Freelance Foundations: Help for Freelancers

We’re kicking off our sixth season with a conversation around an important question: what happens to your freelance income when you get sick?

Mike LaRosa from Coworkaholic joins me to talk about a fundraiser he’s doing to raise money for the European Coworking Assembly’s Freelancer Relief Fund.

Matija Raos died from Cancer in 2018 aged 34, he was a well-known member of the freelancing and coworking community in Europe and co-founder of European Freelancers Week.

In 2017 $50k was raised by the coworking community in under a week to cover his medical expenses.

Now the European Coworking Assembly has established the #loveMatija emergency relief fund to help freelancers in coworking spaces.

Question of the Week

Tim asks: “How do I get clients to give me jobs on Fiverr and Upwork if I don’t have experience or ratings.” We get to the heart of the matter in why so many freelancers ask this question.

Interview with Mike LaRosa

Publisher at Coworkaholic

Link to European Coworking Assembly’s site

Link to #LoveMatija page.

Link to the donation page.

Link to get updates on Mike’s Rickshaw Challenge progress.

For #NaPodPomo today I answer the question:

How do I get work on Freelancer, Fiverr, etc., as a beginner? I don’t have any client endorsements or past projects to show. How do I convince clients to give me projects?

The question was asked both on Quora and by a colleague of mine in Cowork Niagara, the coworking space where I work.

If you have a question you can just email me and I’ll add it to the list.

It’s National Podcast Posting Month! Today, I answer the question:

As a freelancer, how do you deal with big agencies that require you to adhere to the contract but violate it themselves all the time (payment dates for example)?

The question was asked both on Quora and by a colleague of mine in Cowork Niagara, the coworking space where I work.

If you have a question you can just email me and I’ll add it to the list.

Today, for National Podcast Posting Month I answer the question: As a freelancer, are you ever tempted to give it up for the security of regular 9-5 employment?

The question was asked both on Quora and by a colleague of mine in Cowork Niagara, the coworking space where I work.

If you have a question you can just email me and I’ll add it to the list.

Today’s NaPodPoMo episode is about how to start freelancing without any experience.

Thanks to this quora post for the initial inspiration,

Remember if you have a question you can just email me and I’ll add it to the list.

Today’s NaPodPoMo episode is about toxic clients. Here’s some red flags I use to identify them.

Thanks to this quora post for the initial inspiration, and Laura Lange from the CTBS podcast group on Facebook.

Remember if you have a question you can just email me and I’ll add it to the list.

 

November is NAtional PODcast POsting MOnth, or NaPodPoMo for short! This month I’m doing an episode EVERY DAY that answers a commonly asked freelance question.

This week’s question is:

Are there any freelance websites that I can get gigs immediately after signing up rather than bidding on a project?

It came from Quora.

Have a question? Reach out to me at [email protected]

This week we’re talking about lead qualification. How do you know that someone you’re interested in working with is into working with you? You qualify that interest. We use a framework I discovered some time ago. While I walk through the framework with you, I also have an epiphany about why freelance platforms are so compelling to freelancers! Have a great week everyone! We’ll be back (and on schedule) next week.

More details on the CHAMP framework at https://www.callboxinc.com/strategy/champ-method-lead-qualifying-questions/

Ask your freelance practice questions at [email protected]

 

Want to know the secret of a stable freelance income? Listen to today’s episode about accidentally selling. Did you have an accidental sale? Tell us your story at [email protected]

 

 

In this episode, I talk about how freelancers try to close the sale too soon, and we look at a shift in mindset from an unexpected source.

Links

To my favourite all-time book on sales: Dan Pink’s To Sell is Human

Laura Lange’s podcast The Peaceful Life and she asked for us to outline the sales process in more detail!

We mention Episode 6: Smooth Moves: Starting with process improvement for Freelance practices

Podcasting legend Dave Jackson covers his Content–>Relationships–>Opportunities framework in this episode of School of Podcasting