5 reasons I've succeeded as a creative generalist freelancer
No, you don’t need a big following on social media. No, you don’t need to have a completely unique niche. And no, you don’t have to burn out.
Success narratives often focus on one of these two things: having a large following and/or having a seven-figure income.
I’ll offer a more modest interpretation.
I’ve employed myself as a creative generalist for the past three years. For those three years, I’ve had food on the table, paid my monthly mortgage instalments, put money in investments every month, travelled if and when I needed to, worked less than eight hours a day, said no to clients who have felt wrong somehow, taken long walks or daytime dips during “work hours”, resigned from most social media channels and spent quality time with my partner and dog.
This life, to me, has felt like success.
In this post, I’ll share five takeaways that I think have positively impacted my ability to gain and retain clients and make a living for myself. Obviously, these are just guesstimates, as no-one can prove them right. But I think it’s sometimes worth taking a step back and evaluating what seems to work.
My recipe for success can work for people who share a similar view on success.
However, I never encourage anyone to copy other people’s success stories too literally because your version of success will look slightly different from mine. That’s because you have a completely different set of energies, skills, attitudes and patterns than I do.
So, think of this more as inspiration to craft your own success story.
Here we go.
I’m a quick first responder. Whenever a potential client reaches out to me, I always make sure the first point of contact is a fast interaction. If someone is even slightly keen to work with me, I want to make sure their enthusiasm is reciprocated. So even if their request might be complex or I’m very busy with something else at the moment, I always make sure I respond with a “Yes, I’m interested and will get back to you with more details on xx (day).” I believe in creating first impressions.
I overdeliver. After working with many different people and freelancers over the years, I’ve noticed that about 90% of people do only what they’re asked to do–and sometimes less than that. So, if you do a bit more than what is requested, you’ll be remembered. I often give a little extra to all my clients in one way or another. Sometimes, it means I project manage parts of our collaboration even if it’s not really my job. Sometimes, I show them an interesting reference from another market or culture. Sometimes, I schedule an extra meeting that I’m not charging for. Sometimes, I express an opinion about something that isn’t really within the scope of my work. And for writing clients, I sometimes add three different heading suggestions even if they only asked for one. As you can see, most of these don’t require a huge effort. Some of these take five minutes of my day, others may take an hour. I’m no advocate for free labour and would never suggest overworking for free. However, I see exceptional service as more of an investment in the client relationship. Going that extra mile means I may be able to charge a higher hourly rate or get another chance to work with them. And if not, at least I’ve left a good impression.
I adapt to my clients' busy rhythms. Most people I work with, whether it’s one-to-one coaching or corporate communications, are extremely busy. I believe they hire me to make their lives easier. So that’s exactly what I try to deliver. I try to anticipate their needs, create clear structures and deadlines, remind them of the materials they promised to provide and try to always reach out to them with answers before they reach out to me with questions. I don’t use complex pricing schemes but I try to be as transparent as possible. I adapt to the client’s needs as long as I feel they respect my flexibility. In the rare cases where a client tries to overstep my boundaries or take advantage of my service mentality, I’m quick to re-establish boundaries, raise my pricing or reconsider the relationship altogether. In my experience, busy people appreciate structure and boundaries. You can help them survive their own chaos. So, sometimes the best thing you can do for a client is show them that you’ve got your sh*t together and that will encourage them to have theirs too.
I never sell a product, I sell my presence. No matter how good my track record might be, most people care more about how I show up than what my CV says. If someone wants to meet me for a potential project, they’ve already checked my LinkedIn and maybe googled me. What I can deliver in that situation is my energy. So, to prepare, I do my best to get into a state of mind where I feel confident, energetic, calm and 100% present. If I can be those things, I’ll be able to answer any questions, challenge the client if need be, offer them fresh ideas in that very moment, and be an active listener.
I stay in touch. One of the golden rules of entrepreneurship is that it’s always easier to sell to people you’ve already sold to than to find new clients. Sometimes, your past clients will also recommend you to their friends and colleagues. So, they should never be forgotten. And I actually care about the people I work with, especially my 1-2-1 coaching clients with whom I often have quite a personal connection. So it’s enjoyable for me to hear what they’re doing and thinking even after our collaboration has ended. I don’t approach past clients just to sell them something but to also to catch up. Sometimes, these interactions lead to sales or a future project. But only, if there’s a mutual interest. And for anyone who hates networking with strangers or posting on social media, embracing the relationships you already have might be your best success strategy.
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Care to share your guesstimate on why you’ve been successful so far? Please write me in the comments or send an email, I’d love to hear.
And if you haven’t yet, now is a good time to ditch those vanity metrics on success and ask yourself: what type of success am I really after?
Go, create and become the hope you wish to feel in this world.
With kindness,
Aurora
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Love this, and I agree completely. I like to rephrase "over-delivering" with exceeding expectations, delivering an outstanding service. Which I feel, when you care as much as I - you - we do, is a quite natural thing to do, right?
Great advice in here Aurora! I love the way that you define success early in the piece.