Steal My Blueprint to Land $2,000/Month of Freelance Work in 7 Days

*Pssst* yes, you can do this

The headline is true.

I recently landed $2,000/month of freelance work in seven days, and I’m confident I can do this again.

(God, I sound like a douche.)

However — and this is the crucial part — this outcome has been two years in the making.

I only say this to set your expectations. I don’t want you to quit your job tomorrow, only to land with a bump.

I’ve been there. It ain’t fun.

I’ve been honing my writing skills for the last two years, and only now am I ready to leave my job. My last day is at the end of this month. After this, I’ll be a full-time freelance writer.

One of my goals is to make $5,000/month from freelancing by the end of 2023. (More on this later.)

So if you want to land multiple clients to replace your 9–5 income, I’ve got you covered.

Let’s jump into the strategy.

Step #1: Portfolio > Anything Else

Want to convince a client that you’re the best freelancer for the job?

You need a portfolio.

Think of a portfolio as your personal coach, hype man, and best friend all in one.

It will:

• Improve your skills
• Tell clients why they should work with you
• Give you bearhugs

If you consistently add to your portfolio, it shows clients other things. You have sticking power. You’re serious about your craft. You want to get better.

Tick, tick, tick.

Don’t expect the money to come straight away, and don’t worry about your following.

Trust takes time.

I also recommend getting a part-time job and building on the side. You don’t want to sour your passion by depending on it to survive — at least not in the beginning.

“If you lean on a fifty-year-old oak tree, it will support your weight. If you put your weight on a young sapling, you’ll crush it.”

— Sean McCabe, Author of Overlap

Step #2: I’m Giving You Permission to Google Yourself

What do you see?

Start with your home country and search [your name]. Look at what pops up:

In the UK, I’m currently ranking in the top five positions of Google search. *This is my Gatsby moment*

It’s a different story in the US. (You can check your Google rank in different countries using this free tool.)

A pottery artist ranks in position one:

Future clients are sizing you up. They’re sleuthing your profiles. They’re checking you’re not a psycho.

The good news is you don’t need to do anything crazy to stand out.

If you have a website, tidy it up. Make it look professional. It doesn’t have to be pages and pages of content.

I use a single landing page with ConvertKit:

Next, look at your social profiles. Are they complete? Are they consistent? What impression do they give (and is this the impression you want to give)?

Medium and Twitter are great because they have high domain authority. Your accounts on these websites are likely to appear high in search results.

Finally, polish loose pages. If they’re thrown up by Google, make them look dazzling.

Step #3: Get Some Street Cred’

Slip a few testimonials under your belt.

I got lucky. My first three clients approached me after discovering my portfolio. (“Hello, Step #1):

Once you’ve worked with a client for a few months (and they like your work), ask for a testimonial.

Testimonials act as social proof.

They make it easier to attract clients.

A few notes on this:

1. Keep it short and sweet. Acknowledge you’re asking for a favour.
2. Say why you want it. “I’d like to attract more ___ opportunities, and a recommendation from you would be hugely beneficial!”
3. Give them an out. “No worries if you can’t at this time.”

Here’s an email I sent to one of my clients:

They responded back a couple of days later:

Clients and testimonials boost your confidence. They build your belief. They make it easier to charge higher prices in the future.

If getting your first client means doing a project for free, you should do it. Most people won’t expect free forever.

And if you do a great job, they may pay you for future work.

Step #4: Upwork Gets a Lot of Hate…

But it can work when you do it right.

Only in the last month have I taken Upwork more seriously. My friend Luba shares some great tips about her success on the platform.

They helped me improve my profile:

If I had to sum up my profile:

• Choose a niche. I have clients in the SaaS space and I enjoy writing about business.
• The first two lines of your bio are what people see in the search results, so make them pop. A client testimonial is great for this.
• Complete as many sections as you can. A descriptive bio, client testimonials, examples of past work — they all stack up.

After nailing your profile, apply for jobs.

I put this off for the longest time. It’s only when I saw this question did I realise:

“What’s the One Thing I can do such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?” — Gary Keller

Ayodeji is spot on:

It’s a numbers game.

The more jobs you apply to, the better your chances of success. (No sh*t, Sherlock.)

I aim for a 10% hit rate. In other words, I hope 1 out of 10 proposals I send leads to a job. This has been true so far.

Although it’s a numbers game, you still want to personalise things. Be honest about your shortcomings too.

Here’s a proposal I sent last week that landed me a client:

Step #5: When You Land a New Client, Do This…

You want to put them at ease.

The best way to do this is to lead.

In every interaction, show your new client that you know what you’re doing. There are lots of subtle ways you can do this:

#1: Suggest a time for your first call. Offer a menu of options on multiple days:

#2: Set expectations. In your proposal, you can share timelines and the scope of work. You can also clarify pricing.

#3: Do some research. With my latest client, I watched her videos and pulled out quotes. I also did keyword research. On our first call, I presented these findings in a Google doc.

Final Takeaways

When I quit my job last year, I was missing two crucial ingredients:

1. A proven process to land new clients
2. A reason why

I’ve covered the first point, but the second is just as important — if not more so.

Why do you want to freelance?

Working for someone else is easier, so you need a compelling reason to push through doubt. If you don’t, you’ll revert to what’s comfortable.

A 9–5 job.

(For the record, there’s nothing wrong with this. Freelancing isn’t for everyone.)

My reason for freelancing is simple. I want to make enough money to move to NYC to live with my girlfriend.

With this being said, here’s a summary of my strategy for landing new freelance clients:

• Step #1: Portfolio > Anything Else — Build on the side whilst working a 9–5. It’ll take the pressure off.
• Step #2: I’m Giving You Permission to Google Yourself — Spruce up your website and your social media. Potential clients will check them out.
• Step #3: Get Some Street Cred’ — Client testimonials are worth their weight in gold. Ask for them.
• Step #4: Upwork Gets a Lot of Hate — Create a profile and apply for jobs. It’s not glitzy, but if you want to make money online, it’s a great way to start.
• Step #5: When You Land a New Client, Do This — A doctor wouldn’t ask a patient what to do. Nor should you. Lead the way and guide clients to success.

Want to ditch the 9–5? Get my free 19-page blueprint: Everything I Did to Quit My 9–5 Job & Transition Into Profitable, Sustainable Solopreneuring :)