The Conscious Freelancer
Sofia Silva
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Yes, it is possible to have a both profitable and meaningful freelance business! You don't have to trade freedom for meaning, or meaning for money... Or at least that's what I'm trying to prove, while I grow my freelance business by working only with clients that are making a positive impact in someway. Here I'll share one weekly actionable idea, that can help you grow your own freelance business consciously. Sometimes by myself, sometimes with other conscious freelancers and entrepreneurs. All with something in common: trying to achieve wealth, meaning and freedom.
Available episodes
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Oldest first
6 days ago
#2 - My first experience hiring other freelancers to help me
This month I hired other freelancers for the first time. I realized I could deliver more value to my clients by collaborating with people that are good at stuff I’m not, like illustration.
It was a terrifying, but it was worth every cent!
If your freelance business is at a point where you can afford to take some risk, then this idea is for you: deliver more value to your clients by hiring someone to do stuff you’re not so good at.
You can also:
Get a summarized version of the weekly ideas on your inbox
Check out my content and interact with me on Instagram
Or Tiktok
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Jun 14, 2022
#1 - Share your knowledge online in an authentic way
I believe that posting intentionally and in an authentic way on one social media, is better than just firing random content on all of them. Last week I started posting consistently on Linkedin for the first time. This time, not aiming for the likes, hollow comments or views, but aiming instead for creating meaningful connections.
This is my challenge for you this week: start sharing your knowledge on social media, in any form. Just make sure it’s authentic and intentional. Let’s do it?
You can also:
Get a summarized version of the weekly ideas on your inbox
Check out my content and interact with me on Instagram
Or Tiktok
Connect with me on Linkedin
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Jun 7, 2022
Start here - what is the conscious freelancer podcast?
If you are confused by the first 20 or so episodes, or are not sure if this podcast is for you, then please listen to this short introduction about what's a conscious freelancer and why I started this podcast.
Here I share a weekly actionable idea to help you grow your own conscious freelance business. Besides subscribing, you can also:
Get a summarized version of the weekly idea on your inbox
Watch the backstage of my business and interact with me on Instagram and TikTok
Talk soon changemaker!
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May 24, 2022
019. Top 5 insights from books I've read
I once listened to audiobooks every day while driving to work. Now I've been building the reading habit again (this time really reading) and thought it could be interesting to share what stood out to me the most about all the books I've read or listened to. In this episode I share 1 insight that stuck with me from each of these books:
* The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind - T. Harv Eker
* The 4 hour work week - Tim Ferriss
* Good morning good life - Amy Landino
* The subtle art of not giving a fuck - Mark Manson
* The four agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz
My links:
Instagram
Newsletter
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May 17, 2022
018. Handling your first discovery calls
My biggest fear when I started freelancing: selling my services through a Zoom call. It's tempting to avoid discovery calls, but they are a really important part of (almost) every freelance project.
I decided to talk about the basic basics. Not about sales techniques, or how you should structure them, or schedule them. I speak about how to be less nervous, actually connect with the person on the other side and most importantly: actually start doing the calls!
My links:
Instagram
Newsletter
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May 10, 2022
017. Dealing with perfectionism
Perfectionism... one of the creatives biggest struggle. It stops us from delivering work in reasonable time, but, most importantly, it stops us from showing unfinished work for feedback. I have struggled with perfectionism my whole life, and I finally believe I've gotten pretty good at managing it. In this episode I share my perfectionist story and what helped me get better at dealing with this feeling.
My links:
Instagram
Newsletter
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May 3, 2022
016. Pricing design services
How the f*** do I price creativity? I think this is one of the most common questions among beginner freelancers, and also something most people don't talk openly about.
In this episode I try to deconstruct how I price my design services in the most honest way possible. I cover pricing per hour vs per project, how to know your hourly rate, what else to consider when pricing your services and why you shouldn't think about "market price". Hope this helps you!
Audio editing: Raquel Silvestre
Stuff I talked about:
Toggl
My links:
Instagram
Newsletter
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Apr 26, 2022
015. Setting goals and actually sticking to them
If you set goals, but don’t have an action plan for them, they don’t serve you much. But if you set random daily habits just because it’s a “healthy habit” or a “successful habit”, you probably won’t stick to them. This month I had a major breakthrough about why I can't stick to any goal for a long time: they aren't exciting enough. In this episode I talk about what I did to create more exciting goals and how I'm approaching the creation of daily habits to achieve them.
Audio editing: Raquel Silvestre
Stuff I talked about:
* The Subtle Art School
My links:
* Instagram
* Newsletter
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Apr 12, 2022
014. How to build a design portfolio and actually update it
One of the first things you need to do to become a freelance designer is to create a portfolio. And if you're already a freelance designer, it's very possible that you don't update it as often as you want to. Yeah, I also don't...
On this episode I give you my take on what makes a portfolio good, and also a strategy to make yourself update it more often.
Audio editing: Raquel Silvestre
Stuff I talked about:
• WebHS hosting
• Elementor plugin for Wordpress
• Behance
My links:
• Instagram
• Newsletter
• Portfolio
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Apr 5, 2022
013. How I more than doubled my freelance income in 3 months
After spending 2 years earning less than the minimum wage in Portugal with my freelance design business, I managed to hit the 2K mark in March 2022. So what did I do differently? This is the question I try to answer in this episode. I take you through these past 3 months where I finally fully commited myself to my freelance business, and share the biggest shifts I made to reach this goal.
Audio editing: Raquel Silvestre
Stuff I talked about:
12 ways to work online course (available only in portuguese) use the PROMO CODE "sofiadasilva15" for 15% discount - I earn a small comission, so it's a win win :)
Christopher Dodd Upwork course
My links:
Newsletter
Instagram
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Mar 29, 2022
012. Increase your freelance design income with brand strategy - with Mike Lawson
Ever wondered if you are really helping your client's business? Do you want to increase your freelance income, but you don't know how? Today's episode is all about brand strategy and how it is a super important skill for freelance designers, specially if you want to start charging higher prices.
I'm no expert on this (not even close!), that's why I invited Mike to discuss this topic. He's an experienced brand strategist and in this episode he takes you through how he started learning and selling strategy to his clients. Big, big value on this one!
Audio editing: Raquel Silvestre
Stuff we talked about:
The Futur Academy
Chris Do
Flux Academy
Joel - @go.boss.yourself
Mike's links:
Instagram
Linkedin
My links:
Newsletter
Instagram
Linkedin
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Mar 22, 2022
011. How to deal with the ups and downs of freelancing
Freelancing can be quite the rollercoaster... I became a freelancer to have freedom, but it isn't all rainbows and sunshines (like anything in life really). It's up to us to implement strategies to help us create that freedom and security. In a nutshell: use the up phases to prepare for the down phases of our freelance business. In this episode I share some strategies that I'm using to achieve this balance.
Get weekly reminders of the podcast and exclusive content on my newsletter
Connect with me on Instagram or Linkedin
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Mar 15, 2022
010. How I got my first UX design freelance client
Recently I shared the progress of my first UX client project on Instagram, and some people were curious about how I got that client without even finishing my course. Today I'm sharing exactly that: How I got my first UX design freelance client and some tips so you can get yours too. I also answer another listener's question: how to pitch yourself when you have no experience at all. Or at least I try... I'm still figuring this all out, you know?
Audio editing: Raquel Silvestre
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Mar 8, 2022
009. Project management and work-life balance - with Raquel Silvestre
Work-life balance is a tricky topic... one I didn't feel comfortable tackling on my own. So I decided to speak about this with my friend Raquel, who works as a project manager and also has some side projects going on like me.
We talked about different project management strategies and how we both try to achieve a healthy work-life balance in different ways. The key word is: try. We have a lot to improve in this subject, like everyone else, but we hope you can learn something from our experiences :)
Things we talked about:
• Toggl
• Notion
• Asana
My links:
Get episode reminders and updates on my UX/ freelance journey on your email here
Instagram
Linkedin
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Mar 1, 2022
008. How to get creative design ideas
Nope, my idea overwhelm syndrome doesn’t apply to getting creative ideas for designs. I wish! I often feel like I’m always looking at the same kind of inspiration and creating similar design work. Do you feel like that too?
I have done some changes to how I search for inspiration over the last couple years, but there’s still a lot I could be exploring. In this episode I cover the changes I made to my creative process and share some strategies I will try to implement in the future to get even more creative design ideas.
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Feb 22, 2022
007 - Changing to UX design from a completely different industry - with Catarina Silva
(If the background noise is bothering you, please don't leave, just skip ahead to 8min and it gets MUCH better!) Today I talk with my friend Catarina about her own UX journey so far. She recentely finished a UX design course and is in the process of building her portfolio. We talk about our different experiences in our courses, our goals and how UX design is much more than just the buttons.
Catarina's profiles:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/catarinaptsilva/
https://www.instagram.com/catsilva8/
Other pages we mentioned:
https://www.allwomen.tech/
https://www.coursera.org/professional-certificates/google-ux-design
https://remoteportugal.pt/
https://remoteworkmovement.com/
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Feb 15, 2022
006. What I've learned (or not) so far in the UX design course
So, what changed since I started learning UX design? Before starting to learn a new skill, we all have preconceived ideas about what it will be like. In this episode I share with you some things I learned in the Google UX Design Course that stood out to me, as well as some misconceptions I had that proved themselves wrong.
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Feb 8, 2022
005. Impostor syndrome - Building confidence in our value as designers
Lack of confidence can be really limiting as a freelance designer. After discipline, this was my biggest struggle in my freelance journey. Impostor syndrome affects your ability to sell your services, to create connections and also the way you deal with feedback and are able to present your work in progress to clients.
If you suffer from this, I know how you feel! It isn’t as simple as “just being more confident”. In this episode I share some strategies that helped me, step by step, gain confidence in my value as a designer and finally be able to do great (and even enjoy) discovery calls.
You can get in touch with me via Instagram: https://bit.ly/3KIz1oe or Linkedin: https://bit.ly/35vXhtP
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Feb 1, 2022
004. How to choose design tools - do they really matter?
We’re now in 2022 and new design tools keep coming out. It’s always a guessing game, new tools may optimize your process in a big way, but they may as well be a complete waste of time. In this episode I try to deconstruct what makes a tool worth learning, with the help of some suggestions from my designer listeners.
If you are a begginer designer or even if you’ve been designing for a while, you might be confused by all the tools available out there. I recorded this to help you get some clarity on what you should look for in a tool, and also why you shouldn’t care that much about them anyway.
PS At the start of the episode I give you an update on my January goals and share my goals for February. If you want to skip it, jump to 5m50s
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Jan 25, 2022
003. Building consistency and discipline as a freelance designer
Consistency, my biggest struggle so far since I started freelancing and creating content. Do you struggle with consistency and discipline as well?
In this episode I talk about how the lack of consistency hugely delayed my progress and how I’m managing to, little by little, build that discipline muscle.
I also share some advice my listeners shared on Instagram. If you want to participate in the podcast too, follow me on Instagram @sofiadasilva.me and look out for polls and question boxes, where you can share your thoughts, questions and advice.
PS. The book I mentioned is NOT called The life changing magic of not giving an F. It's actually "The subtle art of not giving an F" by Mark Manson. I got confused with a similar book
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Jan 18, 2022
002. Where to find clients? My experience as a beginner freelancer
Where can I find clients as a begginer freelancer? If you are struggling with this then this episode is for you. I share my experience with the various ways of finding clients I tried in my last 1 and a half years as a freelance designer, as well as what strategies I'm focusing on right now. I would love to know if I helped you somehow: if you want to share something with me or ask me a question, get in touch through Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sofiadasilva.me/ or Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofiadasilvame/ See you there!
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Jan 11, 2022
001. What to do when you have too many interests - why I chose UX design
I have a struggle you may identify with: idea overwhelm. That paralysed me for years and really limited my progress as a freelancer. In this episode I talk about my story as I navigated through my many interests, and what made me realize I wanted to learn UX design. At the end I share some tips on how you too can find your passions and combine them in your freelance work and/or side projects. I would love to know if I helped you somehow: if you want to share something with me or ask me a question, get in touch through Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sofiadasilva.me/ or Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofiadasilvame/ See you there!
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