Be Your Own Boss - a workshop

BE YOUR OWNBOSS.
an introductionto freelancing
www.freelance.org.au

Holdup!
WANTTORE-USETHISCONTENT?
PLEASECREDITTHEAUTHORS
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Orspeaktousfirstatcontact@freelance.org.au

FIRSTUP:
A special announcement fromour friends atGA
01

*Whatwe’llcovertoday
02
• What is freelancing?
• Why freelance?
• What should you freelance in?
• Starting smart
• Finding clients?
• Your freelance strategy

Importantnote:
THISCLASSISDESIGNED
FORBEGINNERS
03
andit’sthefirsttimewe’verunit!

*PracticePrinciples
04
• Participate in activities - they are designed to help you
understand the content
• Give the workshop your attention for the one hour it takes place
• Ask questions if you have them - it’s better to ask and be sure
than to keep quiet and not understand or be able to use a point.

*Objectives
05
Head
• You will leave with some understanding of the pros and cons of
freelancing
Heart
• You will feel empowered to make a choice as to whether you wish to
pursue a freelance career.
Hands
• You will leave the session with tools for building your own freelancing
strategy as well as a clear sense of your freelancing purpose.

CameronRambert
Founder,FreelanceAustralia
Author,WhiteCollarPajamas(April2016)
Freelance marketer, digital strategist and
copywriter for fast growing tech startups. Past
clients include Twitter, Gigster, ANZ, Amnesty
International and RMIT University.
Antonia is one of those freelancers that has trouble
describing what she does – her portfolio of
activities includes policy development, consultancy,
project management, lecturing and social media
management.
INSTRUCTORS
A little bit about us
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AntoniaMochan
Co-Founder,FreelanceAustralia
InnovationProjectsLead -CWL

*AboutFreelanceAustralia
07
• Membership based not-for-profit organisation founded in 2014
• Dedicated to achieving one thing:
To create happier, better and more successful freelancers.
• Members get access to:
• Jobs from recruiters before it hits the market
• Invitations to freelancer-only networking & social events
• Discounted/Free tickets to professional development workshops
• One on one mentoring
• Software perks and discounts
… and much more!

PLEASE FILL OUT THE WORKBOOK AS
YOU GO
http://bit.ly/freelanceWB

*questiontime
Why areyouheretoday? Please fill
out the first section.

*Whatdowemeanby‘freelancing’?
Characteristics of ‘freelancing’
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• Self-employed
• Service driven business
• Solopreneur (ie; a one person show)

*Whatdowemeanby‘freelancing’?
Types of freelancers
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• Professionals
• Moonlighters
• Diversified workers
• Contractors
• Micro-firms

*Whyfreelance?
Freelancing & the Future of Work
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• The economy needs more freelancers
• Societal values towards ‘work’ are shifting
• Businesses prefer to hire freelancers
• Portfolio careers will become the new normal.
• Technology is bridging the flexible working gap.
• The skills a freelancer learns are synonymous with those needed in the
future of work (‘knowledge worker’ vs ‘creative worker’)

*Whyfreelance?
Below are just some of the most common reasons for freelancing
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• Work remotely
• Do more purposeful work
• More capacity to work on other hobbies and passions
• Go back to study
• Control your professional destiny
• Take professional development into your own hands
• Create a start-up
• Start or spend more time with the family
• Spend more time with family or kids

*Freelancingessentiallycomesdowntoonefundamentalthing…..
PROFESSIONAL INDEPENDENCE
“ Which is the ability to influence when you work, where you work, how you work,
what you work on and with whom you work with.
15

*questiontime
What type of freelancerare you
currentlyor aspire to be inthe near
future?

*questiontime
Why doYOUcurrentlyfreelance or
want to freelance?

*Whatshouldyoufreelancein?
17
Demand
Market opportunity
What the market wants
Obvious, yet consistently ignored.
Skills
What you’re good at

How do you know what the market needs?
18
• Research industry reports, blogs, articles etc
• Talk to somebody in the industry.
• Consult a recruiter
• Go to ‘Future of X’ events
• Put it to the test it. Pitch your services to potential clients
and see if people actually need what you’re offering
(freelance marketplaces are great for this)

19
Art
What excites you
Skills
What you’re good at
Your best and most lucrative work
Demand
What the market wants

20
*StartingSmart
Know the journey ahead

21
*StartingSmart
Know the journey ahead

*StartingSmart
Build a buffer
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• Depending on your tolerance for risk, it helps to create a financial buffer of anywhere
between 3-6 months before you transition into a freelance career.
• A buffer should cover:
– Your mortgage or rent
– Your monthly expenses (bills)
– Incorporation costs
– An additional 10-20% on top of these costs
– Tax liabilities
• If you can’t produce a buffer before you get started (eg; if you were fired from your last job
or on welfare payments), then your goal should be to build one up once you are cash-flow
positive.

*StartingSmart
Map a pathway
23
• Pathways are your roadmap from where you are now to where you want to go as
a freelancer.
• Eg: As a Full-time employee, you can moonlight on the side until you have found
two or three well paying clients, and only then transition away from full-time
employment.
• The other alternative is to start working part-time and freelance part-time until
the freelancing earns enough to support you full-time.
• Whichever the pathway, ensure that you know what is realistically and specifically
manageable to your situation.

*StartingSmart
Pathway examples
24

*StartingSmart
Build support networks early and join communities to make the transition easier
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• Social & emotional support
• Financial support (if possible)
• Educational support (eg: up-skilling)
• Business support (eg: mentoring, marketing advice)

Better,happier,more
successfulfreelancers.

*FindingClients
Common sources of finding freelance work.
26
• Existing personal networks
• Industry recruiters
• Networking events
• Content marketing
• Freelance Marketplaces
• Referrals
• Job boards
• Social networks
• Volunteering
• Prospecting / Outbound
• Advertising

*FindingClients
Common sources of finding freelance work.
27
• Existing personal networks
• Industry recruiters
• Networking events
• Content marketing
• Freelance Marketplaces
• Referrals
• Job boards
• Social networks
• Volunteering
• Prospecting / Outbound
• Advertising
Essentially, your best performing channels (often the ones highlighted) are a result of
better client transparency, established trust and verifiable credibility.

*FreelanceMarketplaces
X
Global marketplaces
• Freelancer www.freelancer.com
• Elance www.elance.com
• Upwork www.upwork.com
• People Per Hour www.peopleperhour.com
Niche or Local marketplaces
• Cloudpeeps www.cloudpeeps.com (Marketing professionals)
• Gigster www.gigster.com (Web / Application developers)
• Toptal www.toptal.com (Web developers / programmers)
• Expert360 www.expert360.com (Local gigs)
• Sidekicker www.sidekicker.com.au (Local gigs)
• Fiverr.com www.fiverr.com

*Portfolios
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As a freelancer, your time and
testimonials are the currencies
you play with.
A collection of testimonials with
associated samples of work
make up your portfolio.
Your capacity to earn and find
future work depends on the
quality of your portfolio.

*Wheretodisplayaportfolio
29
• Social networks (Linkedin is a key one)
• Personal website
• about.me
• Squarespace
• Community/Industry credible websites
• GitHub (developers)
• Content.ly (content producers)
• Behance / Dribble (designers)
• DeviantArt (artists/designers)
• Print (where relevant)

*YourFreelanceStrategy
Answer these questions:
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• What transition pathway should you take?
• Which people or communities can you turn to guide and support your freelance career
transition? (financial, emotional, practical)
• Where are you now and what type of freelancer do you want to be in twelve months time?
– Professional, Moonlighter, Contractor, Micro-firm, Diversified etc
• What are your top three reasons to freelance? Write them down.
• How big of a cash-flow buffer do you think you will need to get started? One month? Six
months?

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• What skills or areas of expertise do you have that are either currently in demand or
you can test the demand for?
• Which of these skills or areas of expertise which most excites you?
• What opportunities exist to build on these skills (ie; what new skills can you learn
or new industries you can move into to guide you to becoming more valuable to
the marketplace?

32
• What are your best three examples of work you could use to start building out your
portfolio?
• What three places can you set up or promote your portfolio?
• What three new freelance job sources could you start reaching out to TODAY to see if there
are freelance opportunities available?

*questiontime
Fill out therest of yourworkbook!

QUESTIONS?
feel to use this time to complete your workbook

SPECIAL OFFER
for today’s workshop participants

*Offertonewmembers:
VISIT: http://freelance.org.au/membership
35
New members receive*:
• Free VIP ticket to National Freelance Day 2016 (RRP $197)
• Free Copy of Cam's forthcoming book "White Collar
Pajamas” (April Release, RRP $27)
• An extended one-on-one with either Antonia or Cam
OFFER VALID UNTIL THURSDAY 17th March
*applies to annual memberships only

Thanks for coming!
Be YourOwn Boss: An Introductionto freelancing
Twitter: @freelanceORGau
Facebook: freelanceAU
Instagram: freelanceau

Better,happier,more
successfulfreelancers.
Findusat
www.freelance.org.au

Be Your Own Boss - a workshop

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