Hey all,
For today's blog post I thought I would speak about a full day course that I attended several days ago. I was told that I can only share some screenshots, so thought I would write a brief summary of some of the things covered - and if you want to find out more information, I will link the speaker's website at the bottom of the post!
The session ran from 10am to 4:30pm and it covered a variety of aspects relating to freelancing, and got together a group of current NTU students, NTU graduates/alumni and teaching staff along with a few guests who wanted to find out more information! It was run by author Alison Grade, and on one of her initial slides, she explained that clients like to work with her as 'I transform creative ideas into a business reality' which is most certainly an important aspect of freelancing, because you could have all the ideas, but unable to finish a project...and that's a major red flag!
Initially we went over the main differences between employment and freelance working which included discussing income, how you're paid and equipment among other things. As a freelancer your income is irregular and can vary from project to project, whereas as an employer you have a monthly payment, employers pay directly to your bank whereas you have to submit invoices as a freelance and finally you are expected to have your own equipment if you're a media/creative freelancer for example (or the example told to us, if you're a plumber...it's sensible to have your own equipment needed for the job!).
Other topics that were spoken about included the following:
-The 'IN's and 'ON's' of freelancing
-The successful freelance psyche (including skills, finances and desires)
-Freelance mindset and working out if you're an I-shaped or T-shaped freelancer
-Discussing what success means to ME (or you)...
-Using the Dunning Kruger effect in terms of confidence and expertise
-Unlocking brand values including what you admire in brands, what's important to you and what freelancers should adopt
-Creating a 'secret sauce' to add value to your projects
-The ALTR model for analysing your customer pool; (Awareness, Liking, Trial, Repeat)
In between some of these sections, we were put into breakout rooms with other professionals to discuss some of the reasons why freelancing might be an option, and as a brand, how we want to sell ourselves. In my group, all 4 of the speakers were NTU related - 2 students, a media lecturer and myself (a media graduate) and we all had similar views in terms of freelancing and the ability to work casual hours, be your own boss and also be able to work collaboratively with others, with money being the 'extra' rather than the reason to freelance in the first place.
Some of my thoughts during the session are down below for you to read!
The next slide explained how freelancing is like dating, which at first I was confused about...but it definitely makes sense! (Have a read below):
I also found it very interesting to learn about Dunbar's number of 150, which is the 'typical number of people we can keep track of, and consider part of our ongoing social network. As shown below, we should aim for at least 5 close friends, 15 super family, 50 in the 'clan' and 150 in the 'tribe' which is a really nice way to think about your connections.
Everybody needs to work out who is in their network, potentially networking with new people and using sponsors, mentors and introducers who are all valuable in the freelance world, and ensure that you protect any personal data to ensure information isn't hacked or leaked unknowingly! The discussion that led on from that was where do you keep all the contact details for your connections? For me personally, I just have 90% of my contacts on social media, I have lists of people and the type of content they create in a database, and I also tell people to follow my different social media accounts so I can message them with project collaboration ideas for the future!
Other things to think about in addition to building your network, including writing emails which can take 15 seconds to create, but win you 15 minutes from a potential client. Take a read of the screenshot below to understand Alison's best structure plan!
Once you've sent off an email, ensure that you have researched the company you're planning on working with as well as the client (and some of their previous projects) to identify how you can solve their problem, and how your skills can be an asset to their business. It's also important to plan for your first and second 'dates' where you are able to easily promote and explain your plan for the project, answering the questions 'What is important to them?', 'What is missing?' and 'What do they think they want, in order to solve their problem? Once you've worked those out, the second date is all about trying to sell them something after a bit more chat. The aim of this date is to start talking about money and ensuring that they need your service, they have a budget and that they want your services now (because if they don't want anything now, you're wasting your time with thinking a deal is going to happen) - and once you've made an offer, they will either say, Yes, No or Maybe...and then you can continue the conversation from there!
The next topic that was convered was all about finances, but I've never been somebody to worry about finances, especially knowing that I probably won't go into freelancing full time, as I want to ensure I have regular money in my account, so I'll either freelance part time, or later in life when I don't need to work a full time job anymore!
-Individual living budget (which includes rent, any taxes, transports, personal or other outgoings)
-The types of bank accounts you should use as a freelancer (personal, business and savings)
-Working out your turnover by the hour/day/week or individual project
-Valuation tools including your experience, any benchmarking, industry sector variations and the intended audience for your work
-Price vs Demand (The higher the price, the less demand but hopefully loyal customers)
-The 'sharp intake of breath' test, different ways to add value and working out if you've over or under priced
The final 4 tips:
1- Own your freelancing career and think like a CEO
2- Match your service with the client needs and understand your industry as well as being able to spot new opportunities
3- The Buzz Lightyear mindeset 'To infinity and beyond'...
4- A tip for great freelancers; 'Why me?', 'How do I find clients who value me?' and 'What do I do?' which are 3 factors to think about when working on a project with a new client!
...and to check out more of Alison's work, her website link is below: