Becoming a Freelancer: Your First 90 Days
Congratulations and welcome to the club! Maybe you chose the freelancing life, or maybe it chose you. Either way, your first ninety days are an important—and potentially confusing—time when you start freelancing from scratch. Here’s how to make the most of them. There are three steps to starting your freelancing business. First, you need to set up your business infrastructure. Then, you need to prepare to market it. Once you create your business and brand, the next step is to start selling. Whether this takes ninety days will be up to you, but here is your cheat sheet to flying through it as painlessly as possible!
Step 1: Set up your business infrastructure
Essentially, in this step you will choose a name for your business, and then make it official. This is a complex stage, but fortunately, you only have to do it once. Here’s how:
Decide on a legal structure for your business. Work with a lawyer and tax accountant to finalize and make your chosen structure official. If you don’t have one, you can start at LegalZoom or Rocket Lawyer. Both offer standardized incorporation services, as well as custom packages where you can speak directly to a lawyer about your questions.
Brainstorm names for your freelancing business. Not every freelancer will create a separate name for their freelancing business. Many freelancers use their own name, but having a separate name can be helpful if you might one day scale and/or hire other people. Here are some tips on choosing a memorable business name. Whatever name you decide to use, make sure:
(1) That website domain is available for sale (check GoDaddy or Squarespace), and
(2) The name is not already in use by another business in your state if you will be incorporating (check your state’s Secretary of State website).
Buy the domain and begin building the website. GoDaddy or Squarespace can be great places to start. Both offer easy-to-use website builders, but if you have a budget, you can contract this out on Fiverr (to another freelancer - yay!).
Once you have established the basic infrastructure above, there are a few additional details you may want to add, depending on your business. These will not be applicable to every freelancer, but we mention them just in case.
Open a business bank account to keep your freelancing income and expenses separate from your personal ones. If you used an accountant earlier, they can guide you on whether this is necessary in your case.
Get liability insurance for your business. Here are some suggestions for small business insurance providers.
Obtain specific permits or licenses, if required for your line of work.
Have your lawyer draft a general Consulting or Independent Contractor Agreement for you so you have it ready for your first client, if needed. (Some clients and freelancing platforms will prefer that you use their contracts. YMMV.)
Get a virtual or physical office space if you need it (e.g., Zoom, WeWork).
Step Two: Prepare your marketing materials
Now that your legal structure is set, it’s time to finesse your web presence and marketing materials so you’re on your way to closing your first sale.
Design a logo. You can make one yourself or hire a freelancer on platforms like Fiverr to do it for you. If you outsource this, be clear on who owns the IP rights to the design (ideally, that will be you).
Establish your social media presence. Set up your LinkedIn page, Instagram, Twitter, or any other social media pages you might need. You should also fine-tune your website to make sure you’re putting your best foot forward, and clients can easily reach you..
Develop your elevator pitch. How do you articulate your value proposition in a sentence or two? How narrow will your specialty be? Will you have more than one area of focus? The answers to these questions will be partly driven by the market, but take time to figure out what you want so you can steer yourself in that direction. Make sure your website and social media presence are aligned with how you will pitch yourself.
Showcase your best work. Make sure your resume is up to date and you have different versions of it for different services you’re selling, if needed. If you have a portfolio or reel, make sure your latest and best work is included, and that it can be viewed in high quality easily
Decide on your rate. This is a much longer topic and will depend largely on the specific market, project, and client. Still, keep an anchor in mind as you test the market so you can position yourself and adjust your offerings.
Step Three: Start selling!
Now that you have survived the formation process and started building your brand, you’re ready to move on to the next phase of your business and start selling! Spread the word to former colleagues and friends that you are available for work (using the elevator pitch you crafted). Find the freelance platforms in your area of expertise. Connect with past employers and other professionals in your chosen specialty to see whether they need help. Not sure which platforms exist for your area of expertise? Check out our Resources page to get started!
