Category: Work

As we wrap up Free Mama Summer School, I want to make sure you feel equipped with the information you need to continue building your freelancing business — both in the skills you’re learning AND in your mindset.

Of course, there’s plenty I could teach you (and I will, don’t worry!), but I’m also enlisting the help of a friend!

(He’s so lucky this is a virtual thing because your girl is a hugger).

First things first, though…

APPETIZER

Start with something new and exciting!

Like always, I was live this Monday in the Facebook group and chatting about choosing a niche that is truly tailored to you. Did you catch it live? I shared how finding your niche can be overwhelming as a new freelancer or someone just starting out.  The good news is, you can find your niche without giving up the things you’re naturally good at and what you enjoy doing. Check it out, It’s definitely worth a listen — head over to Free Mama Radio and hear for yourself.

MAIN DISH

Chef’s Special

As cool as it would have been, I wasn’t the person who invented freelancing. And I’m most definitely NOT the only person on the Internet who teaches others how to start their own freelancing business.

At The Free Mama, we all believe in community over competition — which is why next week, I’m introducing you to my friend Craig Cannings, who is the co-founder of Freelance University. Craig is a super smart guy who knows that freelancing is a fantastic way to earn consistent money from home, and that there’s no better time than now to start your business!

On August 3rd at 10:30 a.m. CST, Craig and I will be chatting and you can find out if Freelance University is right for you.

And for your final Free Mama Summer School lesson, check out how I discovered that I’m not for everyone, and that it’s okay.

I’m cool with the fact that my program isn’t the right fit for everyone (hence, why Craig is coming into our group next week!), and it took some internal work for me to get there.

Understanding and accepting this truth about yourself as well is a big mindset shift that will benefit your freelancing business and set you apart!

DESSERT

Something Sweet

Doing scary things is hard AND amazing. It’s been so awesome to watch Melissa Bucci-Setzer level up her business!

Don’t forget to post in the Facebook group to share your wins, offer encouragement to other mamas, and get your questions answered!

P.S.  Sometimes seeing what business owners are looking for helps you narrow down what aligns with your  interests.  Check out the Ninety skills Business Owners need right now to help you find your niche.  

In some way or another, you probably took on the role of teacher for your kids back in the year that shall not be named.

For several months, my husband and I homeschooled our kids…and boy, does my hat go off to all the other families who found themselves in similar situations!

I had this idea to turn the tables a little bit and do a Free Mama Summer School of sorts, to help YOU brush up on your skills AND your mindset around running your business and raising your kids.

The good news? All these things already exist for you…I’m just sifting through the archives and finding some…Golden nuggets, if you will (forgive me, I’ve been in an RV with 3 kids and a dog for a couple of weeks now).

One of THE best things about freelancing is that you can start with little to no upfront costs. In the very first episode of Free Mama TV, I shared three types of freelance businesses you can start, like right now.

A lot going on, don’t forget your goals

There’s so much noise out there about how you need to have aaallll the things before you can start freelancing…but you really don’t, in many instances. Check out the video above and see for yourself!

If you’ve been hanging around the Free Mama community, taking it all in, but still haven’t started your business…can I ask why not?

Yes, I have a paid program that helps moms start their freelance business, but you don’t HAVE to take my course in order to begin. I could name many women right off the top of my head who have hugely successful businesses and are part of the Free Mama community, but have never taken my course!

I know the kids are home for the summer and you might be traveling or have activities to keep up with, but don’t forget about your own goals, okay?

You deserve Guilt free living

Free Mama Summer School will give you snippets of some of my past trainings and lessons, allow you to brush up on your skills and mindset, so you can get a little closer each day to having the totally awesome, guilt-free life you deserve!

P.S. Our first Free Mama Summer School lesson is taking a look at just three of the many types of freelancing businesses you can start with little to no startup costs. Be sure to check it out!

Do you get sweaty palms and a shaky voice when it’s time to tell a prospective client how much you charge for your freelance work? What about when it’s something you don’t have much experience in?

Mama, the topic of money and how to price your services as a beginner is one of the most common questions among freelancers…but it doesn’t have to be as scary or overwhelming as it might seem.

First up on the Free Mama menu today is…

APPETIZERS

Start with something new and exciting!

Ever wonder if you’re coachable? Being coachable has three important components, and if any of them are missing, you’re probably not going to see that return on investment! In this week’s live training, I dig into being coachable, knowing when you’re ready to hire a coach, and what you should expect for your business.  Now you can listen on the go on Free Mama Radio.

MAIN DISHES

Chef’s special

Not sure how to price freelance work as a beginner? Free Mama TV this week was all about how to set your rates as a new freelancer. We get this question A LOT in our inbox and in the Facebook group, and this week, I’m breaking it down for you.

After watching this episode, you can know your rates, know how to price freelance work as a beginner, and confidently state them to prospective clients!

DESSERT

Something savory

While I firmly believe that “No” is a complete sentence, I understand that not everyone is quite ready for that level of boundary setting. April shared this helpful post recently about saying “no” to working for free. Check it out!

Got something to share with us? Post it in the Facebook group! We LOVE celebrating your wins!

I hope today’s blog fills you up with all kinds of Free Mama goodness!

What if I told you that you are probably leaving LOTS of clients (and money!) on the table?

What if I told you there is one TRULY EASY thing you can do to get MORE clients with LESS work?

Also, it’s totally free. And it takes far less time than you think. 

It’s actually NOT magic — but it does kind of feel like it is.

Ready for the big reveal?

FOLLOW UP WITH PEOPLE. 

Business owners are busy people. They’re often overwhelmed. Also, they might have some fear around hiring a virtual assistant or outsourcing work. So they put it off. 

Your job is to follow up after your initial contact or conversation and make it really, really easy for them to say yes.  

For example, you send an email to a prospect who told you she is struggling to get her invoices out in a timely manner, so her cash flow is suffering. You hear nothing. This is not unusual. 

Most people will tell themselves, “I don’t want to bother her. If she wants to work with me, she’ll let me know.”

But YOU are not most people. YOU are a Free Mama, and you know that your prospect is busy. So you follow up. You say, 

Hi, Potential client! 

Do you still want my help fixing your cash flow problems? I’m ready to start right away. All you have to do is use this link to sign your contract and pay your first invoice. By the end of the week, you could have an extra $2500 in your bank account!

Notice that you didn’t say, “Hi Potential Client, I’m following up on our conversation from the other week.“ 

BORING! Make it about WHAT YOUR POTENTIAL CLIENT WILL GET. 

And make it easy — one link. One step. One task. That’s it!

When you follow up, you set yourself apart from the competition. You get MORE clients with LESS work. And you grow your business. WIN-WIN-WIN.

Starting your freelance business is exciting, mama!

You have a whole world 🌎 of possibilities — what services you can offer 🤨, what type of clients you’ll work with 🤔…not to mention all the cool pens ✒️and Post-It Notes 📓you could buy.

Oh, and there’s also things like setting up your financial systems, 😬 business entities, 😳branding, 😫 software, 😱 and the list goes on.

It can get overwhelming quickly, and I’m here to help you determine the stuff that’s ACTUALLY important for setting up your business, and which stuff will just make you go crazy for now.

Let’s kick it off like we always do, with…

APPETIZERS

Start with Something New and Exciting!

Michelle Vroom has made half a million dollars from her Facebook group, so when it comes to marketing it’s safe to say she knows what she’s talking about!

She is a no-nonsense, tough-loving coach who opened up to me about making mistakes, showing up scared and getting clear on the whole ideal client thing. She had tons of “mic drop” moments and actionable takeaways and I know you’ll love getting to know her as much as I did!

Are you #TeamLive, or will you be heading over to Free Mama Radio to listen to the replay? Either way be sure to leave your feedback for Michelle and me and share it if you loved it!

MAIN DISHES

Chef’s special

Free Mama TV this week is all about helping you know what the essentials are for setting up your freelancing business. No distractions, no fluff, just the stuff you actually need.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with starting your business, you don’t want to miss this episode on the best small business essentials for freelancers!

DESSERT

Something sweet

Don’t you love Kristi’s message about how it’s never too late to give yourself a restart? Such encouraging words, mama!

The Free Mama Movement Facebook group is always open for you to post your questions, celebrate your wins, and support your fellow mamas!

I hope today’s blog fills you up with all kinds of Free Mama goodness!

You might already know this, mama, but this Sunday is Father’s Day, and I thought it would be fun to take a moment to honor the very brave men in our very pink community. 

Imagine that you’ve been the breadwinner for your family, and then, oh, I don’t know, A GLOBAL PANDEMIC HITS. 

And suddenly, you’re out of a job and you’re googling “work from home jobs for dads”.

Along with the very real fear for your family’s health and wellbeing, you’re also suddenly confronting the loss of your identity. You’ve always been the person who provides for your family, and when that’s abruptly taken away from you, you really do question who you are. 

Maybe it’s also kind of hard for you to talk about your feelings, or you never had good role models for that. 

Somehow — and you never can quite figure out how — you wind up clicking on a very pink Facebook ad, and suddenly people are calling you a Free Papa, (although every single email you get seems to call you Mama at least once 🙄), and you find that you’re enjoying yourself.

You start to build up your confidence, and you’re ready to make a go of this freelance life. 

And that’s when it happens. 

A job offer comes through. 

The kind with health insurance and a 401k. The kind that you prayed for a few months ago. 

The kind that will keep your family safe. 

So you have to put your freelance business owner dreams on hold — which makes you feel like you’ve failed. 

YOU HAVE NOT FAILED. 

You haven’t quit. It’s not game over — it’s just time to pump the brakes a little, to hit pause and re-evaluate.

When we start a business, we want so badly for our growth to be fast and furious. But that’s not the way life works. Think about a roller coaster — it loops and it spins. Sometimes it’s a big drop. Sometimes it’s a little hill. 

There is no struggle-free life.

Your job is to find the good parts of the WHOLE ride. Enjoy the curves, enjoy the view from every angle and be an active participant in every moment of it.

I’m insanely proud of ALL the Free Papas, including the OG Free Papa, Mr. Justin Golden, who went on his own journey.

For a while, I tried to be his coach and lead him down the path I thought was best for him. Yeah, that did NOT go well. 

You know what did work? Getting out of his way and letting him decide his OWN path. And now, here he is, coaching Free Mamas #likeaboss.

Happy Father’s Day to ALL the Free Papas in our lives. We see you, and we love you.

P.S. If there’s a man in your life — your husband, your cousin, your brother, your friend — who might want to be a Free Papa, why don’t you invite them to stop searching for work from home job for dads and join the Movement instead?

Are you making these virtual assistant business mistakes?

Every so often, I’ll see a Facebook post that stops my scroll. 

Usually it’s along the lines of:

I’m starting my business! I’m going to build a website. Also, how do I get followers on Instagram? And, does anyone have any recommendations for what I should call my YouTube channel? Plus, can you all please go and like my Facebook page? By the way, let’s start a Clubhouse invite train!

No. 

No.

And in case I wasn’t clear, NO. 

Those are DISTRACTIONS. 

Building a branding board, working on a website, and having 85,000 coffee chats — all of those things make us feel like we’re moving forward, but it’s kind of just a waste of time. 

All of those things are your way of delaying the thing that you know you should be doing.

If you spend your time on distractions, it will take you a very long time to build a business. In fact, you might actually never get a client who pays you money if you spend all your time building your website and figuring out your branding.

If you want to make it hard to build your business, you absolutely can. You can spend time and money on software and training and all kinds of other shiny objects that you don’t need. Those are the virtual assistant business mistakes that hold people from moving forward.

The only thing that will stop you is your credit limit. 

On the other hand…

If you’d like to actually EARN some money, you need to focus on INCOME-GENERATING ACTIVITIES. 

Things like talking to potential clients and asking them what kind of help they need. 

Or going to an in-person event where your ideal clients are hanging out, talking to them, and asking what kind of help they need. 

Or talking to people in your life who have businesses and asking what kind of help they need. 

Are you sensing a pattern?

Just a few days ago, I released a new video on Free Mama TV on how to start your virtual business in 30 days or less. If you haven’t already watched it, now is a good time to check it out. If you’re serious about starting your business, it’s time to ditch the distractions and focus on what you KNOW you need to do.

What will you STOP doing today?

P.S. If you need help or support to focus on the RIGHT things:

• The Free Mama Movement Facebook group is home to over 30,000 women who are doing the work every day.
• You can find plenty of information on FreeMamaTV and Free Mama Radio.
• My free training walks you through my Freedom Plan so that you can build the life you want.

Are you an action-taker, Mama?

Someone who sets her sights on something, makes a plan, and then goes for it?

I gotta be honest…taking action is like a love language to me, and I know a lot of Free Mamas are the same.

Buckle up because I’m going to show you how to put the pedal to the metal in your freelancing business!

Let’s start with…

APPETIZERS

Start with something new and exciting!

Just like every other Monday in the Free Mama Movement Facebook group, I went live with some helpful lessons and actionable tips that will help you in your business! This week I had on Free Mama Meagan Hernandez to talk about how YOU can feel confident about taxes as a freelancer!

If you weren’t there live, no worries! You can listen to the replay on Free Mama Radio.

MAIN DISHES

Chef’s special

Wondering how to become a virtual assistant in 30 days or less? This week’s episode of Free Mama TV is for the mamas who are ready to take action and become a virtual assistant in the next 30 days or less!

I broke down the top three most important things you need to do to get your business up and running and have your first paying client by this time next month. Spoiler: it’s not a website, Facebook business page, or a logo. 😉

If you’re ready for the green light to start your business as a virtual assistant, don’t miss this episode!

DESSERT

Something sweet

Seeing a #freemamawin NEVER gets old. Congrats Melania on taking action and hitting this major goal!

Don’t forget to celebrate all your wins, big and small…and share them in the Facebook group so we can celebrate with you!

I hope today’s email fills you up with all kinds of Free Mama goodness!

In just two days, mama, I’m leaving my children and I don’t feel guilty. 

But let me back up a moment. 

Right now, as you read this, I am deeply entrenched in Camp Mom. I am HERE for my beautiful children, and I am (mostly) loving every minute. 

(I am still NOT a fan of glitter, but I’m working on it.)

When I tell you that you can have it all, I mean it. It’s up to you to decide what, exactly, having it all means to you. 

I’ve seen a LOT of “Let’s normalize relaxing with a drink at the end of the day,” posts — and they spark a reaction in me. 

I’d like to normalize two things:

1. Not using the word “normalize.”
2.  Not needing to drink at the end of every day, because I actually enjoy the time I spend with my kids, AND it means taking time for myself and my own needs, AWAY from my children without feeling guilty. 

We don’t often talk about how hard motherhood can be and how lost we can get — unless we’re performing and think that being vulnerable in public about our struggles will win us points in this weird Mommy Olympics we’ve created. 

“I’ve never left my children for a single night.” 

Okay, and? 

Is that supposed to mean that you’re a better mom than someone who does take time for herself?

Pick your cliche: you can’t pour from an empty cup; put on your own oxygen mask first; taking care of yourself IS taking care of your babies.

They’re cliches because they’re TRUE.

If you don’t take care of yourself, you cannot possibly take care of anyone else. I’ve seen this play out in the lives of people I love, and the results have been disastrous. 

When I was in college, I had a group of girlfriends. We swore we’d always be best friends, we’d always be there for each other, we’d have a reunion every year. 

It’s been five years since I’ve seen them, and I can’t just blame the pandemic. So when I set my goals for 2021, one of them was “Have a girls’ trip.” Yes, I do put these into my yearly goals — do you remember my skiing trip?

Now it’s going to be more like a girls’ dinner, because we all have young kiddos, and one of my friends is in law school, but I will take what I can get. 

And I almost didn’t book it. 

Because I started to buy into the idea that “leaving my children” is a bad thing. 

I mean, mom shaming is everywhere. 

But then I thought about you, mama. I thought about how maybe you’re in a place where you desperately need to take some time for yourself, and maybe you’re worried that people will call you a bad mom if you take the time you NEED for yourself. 

In my opinion, taking time for yourself makes you a better mom. Recognizing your own needs and meeting them before you hit your breaking point takes strength and courage. 

So, yes. In two days, I’m getting on a plane and going to see my best friends from college. I’ll enjoy every single second, and then I’ll come home and love my kids. 

What will you do for yourself this week?

P.S. For more on mommy wine culture and setting healthy boundaries, please give a listen to Lauren Couvillon on Free Mama Radio.