Running your own business can test your nerves. Especially in the beginning when you’re not sure if everything will work out.
How can you overcome fear and self-doubt as a freelancer? Don’t put added pressure on yourself by announcing it to friends and family when you’re just starting off. Realize that potential clients are busy, and rejection isn’t the end of the world. Focus on setting realistic and attainable goals for yourself that are within your control.
In this article, I’ll explain my own doubts and fears that I’ve had as a freelance writer, and some ways that I’ve come to grips with them.
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How To Overcome Fear and Self-Doubt As A Freelancer
Starting to work for yourself is a challenge. Emotionally, financially, and in other ways.
On one hand, you know that everyone has to start somewhere. That every successful businessperson you see in the world had to take that same first step that you’re taking now.
But that doesn’t necessarily help to make it any less scary in the moment.
It Gets Better, But It Doesn’t Necessarily Go Away
This is just how I personally feel. Maybe some other people are ultra confident in their business and aren’t worried that everything will suddenly unravel one day.
But even after being a full-time freelancer for several years now, I still feel like I have imposter’s syndrome.
It feels like at any time, my clients may realize I’m not a “real writer” and all of my paid work will evaporate. I’m never confident that I’ll continue to have work from one month to the next. That’s just part of the stress that comes with running your own business though, I guess.
The truth is that even after having a month where I earned $10,000 from my writing, I still don’t feel like I’m a “real” writer or give myself that label.
I feel like authors who follow their passion and do “real” writing may judge me for writing to make money. It feels almost like writing blogs or articles is a less pure form of writing, since it’s done with the end goal of helping to grow someone’s business, instead of just for the sake of writing.
I’ve never actually had a novelist call me out as a fraud or anything like that, so I know that most of these are insecurities that I have within myself. I still want to write a novel at some point just to prove to myself that I can be a “real” writer in addition to just being a blogger and writing articles.
Over time it does get a bit easier though. You learn the basics of setting up and maintaining a WordPress website. You learn how to interact with clients. Once you’re in the day to day part of your business, there aren’t any huge problems that come up from one day to the next. You get more confident as you gain new clients, and repeat clients keep coming back.
You will definitely go through that initial “what if I made a huge mistake” phase, particularly when you finally make the decision to quit your full-time job. But you’ll get through it!
How To Overcome Your Doubt As A Freelance Writer
There are a few things you can do to relieve some of the pressure and make it easier on yourself as a freelance writer, especially when you’re first starting out.
No One Has To Know
You may have fears that you’ll try your best to be a freelance writer, but then you’ll fail and everyone will judge you.
Well, no one has to know that you’re trying to become a freelance writer!
Just don’t go announcing it on Facebook to your whole family and social circle until you know it’s going to work out.
You can just start quietly working on your freelance business in your spare time and in the evening after work. You don’t have to tell anybody or get permission. And in fact, that’s how I’d recommend starting off. Then you can gradually grow your business without having to quit your full-time job first, which will provide you with a lot more financial stability.
How do you tell when you’re ready to go full-time? Check out my article When Should You Quit Your Job To Become A Full-Time Freelancer or Entrepreneur?
Nobody Cares
You may take it personally when you send out your first batch of a dozen job applications or cold pitches and you get zero replies. Not even a rejection email in return to say they’ve gone with a better client!
You may start to think about how the company’s you’ve applied to must think you’re an idiot and unqualified.
But the truth is, companies who are looking to hire writers don’t have time to care about you. They aren’t judging you or talking to their other business owner friends about how stupid your pitch was.
When most companies post on writing job boards, they get a hundred or more responses just on the first day. So they don’t have time to overthink it. They probably spend a minute at most reading through each pitch.
It may even be that nothing was wrong with your pitch, but it was just the wrong client or one little thing caught them the wrong way.
But don’t worry about what potential clients think about you. Because they have already pretty much immediately forgotten about you if you don’t get hired.
Set Your Own Goals
Set goals for your freelance business. And be sure to make them realistic!
I recommend setting SMART goals. The acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Based.
It can be tempting to set a monetary goal for yourself, and I’ve done this for myself all along my freelance journey. But it’s important to realize that how much you earn may be at least partly outside of your control.
So in addition to looking to make a certain amount of money in your first year, I would set some other goals that you’re completely in control of.
Something like “I will apply to 5 new freelance writing jobs on Upwork each weekday.”
You’re not in control of how many people end up wanting to hire you to write for them. But you’re 100% in control of how many jobs you can apply for.
So focus on making goals around the things you’re in control of.
Feeling tired? Check out my article Avoiding Burnout As A Freelance Writer
Don’t Give Yourself A Hard Time
Just the undertaking of starting your own freelance business is an achievement in itself.
Most people don’t have the courage to even take that first step. So kudos to you for even considering it!
If you’re passionate about being a freelancer and working for yourself, then I’d highly recommend giving it a try. Especially since you can do it in your spare time to start, without even leaving your main job.
So what do you have to lose? Even if you only get one client and earn a few hundred dollars and aren’t able to go full-time, I think the knowledge and experience that you’ll gain is invaluable.
Conclusion
Being a freelancer of any kind can be fraught with self-doubt and fear.
Writers of all types are notoriously self-critical, so it can be an uphill battle against yourself to find the confidence to start your freelance writing business, and even to keep it going too.
Even after being a fulltime freelancer for a few years, I still have doubts about what I’m doing and whether I’m a “real” writer, and I’m not sure if that will ever go away.
But you can put things into perspective. Focus on setting goals that you can control. Don’t worry what prospective clients think, because they likely forget about you as soon as they close your email. And you don’t need to announce to the world that you’re becoming a freelancer and put extra pressure on yourself. Nobody has to know at first.