4 Easy Ways to Find Real Experts to Help You Grow Your Freelance Business

Learning from experts is a shortcut to freelance success. Here’s how to find real experts who use a proven process, deliver realistic results, and care about your success.

“Get all the clients you need in 30 days.” “Make $250,000 a year as a freelancer.” “Grow your revenue up to 7 figures [as a freelancer].” Wouldn’t it be great if these claims by experts who work with freelancers were true? But they’re not. They’re outlandish.

There’s even a well-known marketing guru who has a course for freelancers focused on being remarkable. I respect him immensely, have several of his books, and subscribe to his blog. But few freelancers can be “notably or conspicuously unusual; extraordinary.” I always do more than expected and my clients love me. But I wouldn’t call myself remarkable.

The experts offering the online courses and programs whose claims I just described are all real experts. But they’re promising results that are impossible or close to impossible to achieve.

Experts Who Prey on Freelancers

Fake and instant experts are worse. fake experts

Fake experts are con artists who don’t have the expertise they’re selling. Instant experts don’t have the experience or expertise to teach other people.

You’ve probably gotten lots of emails from fake and instant experts, usually without subscribing to their list. The results they’re promising sounds wonderful at first. After all, who wouldn’t want to get a steady stream of new clients in 30 days?

But when you read the details, you realize that the offer is too good to be true.

Or maybe you buy the online course, program, or coaching. And then you find out that it’s impossible for you to achieve the promised result.

“Many online courses promise that if you do X, then Y will happen. The disclaimer that nothing is guaranteed is often buried deep within the fine print,” says freelance medical editor Kathleen Labonge.

Your time and money are too valuable to waste on experts who can’t help you. And you don’t deserve to be prey for fake or instant experts who care only about making money, not your success.

Experts with a Proven Approach and Great Results

Real experts who want you to succeed are out there too. We have a proven, step-by-step process for freelance success. And it’s backed by our freelance experience and our results from working with other freelancers.

We can help you succeed faster and without the agony of trying to figure it all out on your own.

So how can you tell which experts are real and can help you grow your freelance business?

Carol Tice, a freelance writer and founder of Make a Living Writing, has a guide to vetting a writing coach: 11 Urgent Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Writing Coach. While the guide refers to writing coaches, her advice also applies to working with any type of coach and taking online courses or programs. It’s based on Carol’s experience working with coaches herself (she’s invested more than $20,000 to build her business) and as a coach to other freelancers.

The expert should have a long, successful career in freelancing and still be actively working with clients. Many so-called experts “have barely earned their first freelance check,” says Carol. Some experts aren’t successful freelancers and most aren’t freelancing anymore.

Carol started freelancing in 2005, but didn’t offer coaching until 2011. I’ve been freelancing since 1997. When I started The Mighty Marketer in 2014, I had 17 years of experience as a successful freelancer. Both of us are still freelancers as well as coaches.

Experts Who Care About Your Success

Another thing sets real experts apart. We’re not in it for fame or money.

“Fake experts, on the other hand, seem to star in every single story they tell,” says Kathy Caprino in Are You Dealing With A Real Expert Or A Fake? 7 Ways To Tell.

Carol started Make a Living Writing “to share what I’ve learned about successful freelancing and help writers support themselves with their craft.”

I started the Mighty Marketer to help other freelancers get high-paying freelance jobs, because I know that marketing is hard for most freelancers. But it doesn’t have to be.

We both publish blogs with loads of free content to help freelancers succeed.

We both publish blogs with loads of free content to help freelancers succeed. My Freelance Success Blog offers practical advice and inspiration, and freelance success stories. Some posts have free tools to help you succeed.

For freelancers who want more help, including coaching, Finding the Freelance Clients You Deserve gives you a proven process for getting the steady, high-paying clients you deserve. The 7-week online course has helped hundreds of freelancers grow their freelance businesses.

Find Real, Trustworthy Experts

It’s much easier to succeed as a freelancer with the help of a real expert who offer realistic results. Here are 4 ways to find real, trustworthy experts and choose who to work with.

1. Vet the Expert

Don’t rely only on the expert’s website or landing page. Do your own research. Do a Google search and see what comes up. Visit the expert’s LinkedIn profile. Look for information on what the expert does do and how long he/she has been in business.

Before Kathleen enrolled in my course, she checked me out carefully. She read free content on my Freelance Success Blog and evaluated the course carefully. Kathleen also read my earlier book (here’s the link to my latest book).

Read Kathleen’s success story.

2. Follow the Expert Before Buying Anything

Join the expert’s email list. Read the free content on his/her website. See if the free content is useful and practical.

3. Evaluate Sales Offers Carefully

Trust your instincts. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Read the details of the offer carefully. Spend some time thinking about whether the course, coaching, or program is right for you.

“From the very beginning, Lori made it crystal clear that there were no guarantees and that the marketing process required a lot of work and commitment,” says Kathleen. “She said that using the tools she provided would put me in a position to succeed, but it was entirely up to me to make it happen. That resonated with me.”

Sales offers usually try to pressure you into making a decision fast by telling you spots are limited or the offer ends at a certain time (always soon). These things are true, but you can always take the course, coaching, or program the next time it’s offered.

4. Look for Social Proof

Read the success stories and testimonials from freelancers who’ve taken the course, coaching, or program on the expert’s website. Case studies are much better than testimonials, because they’ll tell you more of the freelancer’s story and how the course, coaching, or program helped him/her.

Here are the success stories about some of the freelancers who’ve taken my course.

What Experts Can’t Do for You

Running a successful freelance business takes work. A course, coaching, or program can’t help you if you’re not willing to put in the work. Make sure you can commit to putting in the time and effort before buying anything.

Why You Should Invest in Expert Help

Most freelancers spend years struggling to build their freelance business—because they don’t know how to get the clients they deserve.

Working with a trustworthy expert is your shortcut to success. You’ll learn what you need to do and how to do it, and you’ll boost your confidence.

Just ask Mia DeFino. As a new freelancer, Mia had two clients, but they weren’t paying her enough for her work. “I needed to get different types of clients in order to be successful, but it was hard for me to figure out how to get there on my own,” she says. After taking Finding the Freelance Clients You Deserve, Mia knew “how to find clients who will pay me well to do the work I want to do.”

Read Mia’s success story.

Kathleen gained focus and confidence through my course. “I no longer am foundering around all over the map trying to find clients to work with,” says Kathleen. She developed client-focused marketing that has helped her get the steady, high-paying clients she deserves.

Surging Confidence Attracts Better Clients

Increased confidence helps you attract steady, high-paying clients.

Eva Stabenow, CT (EN-DE), translator and conference interpreter, had been freelancing for 21 years before taking Finding the Freelance Clients You Deserve. “I’ve always known that I can deliver, but I’ve been undervaluing myself,” says Eva.

As her confidence surged, Eva began to attract better clients—before she even finished the course. Now, Eva’s pursuing freelance jobs that she would have been too intimidated to go after before—and getting them. “People perceive me differently,” she says. “I’ve been able to access and seize an amazing number of opportunities.”

Read Eva’s success story.

Turn Struggle into Success

Once you’re ready to commit to doing the work and have found the right course, coaching, or program, buy it.

The cost of not doing anything is much higher than the cost of paying for expert help. Because the expert can help you turn struggle into success, and avoid spending more months or even years of trying to figure it all out on your own.

Learn More About Experts Who Can Help You Succeed

Mighty Marketer Content

How Freelancers Are Getting the Clients They Deserve: Success Stories
This is What Happens When Freelancers Get Coaching