This post contains affiliate links to products and software that we love. If you click on one of our affiliate links, we receive a small compensation at no additional cost to you.  

 

Are you tired of constantly running around like crazy, juggling all the things that life throws at you? Between rushing out the door for work, dropping kids off at daycare, going through the school pick-up line, being the resident chef, house cleaner, wife, mom, and whatever else is on your plate…it’s exhausting.

 

Do you ever feel like you just wish there was a way to be able to create your own schedule? To choose how you spend your time and actually enjoy your work and your family? To truly provide a sustainable income without having to go to a 9 to 5 job? I’m here to tell you…there IS a way! Read on to learn exactly how to start and grow a successful online business at home.

 

Launch your freelance business.

Many women believe that the only way to earn a sustainable income at home and ditch their 9 to 5 job is to sell things. While that is an option, it’s NOT the only option. There is a whole world out there of business owners and entrepreneurs looking for help in their businesses. That’s where the term “freelancing” comes into play.

 

You may be wondering, what is a freelancer? What do they do? Put simply; a freelancer is an independent contractor who helps small, online, or even brick and mortar businesses grow and tackle tasks that they don’t have the bandwidth or desire to do.

 

The beauty of being a freelancer is that you get to choose what services you offer depending on your interests and skills, set your rates, your work hours, and ultimately get to choose who you work with. YOU are your own CEO.

 

Freelancing is one of the absolute best work from home options, especially for moms looking to create flexibility in their lives. However, just like in anything, it’s going to take hard work and dedication to start your freelance business.

 

Here at Neapolitan Creative, our entire team is comprised of amazing women who have gone through our good friend Micala Quinn’s “Overwhelmed to Overbooked” course, a comprehensive step-by-step program to help you launch your freelance business, grow it to your wildest dreams, and become the work at home mom you want to be.

 

In this program, Micala will guide you through her simple 7 step process to help you launch your freelance business and grow it into a profitable work from home business.

Micala will walk you through the ins and outs of:

1. Setting your business up for success
2. Identifying your ideal clients
3. Determining what services you’ll offer and creating your prices, packages, and portfolio
4. Creating a brand that speaks to you and your ideal clients
5. Developing your online presence
6. Networking and finding clients
7. Working with clients and serving them well

 

Choose your business path. 

The beauty of the Overwhelmed to Overbooked course is that you can scale your business and take it in ANY direction you want to. You can be a virtual assistant that helps businesses with daily tasks such as administrative tasks, email management, graphic design, copywriting, social media, etc. To excel in the field of hypnotherapy and effectively help clients, it’s crucial to get professional hypnotherapy training from a reputable institution.

 

If you get started and find that you absolutely LOVE a particular area, you can niche down and offer specific services. That’s actually how Neapolitan Creative began. I started offering website services as a freelancer and found that I loved the strategy, tech side, and creativity. I niched down, and that’s how our website design agency was born.

 

If you find that you love helping online businesses and want to make their lives easier, you can transition into the digital product creation or course creator space. Suppose you decide to go that route in your business. In that case, it’s important to have a learning management system that allows you to serve and manage your members and customers in a way that’s easy for them to navigate and easy for you to set up. It will enable them to access your content and communicate with you quickly and easily. AccessAlly is our go-to learning management system that we recommend to our membership and digital product clients as it is all-in-one, customizable, and user-friendly.

 

Create an online presence.

As you build your online business, it is essential to develop and manage relationships with potential clients and current clients. Finding and connecting with your ideal clients will become a whole lot easier if you get super clear on your brand, your vision for your business, your mission, and the values that you hold.

 

When you start, you can establish your online presence by creating a Facebook business page, optimizing your Instagram page, getting on LinkedIn, etc. Micala will teach you how to do all of that in the course as well.

 

Utilize email marketing. 

Another fantastic option for building relationships and serving your clients and potential clients is through email. Social media is a great place to grow your online presence, but the thing is, you don’t own it. However, you do own your email list. Using an email address finder can help you reach your targets successfully.

We also love using ActiveCampaign for email marketing and to communicate with our clients. ActiveCampaign does more than let you send emails. It is a complete customer relationship management tool that allows you to serve your email list and access essential data to help you learn about their needs and serve them even better.

You can use your email service to:

1. Connect your lead magnets or free offers to serve and grow your list
2. Send weekly emails with tips and advice to add value
3. Research and pitch potential clients
4. Follow up on pitches and send proposals
5. Communicate with clients
6. Add value for your course members or digital product consumers
7. Upsell current clients by showing them what you offer in your weekly emails

 

 

Launch your website.

Another way to establish and grow your online presence as a freelancer and online business owner is by launching your website. While some online entrepreneurs hire a website designer right off the bat, many don’t have the budget or desire for that right away. That’s where our customizable site kits can help! We’ve put all of the strategy, tech wisdom, and knowledge that we have into our fully customizable, take and tweak site kit collections. You can have your 5-page website up, running, and converting for you in no time!

 

It’s like we always say, your website is your digital teammate, always working for you even when you’re not to help people get to know you, build a relationship with you, check out your work, read your testimonials, view your services, and prices, and book a call with you.

 

Manage projects and stay organized.

After following the steps in the Overwhelmed to Overbooked course and officially launching your business and landing clients, that’s when the fun begins…working with your clients! Whether you have one client or ten clients, staying organized, managing your time, and communicating is key.

 

Using a project management tool will help you manage projects, stay up-to-date on tasks, and communicate with your clients. Here at Neapolitan Creative, our favorite project management tool is ClickUp. Not only do we use it for project management and communication, but we also use it to outline our yearly and quarterly goals, create our plans of action, store notes from client calls and team meetings, and reflect on what is working and what we can improve.

 

Are you ready to take the leap and start your own online business? You have all the potential in the world, and we hope these tips have helped you gain clarity on what it means to launch a freelance business, Dream Big because the opportunities are endless!