Freelance Foundations: How Top Freelancers Started and Got Their First Client.

The freelance life.

It promises freedom, flexibility, and the chance to be your own boss.

But the path to success is rarely a straight line.

In this issue of The Freelance Foundation, Mark Hui shares his personal journey from a call center agent to a successful freelancer. He reveals the challenges, setbacks, and triumphs he experienced along the way. He opens up about the struggle of starting out, the fear of failure, and the unwavering determination that fueled his success.

This story is about resilience, perseverance, and believing in yourself, even when the odds are stacked against you.

Get ready to be inspired.

Back in 2019, when Mark transitioned from being a call center agent to taking his chance to try what they called that time "work from home" gig.

With little knowledge of the freelancing industry, he started by enrolling in a VA course that helped him land his first work-from-home job. This job pays $4.00 per hour and allows him to earn an average of 35,000 to 40,000 pesos monthly, a huge deal for a call center agent earning an average of 18,000 to 19,000 monthly.

He thought this was the job he could see himself staying and working for the rest of his life, then his client suddenly fired him after two years of working together.

This is where reality hit him hard, and the challenge started.

He joined the freelance group The Freelance Movement Tribe, but it didn't immediately translate to success.

Like most beginners, he was lost and didn’t really know what services he should offer.

He began to understand that his previous work was more of an employee-type situation, and he struggled to get clients as a freelancer.

He had no clients for months, and the coming Christmas season added to the pressure.

He was on the brink of running out of funds, and his little savings were being used.

He’s already at the stage where he’s considering giving up on being a freelancer and choosing the easier route—returning to being a call center agent again because he knows he can land a job quickly.

But during this time, Mark appreciated the beauty of being with his family and the luxury of spending time with his children. As a kid growing up without his parents, this became very special for him.

So, instead of going back to applying for a call center agent job, he told himself to give it another shot.

This time, the stakes are too high. He reminded himself that if he can't break through the freelancing industry, he won't be able to spend more time with his family and be present for them.

Equipped with the right mindset, perseverance, and conviction that he would get his first freelance client before the holiday season, he detached himself from always looking for results and focused more on the process.

This is where he learned to focus on one market and one skill only.

He started to learn more about optimizing his social media accounts. Since he doesn’t have a website, these social media accounts will serve as his portfolio and make his information available to the right audience.

He chose a specific platform to find clients. Then, he started focusing on low-hanging fruit opportunities to help him establish himself as a freelancer, which would help cover his monthly expenses.

He started spending more time on LinkedIn, FB Groups, and online job marketplace.

His perspective also changed when he treated freelancing as a business.

Whenever he had a chance to hop on a call with prospects, he represented himself as an expert in his field, which is very different from the traditional way he experienced when looking for work.

This time, he’s interviewing prospects instead of him being interviewed. 🙂 

He has been locked in for 90 days and focused on completing prospecting-related tasks. He even connected to a fellow VA and a Digital VA Agency recruiter, who referred him to a prospect that immediately turned into a quick interview.

That’s how it all started.

Equipped with the determination to have a client before Christmas. He did all the research about the client and her business, so when they hopped on the call. Mark already knew the prospect’s problem and where the bottleneck came from with her business process.

They both agreed to a trial test.

If he passes, they’ll discuss how to proceed with the hiring.

Mark completed the trial test and passed it with flying colors. The prospect was impressed by how he followed all the instructions and smoothly completed the task without too much hassle on her end.

She said, "Mark, I really like how you work. I would like to move forward on getting your service as my VA and will pay you $500/month.”

The feeling was surreal because he was reminded of all the rejections, disappointments, and self-sabotaging moments.

He just focused on one goal: getting a paying client so he could have something for his kids and wife and a budget for Christmas.

At the start of the new year, he had another discovery call and received an offer from another client.

He came to the realization that all the sacrifice and hard work had paid off, and he understood that the process was teaching him how to be a better version of himself.

Then, he realized while writing this article for this Freelance Foundation issue that he’s just getting started…

Yet, a lot of things had already happened.

He’s now one of the successful leaders in the community and currently a Coach inside The Freelance Movement Tribe.

If you wish to know more about Mark.

You can connect with him on LinkedIn or in Facebook.