How To Use Automation To Build Momentum With Your Freelance Side Hustle

Freelancing can be challenging, especially when it’s not your full-time career path. If you want to build momentum with your freelance career, I’ve got a few time-saving hacks that will help you a ton in your business. These hacks all involve automation and internet tools to save you time and help you connect with clients more traditionally, even when you are a student or living the 9-5 life.

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Write Emails And Send Them In The Future

If you are living the 9-5 life or you have another obligation where your time is busy during traditional business hours, you should be scheduling your emails. I am not talking about emails to your list. I am talking about one-on-one emails with potential clients and clients you already have.

Boundaries are essential for everyone. Even if you find yourself in the 9-5/5-9 grind, you should probably respect the boundaries your clients have and email during the day instead of all hours of the night. Work on the emails when you are working on your freelance business at night, then schedule them to send in the morning.

So, how can you do this? In the past, you would probably have to use a tool like Boomerang. Now Google has this capability built right into Gmail. Let’s see how this works.

First, draft your email like normal using Gmail. Once you are ready to send, press the arrow beside the send button. From there, you’ll see a button that says “schedule send,” click it.

Once you press this button, you will get a list of potential dates to send the email. You can pick those dates or a completely different one. Once you click a time, it will schedule the email. The great thing about scheduling emails is you can cancel them if you read over it again and you need to make some changes. It seems like canceled emails get sent to drafts, which is great because you don't have to rewrite them.

Thanks to the power of technology, you can send client emails at a time that makes more sense for your clients. Huzzah!

Schedule Out Your Social Media Updates

Next, let’s chat about scheduling social media updates. Social media is a great way to build your business, but you can’t be attached to Twitter and LinkedIn 24/7. Instead, you should spend one night a week scheduling out all your social media to promote your brand, ask your audience questions, and build your following.

There are a plethora of social media schedulers out there. I love Buffer for freelancers. It’s $15 per month or $144 per year, and it’s a pretty powerful tool. You can connect up to 8 profiles using the $15 version, and schedule 100 messages at a time for each of those profiles. There is also a free version if you don’t need a ton of scheduling power, it can schedule for three different social media networks. I need the $15 version because I use it for social for this blog, The Happy Arkansan, and my freelance business.

So, what do you post on social media? I have an in-depth post all about that on my lifestyle blog The Happy Arkansan, go check out my post 27 Things To Post On Social Media As A Freelancer.

Subscribe To Job Board Email Alerts/RSS Feeds

Job boards can be ruthless, y’all. If you’ve been on job boards like Pro Blogger, you know that these jobs often get hundreds of applicants. One easy way to stand out is to be one of the first applicants before clients get inundated with proposals.

One cool thing about sites like ProBlogger is you can sign up to get email alerts for specific keywords or subscribe to their RSS feed. For example, here, I am signing up for an alert for human resources jobs on ProBlogger. If this works as planned, I’ll get a notification every time someone posts a human resources related job on Pro Blogger.

If you are super specific about your niche, creating these alerts shouldn’t be a problem for you. I’d still check job boards in case something falls through the cracks, but keep an eye out for your inbox for new leads coming to you on auto-pilot.

Nurture Leads With An Email Sequence

Getting a lead is terrific, but what can you do to make sure they don’t fall through the cracks. You have to nurture them.

If you are using an email list to grow your brand, you should never let the leads collect dust. Instead, create an email sequence for their first week or so on your list.

To get people on your list, start with a lead magnet. As you can see by my site, I use a lead magnet to get you on my email list. It’s a great way to make a connection with your audience and turn them into email list leads.

Once they get your lead magnet, be sure to follow up with the email sequence. It doesn’t have to be long. A few emails over a few days talking about the product they just downloaded, your brand, and how they can work with you will do.

Your lead magnet should lead to something else. What is your next step? Be clear about that when building your freelance business?

Use A Platform Like Calendly To Schedule Client Calls

Last but not least, let’s talk about scheduling client calls. No one has time for the back and forth that comes with scheduling meetings. If you are scheduling a ton of meetings with clients and potential clients, Calendly will be your best friend.

Calendly allows you to set the parameters of your availability and send a link to this availability to anyone you want. From there, they can book space on your calendar when it works for them. You get an email with the meeting information; the time that was blocked off is taken off your Calendly. Calendly's tools make scheduling such a breeze. You don’t even have to think about it, just show up to the meetings when they are arranged.

Calendly is affordable too. If you are interested in trying it out, they have a free version which allows you to sync one calendar and have one event type. Starting at $10 per month or $96 per year, you can begin reaping the benefits of their premium offerings.

Conclusion

As you can see by today’s chat, automation can make your business so much more successful. By using simple tools, you can grow your brand faster than you ever thought imaginable. I hope these tips were helpful for you as you build your freelance business.