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Somewhere along the way in my entrepreneurial journey, I forgot what it was like to start at the very beginning. I forgot what it felt like to see content online about how to make money online and the empty feeling from not figuring it out.

To my surprise, I also forgot what it felt like to feel lost, hate my job, and dream of a better tomorrow.

In part, this is why I've decided to get back in touch with this reality, because it, unfortunately, is still a reality for the majority of people. While we have seen a boom in online entrepreneurship in the last 5 years, there is still so much more for everyone to learn about obtaining online success and maintaining it.

So with this in mind, I'd love to share with you how I built my online brand, my humble beginnings, and the lessons I learned as a freelancer.

Side note: be sure to also check out our Freelancer Workshop where we reviewed transferable skills & how to monetize them before leaving our platform today! 

My humble beginnings

In 2017, I launched my “PreMed-BlackMed” blog, where I shared my experiences as a premed college student studying biology. While my audience started off small, it grew fairly quickly through twitter. I remember the day i went from 300 to 700 followers and then again 2 weeks later when i went from 700 to 1200 followers on twitter. 

Up until this point, I never had an online community, nor did I understand the significance of content nurture marketing.

However, these spurts of growth taught me three things:

1. People love when they’re being educated in a friendly tone by their peers.
2. Knowledge is a powerful tool that can be monetized.
3. The art of creating content can empower my brand and allows me to find out what I really love to do.

 

Side note: be sure to also check out our Freelancer Workshop where we reviewed transferable skills & how to monetize them before leaving our platform today! 

Now, although this blog only lasted 8 months because I left school, I did keep my audience and they loved my content, blogging style, and outlook on life. So, I decided to try and transition my brand into a service based business. 

This transition is what led to launching Touched By Ty, which initially offered ghost writing and resume writing. 

When I first started offering services in May of 2018, it was slow - I can't deny this. However, I was excited about the endless possibilities, so I refused to give up. 

To help build excitement with my audience, I announced a giveaway for 5 services and oh boy did the inquiries start pouring in once this giveaway was completed. 

My Strategy:

1. I announced a giveaway to my audience of 2500 followers where 5 lucky people could win an ultimate resume makeover.
2. The rules: Tag 3 friends, share the giveaway, and agree to promo the service at the end using out #Touchedbyty hashtag.
3. Once the services were completed, I got testimonials from each winner and added them to my website with a link to the service they received and their final product.

The Results:

1. I made my first $500 with this new business and it was at this moment that I knew I was heading in the right direction.
2. I grew my following by 500 people and officially garnered 3,000 social media followers.
3. I began connecting with people offline, which meant I was establishing genuine relationships on and offline.

My Social Media Strategy

Now, I couldn't host a giveaway every month, but I could keep creating educational content related to my services and add in some relatable comedic content and memes along the way - and this strategy worked. 

So, I came up with a 60 / 20 / 10 / 10 content strategy:

• 60% = educational & informational insight into industry practices, DIY tips, and self improvement strategies for career and writing development.
• 20%  = relatable information, comedy, memes and transparency about my progress as a new micro business owner.
• 10% = surveying my audience and asking them what they’d like to see, what could help them better their own lives.
• 10% = sharing my work with before and after photos, client testimonials, and the BTS of building my brand.

Side note: be sure to also check out our Freelancer Workshop where we reviewed transferable skills & how to monetize them before leaving our platform today!

Today, this strategy has garnered me 13,000+ followers on twitter - which is my main platform for content marketing. Currently, I have about 50,000 monthly profile visits, over 5 million impressions monthly and at least 3-5 viral posts a month which translates into consistent 5 figure sales months 4 years later. My strategy didn’t change, just what I posted, when I posted it and the tools I used to post it.

Admittedly, freelancing this way is significantly easier when you already have a small following. But hey, if I had an audience of 2,500 when I started, I believe that’s a very attainable goal if you’re creating content consistently, building relationships and networking on and offline daily. 

It was not easy starting with no resources, no team, and a small niche audience that I slowly transitioned into buying customers - but it was 100% worth it to be an established warehouse owner 5 years later.

Now that I've shown you how I started and what I did to get clients, let’s go over some things you could offer as a freelancer.

Transferable skills you can monetize

Common Transferable skills	Services to offer
Data Entry	Template creation Quick books data entry Dubsado data entry Excel sheets Microsoft office
Organization	Computer file organization Ipad file organization Email organization & cleaning Office organization (not cleaning, but organizing filing systems for management)
Research	Finding manufactures Identifying target markets Competitor analysis Industry trends reporting
Time management	Schedule development Personal assisting Calendar management Meeting manager
Tech troubleshooting	Website maintenance Software maintenance Physical equipment maintenance
Career building	Resume and cover letter writing Career coaching Interview coaching Recruiting
Coaching	Physical sports coaching Sports coaching consulting Business coaching Business mentorship
language	Translating ASL translating Document translation
programming	Mobile app development Website development WordPress editing
Graphic design	Logos Flyers Social media templates IG highlights Email banners & graphics Advertising graphics Billboards
Adobe software suite	Everything in graphic design Product mock-ups Product packaging design Video editing Youtube intros & outros
Web development & design	Shopify development Wix design WordPress development Square space E-commerce setup
Strategy development (dependent upon additional professional experience)	Marketing strategies Branding strategies Business structure strategies Hiring strategies Social media strategies
Presentation development	Power points Sales pitches Media Kits
Project management	Software management Project updates Team member assignments Project flow management
Customer Service	CSR Audits CSR surveys CSR strategy development

Now that I've given you some tools and insights on how to start and what to offer, consider checking out the playback of the webinar for freelancing and how to monetize your transferable skills. 

Get Access Here

In closing, thank you for reading with us today. Be sure to comment down below to let us know your thoughts and what else you’d like for us to go more in-depth on. We absolutely love creating valuable content for you guys, so we appreciate knowing when you love the content we create for you.