Being Freelance

Steve Folland
  • 4.8 (42)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Weekly

Freelancing? Being boss of your own life and business can be tough and isolating. But it can also be totally rewarding. Pick up tips, advice and strategies on how to make it as a freelancer, a solopreneur, a fractional this, a self-employed that, as the owner of your own independent creative business - by hearing other freelancers share their experience.  Hosted by fellow freelancer Steve Folland. Serving the world's self-employed with episodes and support since 2015. Come join us in the Being Freelance Community - You're not alone being freelance. www.beingfreelance.com/community

  1. Oct 19 ·  Video

    Networking Can Work! How Andre De Almeida built his freelance business on conversations

    Moving from Brazil to London to learn English in 2016, Andre De Almeida didn’t just pick up the language - he picked up the Being Freelance podcast and studied a new way to live and work too! After being made redundant from an in-house role, he used what he’d learned from listening to jump headfirst into full-time freelancing. The key to his growth? In-person networking, vulnerability, and a constant willingness to experiment -from the events he attends to testing titles like CMO vs. Fractional Marketing Manager. In this episode, Andre shares how stepping away from "corporate polish" helped him find his voice, build long-term client relationships, and win through collaboration over competition. And we're not joking when we say he found a friend and a client collaboration on his very first Being Freelance Community event - Mini Golf! You can see him and Cat (and Steve!) in this video of our day. In this episode of the Being Freelance podcast, Andre shares: Vulnerability builds genuine connections: Showing up authentically and admitting when work is slow resonates far more with people than pretending everything is perfect.   Positioning makes sales easier: Replacing titles like "CMO" (which sounded out-of-budget) or "Freelancer" with "Fractional Marketing Manager" made prospects immediately understand his availability and offering.   Collaboration over competition: Connecting with peers in community spaces doesn’t just bring you friendship and support, it can result in long-term client sharing and referrals.Networking extends beyond the room: In-person networking starts the conversation, but consistent 1-on-1 follow-ups on LinkedIn build the long-term relationship. JOIN THE COMMUNITY You're not alone being freelance. Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends). beingfreelance.com/community   NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU! The Being Freelance course is made for you! Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.   FREELANCER MERCH Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on: Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

    Networking Can Work! How Andre De Almeida built his freelance business on conversations

  2. Oct 12 ·  Video

    From Burnout to Balance: Pacing Your Business as a Neurodivergent Freelancer with Celie Nigoumi

    Photographer and creative facilitator Celie Nigoumi shares her journey from severe burnout and chronic health challenges after university to building a thriving freelance business that works for her in a way normal employment and fluorescent offices never could.  Celie talks about navigating neurodivergence, merging multiple niches into a single authentic personal brand, and using boundary-setting tools like quarterly planning and bi-weekly 'buffer' days to safeguard her well-being.  We also get deep into pricing/packages her freelance business, and her About page messaging that spills across her website steeped in her core values - this helps her attract ideal clients while turning away the wrong fit. Topics Covered include: Transitioning from in-house corporate photography to full-time freelancingManaging ADHD, chronic fatigue/ME, and burnout in a self-employed careerMerging wedding and personal branding photography into one personal brandUsing Instagram, story-led email newsletters, and SEO to generate client leadsEstablishing clear core values on your website to attract the right clientsHosting community photo walks and collaborating with purpose-led organisationsStructuring personal branding packages and conducting discovery callsUsing support tools like Toggl and the UK Government's Access to Work schemeImplementing bi-weekly buffer days, quarterly planning, and extended time offHow a mentor and community have helped focus her and encourage her forwardYou can find Celie's website at celienigoumi.com More details on the UK Government's Access to Work scheme: get support if you have a disability or health condition. JOIN THE COMMUNITY You're not alone being freelance. Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends). beingfreelance.com/community   NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU! The Being Freelance course is made for you! Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.   FREELANCER MERCH Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on: Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

    From Burnout to Balance: Pacing Your Business as a Neurodivergent Freelancer with Celie Nigoumi

  3. Oct 5 ·  Video

    Embracing The Weird: How Quirky Outreach Built a Copywriting Business with Helen Carrie

    What happens when the industry you’ve worked in for a decade gets shut down overnight? In this episode, host Steve Folland chats with Helen Carrie to talk through her complete freelance overhaul when COVID hit.    Helen worked in UK television production: traveling the world, interviewing celebrities; before the pandemic brought it all to a stop. Forced to evaluate her skills, she decided to try her hand at writing, starting at the very bottom.    Over a five-year gradual transition, Helen phased out TV production and built a thriving, sustainable B2B copywriting business focusing on brand copy, executive ghostwriting, and conversion copy. Keen to keep her skills and clients diverse to protect herself.  In this honest, funny, and practical conversation, Helen reveals the exact numbers behind her cold pitch strategy, how being intentionally "weird" on LinkedIn transformed her client base, and why setting boundaries gave her a much better quality of life.  In this episode of the Being Freelance podcast, Helen shares: The reality of TV "freelancing" – Why traditional television production contracts often trap self-employed creatives in high-burnout, all-consuming feast-and-famine cycles rather than offering true flexibility.   Rebuilding a creative career from scratch – How an industry-wide shutdown forced a 5-year pivot from TV into B2B copywriting, starting with content mills paying fractions of a penny per word.   The power of "weird" cold outreach – Why sending highly personalised, quirky connection requests and emails generated a reliable 1% conversion rate to build her client base.   Finding your authentic voice on LinkedIn – Moving past corporate posting habits to turn social media into a steady inbound client lead generator.   Securing recurring revenue with retainers – Smart strategies for structuring ongoing client work, from fixed monthly project fees to quarterly brand strategy reviews.   Beating the "bad boss" mindset – Practical advice for us busy being our own boss, on setting firm boundaries, taking time off, and designing a business around your life instead of your life around your business.    Website>  B2B Copywriter Helen Carrie JOIN THE COMMUNITY You're not alone being freelance. Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends). beingfreelance.com/community   NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU! The Being Freelance course is made for you! Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.   FREELANCER MERCH Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on: Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

    Embracing The Weird: How Quirky Outreach Built a Copywriting Business with Helen Carrie

  4. Aug 23 ·  Bonus Video

    5 Ways AI Could Be Tripping Up Your Freelance Business - Bonus - with lawyer Ingrid Fernandez

    AI is already in your freelance business, whether you invited it or not.  The usual Being Freelance podcast is on its summer break, but here's a bonus treat for you: a replay of a live LinkedIn session Steve did with lawyer Ingrid Fernandez, part of the Being Freelance community, looking at what AI means for freelancers legally - not "will it take my job" but "how does it change my contracts, my responsibilities, and my relationships with clients?" Ingrid walks through five areas that could be tripping freelancers up: Putting client information into AI - what counts as personal information, why transparency with clients matters, and why your privacy policy needs to name the tools (including AI) that touch client data.Clients handing you AI-generated materials - the IP risk when a client passes over AI-made brand elements, logos or source material without saying so.Using AI in the services you deliver - the reputational and trust risk of client-facing work that's gone through AI without disclosure, and why it's worth putting in your contract.Clients putting your deliverables into AI - what happens to your IP once a client feeds your design, copy, or podcast into their own AI tools to create derivatives.Confidentiality clauses and AI - how modern confidentiality clauses are increasingly naming AI specifically, and why redacting a client's name doesn't necessarily get you off the hook.Ingrid's steer throughout: this isn't about being anti-AI, it's about being transparent, thinking about where you stand, and then getting your contracts to reflect that - so you can stop worrying about it case by case. Find Ingrid at herlegals.com. Catch the full library of Q&A replays in the Being Freelance Community. This was originally a LinkedIn Live - so come find us on LinkedIn: Steve Folland on LinkedIn Being Freelance on LinkedIn Ingrid Fernandez on LinkedIn JOIN THE COMMUNITY You're not alone being freelance. Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends). beingfreelance.com/community   NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU! The Being Freelance course is made for you! Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.   FREELANCER MERCH Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on: Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

    5 Ways AI Could Be Tripping Up Your Freelance Business - Bonus - with lawyer Ingrid Fernandez

  5. Jul 19 ·  Video

    The Blogs Became Books... Became Clients - David Airey

    David Airey is a freelance graphic designer based in Northern Ireland, self-employed since 2005.  He's the author of several best-selling design books including Logo Design Love and Identity Designed - both of which started life as blogs, before turning into books... before turning into a steady stream of client work. In this episode, David talks with us about: Persuading his former employer to be his first freelance clientWhy his early "business blog" flopped, and how switching to writing about design (not just his own) changed everythingLaunching logodesignlove.com in 2008, and getting an out-of-the-blue email about a year later from a US publisher that led to his first book dealHow that one book grew into four published titles, translated into multiple languagesNiching down into logo and identity design after realising it was the part of the job he loved mostThe costly early lesson of doing design work before securing payment upfront - and how he gets paid nowWhy he's deliberately kept his business to just himself for 21 yearsHow those same blogs, barely updated these days, still bring in client enquiries years laterWhat makes a good client relationship, and why he pushes back on purely subjective feedbackWhy he doesn't set long-term goals and prefers to stay focused on the presentFind David at: davidairey.com logodesignlove.com and identitydesigned.com JOIN THE COMMUNITY You're not alone being freelance. Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends). beingfreelance.com/community   NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU! The Being Freelance course is made for you! Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.   FREELANCER MERCH Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on: Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

    The Blogs Became Books... Became Clients - David Airey

  6. Jul 12 ·  Bonus

    Freelancer BTS - Not rushing on

    New full episode coming soon. But in this super short one - Steve Folland explains why he's not publishing a new interview this week. Too often we rush on from one thing to another. But by doing so we don't do justice to the thing we just finished. With the Being Freelance podcast, that can mean not promoting an episode with clips, socials and emails. That doesn't help the podcast, the guest OR the listener who could have benefited. Same in our freelancing businesses. If we don't reflect, get testimonials, build case studies, share... we don't help do justice to the project we just finished. We don't do justice to ourselves, to our client... AND we don't help potential new clients know what we're capable of, so weirdly, we're not helping them either. If you find yourself rushing; pause. Try and build in some buffer to big up your business. JOIN THE COMMUNITY You're not alone being freelance. Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends). beingfreelance.com/community   NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU! The Being Freelance course is made for you! Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.   FREELANCER MERCH Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on: Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

  7. Jul 5 ·  Video

    Freelancing Through Every Tech Shift Since the 90s - Lisa Emmington

    Lisa Emmington is a freelance instructional designer (or as her newly SEO'd website puts it, a training course designer) based near Milton Keynes.  She's been freelance almost her entire career, starting out as an IT trainer back when Apple Macs were a mystery box on people's desks, and has reinvented her business every time the market has shifted underneath her - from face to face training, to early e-learning software, to mentoring individual course creators today in the face of AI. In this episode we talk about: How the desire to be freelance came before Lisa knew what she wanted to be freelancing inSpotting the shift from face to face training to e-learning, and moving with itWhat happened when she and her husband became a limited company for three years, and why it made her invisible in the marketRebuilding visibility from scratch with a social media VA and an SEO overhaulWhy "instructional designer" doesn't bring in enquiries, but "training course designer" doesFiltering and pacing leads using nothing more high tech than a paper diaryThe balance between promoting decades of expertise and the very real ageism facing freelancers in their 50s and 60sHer three income streams: templates, done with you mentoring, and done for you course creationPensions, retirement planning, and why she's planning to keep freelancing well past 67What 60 actually looks like now, versus what she expected it to look like So much great advice and things to think about in here around change in our careers - brought about by the inevitability of developing tech and age. --- EPISODE SPONSORED BY ECAMM For years people have asked how Being Freelance live shows look so good. Well, this is the secret. Ecamm is a video studio for your Mac.  Give anything you do with video, a pro look in real time. Presentations, screen shares, webinars, video calls, demos. Plus livestream/record in landscape & vertical at the same time, perfectly designed for both formats. Try Ecamm for free.  Use code BEINGFREELANCE to save 15% on your first payment. JOIN THE COMMUNITY You're not alone being freelance. Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends). beingfreelance.com/community   NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU! The Being Freelance course is made for you! Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.   FREELANCER MERCH Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on: Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

    Freelancing Through Every Tech Shift Since the 90s - Lisa Emmington

  8. Jun 28 ·  Video

    Chase the Happiness: Meaningful Freelancing - Filmmaker Zoe East

    Zoe East has never had a proper job. A work experience placement at a big TV channel that felt old-fashioned and sexist put her off the traditional route before she'd even graduated, so she went freelance instead and never really looked back. That was over ten years ago. She started with whatever work came along. The niche found her gradually: charities doing meaningful work, heritage and culture projects, things that will matter just as much when someone watches them in ten years' time. This episode of the Being Freelance podcast with Steve Folland covers: Getting started by networking and taking whatever came alongWinning six months of free studio space in a creative co-working community, and why staying there for ten years shaped the career around itBuilding a niche in charity and heritage filmmaking - and why charity budgets are often better than people assumePutting "win an award" on a vision board in January, and winning by AprilThe adventure filmmaking strand: films about running adventures across Iceland, Tajikistan and Patagonia, and getting into Kendal Mountain Festival and the London Mountain Film FestivalWhy cold outreach has never worked for her, but word of mouth has - and how sharing only the work she wants more of has quietly shaped her client listDropping Instagram and going all-in on LinkedIn as the one social platform where her clients actually areMonthly goal-setting sessions with a freelancer friend: yearly goals, monthly focus, and the accountability that comes from having to report backThe rate spreadsheet that makes quoting consistent and takes the stress out of pricing decisionsBuying almost everything secondhand, having all her kit stolen as her biggest low point, and using a post-COVID grant to buy her first ever brand new cameraMoving into the She Who Dares Wins studio with Michelle, and the documentary series and production company they're building together --- EPISODE SPONSORED BY ECAMM For years people have asked how Being Freelance live shows look so good. Well, this is the secret. Ecamm is a video studio for your Mac.  Give anything you do with video, a pro look in real time. Presentations, screen shares, webinars, video calls, demos. Plus livestream/record in landscape & vertical at the same time, perfectly designed for both formats. Try Ecamm for free.  Use code BEINGFREELANCE to save 15% on your first payment. JOIN THE COMMUNITY You're not alone being freelance. Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends). beingfreelance.com/community   NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU! The Being Freelance course is made for you! Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.   FREELANCER MERCH Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on: Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

    Chase the Happiness: Meaningful Freelancing - Filmmaker Zoe East
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4.8
out of 5
42 Ratings

About

Freelancing? Being boss of your own life and business can be tough and isolating. But it can also be totally rewarding. Pick up tips, advice and strategies on how to make it as a freelancer, a solopreneur, a fractional this, a self-employed that, as the owner of your own independent creative business - by hearing other freelancers share their experience.  Hosted by fellow freelancer Steve Folland. Serving the world's self-employed with episodes and support since 2015. Come join us in the Being Freelance Community - You're not alone being freelance. www.beingfreelance.com/community

Information

  • Creator
    Steve Folland
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2026
  • Episodes
    373
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Being Freelance Ltd
  • Show Website
    Being Freelance

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