Lessons learned building my first small business as a freelancer

Start Small

In 2013 I had just finished an intensive web technology program, and I was ready to freelance. Or so I thought. I thought I'd be able to hit the ground running. After all, I'd learned to code websites, and hey - everyone needs a website - right?

One of the first hard truths I discovered was that with only one year of experience I sucked at coding, and my designs we average at best. I had only coded a handful of static HTML/CSS websites for some friends. And so, with my satisfactory website-building skills I set out to get my first real contract.

In this industry (software and web technology) a good network is easily one of your best assets. However, I had just moved across the country to start anew and guess what? I didn't have a network. Zero. I knew nobody.

So, I started looking into how people bring traffic to their businesses online; advertising, SEO, inbound marketing, social media, community building, etc. After a week of digging into this whole new world of marketing and advertising (nothing I'd learned in school), I had a plan.

I started writing blogs targeting small business owners - about the importance of having your business online - while simultaneously adding any and all small business folk I could find (in my current city) via LinkedIn. I posted my blogs on LinkedIn and then moved on to Kijiji, where I frequently (to fight the spam) refreshed and reposted my offerings as a contract web designer.

Supply and Demand

Within only a few days, I had a lead from LinkedIn, and two from Kijiji. I went on to design and develop websites for a few small local businesses and noticed a pattern emerging. Eventually, people were asking for more than static websites. They wanted WordPress. They wanted S.E.O. shudder.

You must be shapeless, formless, like water... - Bruce Lee

Luckily (and somewhat unfortunately), I had more than enough time to learn some new things while I waited for more contracts. I dug deeper into the roots of SEO and discovered a very applicable (to my audience, at least) form of it called local SEO.

Local SEO is where you focus your optimization efforts places where people from your target locale (your city of province or state) will be spending their time. For instance, local directories, keyword optimization for your target city, Google Places (physical locations), local blogs, etc.

The city I was targeting wasn't too large (or technical), so it allowed me to get some real quick results for most of my early clients, which made them very happy people. Word of mouth got me a few more contracts, as my network expanded.

Hustle and Learn

By the end of my first year, I had shifted my offering from dinky static websites and local marketing packages. I had somehow managed to score a regular gig designing a buy-and-sell magazine for heavy machinery. This allowed me to up my game as a graphic designer, and learn a ton about email marketing. Putting aside time to pursue further education, and learn as much as I could about what people were asking for, took me a lot farther than I thought it ever could. I stuck to online courses, attended online conferences, and filled my free time with podcasts on the subjects I valued.

Freelancing in a coffee shop
Image Credit

Never Mature

It's been over 4 years since I finished school, and it's amazing how far that first year of freelancing has taken me. I definitely haven't stopped growing or learning. I pursue education - in many forms - any chance I get, and I'm working on things that make me happy.

Since that first year, I've spent the last few years building dozens of websites, listening to hundreds of podcasts, planning local SEO strategies (and winning) for a number of happy small business owners, reading thousands of articles, and learning new skills as the market matured.

With a couple more business ventures on the go, I'm still freelancing, and I'm building more exciting things than ever before, like TheIdea.io and GoHobo. I will never stop digging into the depths of knowledge. The more you know, the more remarkable the things you create will become.