30 Posts In 30 Days – Day 2: Freelancing

This is Day 2 of the 30 Posts In 30 Days Challenge I set for myself to start writing online. This post was originally published on X.

When I first started freelancing I didn’t know what I was doing.

• I didn’t have any projects lined up.
• I didn’t know how to get new clients.
• I didn’t have a lot of money on the side.

And to make things even worse, I just signed the contract for my first apartment.

The fear of making a fool out of myself was so big, that I didn’t even tell my friends and family at first.

But the fear of going back to a normal 9 to 5 was even bigger.

And so I spent the first 3-5 months soaking up as much information as possible. I thought I’d figure it out somehow, while trying to get by with what little money I had. I just had to find the right trick for how to get new clients.

Nothing happened.

It wasn’t until I finally reached out to friends and family, that things started to change. I told them I was freelancing as a web designer. And that I was looking for clients to work with.

It took a day or two until a friend got back to me with a name and a phone number. He was freelancing as a photographer and took some pictures for a florist the other week.

I hesitated at first but then finally decided to make the call.

The call led to an offer and my first client project in months. And I delivered, still not knowing what I was doing. The thing is, the client didn’t know that either but was very happy with the result anyway.

However, that’s not how I got my first client, which is a story for another time.