We Need to Stop Rushing Freelancers to Scale

I ventured into the world of freelancing before the noise of coaches, gurus, or experts were on my radar. This was the early 2010's so Facebook was still relatively ad-free and Upwork was two smaller freelancing networks.

I'm happy that aspiring freelancers have many options of courses, mentors, and learning, to shortcut the arduous journey that is freelancing.

Still, there comes a price with the information that goes much deeper than the $97 to $1000's that you'd pay for mentorship.

Freelancers are no longer encouraged to explore, and adventure

I recently did a series of personal interviews with aspiring freelancers as a form of market research for my first group program.

In these interviews, the freelancers (all who made less than $1500/month freelancing) expressed that they were pressured by all sources of expertise to niche and be focused in their targeted audience.

I don't discount the importance of niche or target audience, but if your soul is screaming at you that this isn't right, you need to listen.

My first virtual assistance job was a $35/hour gig I found on Craigslist in the early 2010's. An emerging adult video site needed high volumes of their videos titled and properly labeled by category. I made roughly $1000/week (freelancing looks so different when you're single and without kids and in your early 20's) and LOVED the role.

This led to several more opportunities, including ghostwriting erotica for a sex toy distributor (found on what is now known as Upwork) and being a paid community manager for a BDSM club.

While the adult industry would be a dream niche for many freelancers (it's an industry that will never die and is growing as sex positivity becomes more talked about) I couldn't see myself doing it forever.

Today, I still take sporadic adult industry clients, though it's not advertised anywhere on my brand.

I have the joy of being flexible and working with clients from cannabis, to indie gaming companies, to coaches, to spiritual leaders, and more. My roles include virtual assistant, ghostwriter, copywriter, email marketing, and project manager.

Sure, many business experts will send the reminder that without a niche, you risk diluting your message. People will be confused on what exactly you do.

As the saying goes, "The more specific you become, the more you say YES to YOUR PEOPLE and NO to NOT YOUR PEOPLE."

But I beg the question - does this advice come from a place of hindsight? How do you know your people when you haven't explored enough to truly get a glimpse of the different people out there?

Exploration is not a process that can be done for you. Niching and target market is constantly refined over time.

Branding cannot be rushed, cloned, or forced into conformity.

Freelancers often feel the need to polish themselves in a way that doesn't align with their sense of identity

One of the most memorable freelancers I interviewed was an aspiring virtual assistant with an androgynous web presence.

She felt too different, too masculine, with her short hair and neutral clothing, in a world filled with luxury coaches touting Gucci and Louis Vuitton or loud profane screams of rebellion.

"How would I even get hired when I'm nothing like these people? I don't want to be fake but I feel like I can't be me." she said.

Brand identity, like niche and target audience, is also a journey.

I like to think of brands like babies in utero. You know that it's there, but you haven't truly presented it to the world yet. It's in progress.

When it's finally born, it can't walk. It can't talk. It shrieks in desperation to be nurtured, and if we force it to be perfected immediately, the brand can fracture and yearn for the care that it was denied.

Your brand needs space. It needs room to breathe, expand, recluse, and develop a voice of its own. It needs to make mistakes, go down a detour, have a few wins, and realize where its passions are.

And most importantly, it needs permission to experiment like a teenager who is hooked on challenging the status quo. (For some, that rebellion is a phase while for others, it becomes a core part of their identity).

Freelancers will go through periods where they will model their brand like an influencer that they admire (just like how children model themselves after their favorite people).

You'll try on different identities, throw out what doesn't work, hold tightly to what does.

You'll go through seasons where you've outgrown something you used to love and rediscover something you've discarded in the past.

The brand will come as you grow. Suffocating your progress in favor of instant perfection and the desire for immediate presentability would be a disservice to your brand.

Honor your solitude because here, your thoughts shine

I love working with freelancers because there is a part of me that relentlessly roots for the underdog. I enjoy meeting people in the chaos of starting out and stepping back when they catapult (or dance, or tiptoe, or slowly walk) themselves into the next milestone (it looks different for everyone).

Coaches and gurus are delightful, because through their stories and success, we are reminded that if it is humanly possible, it is within OUR reach, too. (Paraphrased from a Marcus Aurelius quote). Their ideas, stories, and experience serve as our missing pieces.

But don't get caught up on constantly looking up to the experts for advice. Give yourself moments of solitude where you've pulled away from social media, courses, books, and mentors, to form your own ideas and take inventory of what works/doesn't for you.

Consider whether a specific marketing strategy you've come across aligns with your soul. Do you really need to put out hundreds of pieces of content monthly? Do you love going live on social media? Do you enjoy attending conventions and meetups?

The guides that you choose, who have the honor of being a part of your journey, are here to present options for you. You are never forced to accept it. You will never need to say yes to what doesn't feel good.

Give yourself that moment of stillness before you make decisions.

A note about needing money quickly

I recognize that as I am writing this post, I am speaking from a place of privilege. The reality of freelancing is that a lot of aspiring freelancers have limitations that prevent them from being able to take their time to grow.

When I was in a time of need and at risk of homelessness, I quickly threw together a landing page and advertised myself as a virtual assistant and ghostwriter. I took what I knew, and leveraged it in order to make cash, quickly.

During these times, you need to get what you can, when you can, and money will come through all forms.

When your base needs (food, shelter, warmth, bills) are met, then you have the space to grow your niche, target market, and brand.

Only then will you be comfortable to explore.

For more about this, I recommend checking out Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

Tuning out the noise and turning up your inner voice

I'd like to end this post by inviting you to schedule a moment with yourself, perhaps the next weekend, to remove yourself from outside influences and making space to hear yourself.

Write a freelancing job that you'd love to see come across your world. What role do they need filled? What does that role entail?

These questions are not meant to be answered classroom style immediately, but meditated upon over time. Edit it, refine it, erase it, rewrite it, and let that be a starting point to understand what types of freelancing jobs you really want.

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