Freelance Opportunities in Marketing

Your to-do list shouldn't control your life. 6 methods that kept me from losing my mind: (And doubled my output) 1. The Two-Minute Rule If something takes less than two minutes, do it immediately. Not later. Not tomorrow. But now. This simple rule prevents small tasks from snowballing into overwhelming anxiety. --- 2. Never Miss Another Detail I used to scramble taking notes during meetings + interviews, missing key points and action items. Now, I use Rev’s VoiceHub to auto-record and transcribe everything. It’s more accurate than alternatives like OtterAI and it’s easy to share the info with my team. --- 3. The Focus Formula 3 hours of deep work beats 8 hours of shallow work every time. Block your calendar, turn off notifications, set a timer, and just start. Watch your output soar. --- 4. Energy Management > Time Management Stop planning your day around the clock. Instead, match tasks to your natural rhythms – creative work in the morning, meetings after lunch, admin work when energy dips. Work with your body, not against it. --- 5. The Weekly Reset Ritual Every Sunday, clear your inbox, plan your priorities, set three main goals, and prepare your workspace. This turns Monday from a bottleneck into a launchpad. --- 6. Automate Everything Possible If you do something more than twice, automate it. From email templates to calendar scheduling, let tech handle the routine so you can focus on what matters. --- These tools & techniques will help you stay organized, manage your time better, and maintain your sanity. Try them out and see which ones work best for you. Reshare ♻ to help others. And follow me for more posts like this.

3 tactics that helped us work with top clients and scale OWLED. "Clients only care about affordability" - most freelancers believe this. I am saying this because when I started out I also used to think the same. However, I realized that turning prospects into clients isn't only dependent on pricing. So while building Owled we applied these tactics that you must also try: 1) Giving them performance-based guarantees.  ROI is the prime importance for everyone. If a client is investing an amount they need returns on it. We showcase the ROI-based case studies to our clients so they can trust us easily. 2) Explaining how instead of what. A person running a business surely knows what they need to do to grow their business. We don't educate them about why they need to go digital. Instead, we show them strategies that would help them build a digital presence and generate business via it. 3) Showing them the potential. Sometimes the prospects want to trust and experiment with the ideas. However, they are just concerned about the results. Our first non-negotiable is believing our own ideas and showing the bigger picture to the client. Basically, we sell and promote results instead of the idea. Financials do matter for businesses. But what also matters is the result and impact. Selling the right way can convince the prospect to take the risk and buy from you. Remember: You get paid a premium when you give premium results.

365 days since I quit my 9 to 5... and my net income is ~almost~ back to my full-time role. 10 steps on how I did it: 1. SEVERANCE - negotiated a 3 month severance from my prev company - this helped create runway and allowed me to think freely - realized I didnt want to jump back into a full time role again 2. ANTI-GOALS - set some anti goals for my next 1 year: - don’t have a boss - don’t have only one source of income - dont be in Zoom meetings more than 2 hrs a day 3. IMMIGRATION - this was the biggest unblocker - for 14 years I couldn’t do my own thing because my visa was tied to work - finally got Canadian PR, which opened up many possibilities 4. FIRST CLIENT - getting your first client is the hardest - I talked to people who are hiring, and asked them to hire me part-time instead 🔓Unlock: Get hired for projects and outcomes, not for time 5. NEXT 2-3 CLIENTS - for my first client, I focused on delivering 200% for them - then I made a list of every single person who had offered me work before - (former bosses, companies I didn’t join etc) and reached out - made a simple case study about my first client and asked if I could help them with marketing 🔓Unlock: Keep a Notion list of people who have paid you before 5. PARTNER - I quickly realized two things - I needed help, and working alone sucked - I reached out to former colleagues - one of them was in the exact same place doing fractional work, and we decided to join forces 🔓Unlock: Building together is a lot more fun 6. TAXES & INCORPORATION - decided to start LAUNCHMOB, incorporated a company - learned about corp taxes and write offs - paid a tax guy $1k to figure out how to reduce my taxes from ~40% (personal) to ~20% (corp) 🔓Unlock: taxes take away a big chunk of your take-home pay 7. NARROWING FOCUS - first few clients = we took anyone and any project - quickly realized where our skill-set matches market needs - narrowed ICP focus to technical founders of Seed stage companies, - narrowed service focus to a 10 week Marketing Launch as a service 🔓Unlock: start broad, but narrow focus to one ICP and service quick 8. TALENT -as work grew, started building out a bench of sub-contractors - first started with Upwork and Fiverr, but had lots of misses on quality - pivoted to reaching out to talented people we had worked with or that came recommended 🔓Unlock: services businesses are ultimately about talent, so hire well 📍 MOST IMPORTANT: 10. ENJOY THE RIDE - building a business takes time, regardless of what you see on the internet - enjoy the ride while you’re on it - I took multiple international trips while working remotely (favorite was Albania) - gratitude for the role of luck and genuinely helpful people --- Things I haven’t figured out yet with LAUNCHMOB: I. Product Market Fit II. Product Channel Fit -- Will document my journey of building a service based business over next 30 days. Follow if you're considering doing your own thing! 🤞🏽

I often see people who misinterpret social media as a community building tool. It can be used as such, but very tough to do. (and most people who think they are doing it right are just building another distribution outlet — which is great, but different from building a community) It requires a slightly different approach than the average social strategy. Social Platforms (like X & LinkedIn) • Open networks • Content dependent • Great because people are usually spending lots of their time there • Tough to stand out since you’re competing against the algorithm, other creators, brands, and everyone else in the feed Community Platforms (like Discord, Slack, Circle) • Usually closed networks • Dependent on user engagement • Great for consolidating your core group of members • Very tough to maintain over time since you need people to come back to your specific group (even tougher if engagement is declining) Ok, so how do you use social platforms top build an online community? 1/ Define your community 2/ Share it on your social accounts, in your bio, etc. 3/ Align your content around this community and what they love 4/ When you create your content, keep this specific community in mind 5/ Share updates publicly just like you would within a Discord channel 6/ Allocate a good chunk of time per day to community management 7/ Nurture your most engaged followers by supporting their content 8/ Make introductions directly in the feed wherever possible 9/ Use your platform to elevate others in your community 10/ Introduce group language that people can use How do you know when you’re doing it right? • People will use your account to discover others with similar interests • People will use your language and phrases in their posts • People will use the comments section of your posts like a forum • People will host meetups or connect with one another IRL at events • People will often tag you in content related to your community In closing, Yes, you can use social platforms like X & LinkedIn to build an online community. But it requires much more effort than just posting content about your brand or the problem you solve. You’ve got to constantly keep the community you’re serving top of mind, put in the time to nurture your members, and be consistent over a long period of time.

As a solopreneur, you'll often be asked to handle small tasks that aren't covered by your service agreement. It's up to you to decide whether to take them on. Sometimes, it's not worth raising an issue if it helps maintain a steady ties with a good client. However, it's crucial to remember that you're often dealing with salaried individuals who may not understand the economic realities of your projects. Unlike them, you don't have a single employer or a steady paycheck, so you need to be much more protective of your time. Don't be afraid to push back a little. The people making these requests usually aren't trying to make your life difficult. They simply haven't experienced what it's like to be in your position. They don't realize the extra effort required when you're juggling multiple clients and projects without the security of a regular paycheck. Value your time as your most valuable asset. Be mindful of how you allocate it and prioritize tasks that align with your core services. Politely explain the challenges and differences in your work structure to foster understanding and respect for your boundaries. Define what's included in your service agreement and communicate this clearly to your clients to manage expectations and prevent scope creep. While it's okay to occasionally accommodate extra requests, ensure it doesn't become a habit that undermines your productivity and profitability. Balancing flexibility with assertiveness allows you to maintain positive client relationships while safeguarding your time and resources. Remember, it's your business, and you have the right to manage it in a way that ensures your success and well-being.

Finding work-life balance is honestly a constant struggle for me. It's not just a casual remark; I genuinely struggle with it. Despite my difficulties, I'm committed to maintaining a healthy balance between work and life. Here are a few strategies I've found helpful: - Clearly defining my work and personal time. I've set strict hours for work during the week, like from 7 am to 6 pm Monday through Friday. Anything outside of those hours is strictly reserved for personal time. - Making a conscious effort to limit the time I spend on work-related tasks when I'm at home. If my laptop is open, there's a temptation to dive into work, so I try to keep it closed unless absolutely necessary. - Managing my work-related activities on my phone is a major challenge. It's far too easy to get sucked into responding to emails or checking on work-related matters. I'm working on setting boundaries and limiting work-related use of my phone. - I prioritize filling my non-working hours with activities, especially ones that involve spending time with my family. With young kids, it often means shuttling them to various activities like ballet class and swim lessons, but I try to make sure we have quality time together as a family. - Having a supportive spouse who understands my struggle and helps keep me accountable is a huge asset. While it's not her responsibility to manage my work-life balance, having her support and encouragement is invaluable in keeping me focused on family when I'm at home. What about you? How do you manage to maintain a healthy work-life balance? Any tips or strategies you swear by?

I’ve been freelancing since October 2020. If all that experience disappeared and I had to start again from scratch, here's step-by-step what I'd do: Phase One: Knowledge Time to learn how to write. This is the number one thing you must do before anything else. Read... • “The Adweek Copywriters Handbook” by Joseph Sugarman • “The Boron Letters” by Gary C. Halbert • “Writing Tools” by Roy Peter Clark (Free PDF in the comments!) Next, you have to know what you’re selling. What is an article, exactly? How is it structured? What’s the difference between a case study, newsletter, landing page? Semrush has a solid article explaining it all (link in comments)! Post what you learn on a Twitter or LinkedIn account to start building your personal brand. 💡 Phase Two: Practice It’s time to put into practice what you’re learning. → Choose three topics you’re interested in writing about. → Create a Medium profile. → For one month (minimum) post one article a week on Medium. For ex: In my case, I was interested in digital marketing, remote work, and influencers. A few articles I wrote... • How Onlyfans is Ushering the Creator Economy into a Prosperous New Era • How Chloe Ting Became the Queen of Home Fitness • “Skinfluencers” Won’t Make it Easy for the Luxury Skincare Industry Phase Three: Pitch Let’s get some clients. Step 1) → How to Find Them: • TechCrunch’s “Recently Funded” • LinkedIn’s “People Also Applied To” • Newsletter Sponsors (Ex: If your target client is crypto, subscribe to Milk Road and pitch its sponsors as the audience demographic overlaps) Plus, subscribe to these newsletters dedicated to surfacing freelance gigs: • Kat Boogard’s Newsletter • Peak Freelance’s Newsletter • Sonia Weiser’s Opportunities of the Week Newsletter • Superpath Content Marketing Slack Community • Kaitlyn Arford’s Newsletter As you sift, create a list of clients that are in relevant to the topics you chose earlier. Step 2) → How to Pitch Them: The final step is to cold pitch. The rules: • The email is 80% about them, and 20% about you. • Bring a gift by pitching articles that are relevant to their target audience. • Link to your Medium articles to prove you can write. • Follow-up twice over the span of eight business days (roughly). Reminder: Stellar articles and personalized cold emails are *all* you need to start freelancing. I was earning ~$5,000 a month before I had a newsletter, website, Twitter, or LinkedIn. The next phase will be building the little parts: Contracts, website, etc (will explain in a future post 😌 ). Did I miss anything? Let me know! (Pictured: My setup working remotely for the first time ever in Paris 🌱 it felt v special :') ! )

90.99% of all my freelance work has come from referrals. Ok so that's not an exact figure, but it's close. I've landed one client from a cold email and another through Upwork. The rest: All high-quality referrals. Since many of you asked, I'll tell you how. Here are three things I consistently do to get referral business: 1. Give referrals. I stopped trying to be everything for everyone a while ago. I realized that if I do my best work and tap other people to do something I don't specialize in, it's a win for everyone. If we've worked together on a project or developed a relationship (and I know that you do good work), then you're on my list. I'm constantly giving referrals and pointing leads in the direction of folks who I know can get the job done well. More importantly: they're lovely to work with. This creates goodwill. It also keeps me top of mind with my referral network. When a job that matches my skillset comes across their world, who they gonna call? Not ghostbusters. 2. Maintain a system for building relationships. This "system" for me is nothing more than an AirTable spreadsheet, where I list my contact's name, what they specialize in, their ideal clients, and notes from our most recent conversation that'll help me deepen the relationship. That last column is the most important. During all of my relationship-building calls (a.k.a. networking), I take note of things that are top of mind for the person I'm speaking with. Maybe they just had a baby. Maybe they bought a house. Maybe they're about to launch a new product or service. Then, I put a date on the spreadsheet for when I want to reach back out and check in with how it's all going. I genuinely care, and having a check-in system ensures I'm following through on building the relationship over time. 3. Create strategic relationships. Beyond the relationships I naturally build with people I work on projects with or friends of friends in my network, I'm strategic about whom I spend my time talking to. By that, I mean connecting with people who provide adjacent services. For me, that means people who do PR, design work, paid ads, email marketing, social media management, etc. These are all folks who provide complimentary services to my content strategy work. We don't compete—we compliment. That's a beautiful referral ecosystem right there. There's more to this, but these things will get you started if you're not already strategically using your network to get ideal clients and projects. Was this helpful or should I go deeper here?

Why most side hustles fail before they even begin: People underestimate the most critical phase—transitioning from a job to hunting to eat. It’s the hardest leap in entrepreneurship. Here’s how I made the jump—and how you can too: 1. The truth about the leap: Most people think the hardest part is launching. It’s not. The hardest part is rewiring your brain from: → Security to uncertainty → Someone else's rules to your discipline → Predictable paychecks to unpredictable income The leap isn’t about logistics—it’s about identity. 2. Here’s why most fail: They quit before they’re ready or dilute their potential. → Quit too early? You’re in survival mode. No time, no money, no energy. → Wait too long? Your job sucks up your best hours and creativity. You need momentum before you leap—but most side hustlers don’t build it right. 3. What worked for me: I jumped with a plan—and 3 critical rules: ↳ Rule 1: Start building skills while you’re still employed. Don’t wait to “figure it out” after you quit. Build momentum on nights & weekends. For me, that meant honing my writing, networking with founders, and studying marketing. ↳ Rule 2: Treat your job like your first investor. I didn’t quit until my side hustle was paying at least half my salary. Your 9–5 is fuel: → Pay down debt → Save 3–6 months of expenses → Invest in tools, courses, or coaching Don’t quit emotionally—quit strategically. ↳ Rule 3: Build relationships before you need them. Your network will make or break you when you go full-time. I started connecting with other founders, clients, and mentors long before I was “ready.” By the time I quit, I already had people to learn from, work with, and lean on. Entrepreneurship isn’t solo—it’s social. 4. The first year was harder than I expected. Even with momentum, I faced: → Unpredictable income → Imposter syndrome → Self-doubt But here’s the thing: If you build the right habits before you leap, you’re prepared to survive the storm. The goal isn’t to avoid risk—it’s to reduce unnecessary risk. Here’s how you can start today: If you’re working a 9–5 but dream of building something of your own: → Pick a skill that solves problems for a specific audience. Start offering your service—even for free—to build proof and confidence. Save aggressively and track your progress. Connect with people who’ve already done it. Momentum is the bridge between side hustle and full-time freedom. Remember: You don’t need a perfect plan, but you do need a strategic one. The leap is scary, yes—but staying stuck is scarier. If you’re building your way out right now, keep going. The freedom on the other side is worth every ounce of uncertainty. What’s the hardest part of transitioning for you right now? Let’s talk about it. シ Are you leveraging LinkedIn to build your business? Find out if your brand is unignorable: The UNIGNORABILITY Assessment 📹 filippo.galluzzi ♻️ Smash that repost button! ♻️ 🔔 Follow for the daily goodness ✔️

I was so excited as a brand-new freelancer to get to the point of earning a dollar a word. But 17 years later, I think that the per word rate of a project is basically meaningless unless REALLY low. The reason – the per word rate does not factor in one of the most important elements of pricing for a freelancer – the time it takes you to complete a project. It doesn’t really matter if you charge by the word or project as long as you know your internal hourly rate when deciding to take or keep a project. Here are 3 projects from last week: Project 1: Pay: $1000 for 1000 words for $1 a word Hours required: 9.5 Outsourcing costs for research and proofreading: $60 Internal hourly rate (considering outsourcing): $98 Interviews required: 4 The story was on a topic that sources were reluctant to speak on so I had to reach out to over 20 people to get 4 people to talk to me. Then each of then wanted to review their quotes due to the matter and get them approved by their leadership, which my editor was fine with due to the topic. So I spent 6 hours finding sources, emailing, fact checking and interviewing, which was stressful. The writing took me 3.5 hours and I had zero revisions from the client. The internal hourly rate was $98, which is slightly below my minimum of $100 per hour. Project 2: Pay: $800 for 1300 for 60 cents a word Hours required: 4.0 Outsourcing costs for research and proofreading: $60 Internal hourly rate (considering outsourcing): $185 Interviews required: 1 I had my VA find the source then I spent an hour setting up the interview (15 minutes) and 46 minutes on writing the questions and conducting. The actual writing only took me 3 hours with no revisions. The internal hourly rate was $185 Project 3: Pay $500 for 1500 for 33 cents a word Hours required 3 Outsourcing costs for research and proofreading: $80 Internal hourly (considering outsourcing): $140 interviews required: 0 The biggest reason that this works out is that the client gives me a VERY detailed outline and the topic is something I know like the back of my hand and it doesn’t exhaust me to write, which is something I’ve learned the hard way to consider. I hired my VA to spend and hour doing research to help me fill in the outline and then I am able to write it very quickly. The other reason is that the client is sending me four to five of these a month with little to no revisions. The other big positive is it's a guaranteed $2000 a month. Summary So yes, my $1 a word project ended up paying the least at $98 per hour and my 60 cent a word project ended up paying the most at $185 with my 33 cents a word coming in at a respectable $140 an hour. Next time, you start to take a project based on per word rate, take a minute to estimate the internal hourly rate before you turn down a project lower than dollar a word or say a quick yes to a dollar a word project.