Age doesn't matter.

Until it does.

Until you get the feeling people won't hire you anymore because you're too old.

For Mary, she was 58. From New Zealand, but having spent 30 years in Australia in 'normal' full time jobs.

Faced with ageism, she realised maybe it wasn't just that the interview panels didn't want her. Maybe she didn't want them anymore either. Maybe it was time for a change. To reinvent herself.

Someone suggested being a freelance copywriter. She didn't know what that was. But here are.

10 years later. 'The Wrinkly Writer'. Owning, literally as a business owner, her age. Turning it to her advantage.

Mary now lives in France. We chat about
- building long-term client relationships
- turning age to her advantage when business mentor Kate Toon suggested her new working name
- continuous learning and passing on to the next generation as a mentor
- her relocation to France, working as a freelancer in a different country with many clients overseas
- achieving work life balance, prioritising her physical and mental health across the day and week

It's such a fun conversation. Full of the joy of life and work life. 

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James Barnard shares his journey of becoming a freelancer and the strategies he uses to find clients and grow his business. 

He emphasises the importance of niche specialisation. When James focussed on logo design it made it much easier to attract clients. 

Steve and James discuss pricing strategies in attracting the right clients. When to first discuss budget. And how James uses forms and a CRM to help him filter who will be a good fit for his freelance business. 

James also discusses the role of social media in lead generation. We hear how he creates valuable content for designers and clients on Instagram and TikTok. 

On top of that, he shares his experience of hiring an assistant, not for admin like emails, scheduling and accounts, but for the 'grunt work' of design freelancing, and a copywriter to up his email game.

Steve and James pick over the time and energy given to content creation, experiments with creating digital products like courses and working with brands like Adobe as a content creator/online business and design influencer. 

From a work life balance side of things, James discusses his move from the UK to Australia and how freelancing allows him to be there for his young family.

Getting on camera has made a huge difference to James' freelance business and life. Not just through the connections and opportunities that have come via social media, but through the confidence it's given him in dealing with clients.

There is a LOT going on his conversation. Enjoy!

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Dan went freelance twice. First for creative freedom. Secondly to free him up for his family.

Starting out as a designer for McDonald's but wanted a more varied diet of projects. With a lot of time freelancing in agencies, Dan learnt to stand out, be indispensable and build relationships to expand his chance of finding work. He also flexed himself creatively with illustration side projects (after college tutors said he’d never make a living from drawing!)

Adding a unique flair to his freelancer personal brand as 'Rubber Penguin’. Using a business name helped him be remembered and found - useful if you have a common name (Shout out to all the Dan Baileys of the world!). It also let him focus on adding character to his freelancing design work through illustration.

When you're a freelancer, you're a business. And whilst Dan's time in agencies helped him with dealing with freelance clients professionally, he still struggled to have confidence in his value, his pricing - what he could charge for projects. Getting to know other freelancers and becoming co-mentors with them gave him a chance to discuss pricing strategies, finally getting that piece of the freelance puzzle in place.

For all the talk of fast food, this is a slow burner of a career. Dan has gradually built his reputation within the industry. As a freelancer he's now getting the kind of work he wants to be doing at a price he deserves. Being able to to work around his family in a way that in-house demands would never allow.

Happy Meal? No. Happy Freelancer? Yes.

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From big cat zookeeper to taming words as a freelance copywriter, Adri's freelancing story starts a little differently. Burnout led to her quitting the zoo before even securing a paying client. A persistence in cold emailing, dealing with rejections that would have made many give up has led to warm relationships and a niche in emails themselves.

Adri shares her approach to cold and warm emailing. And discusses the way she pays attention to what in her work gives her energy. 

Adri appreciates the freedom and flexibility that freelancing offers and talks about how she deliberately chose to work less hours to avoid burnout, even if it meant earning less money.

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This time we're off to India to chat to self taught Logo & Brand Identity Designer Blesson Varghese.

We cover the importance of networking, 'silent' mentors, balancing work and life, and the challenges faced by freelancers in a society that doesn't yet fully value creative professions. 

Additionally, Blesson shares insights on his approach to handling clients and projects, and his continual quest for learning in his field

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Meet VA & Social Media Assistant Erin Buck. Not that she knew what that was 5 years ago.
But then, she was happy working in a school. She didn't need to know.

But then a twinge in Erin's back turned her world upside down.

Nerve damage could left her housebound, watching daytime TV. 
Instead she propelled herself into an online business world she hadn’t known existed.

Erin’s optimism, hard work and ability to figure things out, won out.

She has ‘ideas’. Ideas that found her a constant stream of work. That took her into online communities, that then supported her back out into the offline world. Ideas of a future spending winter in the sun. When the real ray of sunshine is her being her true self all along. 

It’s an inspiring listen. The flexibility of freelancing. Business growth and personal growth going hand in hand. 
Buck up your ideas.

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Early success on platforms like Fiverr and Upwork led to Andréa expanding her services and horizons. Using video and podcasts she built trust. She also built an agency.

Dealing with the challenges of managing a team, working around family, and staying focussed in a world of shiny objects.

With the 'Savvy Social' Podcasts, YouTube, Membership, courses, retreat… as Andréa points out: it can be summed up quickly, but it happened slowly… With client work still the bulk of her income. Building intentionally as her family grows too.

Andréa is the host of the Savvy Social Podcast - so, since you like podcasts, go track that one down too.

As ever, Transcript for this episode is at beingfreelance.com

You can also find a video version of this podcast on YouTube.

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In this episode, Steve catches up with previous guest Rebecca Shipham, a freelance exhibition designer with 13 years of experience. 

They first spoke for the Being Freelance podcast in October 2015 - you can hear how Rebecca got started by listening to that.

Here we are, eight years on - time to hear what happened next, through the challenges and rewards of working directly with clients, her strategies for attracting and maintaining clients, the impact of the pandemic on her business (as exhibitions closed down overnight!), but the positives that emerged from it too.

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In 2014 Eddie started the Very Good Copy blog. Using it to educate himself, to explore copywriting techniques whilst working in-house. But he wasn’t the only one reading it. As it grew in popularlity, people started reaching out, offering him work.

He turned them down. Until eventually in 2020, an opportunity came along that was too good to refuse. So he quit his job and went full-time-freelance.

In our conversation Eddie shares the process of building his newsletter audience, his decision to create courses whilst not abandoning client work, the danger to work/life balance when you get a high from creating, and the importance of not just growing for growth’s sake.

FULL SHOW NOTES and TRANSCRIPTION AT BEINGFREELANCE.COM

02:04 The Growth of Very Good Copy

02:58 Transitioning to Freelance

03:52 The Power of LinkedIn for Growth

05:12 Taking the Leap into Full-Time Freelancing

06:02 Maintaining a Steady Stream of Leads

06:57 Choosing Projects and Setting Rates

08:44 The Importance of Testimonials

10:37 The Role of Regular Content Creation

15:14 Launching a Course

17:19 Balancing Work and Life

18:52 The Challenges of Freelancing

20:23 The Role of Social Media in Growth

23:59 The Importance of Craft and Growth

25:10 The Support System Behind Very Good Copy

26:55 Advice for New Freelancers

27:57 The Role of Luck in Success

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From starting as a PR freelancer to accidentally heading a small agency, working with her husband and then transitioning back into solo freelancing, Lucy shares the challenges she's faced along the way - both professional and personal.

As the creator of ‘Hype Yourself’, we hear how showing up daily even in her darkest days has built Lucy’s reputation. But maybe she wouldn’t quite do it all the same again. This episode is practical, fun, candid. And very much worth the hype.

You'll find full show notes and transcript for this episode at beingfreelance.com
 

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Study, determination, and a knack for design were going to take Robert out of his poor upbringing in South Africa. But the death of his brother, drew him back again. To help young people see a brighter future for themselves, he needed time. To have time, he needed to go freelance.

Faced with the daunting reality of having to survive without savings or a backup plan just one month before COVID kicked in, Robert shares how he made the most of platforms like LinkedIn and ultimately doubled his income during the pandemic.

He eventually had so many leads, he started hiring others. Plus, through content creation and organising meetups, he’s giving back, while moving forward.

You'll find full show notes and transcript for this episode at beingfreelance.com
 

EPISODE SPONSOR
This episode is sponsored by Freelancer Magazine - SUBSCRIBE today and get those sweet glossy pages in your hands!

JOIN THE COMMUNITY
You're not alone being freelance. Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends).
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JOIN YOUR BFFS AT  beingfreelance.com/community
 

NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU!

The Being Freelance course is made for you!

There’s no ‘one way’ to be a successful freelancer, but this course will help you avoid the many mistakes that most of us make. Learn from the experience of Steve and hundreds of guests of the podcast.
Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.

Find out more about the course.
 

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Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends).
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NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU!

The Being Freelance course is made for you!
Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.
 

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