Get Clients, Grow Your Skills, and Boost Your Confidence with the Help of Your Freelance Friends
Freelance success is much easier if you have a trusting network of freelance friends. Other freelancers can help you get the clients you deserve, give you practical advice about running your business, and support you in dealing with problems.
Building a stable, successful freelance business can feel overwhelming and isolating. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Freelance success is much easier if you have a trusting network of freelance friends. Other freelancers can give you referrals, offer practical advice, provide support to deal with the inevitable challenges of freelancing, and relieve the isolation of freelance life.
Let’s cover why freelance friends are the secret to your success and how to build your network of freelance friends.
Why Does Collaboration Beat Competition?
Connecting with other freelancers helps you grow, learn, and succeed together. Your freelance friends are a great source of referrals. While some freelancers think that helping other freelancers means there will there be less freelance work for them, this isn’t true. Collaboration beats competition every time.
Opportunities are abundant, and can be shared them with others, says Steven Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. People with an abundance mindset believe that the success of others “adds to…rather than detracts from…our lives,” says Covey.
Referring work to other freelancers helps you build the trusting relationships that lead to getting more referrals yourself. You can refer freelance work:
- That’s not right for you
- You do but are too busy to take on.
And yes, you can refer other freelancers to your clients. Many clients use multiple freelancers and need more help or sometimes different types of help than we can provide.
I’ve referred freelance friends to my clients dozens of times and it has never hurt my freelance business. Instead, this helps my freelance business because my clients are grateful that I helped them find freelancers they can trust to get their work done. They give me more work and are more likely to refer me to their colleagues.
Referring work to other freelancers helps you because the freelancers you help will think of you first when they have a referral to share.
Learn more about why collaboration beats competition
Are You Greedy or Generous with Your Freelance Pie (Work)?
What Can You Learn from Freelance Friends?
Not only can your freelance friends give you referrals, but they can also tell you about new freelance opportunities. Other freelancers often do different types of work that could be right for you too. And if they refer you to one of their clients, the client is likely to hire you despite not having experience because they trust your colleague.
This makes it much easier to break into new types of freelance work than if you had to try to persuade a new client to hire you to do something you’ve never done before.
How Do Freelance Friends Provide Support and Advice?
While the freedom and flexibility of freelancing are wonderful, we also face challenges, from having to do everything ourselves to spending most of our work time alone. Your network of freelance friends is your professional support and advice system. They provide the practical and emotional support we all need.
4 ways freelance friends help you
- Handle difficult clients
- Get practical advice on running a freelance business
- Relieve your isolation
- Get encouragement.
Handle difficult clients together
Most, but not all, clients are great. But some clients are difficult. They might be impossible to please, continually change the scope of projects, be disrespectful, or be difficult in dozens of other ways. Sometimes things are so bad that the only good solution is to fire the client.
Yet, when we’re dealing with difficult clients on our own, we may think that we’re doing something wrong, not the client. Your freelance friends can help you assess the situation and come up with solutions. They can help you see the situation from a new perspective or share advice they’ve used themselves in a similar situation.
Get practical advice on building your business
Running a freelance business is also difficult and few freelancers have any training when they start out in doing this. Yet, suddenly, we find ourselves dealing with tech issues, doing marketing, handling accounting and taxes, managing our time and our projects, and much more.
If you have freelance friends, then you can learn about the tools and techniques they use to run their businesses instead of trying to figure out everything on your own. This will save you time, frustration, and often money.
Relieve the isolation of freelancing
Because freelancing can feel lonely at times, your freelance friends are a lifeline to human connection. They’ll help you feel like you’re part of a bigger community, made up of people who understand what you’re going through.
Combat the isolation of freelancing by meeting with your freelance friends through virtual coffee chats, coworking sessions, or online communities—or in person if you live near each other or are at a conference or other networking event. Just sharing your day or giving or getting advice will make freelancing feel less solitary.
Get encouragement
Highs and lows are an inevitable part of freelancing. On good days, life is wonderful. On bad days, you may wonder why you ever decided to become a freelancer. Freelance friends can celebrate your successes with you and encourage you to keep going when things aren’t going well.
How Can You Create a Network of Freelance Friends?
It’s easy to create your network of freelance friends.
4 places to make freelance friends
- Professional associations
- Online communities
- Networking events
Get involved with professional associations
Professional associations are the best place to find other freelancers to connect and grow with. Most of my freelance friends come from the American Medical Writers Association, a key association for medical writers and editors.
Meet other freelancers through events, especially annual conferences, and by reviewing the membership directory for freelancers who do work similar to yours. Volunteering is the quickest way to get to know colleagues, including other freelancers, and earn their trust. If you’re like most freelancers, volunteering will be much easier than active networking.
Find the right professional associations by asking your current clients and freelance friends which professional associations they belong to and would recommend. You can ask about this in LinkedIn posts or membership and other online communities.
Learn more about professional associations
Professional Associations: An Easy Way to Get More Freelance Work
Join online communities
Online communities let you gather with other freelancers to share, learn, and connect. These include membership communities, communities of professional associations, and forums for freelancers.
Being part of online communities will give you a sense of belonging and support through the ups and downs of running a freelance business. You’ll get access to expertise, resources, and reassurance that there are many ways to build your freelance business. Conquering challenges and avoiding mistakes will be easier.
Learn more about online communities
Top Benefits of Membership Communities for Freelance Medical Writers and Editors
Be active on LinkedIn
While professional associations and online communities are the best ways to make freelance friends, you can also deepen those relationships and meet other freelancers on LinkedIn. But it is harder to develop trusting relationships online through LinkedIn than through professional associations or online communities.
Find other freelancers to be part of your LinkedIn network through professional association member directories and online communities. Exploring the connections of freelancers who are already part of your network is another way to find people to join your network.
As you build your LinkedIn network, follow other freelancers in your field to see their posts. Start to build relationships with them by writing meaningful comments on their posts.
Then start writing your own posts once or twice a week. Provide relevant content that shows your expertise or offers advice to other LinkedIn members. Share your perspectives, insights, and opinions.
Having a big network of other freelancers and being active on LinkedIn has another benefit too: you’ll rank higher in search results when clients are searching for freelancers. Connections are the #2 LinkedIn criterion in ranking search results. And being active will help you rank higher in search results; it’s #4 in LinkedIn’s search algorithm criteria.
Learn more about being active on LinkedIn
Simple Steps to Attract More Clients on LinkedIn
How 3 Freelancers Maximize Opportunities by Being Active on LinkedIn
Attend networking events
Networking in person at conferences and other events is the best way to meet other freelancers and build or deepen trusting relationships. It’s much easier to build trusting relationships in person than online, even if you only meet someone once or rarely see them. I only see most of my freelance friends once or twice a year at professional association events.
While leaving the safe cocoon of our offices to go to a networking event is stressful for most freelancers—even scary, there are some simple ways to make it easier and more effective. And networking is a skill. Like any skill, the more you practice, the better—and more comfortable—you’ll get.
Learn more about networking events
12 Ways to Make Networking Events Amazing, Not Scary
How Can You Build Trusting Relationships with Your Freelance Friends?
As you meet other freelancers, here are 5 ways to build trusting relationships and make those connections count:
- Be generous
- Be genuine
- Be active
- “See” each other
- Be prepared.
Be generous
Networking is about getting to know people, not “selling yourself.” When you focus on helping others without expecting anything in return—or giving more than you take—you start to earn their trust.
Giving more than you take is an easy way to make networking less stressful. And it’s easy to do. Just listen to and learn about them. Then share relevant resources, knowledge, and ideas. If you hear about freelance opportunities that aren’t right for you, refer the work to other freelancers.
Be genuine
Be your best professional self and let people get to know you. Be friendly and approachable. Show interest in their lives and get to know them too.
Be active
When you’re networking virtually through online communities or forums for freelancers be active. Learn about the group and the other members. Attend meetings and events and participate in discussions. Ask questions, answer other freelancers’ questions when you can, and share your experiences and perspectives. This will help you increase your visibility and build trust within the group.
“See” each other
Zoom and other online meeting platforms are the next best thing to seeing your freelance friends in person. It’s easy to sign up for a free account and host virtual get togethers.
Be prepared
Your freelance friends will want to know more about you. And if they’re thinking about referring work to you, they’ll want to check you out first.
Have your elevator pitch ready and make sure your LinkedIn profile and website clearly show what you do and how you help your clients.
Learn more about key marketing tools
How to Be Interesting in 30 Seconds: Your Elevator Speech
The Ultimate LinkedIn Profile for Freelance Success This Year
How to Win More Clients with Your Freelance Website and Do Less Marketing
Succeed Faster with the Help of Your Freelance Friends
Freelance friends will help you succeed faster and more easily. They can provide referrals and access to new opportunities, along with practical advice, support and encouragement. And they’ll make freelancing feel less lonely and more fun.
Learn More About Freelance Friends
Are You Greedy or Generous with Your Freelance Pie (Work)?
Why Other Freelancers Should Be Your Best Friends
How to Grow Your Business with Help from Other Freelancers
Professional Associations: An Easy Way to Get More Freelance Work
Simple Steps to Attract More Clients on LinkedIn
How 3 Freelancers Maximize Opportunities by Being Active on LinkedIn
How to Be Interesting in 30 Seconds: Your Elevator Speech
The Ultimate LinkedIn Profile for Freelance Success This Year
How to Win More Clients with Your Freelance Website and Do Less Marketing