My First Client as a Freelancer!! (And the Game-Changing Tool Saving My Life)

Hello friends, freelancers in the making, and new subscribers.

It’s happened.

I repeat, IT’S HAPPENED!! 

I have a god damn client. They’re real, they’re lovely, and we started working together yesterday. I’m unbelievably excited (if you can’t tell by the opening to this newsletter). 

Freelancers can’t take their foot off the accelerator

Seemingly overnight, I went from going live with my freelance business to having three people in the client pipeline. It was like a domino effect… once one inquiry came through, others started to flock towards me.

In just seven days, I’ve had THREE promising conversations. One client has already signed on, and the other two are nearly locked in (when it rains, it pours!).

So, what does this mean?

It’s time to up the ante!!

Did you expect me to say that? I have a feeling some of you were thinking, "Great! Now Laura can relax and stop worrying about her income."

And sure, there’s some relief in knowing I finally have work. But this is a crucial moment in freelancing. Almost every small business owner or freelancer will tell you that this is the point where we absolutely cannot take our foot off the accelerator, no matter how much relief we feel.

The reality of freelancing: It’s a numbers game.

Keeping the momentum going (and making sure my name is always out there) is so important because who knows what’s around the corner. Anything could happen!

Some weeks will be quiet, and others (like last week) will be packed. But the key is to keep posting the content and building the brand no matter how secure I feel. So let’s keep rolling!

Onto this week’s main freelancer lesson…

Project Management Software is the holy grail 

Last week, I mentioned my less-than-graceful introduction to using Notion. I’ve actually used it before and love it. What I hadn’t prepared for, though, was starting my own HQ from scratch with all the bells and whistles. It was way harder than stepping into one already set up (thank god for free Notion templates, I would have been lost without them).

Nonetheless, it’s done, and it was worth every frustrating minute of staring at my screen in confusion.

I now have a fully functioning content calendar, a document hub, client folders, agreement templates - you name it. It’s all there and ready to go, and I’ve invited my new client to their very own pages so they can start working from it too. 

All my up-and-coming freelancers, get your project management software sorted. Notion is my choice because of just how much it can do, AND it’s FREE for individuals.

FREE. I’ll take anything free at this point. 

That’s all for this week! I’ve been looking back at previous newsletters and have realised I’ve been squeezing way too much in each email, so I am trying out this more “to-the-point” approach. Let me know what you think in the comments or by replying to me directly. 

Thanks for being here on this journey with me! Every reply, share, and every bit of encouragement keeps me going.

See you next Tuesday.

Laura