Break Free from Self-Doubt and Thrive with a Personal Coach
Self-doubt holds many freelancers back from success. Getting personalized support, feedback, and advice in a safe space from a coach is an easy way to overcome self-doubt and become the freelance success you were meant to be—like Jeremy (Jerm) Day-Storms, PhD, MWC, Kathleen Labonge, Eva Stabenow, CT (EN-DE), and Kathy Adamson, DVM did.
Even the most confident people experience self-doubt sometimes. In freelancing, self-doubt can make you think that you don’t have what it takes to succeed. And you may question everything that you’re doing to build your business.
But you can break free from self-doubt and become the freelance success you were meant to be. A personal coach can help you do this. Just ask Jerm, Kathleen, Eva, and Kathy.
After taking the coaching version of in Finding the Freelance Clients You Deserve, these four freelancers boosted their confidence and built stable, successful freelance businesses.
Turning Self-Doubt into Self-Confidence
Like many new freelancers, Jeremy (Jerm) Day-Storms, PhD, MWC, had the background and experience to succeed when he launched Day-Storms LLC Medical Writing and Research in 2022.
With 11 years of experience in academia as a professor of chemistry, chair of a natural sciences department, and a lab manager; 4 years of medical writing experience; and 3 scientific degrees, Jerm was well positioned for success as a medical writer.
But he doubted himself and his abilities, including his ability to show the world what he could do.
Jerm knew that he needed expert help. He found that help in Finding the Freelance Clients You Deserve, a step-by-step, online course that combines a proven process for freelance marketing with a personal coach, mentor, motivator, and strategist.
Jerm found that the personalized coaching complemented the structured learning in the course. “The coaching was very helpful in my professional growth as a freelancer,” he says. “It provided personalized guidance and support, enabling me to apply the lessons from Finding the Freelance Clients You Deserve effectively.”
Poised for Success
Kathleen Labonge also doubted her ability to succeed as a freelancer. The freelance medical copyeditor and owner of Write Point Editing Solutions had been freelancing for two years. But she lacked the confidence to approach prospective clients.
Like Jerm, Kathleen had what it takes to succeed. As a board-certified medical technologist with an MBA, Kathleen had relevant experience in medicine and an understanding of the business needs of clients. Her copyediting certificate from the University of California-San Diego and experience in editing two magazines gave her strong practical experience.
But like Jerm, Kathleen needed to believe in herself and learn how to show the world what she could do.
“The knowledge and confidence I gained from Lori’s mentoring enabled me to build a successful freelance business.”
Read Kathleen’s case study.
Confidence Attracts Better Clients
Eva Stabenow, CT (EN-DE) had been a freelance translator and conference interpreter for 21 years when she took Finding the Freelance Clients Your Deserve. Eva was doing okay, but she knew that she deserved better clients.
While Eva knew she could continue to deliver high-quality work to her clients, she doubted her ability to find better clients. Over the years, Eva had gotten most of her clients through word of mouth and was working mostly with agencies. She wanted to find her own clients.
As Eva learned how to show the world what she can do, her self-doubt disappeared and her confidence surged. She 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.
Eva’s clients treat her better than the agencies she used to work with. They appreciate her input and the quality of her work, and set more reasonable deadlines than the agencies did.
Read Eva’s case study.
See Your Potential
Like Jerm, Kathleen, and Eva, you probably have a lot more going for you than you realize—and little reason to doubt yourself and your ability to succeed in freelancing. A personal coach will take an objective look at your background and experience and provide strategic advice to help you become the freelance success you were meant to be.
Getting Clarity and Direction
Knowing where to focus your freelance business is really hard when you’re starting out. To maximize freelance opportunities, new freelancers need to focus first on what clients are most likely to hire them to do based on their background and experience.
But many freelancers have ideas about what they want to do that don’t tap into their background and experience. Often, these are things that interest them but where they have little or no experience.
A coach takes an objective look at your background and experience and helps you develop a clear strategy to build a successful freelance business. The strategy focuses on what clients are most likely to hire you to do now. Later, you can expand to other areas of interest.
The Right Specialty
As a veterinarian with nine years of clinical experience and a certificate in Medical Writing and Editing from the University of Chicago, Kathy Adamson, DVM, had the necessary skills to succeed as a freelance medical writer.
But Kathy needed help understanding the medical writing marketplace and focusing her freelance business. By working with a personal coach in Finding the Freelance Clients You Deserve, Kathy learned that clients weren’t likely to hire her to do what she had planned to do.
During the course, Kathy learned more about specialties within medical communications. With coaching from me, she shifted from trying to write health content for patients and the public to focusing on continuing medical education (CME) and continuing education.Clients usually hire freelancers with a communications background, not a clinical background, for health content for patients and the public. And Kathy had little experience with this type of work.
Next, Kathy and I worked together to choose her best target markets (groups of clients). As a veterinarian, we focused on clients working in animal health, because these clients are most likely to hire her now. She also writes about human health.
Originally, Kathy wanted to focus on contract research organizations and healthcare marketing agencies. But most contract research organizations focus on human health. Since Kathy was a new freelancer, they were unlikely to hire her to write about human health. And healthcare marketing agencies almost always hire freelancers with a communications background and strong experience in writing for patients and the public. So Kathy shifted to companies working in animal health, pet companies, and professional societies, associations, and publishers related to animal health.
A Broader Focus
Choosing her specialty was a key step on Kathleen’s path to freelance success. “Identifying my specialty was the single most important thing I learned in the course,” she says.
Initially, Kathleen was thinking of focusing on medical copyediting in CME. As a new freelancer, this specialty was too narrow. Through Lori’s coaching, Kathleen broadened her specialty, which gave her access to many more freelance opportunities. Kathleen’s specialty is helping medical communication and education companies, hospitals, and other health and healthcare organizations produce accurate, clear, and consistent content for healthcare professional and lay audiences. CME is part of this work.
Focusing on Your Goals and Challenges
A personal coach provides strategy, advice, feedback and support based on your freelance business and your goals and challenges. Jerm, for example, wanted help communicating his skills and expertise.
Like Kathy and Kathleen, Jerm identified his specialty within medical writing and defined his ideal clients during Finding the Freelance Clients You Deserve. He is using his expertise in medical policy, payer, and benefits management to focus on helping laboratories, healthcare payors, managed healthcare companies, biotech companies, and other clients communicate effectively with healthcare professionals and payers.
Next, he needed to develop marketing that would help him attract those ideal clients. To do this, he learned about the needs of these clients and developed marketing that showed how he meets those needs. He used these client-focused marketing messages in his LinkedIn profile and website.
Learning how to communicate his skills and expertise was crucial in countering Jerm’s feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy. Through personal coaching, Jerm was able to voice his concerns and work through them in a safe space.
Finding a Coach You Can Trust
As Jerm, Kathleen, Eva, and Kathy show, having a trusted coach by your side helps you break free from self-doubt and build your freelance business faster and with less stress.
But it’s good to be a little skeptical. Before committing to working with a freelance coach, make sure that they’re a real, trustworthy expert.
Vet the Coach
Look for a freelance coach with a long, successful career in freelancing. 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.
Jerm subscribed to my Mighty Marketer newsletter, calling it one of his “must-read” weekly newsletter subscriptions. He found my blog posts on freelance marketing useful.
“Through the newsletter, I discovered the Finding the Freelance Clients You Deserve course. I decided that if I was serious about starting my freelance business, then I needed to know how to be a better marketer,” he says.
Kathy knew me from a course she took in the University of Chicago’s Medical Writing and Editing certificate program. “Lori’s professionalism and knowledge inspire trust,” she says.
Evaluate Sales Offers Carefully
Trust your instincts. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. I’ve seen claims from coaches that freelancers who work with them can:
- “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].”
If you see outlandish promises like this, don’t walk way. Run.
“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.”
As a former chemistry professor, Jerm already knew that he needed to do the work if he wanted to succeed, just like he told his students. “I would tell them that what they received from the course was directly proportional to the effort they put into it,” he says. “This same philosophy is true with Finding the Freelance Clients You Deserve. If you put in effort to practice what you are learning, then you will reap the rewards.”
Look for Social Proof
Read the success stories and testimonials of freelancers who’ve worked with the coach. 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.
Read the case studies of more freelancers who’ve taken my course.
A Wise Investment in Your Freelance Business
Break free from self-doubt and become the freelance success you were meant to be by investing in working with a coach. Learn how to attract the clients you deserve and take on new freelance opportunities with confidence and clarity.
“Finding the Freelance Clients You Deserve was a wise investment that quickly paid for itself,” says Jerm. “I now approach my work with greater confidence and a clearer understanding of the value I offer, which is essential for success in freelancing.”
Is Finding the Freelance Clients You Deserve Right for Me?
I’m going to be honest with you. My course isn’t for everyone. It only works if you’re serious about putting in the work to build your freelance business.
Finding the Freelance Clients You Deserve is NOT for you if you’re looking for an easy, effortless way to get clients instantly.
This course IS for you if you’re willing to work hard to build your freelance businesses. It will show you what to do and how to do it. But only you can put in the time and effort that’s necessary to succeed.
If you’re ready to commit to doing the work to build your freelance business like Jerm, Kathleen, Eva, and Kathy, then Finding the Freelance Clients You Deserve can help you transform your freelance business from struggle to success.
Learn More About Freelance Success and Working with a Personal Coach
Freelance Success Case Studies
Gaining Confidence and Focus: Kathleen Labonge
Surging Confidence Leads to New Opportunities: Eva Stabenow
Conquering Imposter Syndrome and Becoming a Better Marketer: Jeremy (Jerm) Day-Storms
Making the Impossible Possible: Kathy Adamson
Blog posts
Do You Feel Like an Imposter? Here’s the Cure
4 Easy Ways to Find Real Experts to Help You Grow Your Freelance Business