Before we dive in, you may wonder why momentum matters in running a freelance business. As a mompreneur, momentum increases your belief, solidifies your confidence and assures that you are taking the right action steps to fulfill the mission and vision of your business.

Maintaining momentum in spite of your obstacles and setbacks is essential to keeping you motivated while allowing you to recover from those situations and circumstances easier and more quickly.

Here are 8 ways a you can kickstart your freelance business:

RE-EVALUATE

To get started, spend some time thinking about what has worked in your business the last 90-120 days and what hasn’t. You can’t expect to keep doing the same things that aren’t creating results you want. Yes, this will require some self reflection and honesty. If your goal is to make $5,000 per month in your business but you are spending 10-15 hours a week on actual revenue generating activities (sorry, scrolling social media every week may feel like you are working but it’s not exactly a revenue generating activity) then it’s time to admit those goals and actions steps don’t align with one another.

With that said, now is not the time to beat yourself up over it. It’s a fresh start to make a new plan and get moving in the right direction. 

KNOW AND LIVE YOUR PRIORITIES

Life gets crazy especially for us moms. Add a business into the mix and things can quickly spiral out of control. You probably won’t be able to achieve perfect balance in your life and you don’t need to but you can stay grounded through it by knowing and living your priorities.

Instead of having a mile long to-do list every day that overwhelms you from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed, set your intentions for the day by what qualifies as a priority. By knowing and living by your priorities each day, you’ll improve your focus, keep your sanity and be more present for what matters most. The results will not only increase your productivity but decrease frustration and mom guilt.

One way to do this is to make you to-do list in three categories: A, B and C. The tasks in A are must do, B are tasks that you want to conquer next and C are lower priority. That way you can be more strategic about how you spend your time and which tasks are done first. Otherwise, many of us will just do the easy things and leave the harder things perpetually on our to-do list.

GET FEEDBACK

As you work to kickstart your business, ask people you know and trust for feedback. A fresh set of eyes can help point out copy on your website or your resume, for example, that makes perfect sense to you because you wrote it but it’s not coming across well for someone who is not that familiar with what you do. Constructive feedback can be a great asset to you as you work to create new products, freshen up your social media and website before you start working on those areas so you know exactly where to focus your time and energy.

This can be a hard exercise to go through. It can feel scary to open yourself up to people’s opinions, I get that but it will also prove to be invaluable. The goal is to help you figure out what works in your business and areas that need improvement so you can reach your goals.

Some of the feedback will be good and some of it won’t be and why it’s important to have a plan on how to sort through and how to handle it. Here are some quick tips to make this process as positive as possible:

• Start by thanking the person for their insight and honesty. Those who give you negative feedback probably won’t be expecting you to thank them but by doing so you will earn even more respect and appreciate their honesty even though it was probably uncomfortable for them to do so.
• Don’t take it to heart. Just because someone criticizes an aspect of your business doesn’t mean they hate everything. You asked for their help so take it for what it is, something that you need to look into further and look at with a fresh perspective. Nothing more.
• Ask questions. Is there something you could do better? Do they have suggestions for improvements?  You never know what helpful solutions someone would share if you take the time to ask some simple questions.

CREATE A PLAN

It may sound cliche but “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail” is a very true statement. As a mompreneur, you have to know what generates leads, results and revenue for your business (and what doesn’t). Don’t put it off, create a plan today around those activities and commit to them every day without fail. Keep your plan on your desk, in your daily planner (remember the worksheets in Week 2 to help with this), set a calendar alert each morning to help keep you from distractions, wake up an hour early if you need to before the house is filled with chaos so you can focus and feel accomplished going into your day. The point is to find what works for you and stay committed to it.

TURN UP THE SOCIAL MEDIA

Have you been using social media the last few months to its full potential? Your ideal client is out there and they need what you have to offer but they have to be able to find you. You don’t need to master every platform either. Leverage your strengths and put them to work for you.

Love doing live video? Use the live features on Instagram or Facebook or create a YouTube video to give tips, a how-to that can solve a problem for your client (when they realize they don’t want to do it, they can reach out and hire you!), create a blog post with a tutorial and share it on your social media pages. Whatever route you choose, the goal is to provide value and to be consistent. You can’t expect to show up on your social media pages once a month and have potential clients flooding your in-box.

Instagram is a great tool for networking, creating a community and collaborating. Be sure to check out these practical tips for leveraging Instagram.

COLLABORATIONS

To kick start a business there is nothing like forming great partnerships and collaborations to help you do that. Reach out to fellow mompreneurs in your field (or here in CULTIVATE) and ask them if there are ways you can support them and feature them in exchange for the same courtesy. I believe in being blessed to be a blessing and when we support others, it comes back ten fold.

Make this a regular thing on social media. For example, every Monday you could do #MompreneurMonday where you feature another mompreneur to highlight in your Instagram stories or #FeatureFriday where you feature a mompreneur and a cool project she is working on. If you do logo design work, reach out to a website designer at the beginning of the week and let her know that you are working on a #FeatureFriday post and would love to highlight one of her projects. Ask if she would be willing to do the same for you and feature one of your logo designs. Be intentional and set a time for the two of you to post on Friday so you know there is a mutual commitment (morning posts seem to do better than afternoon or evening posts).

You will find collaborations like this can be a great way to support others and get exposure for your business too. As a bonus tip, on Fridays you can also use the #FridayIntroductions hashtag. Whatever you decide, be creative and have fun with it!

FEATURE YOUR PREVIOUS PROJECTS

Don’t be shy about showcasing your work. Once a week create a post on social media to share a project you worked on for a client. Share some fun facts about the project and give your client a shout out in the process by tagging their Facebook page and Instagram accounts.

SPECIAL PRICING

To give your business a kickstart, put together some quick products and services you can offer for a special price. The key is to create urgency by giving the special pricing an end date. “Now through the end of August, I am helping eCommerce clients get started or rebrand with a custom logo for $_____ but this special pricing is only good through _________ {end date}.”

You are probably not the only business owner out there who needs to give their business a jump start and special pricing with a limited time offer could be exactly what your potential client needs to take action.

Continue Reading