Jul 14 2025
- Growth, Mindset
- Growth
Articles about Growth for freelancers
Deep-Dives on Growth for solopreneurs
Jul 04 2024
- Growth, Lifestyle Design
FAQs from solopreneurs about Growth
I’m going to set myself up as a freelance designer, but not sure how I get clients?
If I absolutley HAD to get clients in the door,
If I were to start freelancing from scratch, here’s what I’d do first to get clients in the door:
- First, I’d read my guide on starting freelancing from scratch 🤣
- Then I’d create an offer around skills I already have,
- brand my profile and messaging around a powerful offer, here’s my guide to building an offer
- have a stab at creating a valuable lead magnet that leads into the next problem you solve.
- Start publish content with a social media strategy funnelling traffic into the lead magnet (such as a free audit)
- Reach out in DMs and get the leads into sales calls
- Then refine and optimize your system as you learn.
- — from Claire
- Freelance product designer
- Read full Q&A
Is it a red flag someone has moved jobs alot? (when hiring)
I have been both a unicorn, AND the world’s worst employee…
I moved jobs a lot and was even fired!
It’s insane how bad you have to be to get fired.
I would argue most people don’t even get fired when they are unable to do the job they are paid for.
Just look at the public sector 😂😂😂
So it’s more likely they have left bad jobs willingly.
Who’s the last one to leave when a business culture is a complete 💩 show?
The coasters, the unambitious, the lazy ones.
Good people make the hard choices:
So the best people are the first to jump ship when conditions aren’t right.
The ambitious, the driven, the intelligent ones.
When my bosses allow me more freedom, to action my ideas I was the hardest workers, I would work late without thinking about it, or asking for more. I would take initiative on things, and made them a lot of money.
But If im in a dead end job,
If the job is below my skill level,
if I have no control or agency over my projects…
I get bored very quickly,
lose my energy, and the job seems pointless,
so I don’t even try.
So they could be a deadbeat,
but it’s more likely they are ambitious and intelligent,
in jobs which don’t challenge or inspire them.
Ask them why!
But there’s only one real way to find out.
Run a small test and see if they jump on it lol
I have a guide on how to find and hire the dream team, and how to run low risk tests with them, can send a link if you want?
- — from Dean
- Read full Q&A
How can I integrate purpose into daily routines?
Purpose comes from doing.
Anytime I feel I’m lacking clarity, or purpose,
- I figure out my long term vision of what I want my life to look like.
- Reverse engineer that ➡️ goals
- Break goals ➡️ steps
- Steps ➡️ repeatable actions
- Plug those actions into my daily schedule
- Then stick to the schedule.
It removes the overwhelm of choice for me And keeps me working towards my purpose, even when I can’t see the results or progress.
- — from arijit
- Web Designer
- Read full Q&A
I doubt I’m good enough yet to start a freelance career, I worry I need to learn more skills first.
I doubt myself and skills, I worry I’m not good enough yet to start a freelance career. I work with WordPress to make websites, I was thinking to add Webflow as a skill too, I always think I have to learn more skills before I start?
I wouldn’t worry about being good enough. The truth is if your starting out you’ll make a lot of mistakes and fail a lot and that’s fine.
There’s very little risk to starting, it might not work out, but it costs nothing to start so you haven’t lost anything by trying.
You don’t need to be the best, you only need to be slightly better than your competition.
In fact you don’t even need to be a better designer;
you only need to be better at communicating with the client.
RE freelancer skills…
don’t add multiple skills that do the same thing (webflow, wordpress, Squarespace).
Instead stack skills that multiply your value,
and lead naturally into each other
- (web design + SEO)
- (Landing pages + ads)
- (Photography + motion design)
You don’t need skills before you start,
You start then learn the skills you need as you go.
Courses for “doing” skills like web design won’t get you far, the best way to learn is by coming across real problems for real clients in your projects, then solving them.
If you’re not sure what skills to focus on, after you have X2 valuable services under your belt, focus on learning sales it will help you grow fastest and build a safety net of profit in the early days, when clients are harder to find
- — from Said
- Web designer
- Read full Q&A
I’m thinking about doing freelancing. I don’t know whether to do branding, strategy, or coaching. What is it that you do?
Sort of…. My “day job” is design services, which I offer through Design Hero but I do consulting for entrepreneurs around digital marketing.
“branding, strategy, consultant” can all go together. There’s enough overlap.
You can also offer consulting as a side solo gig while working fulltime or as a solopreneur
Example:
I run my design agency, Design Hero.
Over the years I’ve stacked a lot of high value skills so my offer is a full package for launching a succesful startup:
- brand design
- web development
- digital marketing to drive traffic (usually SEO)
But I can also offer consulting on any of those aspects for entrepreneurs who want to do it themselves, but with extra guidance.
In fact I usually tack on a 4th part to my offer:
I also sell monthly “super sessions” which is basically consulting, or coaching on a retainer basis
I can advise on business strategy, automations, growth, growing a team, marketing, and any other problems that I’ve solved myself.
If you’ve solved problems in your own life or business you can sell the solution to others.
You can also build a personal brand as a solopreneur around the particular niche you decide to focus on
- — from Nathan, Graphic designer
- Graphic Designer
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I am a frustrated freelancer I need help
Oh wow that’s a lot of problems lol!
❓ Finding paying clients with the skillset I have
https://lifebydesign.online/leads/
❓ finding time and money to expand my skillset
I recommend these articles
https://lifebydesign.online/time/your-day-is-your-life/
https://lifebydesign.online/growth/freelance-growth-hack/
https://lifebydesign.online/productivity/big-tasks-require-small-actions/
❓ how to find them and talk to them in a way that shows them how I can solve their problems
This would be solved by having an offer that speaks to pain points in your ideal audience.
recommend downloading my offer worksheet and working through it:
https://life-by-design-online.ck.page/230c220556
❓ Consolidating my presence online and creating free content that shows my skillset
https://lifebydesign.online/systems/solopreneur-content-strategy/
- — from Marta
- Freelance Motion Designer
- Read full Q&A
How do I get my first job as a designer?
It can be really tough getting your foot in the door as a junior.
My advice is just keep trying.
Speak to friends and family and so some favour jobs to build experience of working with real clients.
Get on Upwork and start doing you own thing to.
On Upwork you’ll need to be prepared to work for very little in order to build up reviews and cred first.
My advice on this is quantity over quality.
Do lots of tiny small jobs, be honest in your proposal and say your new and looking for experience and reviews, and in exchange offer a much lower price than the competition.
Trade time for reviews.
Of course to get reviews you have to offer a great service.
This doesn’t mean being the best designer or developer,
It means being the best communicator, making sure your client has a good experience.
Of course you’ll want to provide a good result too. But experience is as, or more, important.
One thing I like to do is go above and beyond.
If you quote for redesign of a homepage, do some design changes on the about page and let them know you’ve thrown it in as a bonus extra 🙂
Then as your profile and success rate grows, you can start charging your worth and increase over time.
- — from Anon
- Read full Q&A
How do I get a junior design job as a web developer, or should I start freelancing?
There’s certainly lots of potential for you in this career, web developers will always be in demand.
But you’ll need to be able to demonstrate skill and ability to stand out.
This is tough if you haven’t had a job in this area first.
If you can’t find paying clients take on personal projects.
They only way to stretch your skills is to take on real world challenges and constraints.
build as many different things as you can!
These personal projects become your portfolio, which will be a stepping stone into your first paid gigs.
There are several routes for you,
You can find a job to get some experience,
Or you can start freelancing.
Both have their own challenges.
A job means secure monthly payment, and not much responsibility.
There’s an attraction in this.
But a job isn’t as safe as it used to be.
Most small companies can’t afford to pay juniors the money they need to meet rising costs of living.
Larger companies don’t really want juniors.
In addition.
I don’t believe that job are the long term “safe option” they used to be.
I myself was fired from a job the day before I was going to ask for a raise.
Freelancing, or starting your own side hustle, is tough.
Freelancing means working for many years for not much money.
But with freelancing, your earning cap is potentially unlimited.
You will also have a LOT more freedom to live the life you want.
But it’s a lot of pressure.
You have to learn to do literally every job role yourself.
You have to bring in your own work.
In the end, you have to decide what’s right for you.
Of course, you can find a job AND freelance as a sidehustle, which is what most folk do these days.
It’s a safe way to go.
- — from Anon
- Read full Q&A
How do I start freelancing from scratch?
I’ve expanded and moved a more full response to this question here
- — from Jonathon
- Architect
- Read full Q&A
Should I quit my job now, or wait and grow my sidehustle first?
I wouldn’t quit without a secure income lined up, but I wouldn’t wait to start sidehustling either.
Many people are already freelancing and side hustling.
The two aren’t mutually exclusive.
If you’re are torn between wanting to quit and being able to quit,
you don’t want to be in a position where you’ve got to start growing a side-hustle from scratch.
You can make a huge difference in six months to a year, but obviously, as with anything, the change is a trajectory.
You want to start growing your sidehustle as soon as possible.
Give yourself options:
If you’re torn between wanting to quit and being able to quit,
you don’t want to be in a position in four years where you’ve got to start growing it from scratch.
If you find yourself in this situation,
then it’s going to take you years,
you will have to work a job you don’t enjoy,
and you’ll feel pretty bad about it
If you find yourself in this situation, then it’s going to take you years, you will have to work a job you don’t enjoy, and you’ll feel pretty bad about it.
I worked long hard for years plus evenings and weekends,
and even then for almost a decade my side-hustle made almost zero money.
Real success is just consistency + time.
During that time were a lot of difficult choices,
a lot of second guessing,
a lot of agonising.
Set aside time to work on your sidehustle everyday and keep consistent.
It can be boring and hard and slow but that’s what’s required if you want to build a new life.
So I would say the earlier you can start growing your side hustle, the better.
If you can grow your side hustle to where you are earning as much as your full-time job and you don’t need the work.
It puts you in really the ideal position to quit, while still having a secure income
So don’t quit unless you’re ready,
but don’t wait to grow your sidehustle!
If you’re ready to start, here’s a roadmap to start freelancing from scratch
- — from Patrick Groneman
- Freelance Illustrator
- Read full Q&A
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