- Courtney Allen is a enterprise proprietor, freelance copywriter, and presentation designer.
- She used Upwork to jump-start her profession and has earned $1.3 million since becoming a member of the platform.
- Her company, 16×9, labored with greater than 350 shoppers final 12 months.
Freelancing has afforded Courtney Allen the lifetime of her wildest desires: She’s a enterprise proprietor, can take her work wherever, travels 10 weeks a 12 months on common, and just lately moved from Atlanta to Seoul, South Korea.
Allen, 32, began freelancing in 2016 after a failed enterprise try left her with $25,000 in credit-card debt. She beforehand labored at Cisco Programs as a presentation designer for senior executives, so she used her PowerPoint and graphic-design expertise to department off on her personal.
In 2017, she established her personal company, 16×9, which is called after the usual facet ratio for displays. Her bread and butter is placing collectively slides for govt keynotes, public-speaking engagements, and inner conferences. However she has additionally designed presentation templates for Microsoft Workplace software program, created coaching decks for Yelp, made pitch decks for startups, and labored with Fortune 500 corporations like Cisco and Coca-Cola.
Her area of interest has helped her stand out. “There are tens of 1000’s of graphic designers, however presentation design was a a lot smaller subset,” she stated.
In complete, Allen has earned greater than $1.3 million in funds on Upwork, which Insider verified with documentation. Final 12 months, her design agency labored with greater than 350 shoppers.
She shared how she scaled her enterprise on Upwork and her ideas for establishing lasting consumer relationships.
Greater charges give the next stage of confidence
Allen started freelancing on Upwork with an hourly charge of $27. She did smaller initiatives to determine her fame and construct up evaluations on the platform. Certainly one of her first shoppers was a advertising and marketing company that contracted with Adobe, and he or she ended up working with the corporate for about two years.
It took her about 5 months earlier than she began growing her charges. Immediately, her hourly charge is $150 along with some flat-rate gigs.
As she elevated her costs, Allen additionally noticed a rise in jobs. “Shoppers have talked about to me that my charge gave them extra confidence in my experience and the worth that I convey,” she stated.
She calls herself an unintentional entrepreneur as a result of she did not plan to begin her personal firm. After a 12 months on Upwork, she was getting a lot work that she wanted to rent different freelancers to maintain up. Immediately, her workforce of 10 consists of unbiased contractors and three full-time workers.
Set up an onboarding course of with shoppers
Certainly one of Allen’s favourite issues about her job is the number of shoppers she works with and the relationships she builds with them. “We have touched most industries, small, medium, and enterprise-sized corporations,” she stated. “It is actually enjoyable to get to the touch all kinds of various visible kinds and work with totally different shoppers.”
Allen suggests freelancers be selective when establishing their clientele: She accepts solely about 30% of the inbound requests she receives and has intro calls to make sure every consumer is an efficient match. Then she sends a proposal with clear particulars on the scope of the venture, timeline, and funds.
“It is actually good to have the whole lot in writing in order that it may be referenced by each events,” she stated.
Sustaining consumer relationships
Fifty-five % of Allen’s shoppers have stayed together with her for a couple of venture, and in some instances they’ve used her providers for years. Freelancers hoping to maintain a consumer long run must be constant within the high quality of their work, Allen stated. This consists of well timed responses, assembly deadlines, fast turnarounds, and glorious work.
“The worth we convey, it isn’t simply concerning the design however concerning the peace of thoughts and confidence we convey to our shoppers,” she stated.
To take care of consumer relationships, she exhibits her appreciation for his or her enterprise by mailing a birthday card, sending a present basket, or taking shoppers out to lunch. “I actually try to ensure every consumer appears like they’ve our sole consideration and focus,” she stated.
from Freelancing Jobs – My Blog https://ift.tt/JgT2CNH
via IFTTT
0 Comments