How I Started My Freelance Career With Zero Experience In My Field

Carlo Feliciano 

When I decided to start my freelance copywriting career months ago, one of the biggest obstacles I had to overcome was my lack of experience in the field I wanted to get into.

I decided to explore the idea of freelancing when several people from the office complimented my writing one after the other. My problem was that I had no idea what I wanted to do exactly. Yes, it was going to involve writing of some sorts. I discovered I had a knack for words (my boss even trusted me to write a press release about a new product we were launching — not bad for someone 6 months out of university!) but I had never been specifically hired and paid by others just to “write stuff.”

The biggest question running in my head was: who the hell was I to be charging people for a bunch of words I put together?

Luckily, I managed to push through that hump. Within a month or so, I went from being clueless about freelance copywriting to consulting with my first client over Skype.

If I were to summarize what I learned during that period, I would narrow everything down to these 5 steps:

1. Learn

Let’s face it — no matter what field you’re in, you won’t be able to get anywhere with your career if you don’t actually have any idea what you’re doing.

Although I never thought I’d do this again after college, I got my hands on books about copywriting and studied. I pumped as much material as I could into my brain about the topic. I trolled Amazon and hunted down the respected and credible books about the field. I bought them and read them during my free time. I subscribed to blogs, and most importantly, I practiced my craft.

Not enough free time, you say? I didn’t have much either (I work a full-time job, and maintain a long-distance relationship). I can’t read while I’m on the bus without getting dizzy, so I got my hands on a seminar conducted by a well-known copywriter. I took the audio and put it on my MP3 player. I listened during my commute and took my Zune to lunch. Voila; I just had 2-3 hours of study time everyday.

You might think you’re pretty good at what you do, and you know what? I believe you. But you’re not perfect. Every one of us can use more knowledge and improvement with our skills. Don’t sell yourself short by choosing not to learn.

2. Research

We all know the importance of differentiation, and I’m a huge advocate of marketing something unique about your business. Copywriters are a dime a dozen — it wouldn’t be good business sense to call myself a freelance copywriter and hope that clients came in droves.

How did I find my way around this? As I mentioned in the previous point, I studied. In addition to buying books and actually reading them, I went to tons of copywriter’s websites and took detailed notes. I noted what services they were offering and how they were selling it. I paid attention to their website style and how they presented themselves online. I wanted to know their strengths, and more importantly their weaknesses, so I could make an educated decision on how to position myself against them.

Being someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience, not having a lot of people to be compared with works to my advantage.

At the end of it all, I decided to focus my services on website copywriting. My goal is to be the guy you run to when you need your website to sell your products and services. Instead of generalizing my services to include everybody, I decided to narrow down the field and focus on what my competitors weren’t offering. Being someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience, not having a lot of people to be compared with works to my advantage.

You can always add more services as you become more established. Don’t worry about offering everything plus the kitchen sink right now. Besides, expanding your business is always a lot better than “downsizing” it.

3. Build

Some might say that building a website isn’t necessary. I’m sure there’s a success story or two out there by freelancers who until this day don’t have a website (Dickie Adams is one, am I wrong?). And they may be right; if you have a large enough network offline, then you probably don’t need a website to start your freelancing career.

But I didn’t have a business network to leverage. I was completely green (and still am in some ways) and NEEDED a website to advertise my services; otherwise nobody would know I existed. I registered my domain name, signed up for a year’s worth of hosting, and slapped a customized WordPress template on it. I managed to find one that suited my needs (I didn’t want it to look like a blog, but I wanted an easy content management system). Plus, with all the research I did on my competition, I knew exactly what to write on my website so I could stand out.

Although I am up for bootstrapping when starting out, one thing I would recommend is to outsource as much of your website as you can. I’m not a web designer by any means, so I probably spent 3 to 4 times longer than I would have if I simply left the coding to a professional.

4. Spread

While most freelancers hate marketing, this is the part I enjoyed the most. I love coming up with a marketing plan and executing it. It is critical that you spread the word about your new business. You never know who you will run into, so don’t be shy about talking up your business.

You don’t have to market your services to businesses alone. One alternative that not a lot of freelancers think of is partnering up with other freelancers. Programmers need designers, designers need copywriters, copywriters need illustrators, etc.

Talk to the people you know and tell them about your new venture (one of my clients is actually a good friend starting his new business). Participate and forums and put your URL in your signature. If you’re comfortable, write an ebook and distribute it through social media. My first client was actually a referral from Shockboogiedesign who found me from the Freelance Switch forums. She contacted me, and we set up a partnership that works exceptionally well for both of us.

Ask yourself one thing: who would benefit from your services? Then figure out how you can use that to your advantage.

5. Act

Your ducks will never be all in a row, so you might as well get to it now. You will make mistakes along the way, and that’s fine. A Kennedy once said, “Only those who dare to fail can ever achieve greatly.” Airplanes don’t travel in one constant direction — the pilots have to adjust and correct their paths every now and then. Your freelancing career should act in the same way. Ready, fire, then aim.

Avoid the curse of daydreaming. I can’t count how much time I’ve wasted reading about freelancing as opposed to taking action and just doing it. Don’t get me wrong; knowing how to do it right is great. But many people should concern themselves more with actually just doing it, period. Blogs and ebooks are a fantastic learning resource, but be sure you dedicate enough time to taking action, as opposed to learning how to take action. (Reading Freelance Switch is the exception, right?  — Ed.)

Conclusion

If you’re delaying starting a freelance career due to lack of experience, hopefully these tips helped you get your mind straight. Starting a freelance career is probably one of the most time-consuming activities I’ve ever done, but it’s also been one of the more rewarding ones too.

Aside from his day job as a traffic marketing coordinator, Carlo sidelines as a website copywriter (http://www.carlofeliciano.com) and spends his time launching other entrepreneurial ventures.