Why Freelance?

Hello and welcome!

I’m Ben, your host for this FreeTrain course.

It’s lovely to have you with me for this inspirational Freelance Foundations course – and the start of our journey together.

Over the next five lessons you’ll receive advice from me and something to be thinking about to help you grow and improve your freelance business. And that’s exactly what freelancing is – a business.

I have been running my own business for 8 years (as of 2019), first as a freelancer in London, before growing a small digital agency that works by regularly using freelancers.

Each FreeTrain course is made up of a series of emails, videos and resources.

This introduction is exactly the kind of content you can expect from the members-only FreeTrain courses, so let’s get going on today’s activity.

Every freelancer should have some idea of their purpose in the first place, so: Why did you choose to go freelance and why is not something you want to do?

For me, it was for three main reasons:

To have more control of my own work and time
To develop personally and professionally
To choose who I work with and the kind of projects I take on

YOUR FIRST TASK: ASK YOURSELF – ‘WHY ARE YOU GOING FREELANCE’?

Now I’ve shown you how I’m approaching things, I’d like you to take a moment to really think about the following questions.

I know this sounds easy at first glance, but if you take a moment to yourself you might be surprised.

Take a break from your day and use a note pad or your phone to jot down your thoughts. We’ll refer back to your answers later on.

What are your main reasons for going freelance?
What do you want your freelance business to achieve?
What do you like about your current work and how can you keep that going in your freelance business?
Who is the audience you want to attract to your freelance business?

Do the exercise now!

Why not post your reasons for why you went freelance into the community discussion and see why everyone else has chosen to go freelance?

See you in the next lesson!

Ben