pick your superpower two we have to pick how much you want  to charge and three we want to pick your target clients your target bosses basically one of the  biggest things I learned about freelancing is freelancing is just about solving problems and  solving problems is exactly how you make money so it's a really good mindset to keep Forefront  when you are diving into the freelancing journey is what kind of problems am I going to be

solving  and that's exactly what we're going to talk about when it comes to your super P what problem are  you going to solve here are some very common problems that business owners have not making as  much money as they want not growing on YouTube Instagram Tik Tok X LinkedIn the way they want not  having enough time in their day huge problem being overwhelmed by technology not knowing how to write  good copy equals not knowing how to make sales not knowing how to grow an email list not being

able  to design things to look nice 99% of coo problems tend to fall into three big buckets time money  and energy they do not have enough of it or they want more of it so use that to orientate yourself  as you begin to dive into what problem exactly am I solving another question to ask yourself is do  you already have experience if yes use it that's easy good for you no then you're just like me  when I started freelancing I had absolutely no relevant work experience but that's fine just  solve

for the problem I don't have enough time to do everything almost every single business owner  has this problem so just solve there that problem if you don't have experience you can take things  off their PL give them their time back you can essentially just be an assistant to start and  help with any small bits and pieces that they throw your way that is actually also the best way  to gain experience as a freelancer and learn how things work behind the scenes if you work behind  you know a seven

figure business as an assistant you are going to understand very quickly exactly  how that machine turns and over time then you'll be able to use that experience to promote yourself  ask for rate raises that is like the lowest risk way to learn ESS another extremely important  question to answer as a freelancer to earn money is what is your competitive advantage and if  you're like d I don't have a competitive Advantage I challenge that because back in 2016 I didn't  think I had competitive adv

antages but looking back now I definitely did for example I had a lot  of time again business owners do not have time to do everything I had time I had time I could sell  them I am very type A and very detail oriented so I could help them with a lot of granular things  and double checking things I was really great at Googling do not underestimate your ability to  figure things out because most business owners again again don't have time and they don't have  time to be Googling a bunch of things

and figuring out how everything in their business works I was  a huge people pleaser which meant I was always over delivering huge ad ad huge ad ad huge value  ad and of course the best competitive advantage of all I was very cheap my prices were extremely  cheap as a freelancer do not underestimate that competitive Advantage so if that looks like your  list of competitive advantages now that's awesome that's all you need to start and to give you a  little bit of aspirational stuff you can achie

ve this is my list of competitive advantages now I  have six plus years of experience with project team Ops management for digital businesses  I'm really great at systems and processes hiring project planning Ops because I offered  those little soft skill competitive advantages learned a lot then gained the experience and now  have this right I have really strong soft skills clients love working with me I love working with  them that was so cheesy and I've helped clients properly scale from six

figures to seven figures  in a way that doesn't make them want to burn down their business which is very hard to do and I also  started a course business of my own and it grows six figures in its first year again I'm still very  typ eight very detail earned it's still great at Googling still a people pleaser here's some quick  tips do not start out too specialized I see that sometimes when Freelancers start out they're like  nich n n when you try working with a lot of people you learn very quick

ly because you're getting  that data of who you like who you don't like and who you ultimately want to be supporting  long term in your freelance business so give yourself permission to try absolutely everything  and if you're still not sure like I don't know what Niche to start with just pick an assist role  that's a little bit specialized like for example I want to be a Tik Tok assistant YouTube assistant  and if you're still really struggling with it I will link a video below where I share th

e top  10 best niches and four of the worst niches of freelancing this year so you can just pick one  from that list because I picked relatively easy niches for you to get started with I will also  link a few other videos that may be helpful in helping you figure out what exact skill or Niche  you want to start off with offering all right now the second thing we want to get clear on for your  character is who is that tardy client who is that person you want to serve so here what we want to  ask

ourselves is who has this problem that I've chosen to solve right so so the problem of not  having enough time basically every single scaling stof business owner has this huge problem they  don't have enough energy probably scaling business owner who has started hiring and is managing a  team of like five plus people and is exhausted by having no processes no systems everything lives in  their head and it's exhausting to go to work every day that's a humongous problem the problem of not  growing

on YouTube Tik Tok Instagram X LinkedIn the way that they want probably any business  prioritizing organic traffic strategies such as those platforms so really have a think about  that problem I've picked who has that problem get clear on that because that is how you're going  to be able to sell yourself to them to make money another question that might be fun to ask is who  are you curious about or interested in helping I would ask yourself like what type of content do  I already watch and con

sume all of the people running those forms of content are small business  owners that you could help bloggers YouTubers Tik tokers podcasters they all have workflows they  all have things that you can probably assist them with also also think about what are your hobbies  because there are people running small businesses in those reals as well if you're really into  Health they are Fitness content creators if you're really into video games you could help streamers  if you're really into vegan des

serts and you can't say no to a piece of vegan carrot cake then check  out vegan food bloggers they need help they pump out a lot of content that you can for sure be  helping them with all right now here's a little checklist of things to keep in mind very very  important make sure that your target client one has the money to pay you okay two is taking their  business relatively seriously beginner business owners are fine but they have to be committed  to some level you have to see some commitmen

t it's also really important that the target client  isn't too big or isn't too small too big I mean they have millions of followers on Instagram  that's probably not where we want to start out with we want to start out with smaller fish that's  more realistic to catch versus go for like a whale on day one right and also isn't too small by  isn't too small I mean it looks like they're just getting started and they're in that phase of  business ownership where they're doing everything themselves

because they have no money to spare  we don't want that person now we want to create our tagline this will just help us know what the  heck we're doing so this is the formula I use I help blank do blank so they can blank okay so for  example my thing is I have small business owners with project team and operations management  so they can get more of their free time back while still scaling their business Revenue it's  important here to use language that your target client would be using so they

get what you do ASAP  do not try to like corporate fluff your I help statement just make sure you use something where  somebody heard it like your target person heard it they'd be like bam I want to talk to you I need to  know more what exactly are we doing here awesome all right now let's talk about getting paid and  how much exactly to charge now the first thing I need to share here is unfortunately if you're  just getting started as a freelancer especially if you have no experience you are ex

tremely risky  of a hire for a business owner to make which means your mindset going into this is not how much money  can I charge it needs to be how can I make it as easy as possible for this client to give me a  chance AKA how can I reduce the risk for them to say yes to me as much much as possible and one  of the easiest ways to reduce risk for a business owner is to be cheaper which is why I have this  piece of advice for beginner Freelancers that if you have no experience just start low bec

ause  again you are not marrying this rate right just because you start at $15 an hour does not  mean you're going to stay at $15 an hour even for a year right because my biggest advice is you  start low so you get those first few clients who give you the trust and then you slowly increase  your pricing you'll increase your pricing 5 to 10% with each additional client this is not like  corporate you're not going to be stuck with this rate for one or two years okay so just start low  get your foo

t in the drawer get the right clients in incentivize them to say yes to you and then  we will grow another really good mentality to have is a paid internship mentality you know so  many people are willing to do completely unpaid internships but they're not willing to take on  a low hourly rate with a client with a temporary client and just treat it as if they're paying you  to learn that's essentially what those first few freelance clients are doing they are paying you  to learn so focus on the

learning part because I swear that is what's going to make you big bucks  where's my voice so focus on the learning because that is what's going to make you big bucks in the  long run don't stay short game like look at the long game and a huge warning here do not get stuck  on pricing I see this all the time Freelancers are like oh no I don't know what to charge I don't  know what to charge just pick a random number and just try to sign one client with that one  price point you're not announcing

to everyone I am $15 an hour and I'm going to be $15 an hour  forever no you're just going to try that pricing with one client that's it you do not have to marry  this rate again so just don't don't take it too seriously it's not that deep right let's just do  it with one client and then we'll increase from there all right we're moving on to task two now  that we have our character our second task is to collect your gear your portfolio is the only real  gear you need as a freelancer so make it

a really strong one notice I didn't say you need a website  you need a logo you need your full branding kit you need whatever 15 colors picked out for your  brand theme you don't need any of that okay those are fake hurdles that you're creating for  yourself all you need is a really really strong wrong portfolio a portfolio is how you show  clients hey I know what I'm doing look at times when I have done this for other people okay and  if you're asking D but I haven't done things for other peopl

e that's okay okay that's okay those  are called ghost projects those are projects that you do as a sample and you put in your portfolio  even if you didn't do them for other people and you're not lying you're not saying I've had  worked with clients before and this is what I've done you're just saying here's an example  of what I could do for you clients don't care if it's a good sample they don't care if you did it  for a real person or not quality over quantity in portfolios all the way so al

l it really takes is  just one really great project so really dedicate some time to making a really great project and  make sure that it's really indicative indicative make sure it's really the most relevant sample you  could give to the person that you have picked to Target and of course I have a video that breaks  down exactly how to build a portfolio in notion I will link it below as well and the template is  free as well so don't worry I've got you going so ideally you would make two to thre

e samples of  different things showcase different skills within the realm of what you want to offer but again if  you can just make one really great one that's fine too so here's some examples if you want to be a  Tik Tok assistant then make two to three sample edits for a Tik tocker another sample is you could  come up with 10 to 20 really cool content ideas for your Target person right and a secret little  trick here what I would do is if you've already identified somebody that you're like I w

ould love  to work with them they're not too big they're not too small they have the money they are scaling  I can totally solve the problem that they are having then go take a piece of their content and  cut their piece of content up into Tik Tok videos and then you can pitch them with it of like hey I  had some time I'd love to work with you I did some samples for you here they are do you like them  if you want to be a YouTube assistant you can do some research and draft up like two to three v

ideo  pictures for your favorite YouTuber of like ideas that you think they should really do like come up  with some title ideas come up with some thumbnail ideas and that would be a super cool portfolio  item right you could also write a script sample of like a cool video it doesn't even have to to  be a full script it can just be like 500 Words so someone can get a taste of like your tone of voice  and how you write and if you're a good writer and that can go in your portfolio as well done so 

do not get stuck on the portfolio I know it seems daunting but really just focus on making one  really great sample use the free notion template that I mentioned and you'll be well on your way  all right now task three we're going to officially go and try to land your first gig as a freelancer  your only focus here is your that just that $1 okay just that $1 I don't want you to think and  overwhelm yourself with I have to make $100,000 I want to be a sixer fcer you're just trying to  make $1 yo

u can convince someone to give you $1 I believe in you all right and remember your unique  selling proposition remember your competitive advantages now your only goal here is to get out  there at least 20 to 30 times okay I want you to get that repetition in of getting out there so  your checklist join a freelancing platform of your choice like Contra upwork Fiverr I want you  to send at least 5 to 10 proposals then I want you to watch my cold pitching series and send your  first five to 10 cold

pitches then I want you to tell five to 10 people in your network whoever can  be family friends acquaintances anybody that has a small business you could go downstairs to your  local cafe and tell them about it just pick 5 to 10 people that could potentially use your help  other options here you could C pitch via email via a voice message via short video on LinkedIn via  X Twitter whatever you want and I know this seems super overwhelming and super intimidating but I  promise if you take it on

e at a time you will be able to do it if you need help with freelancing  platforms I will link my relevant freelance platform videos below if you need help with cold  pitching I will link my cold pitching series below if you need help with how what to do and how to  land clients in communities like Facebook groups or Discord I will link that video below as well  and also I will link my video on how to handle getting rejected as a freelancer because you might  need that I'll just be totally hones

t I don't want to set you up with the wrong expectations you will  probably be rejected a lot I have been rejected every which way a billion times it is normal once  you do that it's time to unlock a reward because duh what's the point of doing anything if we don't  get little rewards and treats so your treat is you can go get your favorite drink at your favorite  local cafe has a huge pat on the back don't worry more rewards are coming and bigger rewards are  coming once you start earning the b

igger bucks now it's on to level two congrats we're leveling  up I love it all right level two is all about earning your first $100 so let's talk about that  your first task is to do all of your weekly quests what are your weekly quests your only focus  here is to make $100 your first $100 here's your dailyweekly checklist it kind of depends  on what you have going on if you're super busy then make this a weekly checklist if you're not  super busy and you want to get going freelancing ASAP that

make this a daily Quest that you try  to achieve every single day all right so every single day send five proposals on the freelancing  platform of your choice send five really good cold pitches tell five people in your network of what  you're doing and other options here you could also throw in some cold pitching via email via voice  message via X LinkedIn whatever your choice is the point here is just to get out there as often  as you can and make contact with as many people as you can the big

gest issue that I see the biggest  roadblock that I see that keeps Freelancers from actually becoming Freelancers and getting paid  properly is that they come up with all these other fake tasks that they have to do to avoid  trying to get out there and just talk to the people that could potentially use their help and  again if you did level one properly then you will know exactly what problem you are solving you know  exactly some types of people that you might want to reach out to and talk to a

nd you will know what  your competitive Advantage is that's all you need to convince somebody to give you money and here's  some like real talk freelancing there's no magic solution there's no magic shortcut to making  $100,000 as a freelancer you do this checklist over and over again until you have a steady  base of clients and then you won't have to do this list anymore I did this list less and less  the longer my freelance career went on because as I started getting those clients especially 

good clients those are just long-term clients right like if you get one long-term client that  pays you 1 to 2K a month you're set imagine I told you for every 100 times you get out there  you will land three mindblowing ideal amazing clients that will be with you for years that is  the kind of conversion rate we're talking about when you're just getting started let's move on  to task two task two is to get good just like if you play a video game you have to get good you  have to get the practic

eing I've played hundreds of hours of World of Warcraft and I'm still now  just trying to get good so how will you create the best character ever if you think of yourself  as a separate video game character how are you going to upgrade the shiz out of this character  what skills will you add on what upgrades can you buy for them what mentors will you learn from  because remember how in level one we talked about how freelancing is solving problems and solving  problems is how you make money here'

s something for my level two people that I didn't say in level  one I think you're ready for it now when you solve small problems you make small money when you solve  big problems as a freelancer that is how you make big money so as much as possible you want to focus  on how can I upgrade my character to solve bigger problems for my target people so examples of how  I did this I noticed a lot of my clients did not have project management tools and everything  in their business was chaotic and no

thing was getting done so I watched a bunch of free YouTube  videos on Project management tools like click up a sauna and then I offered clients to help them set  them up and solve a huge headache a huge problem in their business that nothing was streamlined  and the tasks were not finishing I also paid for skills training strategy workshops so I could  offer more strategic value to my clients and I also followed a lot of experts in funnel strategy  and online courses so that I could offer upto-

date value ad to clients to be like hey I noticed  that this is something that a lot of people are doing this year like let's try this let's try  that so think about how can you upgrade your character and part of that is also just being on  the lookout the scanning of what's going wrong in your clients's business why are they not making  more money what are they getting stuck at what is a huge problem why are things not getting done  why is everybody unhappy why is everything on fire see those t

hings and then be like how can I solve  that problem and if you solve that you plug that hole that's all I'll say is this like ASMR  and a little side note tidbit here the most underrated thing as a freelancer is soft skills  I hate that it's called soft skills because they are the coolest radest skills you could  possibly ever have and offer as a freelancer hard skills may get you hired but soft skills  are what retains your clients and gets them to refer you out to everyone that they know and 

be obsessed with you and love you so here are some soft skills that I would keep in mind overd  deliver everything under promise overd deliver always you want people to be like oh my gosh  I got so much more than what I paid for when I hired de she's absolutely amazing be client  Centric right like don't just be what's in it for de how do I make the most money what would  be great for me what would work for me no and that's also lowkey why I think empathy is  one of the biggest competitive adva

ntages so if you're empathetic use that be a crystal  clear Communicator set clear expectations this is one of those like it's so overs said but still  underdone be hella organized and detail oriented be a good figure outer which means when you run  into something you don't know you're not up to running up to the CL I can't I couldn't figure  it out you figure it out I couldn't decide you decide this is my typing no banned we're going  to Google what is RO what is a sign up what is clickup watch

es a video figure it out that's what  we're doing also be proactive be e proactive wow she's so good at talking all right l two l two  that's not the word feel like once I've recorded for 30 minutes I get hilarious all right level  two it's time to earn your rewards so unlock them first you're going to get one per from my  c I'm going to insert it here if you achieved it your other reward is a piece of your favorite  type of cake it can be whatever cake you want just pick a piece of cake get it

once you finish level  two and the task there because I'm really proud of you all right let's dive straight into level three  level three is all about earning your first $1,000 oh my gosh so exciting so again here you're going  to really notice the trend here I'm always going to be talking about how you upgrade your character  because I didn't tell this to level one and level two people but I'm going to tell you now because  you're here in level three remember how we talked about solve small pro

blems make small money you  solve big problems make big money well here's the final evolution if you solve even bigger even  more painful problems the money it will rain from the sky so the way to solve bigger problems to  make that mad money is to upskill and get more advanced skills training solve bigger problems you  generate bigger value the more the client hates a problem the bigger a problem it is the harder  it is to learn to fix that problem the bigger of a problem it is the more tied to

a business's  income and goals and the freedom of a business owner the bigger of a problem it is so once you  solve those problems and you're increasing your value ad that's when you increase your rate  and then you will do this on a cycle you will continue pitching and Outreach maybe a little  less depending on how many clients you have now and adjust that pitching schedule to focus again  on more and more premium platforms because smaller clients they tend to be in like free communities  and

stuff like that premium clients the ones that are pay paying the big bucks chances are they're  imp paid communities so if you think about the ideal six to seven figure business owner chances  are they don't have time to be in a free Facebook group digging for a bunch of answers looking  through post chances are they're in higher paid Mastermind so and make sure that as you're going  through you're going to trade out your bad clients for better ones you're going to create maintain  your boundari

es like your life depends on it do not roll your eyes when I say the word boundaries  you need them if you want to make great money for a long time as a freelancer always be looking  for opportunities to add more value and solve your problems I will say this over and over until  I'm blue in the face that is how you make good money as a freelancer so make sure that's part  of your daily routine to always be scanning for those things and then just keep increasing the  amount of money you charge if

you do this on a cycle you will be at six figures before you even  know it now the second task here is to build your guild so find your peeps right like Facebook  groups Discord communities YouTube channels hey Instagram accounts and create referral Partners  out of those leads if you're a copywriter make friends with a graphic designer Des ER and refer  each other when a client needs a new site build you're a business manager make friends with an  online course strategist or an online course B

uilder and refer each other whenever a new client  wants an online course built so level three let's talk rewards what are they one one giant congrats  from me via comment if you've made $1,000 tell me below I will give you the biggest congrats ever  because that is such a huge win for both you and me that is so awesome and you have to go play  laser tag or book a spa day those are your two options you can pick which one but you have  to do one of them and I give you permission to watch Netflix

for 2 hours during the middle of  the work day if you complete level three because that is what you've won that was like the biggest  win for me once I started making great money as a freelancer I would watch like an hour of Netflix  during the day and be like this is what I worked so hard for I know you've won the game the ASMR  clap now here's the bonus level if you want to earn your first $10,000 as a freelancer then I'm  going to link this video where I talk about my biggest Lessons Learned

getting to 10K month  as a freelancer I hope to see you over there and as always thank you so so much for watching  and I hope to catch you in the next one okay bye