Are you a freelancer? Or are you a business owner?
Today, I’d like to tell the story of how I made the transformation!
I stepped away from a corporate job I loved in 2019 to grow my freelance social media management business. I’d spent several years side hustling to pay off my grad school loan – more on the Emily Writes origin story, here! – and had accepted significantly more hours from one of my clients. I wasn’t quite able to replace my corporate salary that first day, but knew I had enough connections to make that happen within a few months (spoiler alert: I did).
Back then, I pictured myself working alone. Just me, in my home office with a cat or two, sipping coffee and managing social media for other businesses. That felt like the ultimate dream – me, an extroverted introvert, no longer forced to chit chat with random coworkers or show up to big networking events. What could be better!?
But “working alone” and “working for myself” are actually two very different ideas. With the help of a business consultant, I realized that what I wanted was to be self-employed, enjoying flexibility and autonomy, but with a scalable business.
I can only write for so many hours a day. In order to help more of the people I’m passionate about serving (passion-driven business owners and entrepreneurs), I needed to make some changes. So let’s briefly cover the four strategies I’ve implemented to turn my one-woman show into a full-blown business.
1. Hire a Business Consultant
Working with Melissa Swink of Melissa Swink & Co. transformed the way I approached my business and kickstarted into the three strategies I’ll cover next. I can’t say enough about her Make Space for More program (and no, I’m not paid to shout her out!) and what it did for Emily Writes. You can read more about this program over on her website, but here’s a summary:
Learn how to Make Space for More in your business, do the work that energizes you and generates revenue, and declutter and simplify the rest of your business activities so that you can transform your business into a lean, agile, money-making machine!
Melissa helped me eliminate the clutter in my business, gain the confidence to hire contractors, and create systems to streamline what I do every day.
It really helps to have a neutral third party look at everything you’re doing, steer you towards greater efficiencies, and help you break down roadblocks. But if working with a “business consultant” sounds out of reach for you, I’m confident that you can achieve similar results by finding a great personal mentor or free online sources you trust.
2. Partner with Talented Contractors
I dragged my feet in bringing more writers onto my team for over a year, because I held all my client work close to my chest. How could I possibly delegate parts of what I loved doing?
But now that I work with a team, I can’t imagine going back to being solo. I work with several writers and virtual assistants, plus one incredible Online Business Manager, which has allowed me to take on more clients while still continuing to write every day.
Most importantly, it brings me personal fulfillment to know I’m helping other creative, talented, entrepreneurial women, several of whom are work-at-home moms like myself, carve out their corners of the online business world.
3. Set up Systems that Work
I can’t believe how manual my freelance business used to be! I now use these programs and services to streamline my business; they’re hyperlinked if I’m an affiliate and can get you a discount:
- Agorapulse (social media scheduling & analytics) – read my in-depth review
- Asana (project management) – read my in-depth review
- Canva (graphic design)
- Flodesk (email marketing)
- Grammarly (proofreading)
- Loom (screen recording)
- QuickBooks (accounting)
- Rev.com (transcripts and captions)
- SquareSpace (calendar management)
- Voxer (voice messaging)
4. Build Passive Income Streams
Here’s an area I’m still exploring. Now that I’ve scaled Emily Writes thanks to contractors and systems, I’d like to create more value by teaching a class, selling an eBook, or building a course. Becoming a new mom has put these plans on pause, but there is immense value in packaging your expertise for a wider audience!
Since many entrepreneurs are more interested in learning how to do something well themselves, instead of hiring someone to do it for them, I want to create great products for them. That’s why I continue to write these blogs, send email newsletters, and provide free resources. Join my email list if you’d like to stay updated on when new offerings become available!