What is A Freelance Life?

Written By Ashley Hill

I started freelancing when I was still in high school. My very first gig came about because of a fellow member on a forum for our cars. That in itself is another story, but it goes to show that even from the start I was getting clients because of the connections I made, and not just hawking myself on Fiverr.

I digress: this article is meant to be an introduction into my world of freelancing, which I’ve been doing on and off since 2002.

I started freelancing because I knew I had a saleable skill that others were willing to pay money for. My dad had his own business, so why couldn’t I? I used to tinker with logo designs and HTML until two in the morning. I made it known that I was doing this sort of work, and over time I started picking up clients. None of this was high paying stuff, of course, but it began to build a foundation upon which my current business is built.

Because I’ve been building websites since 1999, that’s right, TWENTY-SIX YEARS, I’ve learned a thing or two about it. Same goes with inbound marketing consulting, especially from my days at HubSpot. This site isn’t about the how-to of a technical freelance career, instead it’s about how to build a business doing anything whilst keeping margin in your life for the essential things that aren’t work-related.

Some of the questions I’m going to cover, that I have first-hand experience in, are:

  • How to freelance alongside a full-time job

  • How to morph from low paying hourly work when you first start out, to higher-paying work on retainer to have predictable income

  • How to overcome the paycheck to paycheck mentality us freelancers can have

  • How to challenge others’ preconceptions about freelancing and not having a “real job”

  • How to establish processes and business SOP’s to make the admin side of things less challenging

  • How to define what a successful freelance life looks like

If you’ve ever had those same questions when you thought about becoming a full-time freelancer, then I recommend you subscribe, if you haven’t already.

I do want to hear from you, too. Here are some things I’d like to know, so feel free to send me an email:

  • what does freelancing success look like to you?

  • what conflicts are you experiencing?

  • what questions do you have about freelancing?

  • what are two things I could write about that would help you?

I hope you will join me on this journey of helping others to build their own freelance life.

Ashley Hill