Freelance Corner Freelance Corner

Are you wondering how you can beat the competition and use social media to grow new opportunities as a freelancer?

In our final episode of the series, Orla and Ben catch up with IPSE Ambassador and seasoned social media consultant Luan Wise, to find out how you can spread the word about your freelance business online and use strategy to win a following and future work.

We also find out why sustainable marketing is important in business plans as a freelancer of the future and we discover Luan’s top tips for how you can use organic and paid social strategy to promote your business.   

Do you love writing? Want to turn your passion into a freelance career but not sure where to start?  
 
This week Orla and Ben are joined by award-winning journalist Donna Ferguson. We hear about her journey into the world of journalism, Donna shares advice for how you can start a career as a freelance journalist and we discuss the landscape of the industry including how journalists get paid.

Donna Ferguson is a multiple award-winning freelance journalist, mainly for The Guardian and The Observer in the UK. She writes about education, arts, children, lifestyle, history, science, health, books, consumer trends and personal finance and was recently shortlisted for the top prize at the inaugural Freelance Writing Awards in the UK: Freelance Writer of the Year 2021.

We hear about how vital it is to find your niche a lot in the world of freelancing, but how can you find out what yours is? 

This week Orla and Ben are joined by author and serial entrepreneur Alison Grade. She shares her top tips for sending the ultimate cold email pitch, actionable ways you can win clients and ultimately win work. 

Alison uses her rare mix of creative, academic and business experience to help transform creative concepts into business reality. Alison spent 15 years working at senior level in many media companies – predominantly in international television and film production, rights management and strategy – but she also has formal academic training and is a Nesta-accredited Creative Enterprise Trainer. 

Add to that mix that Alison is also an entrepreneur who has established her own businesses and it becomes clear why she is in such demand by many creative businesses as a consultant and non-exec. She is also the author of the Penguin bestseller, The Freelance Bible. 

View Alison's work here: https://alisongrade.com/

Have you always wondered ‘what if’ you went freelance? You have a great idea, but you’re not sure what practical steps you should take to get started with going freelance? If your answer is 'yes' then this is the episode for you. 

This week Orla and Ben speak with digital marketing expert Lou Nylander and we find out how she went from working the traditional 9-5 to creating her own marketing business. We also learn why finding your freelancing community is so vital when starting out and Lou shares her practical tips for you to flourish as a freelancer! 

Lou has fifteen years of B2B digital marketing experience, managing global teams and shaping the course of some of the world's leading digital advertising companies, including MediaCom, AOL, The Huffington Post, Zenith and Unruly.

In 2015, Lou founded 'Wildflowers of London', a social enterprise focused on empowering women. In Spring 2021, Lou launched her own marketing consultancy, dedicated to supporting founders and entrepreneurs.

This week Orla and Ben speak with entrepreneur Lizzie Penny and discuss how work patterns are changing. We explore the concept of the 9-5, dissect productivity and find out how you can make your schedule, lifestyle and ultimately - workstyle, cater to you and your wellbeing as a freelancer.

Lizzie is an entrepreneur and a campaigner for ‘workstyle’ - the freedom to choose when and where you work. She is fascinated by how new working practices can fundamentally redefine inclusion at work, whilst also improving wellbeing and step-changing productivity. She has co-authored a book on Workstyle which has been published by Hachette in 2022.

When she is not being a spokesperson for the Workstyle Revolution, Lizzie focuses on virtual leadership and building cohesive cultures for autonomous organisations. Her restless drive towards improvement, effectiveness and inclusion is at the heart of why she co-founded successful B-Corp, Hoxby and continues to underpin everything she does.

Interested in the book? You can find more information on Workstyle here: https://www.workstylerevolution.com/book

In this week’s episode, Orla and Ben are joined by Laura Wallis, a freelance writer and speaker with expertise in women's healthcare, neurodiversity, and mental health.

We discuss what neurodiversity is, why it’s vital to be aware of it, how freelancers can access supportive communities and we learn Laura's top tips for public speaking.