Freelance To Founder

On today’s episode, we have a coaching call with Ignacio, who’s building a growing web design business in Guatemala. Ignacio’s business is doing well, but he knows if he wants to go from freelance to founder, he needs to get more organized.  So in today’s call, we coach Ignacio through how to organize his multiple brands, how to pick the perfect project management tool, and how to get his clients to pay more. If you’re ready to get your business in order so you can crush Q4 and hit the ground running in 2021, you’re going to love this episode. We’ll get started with Ignacio right after this quick break. Apply for your own on-air coaching call We'd love to feature your business and offer some free on-air advice for growing your business. To see if you're a good fit, click here. Resources listed in this episode Flywheel—managed Wordpress hosting for agency-builders. 13 Best Project Management Tools for Freelancers 8 Best Basecamp Alternatives For Easy Project Management 13 Best CRM for Freelancers Ready

On today’s episode (the final episode in our eighth season) I want to turn the tables and share with you an interview I did with my friends Marc and Julia at The Clearing. I’ve done dozens of interviews over the years, but Marc seems to ask the perfect questions in this interview—leading to one of the best conversations on freelancing I’ve ever had on the air. We discuss getting freelance jobs, what to focus on when building a portfolio, how to build passive income, and lots more. In fact, Marc and Julia are two fellow freelancers who have helped a whole bunch of people embark on the freelance journey, getting their first clients and making good money as a freelancer in as little as a couple of weeks.  They love jump-starting freelancers’ careers and you should visit them at theclearing.io to learn more from them. They’re really talented. In my interview, you’ll hear a bit of my back story along with some of my best advice for starting, growing, and sustaining your freelance business. Be a guest on an upcomin

Do you ever get the feeling you're attracting the wrong kinds of clients for your freelance business or agency? Today's guest faces the same question: "how can I turn down clients who aren't a good fit?" Paul Chris Luke spent his first few years out of college working at an agency doing digital marketing. But then he decided to leave it all behind, sell his house and most of his possessions and move to Cambodia—a place he’d never even been. After taking a year off to reflect on where his life was headed and finding his savings running out, he eventually felt the tug to get some clients and start working again. The problem is: when you start freelancing, it can be hard to find the right clients—or better yet—avoid the wrong ones Now, Paul finds himself wondering how to keep his company small while working with giant brands that want to scale. IN this episode, we answer the question “is it a good idea turn down new clients when your business is so young?" We also talk about growing slowly on purpose, delegating

Imagine catching the coronavirus and losing half of your clients in less than 48 hours. That's what happened to today's guest, Jim Huffman. Jim runs GrowthHit, a conversion-focused agency serving tech companies and startups. When Covid-19 hit the U.S. in March of this year, Jim got an email from one of his clients asking to put their work “on hold”—which was all fine and well until another client cut them off….and another… and another.  The pandemic had led to Jim’s company losing almost half a million dollars in potential client sales for the year. To top it all off, Jim caught the coronavirus while traveling for work. Not long after, Jim recovered from the illness and his business rebounded from the loss. And in this episode, we peel back exactly how Jim recovered and pull out lessons you can apply to your business as we all cope with Covid together. Be a guest on an upcoming episode: We'd love to feature your business and offer some free on-air advice for growing your business. To see if you're a good fit,

On today’s show, we talk with Akshat Choudhary who runs a thriving business called BlogVault. Despite having over 10,000 customers and a growing team, Akshat’s not sure where to go next when it comes to getting more customers. That all-to-common problem leads us to a conversation on building an affiliate program to get new clients, using social media to build a front-of-mind brand, and taking advantage of email to boost revenue. Whether you’ve hit a plateau with your promotions or you’re just getting your first clients, this conversation is for you. Be a guest on an upcoming episode: We'd love to feature your business and offer some free on-air advice for growing your business. To see if you're a good fit, click here. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: If you enjoy the show, can you do us a favor and leave us an honest rating and review on Apple Podcasts? We'll love you forever. Click here to leave a review. Support our sponsors so we can keep airing new episodes: Toggl — Simple time-tracking tool you'll th

On today’s episode, we have a great conversation with Will Gibbons—a product rendering expert who works with huge brands like Pelaton, 3M, Vizio and more. After a year of working for himself, Will is facing perhaps one of the best problems you can ask for as a freelancer: He’s got too many client requests coming in and too much work that needs done. So in this episode, Clay and I walk him through a few hiring, scaling, and management tips to help him move up the “freelance to founder” scale without losing control of his business. Be a guest on an upcoming episode: We'd love to feature your business and offer some free on-air advice for growing your business. To see if you're a good fit, click here. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: If you enjoy the show, can you do us a favor and leave us an honest rating and review on Apple Podcasts? We'll love you forever. Click here to leave a review. Support our sponsors so we can keep airing new episodes: Linkedin Jobs — Post healthcare and front-line jobs for free. P

On this week’s episode we have a heart-to-heart chat with Bri Earles, a freelance social media manager and virtual assistant. Bri has never had any trouble getting new social media clients. But whenever Bri thinks about having money conversations or raising her prices, she kinda freezes up—using words like “awkward” “greedy” or “selfish” to explain how she feels about charging clients. What many freelancers like Bri fail to realize is the only way to become comfortable with charging more is to gain confidence about the value you provide. Be a guest on an upcoming episode: We'd love to feature your business and offer some free on-air advice for growing your business. To see if you're a good fit, click here. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: If you enjoy the show, can you do us a favor and leave us an honest rating and review on Apple Podcasts? We'll love you forever. Click here to leave a review. Support our sponsors so we can keep airing new episodes: Linkedin Jobs — Post healthcare and front-line jobs for

On today’s call, we chat with Mihai Zamfir who has done some incredible work in building a presentation design company. Mihai gets a fair amount of new clients using sites like Upwork and other freelance marketplaces, but he’s ready to start finding better clients in more intentional ways. All of this leads us to an answer-rich coaching session all about short-term vs. long-term sales strategies.  Cold-pitching vs. Content marketing.  On the one hand, cold-pitching is hard and has notoriously bad conversion rates. On the other hand, content marketing is very time and labor intensive. So what’s the right path for you? We’ll help you answer that question and many more in today’s episode. Be a guest on an upcoming episode: We'd love to feature your business and offer some free on-air advice for growing your business. To see if you're a good fit, click here. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: If you enjoy the show, can you do us a favor and leave us an honest rating and review on Apple Podcasts? We'll love you

On this week’s episode, we talk with Jason Vance, a former web design freelancer who’s building his next company in marketing. In just 9 months, Jason has hired 9 employees for his marketing agency because there's a whole lot of work that needs to get done. But now Jason feels like he may be holding his team back by causing a bottleneck. It's hard going from doing everything yourself to hiring and trusting employees to take on important tasks. But it’s a subject Clay and I have a TON of experience in which leads to a fantastic conversation with Jason about productivity, systems, empowerment, and trust. Be a guest on an upcoming episode: We'd love to feature your business and offer some free on-air advice for growing your business. To see if you're a good fit, click here. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: If you enjoy the show, can you do us a favor and leave us an honest rating and review on Apple Podcasts? We'll love you forever. Click here to leave a review. Support our sponsors so we can keep airing new

On this week’s episode, Clay and Preston have a heart-to-heart chat with Rodney Little, a UX/UI designer who wants to build an audience-first business. But Rodney, a side-hustler with a full-time job, has been kicking this idea around in his mind for a whopping five years—so in this episode, Clay and Preston call him out. They dive into what’s been holding him up and what it’s really going to look like to build an audience-first business. It’s a very personal conversation for Preston especially—since his business began when he started a small design blog—and this episode features some of Preston and Clay's best advice for starting and growing an audience-first business like a blog or a podcast. Be a guest on an upcoming episode: We'd love to feature your business and offer some free on-air advice for growing your business. To see if you're a good fit, click here. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: If you enjoy the show, can you do us a favor and leave us an honest rating and review on Apple Podcasts? We'll

On today’s show, we talk with Spencer Blaiklok—a freelance animator who dreams of building something bigger. But, like most creatives, Spencer doesn’t want to give up the fun creative work in order to sit behind a desk or in meetings all day, hating his job. In this episode, Clay and I walk Spencer through a few different ways he can grow his business without having to become a typical CEO-type. Be a guest on an upcoming episode: We'd love to feature your business and offer some free on-air advice for growing your business. To see if you're a good fit, click here. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: If you enjoy the show, can you do us a favor and leave us an honest rating and review on Apple Podcasts? We'll love you forever. Click here to leave a review. Support our sponsors so we can keep airing new episodes: Participate — Create a space for collaboration, communication and learning. SolidGigs — Get more freelance jobs. Dripify — Premium learning platform for entrepreneurs. *** This show is a part of the 

In today’s episode, Clay and I talk all about freelance pricing: what to charge, and when to raise your rates. We explore two very different pricing models and reveal 5 triggers you should watch for to signal it’s time to raise your rates. If you’ve ever wondered if you’re leaving money on the table in your business or if you’re charging the right amount for the work you do, this episode is for you. To dig even deeper, here are a few more pricing resources from the Millo team: How to Gracefully Tell a Client You’re Raising Your Rates How to Write a Price Increase Letter to Your Clients How Much to Charge for a Logo Be a guest on an upcoming episode: We'd love to feature your business and offer some free on-air advice for growing your business. To see if you're a good fit, click here. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: If you enjoy the show, can you do us a favor and leave us an honest rating and review on Apple Podcasts? We'll love you forever. Click here to leave a review. Support our sponsors so we

On today’s show, we have a nice long chat with Carl Smith. He’s been an in-house web developer for the past 20 years, but at the end of 2018, Carl finally launched a small business of his own—L&L Web Consulting. Carl saw some early success on Upwork, but when one client who was taking up 50 hours of his work-week suddenly halted their project, Carl was left wondering if sites like Upwork were the best way to get web design clients. In the first half of today’s episode, we talk all about Upwork—should you be on it? Is it a good long-term strategy? And is it worth your time? Then we round out the show with a great conversation on hiring a marketing expert, When is the right time to hire? How can you find the right person? And ideas for what to do if you literally have no budget for hiring but desperately need help. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: If you enjoy the show, can you do us a favor and leave us an honest rating and review on Apple Podcasts? We'll love you forever. Click here to leave a review. Be

On today’s episode, we sit down with Margaret Ryland, a brand and identity designer who started her own design business not very long ago. Margaret is working hard trying to figure out exactly what kind of client to target which has left her listening to and reading a lot of advice about finding your freelance niche. Advice to "find your niche" in business is not uncommon on the Internet—you’ve probably seen it yourself. We've even published our own articles about it. But Clay and I worry that Margaret is rushing into niching down a little too fast. So in today’s conversation, we dissect why “find your niche” really isn’t all it’s cracked up to be—and what freelancers should be doing instead. We also talk about demanding full creative control from clients, ditching proposals, listing prices on your website, weeding out high-maintenance clients and lots more. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: If you enjoy the show, can you do us a favor and leave us an honest rating and review on Apple Podcasts? We'll love

Too many freelancers never actually build a business that works for them. Instead, they just build another job for themselves—trading one annoying boss for a dozen high-maintenance clients. Eesh. In today's episode, we sit down with Bobby Macey, founder of Macey Media. After side-hustling through a series of frustrating lay-offs, Bobby finally decided to take matters into his own hands and start a content agency. He’s doing a lot of things right and his business is growing fast. But Bobby still finds himself doing a lot of the client work he books—leaving him with late nights on his laptop and a work-life balance that’s a bit uneven. In today’s show, Clay and I share what we’ve learned about work-life balance and help Bobby answer important questions about when to hire and who to hire to best scale his business and rescue some of his personal life. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: If you enjoy the show, can you do us a favor and leave us an honest rating and review on Apple Podcasts? We'll love you foreve

Auni Milne can close a deal with just about any client that comes her way. But getting new clients continues to be a struggle. Can being more active on social media help Auni improve her inbound lead generation? We explore that question on today's episode of Freelance to Founder. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: If you enjoy the show, can you do us a favor and leave us an honest rating and review on Apple Podcasts? We'll love you forever. Click here to leave a review. Be a guest on an upcoming episode: We'd love to feature your business and offer some free on-air advice for growing your business. To see if you're a good fit, click here. Support for this episode comes from: Harpoon — The next-generation time-tracking tool helps you plan for a profitable future. Participate — Create a space for collaboration, communication and learning. SolidGigs — Get more freelance jobs. Dripify — Premium learning platform for entrepreneurs. Recently on the blog: Have A Past Due Invoice? Use These Email Scripts to Resolve

On today’s episode, we sit down with Amy Kuo—a former designer at Disney who after finding her passion for branding, and taking the leap into full-time freelance, wants to grow her own agency. We talk about one of Amy’s biggest hurdles: overcoming imposter syndrome—especially when trying to get new freelance clients. And we strike some real gold toward the end of the episode with one way Amy—and you—can get out there and be yourself while building your business. Be a guest on an upcoming episode: We'd love to feature your business and offer some free on-air advice for growing your business. To see if you're a good fit, click here. Support for this episode comes from: Harpoon — The next-generation time-tracking tool helps you plan for a profitable future. Participate — Create a space for collaboration, communication and learning. SolidGigs — Get more freelance jobs. Dripify — Premium learning platform for entrepreneurs. Recently on the blog: 10 Recurring Revenue Business Ideas to Start Cashing In on Today Reso

Not long ago, Clay was a struggling freelancer working low-paying jobs to make ends meet. Just 4 years later, he had a thriving agency with 10+ employees and over $100K/mo in recurring revenue. In today's episode, you'll get to know Clay better and see why he's going to make an incredible co-host for the all-new recharged Freelance to Founder podcast. SUPPORT FOR THIS SHOW comes from: Harpoon - the next generation time-tracking and billing software that not only records your financial past, but also helps you plan and predict a profitable future. Learn more at HarpoonApp.com. SolidGigs - get the best freelance jobs delivered to your inbox every week and hand-picked custom-curated freelance jobs posted to your account every weekday. Learn more at SolidGigs.com. Dripify - The ultimate learning platform for entrepreneurs with step-by-step tutorials on all things sales, marketing, branding, photography, videography, copywriting, and more. Learn more at GetDripify.com. You might also like: How to Get Freelance

Freelance to Founder is a unique call-in show with real-life freelancers trying to grow their businesses and escape the feast-famine lifestyle. Co-hosted by Clay and Preston, two former freelancers who have started, built, and even sold six- and seven-figure businesses of their own. Binge the Q&A episodes, dive deep with the coaching sessions, or even join in yourself and take the next step on your journey from ... Freelance to Founder. Subscribe at FreelanceToFounder.com, in Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. New shows twice a week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices