🚫 Don't Leave Your EXP Behind

Few freelancers go straight into freelancing from high school or university/college.

That’s the equivalent of going from high school to the pros 🏀.

Chances are you fall into one of these categories:

1. You’ve left a corporate job

2. You want to leave a corporate job

3. You’ve already resigned from your corporate job (and are unsure of your next move).

In most cases, the pain of the corporate world makes us leave and become our own boss in the first place.

I’m no exception.

I worked for over ten years in Telecommunications and Customer Service before taking the leap five years ago.

In my ebook, I write about my time working in corporate and my struggles to climb the ladder.

Yet, when I left, I made a huge mistake.

I pivoted to Content Writing, Content Marketing, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

I wanted to close that chapter, toss the book in the trash, and burn it.

But in the process, I left the most important thing behind;

My Experience.

Yes, I had some difficult times.

But the trade-off was the lessons, skills, and character I built.

Combining my experience in Call Centers, Leadership, Customer Experience, and Team Building allowed me to work on freelance projects I enjoy.

That experience also allowed me to charge more for these projects.

What experience can you use to build a freelance career? The sky’s the limit. If you take anything from this newsletter is this:

Leave the bad boss, but take the experience.

Even if you no longer want to work in that field, you’re leaving invaluable skills and leverage on the table.

As new freelancers, we must find ways to set ourselves apart. Taking both soft and hard skills from our past jobs creates a new avatar on the field.

You become a niche of one.

Clients out there need your exact combination of experience and skills. Here are some ways you can integrate your past EXP into your new freelance role:

• 🤔If you’re unsure where to start on your freelance journey, use one of the skills you developed in the Corporate world. What did co-workers come to you for when they needed help? Excel? Proofreading their emails? Creating presentations? Analyzing data? Any of these skills can be turned into a freelance service.

• 📢 Speak openly about your experience on social media or blogs. You don’t need to mention the company by name. Over time, you’ll attract new clients who resonate with you from that field.

• 🧪 Combine skills to create a new offer to sell to new or existing clients. New freelance skill + Past Hard Skill + Past Soft Skill= Fantastic new offer

• 🗣Use your past expertise to network in similar spaces. You’ll be able to talk the talk and potentially land new clients in the future.

Freelancing can feel like you’re starting over from scratch.

From the perspective of acquiring your first clients, yes.

But thanks to your work history, you’re now experienced enough to go out on your own.

Experience rant over.

Here’s some helpful content on your freelance journey:

• Freelancing is all about discipline. If you have that, you win.

• Here are the harsh realities. Are you still going through with it? (Hint: hells yea!)

• Not sure where to find your first client? Here are 45 lead gen ideas.

My goal for this letter is to provide you with some support, ideas, and motivation on your freelance journey.

It’s to prepare you for the inevitable.

A world where freelancing is a natural career step.

If there’s anything I can do or any topic you need more in-depth content, send me an email at [email protected]

Until next week,

Marv, The 2K Freelancer