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Season 1 of the Work Unlocked podcast is a thought-provoking look at a new world of work.
Independent professionals from around the world talk about how they built successful businesses, 10xed their income and redefined the meaning of “work day” for themselves.
Each episode features great stories and is packed full of insights on why freelancing is fast becoming the preferred way to work for so many professionals around the world.
Here’s a look at some of the key takeaways for independent professionals.
7 key lessons for independent professionals
First, let’s take a look at some of the fantastic advice our highly accomplished podcast guests shared for independent professionals.
1. Set up your business
Being professional matters. This means, taking your business seriously, right from the get-go. Set up your business with all the fundamentals like a bank account, a business registration, a business plan, and whatever else you need to operate as a business.
When you take your business seriously, clients will too.
To quote podcast co-host Tim Sanders quoting Jay Z, “I’m not a businessman; I’m a business, man!“.
In episode four, social media strategist Latasha James shared her strategy-first approach to launching her freelancing business: “(I wrote) a business plan for myself, really making sure that I understood what types of services I wanted to offer, what I wanted the business to look like in a few years, what the revenue plan was going to be, at what point I would actually feel comfortable leaving or making bigger investments in the business and things like that.”
Hear Latasha’s story of building a six-figure freelancing business here.
Web designer Chris Misterek wholeheartedly agrees. In episode six, he says, “I think a lot of freelancers make the mistake of (getting) started without any real clear direction.” Instead, he advises freelancers to start by thinking about their end goal and then plan the step-by-step path to get there.
Podcast co-host Gene Gates sums up the advice: “There is nothing more important than getting ready to be a business … It costs hardly anything to do that. But what it does do is it makes you really much more professional to people that want to hire you, and you’re going to get hired by more professional people.”
2. Find clients by standing out
For those new to freelancing, finding clients is where they often get stuck. In Work Unlocked, experienced independent professionals share their nuggets of wisdom on how to find great clients.
In episode one, you will hear from presentation designer and PowerPoint wizard, Courtney Allen, who grew her business 10x by niching down to a very specific skill—presentation design. Courtney’s advice is to narrow down and find a niche to attract clients who value your expertise.
“There are a lot of graphic designers out there. So I wanted a narrow focus … I have found that the more you funnel or narrow your focus, the more you’re looked at as an expert in that specific field. And in my opinion, the easier it’s been to attract clients,” said Courtney.
Wondering what a high-paying niche is? In episode seven, content writer Abbi Perets clarifies the point: “People ask me all the time, what’s the highest paying niche? And I’m like, that’s not a thing. You can make money literally in any area, in any kind of freelancing for any market. You just have to think about the business applications of it.”
Then, in episode six, we hear more from Chris Misterek who shares his thoughts on how finding clients is about going that extra mile to stand out from the crowd.
“It comes down to being intentional with what you’re doing. If you’re copying and pasting (the same proposal), that’s not a good strategy for actually getting clients. It has to be much more about looking at the project, looking at what the client has written about the project, doing a little bit of research on the company … You’re including all those things in the pitch to show them, “Hey, this isn’t another person who’s just copied and pasted something. This is a person that cares about me. They care about my business.” At that point, you’ve got a much bigger likelihood to actually go to the interview stage of the process,” says Chris.
3. Establish expectations with clients
One of the key bits of advice we heard over and over again from successful independent professionals on Work Unlocked is to establish the right expectations with clients. Being clear on the what, when, and how of the deliverables leads to a much better working relationship and most importantly, happy clients.
According to Latasha James (episode four), this should start right from the beginning.
“Making sure that the client is happy starts with the project brief and that initial conversation. Reading the job post really carefully before pitching to anything, and making sure that you’re getting an understanding of what they’re looking for … Just make sure that you’re getting a good clear picture as best as you can of the vision,” she advised.
Chris Misterek (episode six) agrees: “I really encourage freelancers that the doing should be clearly defined before you even start. This all comes in the interview before you accept the contract before you win in that stage. You need to clearly communicate every single step along the way.”
In episode three, independent graphic designer Morgan Overholt and her client, Cara Bedford, Director of Strategic Marketing at Compuvision, also share their tips. They advise independent professionals and their clients to create clear ground rules for their working relationships to generate optimum results.
Co-host Gene Gates sums up the advice: “Consider providing your clients with ground rules for working with you right up front … You have to onboard your client to make sure that you get on the same sync in terms of how things should be delivered and when.”
4. Communicate, communicate, communicate
Another key element of establishing client expectations is clear communication. In the very first episode, Courtney Allen advises independent professionals to be transparent and very clear when communicating with their clients.
In episode four, top-rated market researcher and translator Hugo Roger shares his advice on best client communication practices: “Try to talk to (your clients) as if they were next to you as your friend, try to get to know them. Treat your clients as if they were like your close friends because communication is one of the most crucial things when it comes to starting to work in a business or starting a relationship with your clients.”
In episode eight, video producer Austin Devine echoes Hugo’s sentiment: “Communication is key. It’s what’s going to be the make or break if your project will be successful. And I think it’s really important to build a team and just be friends and humans to each other.
Videographer Frisco Chavez has become a key part of Upwork’s content team. He’s established a great rapport with Upwork’s Senior Director of Content Strategy, Katie Evans, and believes good communication between them has ultimately led to better quality output.
“We have really good communication, which has built this relationship….So the videos get better, the communication gets better, and how we reach out and build the team has just gotten better and better every time,” said Frisco, in episode five.
5. Build relationships with clients
Ultimately what it comes down to is building good relationships with your clients. A trusting, mutually respectful relationship between clients and professionals is a key feature of modern, asynchronous, and remote work relationships.
The experts on Work Unlocked all shared similar advice: go above and beyond to build a relationship with your clients. When you do, they will keep coming back to you.
“The thing that I think it’s so important for freelancers to understand is that you have to put yourself in your client’s shoes. And that’s typically how I’m able to develop, not only a rapport but more importantly, trust, said Morgan Overholt, in episode three.
In episode seven, we spoke to Abbi Perets, who is also a big believer in creating good relationships with clients.
“In terms of building long-term relationships, I have found that if you just do what you say you’re going to do, if you communicate effectively, people are so happy that you turn work in the day that you say you’re going to turn it in, that you keep them apprised of the project along the way, they are so happy when you do that. They’re delighted and overjoyed and they want to continue working with you,” said Abbi.
7. Be patient
There’s no such thing as an overnight success. While freelancing can certainly be a very lucrative career choice, our interviewees remind listeners that it’s important to be patient, do the work, have fun and success will follow.
In speaking of her journey in episode four, Latasha James said, “I am not by any means some overnight success story … It’s definitely been a slow grind for me. Not easy, but also really fun. It’s been a really fun journey.”
Courtney Allen (episode one) believes Upwork can play a big part in helping independent professionals achieve their goals. She said, “This is definitely a place where you can make your wildest dreams come true, and a lot of that comes down to patience and perseverance,
In episode six, Chris Misterek agrees: “My encouragement to people out there who are just getting started is be patient with the process and it is worth the wait.”
Why do people choose to freelance?
In addition to sharing advice for other professionals, Work Unlocked also features some fantastic insights into the “why” that drives freelancing.
Throughout eight episodes, you will hear several different independent professionals share their perspectives on why they chose to go all-in on a freelancing career. Here are the top four reasons.
1. Work-life balance and flexibility
Freelancing often equals flexibility. This flexibility features very high on the list of priorities for every single one of the independent professionals we spoke with on Work Unlocked. This flexibility manifests itself in different ways for different people.
It includes the ability to work from anywhere and set your schedule. In episode two, you’ll meet Hugo Roger. He currently lives and volunteers in Mexico while working with multiple clients from around the world. Hugo attributes his freelancing experience with Upwork to his current success in terms of family, lifestyle, and financial freedom.
In episode four, Latasha James shares how freelancing gives her the flexibility to prioritize family and her mental health as well.
“I could work from home whenever I wanted to. I could go visit my mom, I could go hang out with my nephews and pick them up from school. I could do all these things that I just can’t do when I’m working 9:00 to 5:00 in a busy city, spending an hour on the highway just to get home. (Also) realizing that if I don’t have it in me, one day if I am going through something really tough, like a loss, COVID, whatever it may be, I can choose how much I’m able to give that day….I don’t have to sit and watch the clock from 9:00 to 5:00.”
In episode five, Frisco Chavez agrees, “Getting the chance to go in the middle of the day and spend time with my kids during swim class, is something I just had the flexibility and the opportunity to do (because of freelancing).”
After giving birth to her first child, Abbi Perets found herself faced with the classic dilemma of having to choose between a career or her family. In episode seven, Abbi shared her decision to get creative and choose a third, more flexible option instead—freelancing.
“I don’t believe in false dichotomies. When somebody says, “Well, there are two choices,” I’m like, “No, there’s not. There’s more.” There’s a third option,” said Abbi.
2. Opportunity to work with dream clients
It’s a myth that freelancing is limited in the opportunities it provides. The reality is freelancing can allow independent professionals to work with dream clients from around the world.
For example, in episode one, we spoke with Courtney Allen whose roster of clients includes Adobe, Cisco, and Microsoft. Microsoft hired Courtney through Upwork to function as the art director and oversee new templates for Microsoft Office.
“That’s an incredible opportunity that I don’t know if I would have ever been privy to or had seen if it wasn’t posted on the platform,” said Courtney
Similarly, Hugo Roger (episode two) decided to take the plunge into full-time freelancing after finding a Fortune 100 client on Upwork. Frisco Chavez, who we spoke with in episode five has formed a strong relationship with Upwork’s content team. He has also worked on projects with Facebook.
Morgan Overholt also shares her perspective in episode three, where she reminds us that without access to a platform like Upwork, her pool of clients would be very limited.
“I am originally from East Tennessee. And my client roster, especially my most impressive clients, have come from elsewhere … I’ve been given opportunities because of the Upwork platform and because of freelancing that I never would have had otherwise,” said Morgan.
Finally, in our season finale, we hear it directly from the horse’s mouth. Budweiser and Amway both turned to Upwork to tap into a new way of working. They share how the platform has helped them hire video and design crews on the other side of the world, bring their values to the forefront, and change the way they look at teams moving forward.
3. Work on diverse, creative, and meaningful projects
In addition to being able to work with world-renowned companies, many independent professionals are also turning to freelance as an opportunity to work on more diverse and creative projects.
Frisco Chavez tells us this is one of the key reasons why he prefers to freelance over working a regular job.
“I get to work on a bunch of great and amazing Upwork projects….We (also) work with exotic cars, and we work with other speakers. And we’ve just finished wrapping the virtual reality on one of Facebook’s newest buildings. The diversity of what we get to do and the engagement and the creativity that we put into our work, it’s only been afforded by this freelancing opportunity…. ” said Frisco.
In the final episode, you’ll hear from the Deuce Studio team that worked on Upwork CoLab—a brand partnership project with iconic beer brand, Budweiser. Through the CoLab program, Budweiser partnered with the agency to produce a custom beer can design.
When asked about their experience, Deuce Studio’s managing director and co-founder, Jonny Aldrich said, “Budweiser’s great. they like to do different things and they sort of, really kind of break the norm to a certain degree. And that’s the kind of brands that we really want to work with, is somebody that’s going to trust us to take on a project and really kind of run with it.”
4. Skyrocket your income
Another myth that surrounds freelancing is that independent professionals can’t aspire to make a high income.
In episode seven, Abbi Perets sums it up: “I meet so many people who have this misconception that, “Oh, well, if I’m using Upwork, I’m not going to get paid very much.” And I’m like, “That’s not true.”
Our Work Unlocked guests are challenging that myth with their real-life freelancing incomes that are often double what they made at their full-time jobs.
Courtney Allen (from episode one) has made $400,000 on Upwork in the past 12 months. This is ten times her income from pre-Upwork days. Latasha James (from episode four), who quit her fortune 500 company job to become a social media strategist, started making upwards of six figures in income in her first year of freelancing.
Similarly, Morgan Overholt (from episode three) has made half a million dollars on Upwork and has doubled her salary from her last position.
“Today, I charge upwards of $120 an hour for all of my clients, and that’s because I’m fast, I’m efficient, and they’re happy to pay it … It’s been absolutely life-changing,” said Morgan.
Hugo Rogers (from episode two)—who previously worked at Nestle—decided to quit after his Fortune 100 freelancing client not only offered him more pay but also nixed his 20 hr per week commute.
Frisco Chavez (from episode five), who has also increased his income tenfold, says freelancing has not only helped him increase his income, it has also given him more control over it.
He explains: “I’ve really been able to set my own pay as far as, is it something I want to work on, is it my passion? Am I taking less because of the project I choose to work on? Or am I focusing on my skills and increasing?”
