Episode 39: Smart Habits for Growing Your Freelance Career with Laura Briggs

Smart Habits for Translators

In today’s episode, we’ll talk about the mindset shift and strategies that are necessary when you’re ready to take your freelance translation or interpreting business to the next level. Whether you aspire to make more money as a freelancer or you simply want to reach the stage where you’re only working on ideal projects for ideal clients at ideal rates, you may find yourself with more questions than answers on how to get there.

When possible, we like to step outside of our professional bubble and talk to colleagues in other fields, especially creative ones, to get their perspectives and advice.

So, to discuss this topic with us today, we’ve invited a special guest: a six-figure freelance writer, coach, author, and fellow podcaster, Laura Briggs.

Laura Briggs is a teacher turned entrepreneur. She has coached over 11,000 freelancers and is the author of How to Start Your Own Freelance Writing Business (2019) and The Six-Figure Freelancer (2020.) Her third and fourth books will be released in 2022.

Here’s a summary of our conversation with Laura:

• How Laura started her freelance career and how her business evolved over time

• Who she serves and what services she offers

• What her typical workday looks like and what changes she had to make due to the COVID-19 pandemic

• How her books and her podcast came about and the topics she covers

• Laura’s tips for freelancers on how to manage imposter syndrome, especially when you try to grow your business

• How one plans for growth in their freelance business, and more importantly, how one actually implements those plans

• Strategies for dealing with variable income and the lack of stability that freelancers often struggle with

• Laura’s advice on specializing and choosing a niche

• How Laura protects boundaries between work and personal life

• What other smart habits have been crucial in her career

Resources we mentioned in this episode:

• Learn more about Laura’s freelance coach business: Better Biz Academy

• Connect with Laura on LinkedIn

• Join Laura’s Facebook group: Mastering Your Freelance Life with Laura: Becoming A Six Figure Freelancer

• Get a free copy of the first two chapters of Laura’s book, The Six-Figure Freelancer

• The Deliberate Freelancer podcast by Melanie Padgett Powers

• ClickUp: A project management tool

• Focus@Will: Personalized focus music to help you get stuff done

• Boomerang: A productivity app for your inbox

• Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself by Mike Michalowicz

Get a full list of links and resources for this episode:

https://smarthabitsfortranslators.com/podcast-episodes/39