Ep 15 - Setting Boundaries for Freelancers - Interview With Sarah Townsend

Inspiring Women in Business

Is transitioning from employment to freelancing leaving you feeling that you have too many bosses instead of one? That can happen, and we don’t like that.

In this episode, I chat with Sarah Townsend, a freelance copywriter extraordinaire and author of Survival Skills for Freelancers. Sarah dropped in a lot of gems, especially about setting boundaries for freelancers and how this gives a full circle benefit for you and your client. Listen up and take some notes.

Key takeaways from this episode:

• The better your boundary is, the better you are at saying no. The better you are at getting clear on your process, the hours you work, what works for you, and your clients, the more fun and fulfilling your freelance career will be.
• There are boundaries that we have to set for our clients, and there are the boundaries we have to set for ourselves.
• When you're working with people you thoroughly enjoy working with, you enjoy the work. If it's a good fit with your business and where you want your business to go in the future, then that's when you do your best work.
• When you're doing your best work, and your clients are delighted with the work you're doing for them, they will happily write you a glowing testimonial, which you can share to attract more of the clients who do the work you do want to get involved with. They're more likely to refer you to their business friends.
• Clients don't care if you're working nine to five as long as you deliver high-quality work on time and within budget.
• Use email autoresponder. It frees up the time and headspace to know that you don’t need to keep checking your email, and it lets your clients know that you received their email. By doing this, you are sending this sort of secret signal that when you're working on projects for them, you're not going to get pulled off task every few moments by replying to emails for other clients.
• If you've sent a proposal to somebody and they haven't even had the decency to acknowledge the time and the effort that's gone into that, they’re probably not someone you would ever want to work with anyway,
• Appreciate the community around you and the need for connection and community. Everybody needs somebody. It's very easy to feel alone, isolated, and feel like you're the only person going through the challenges you're facing today.

Episode Timeline:

00:05 Episode and Guest Intro

00:42 Intro

02:11 About Sandy and what she does

03:17 Writing her book and what it did to her business

04:34 Sarah’s purpose for the book

07:47 Sarah’s career journey

09:49 Sarah’s transition journey

12:35 Advice on setting boundaries

20:40 The benefits of an email autoresponder

28:36 Ghosting over a proposal

34:43 Sarah’s best advice for those who want to transition to freelancing or business

38:13 On community of freelancers

39:17 How to connect with Sarah

40:17 Outro

About our guest:

Sarah Townsend is an experienced freelance copywriter, copy editor, and proofreader. She helps clients improve their communication – not only by using the right words but by using the best words.

She is also the writer of the book Survival Skills for Freelancers and is a mentor to a lot of freelancers.

Connect and know more about Sarah here:

Website: https://www.sarahtownsendeditorial.co.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahtownsendeditorial/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/STEcopywriting

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahtownsendeditorial

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stecopywriting/

More about Ruth:

Hi, I’m Ruth, a business coach specializing in helping freelancers and business owners adjust their mindset and marketing so they can get fully booked with clients they LOVE to work with. I’ve helped hundreds of self-employed women achieve the time and money freedom they craved.

I’ve started this podcast because when I first went all in and left the corporate world to be a freelancer, I was grateful for any work that came my way. After over 20 years of freelancing and working for other people, I started to realize I’d created a glass ceiling for myself.

In 2017, I finally started listening to that voice that had been telling me for a long time that I wasn’t doing what I loved and fulfilling my true potential. It took a critical illness to give me that wake-up call. I don’t want the same to happen to you.

You can expect practical advice, inspiring stories, and a lot of aha moments as we uncover and kick to the curb all the obstacles you have been putting in your way.

I’m on a mission to inspire women to start and play bigger in business.

Connect and know more about Ruth Gilbey here:

Coaching: https://www.ruthgilbey.com/coaching

Free stuff: https://www.ruthgilbey.com/next-client

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ruthgilbeymarketingandcoaching/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruth_gilbey/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthgilbey/