I love learning from other successful freelancers and online business owners. It’s how I got so smart! ?

And from what you’ve told me, you do too! So each week (almost), we’re going to interview someone new for us all to learn from. (Check out the last one we published with Carly Ottaway.)

Today we chat with Angela J. Ford. She’s a freelance marketing strategist and a creative writer. Angela is also a published author, with a full series under her belt. I know that a lot of the freelance writers in our community are also writing fiction, so I hope you’ll learn a lesson or two from Angela’s journey, and how she combines freelancing with her own passion project.

Thanks for joining us, Angela!

What do you do and how long have you been in business?

I love my job!

I have the honor of working with passionate people who intentionally choose their lifestyle, but don’t have time to do everything. Most of their pain points are related to technology and that’s where I come in. I build beautiful websites and create marketing strategies to help entrepreneurs build a thriving business. I have been doing this work for three years.

What got you into freelancing?

After graduating from college, I wasn’t able to make the income I wanted.

Instead of picking up yet another part-time job, I began freelancing to allow me pick and choose what I did and when I worked. It certainly wasn’t what I expected, in a good way!

The first year I was pleasantly surprised at how much extra income I was able to make.

What’s been most challenging so far?

The constant outreach to potential clients has been one of the most challenging parts. It helps to have a process for outreach and follow up to keep the consistent cash flow.

Pro Tip: Here’s how Gina does client outreach.

Did you ever want to quit or give up?

The answer is NO.

I have certainly wanted to move in a different direction with my business. Although it has always been centered around marketing, I do less content creation, proofreading and editing. The main reason for that is because there are other things I enjoy and am much better at doing.

As I continue to grow and learn, I spend less time doing the things I can do, but don’t love, and more time specializing on the things that I’m completely awesome at!

What would you love to pay some to take off of your plate?

Sourcing quality leads! I have a system in place for marking my services visible to others, but if someone else could do it for me, I’d love that!

What task in your own business would you like to do more of?

1:1 marketing coaching calls are one of my favorite things to do.

I would love to be booked up with marketing coaching calls. Everyone’s business is unique and it’s fun helping them come up with ideas and strategies to help move their businesses forward.

What are some big successes you’ve had recently?

One of my visibility strategies has been getting on podcasts and doing more interviews. The feedback I’ve heard from some of those interviews has been phenomenal.

Being Top Rated on Upwork was excellent for bringing in quality clients that are fun to work with.

It’s key to have an online reputation and be clear on expectations in order have that high quality work ethic and review.

One of my other biggest successes was writing and publishing my first fantasy novel. Since childhood I’ve been writing a fantasy novel series. After college I started re-writing the series and released the first book, The Five Warriors, in September of 2015. The reception and reviews have been amazing!

What are some specific strategies, tactics or pieces of advice that helped you grow?

One of the best mindsets I have is to treat everyone’s project like it’s my own.

When you do that, you truly have to be passionate and excited about the projects you are working on. Having that excitement and motivation helps to make a project go smoothly, as well as ask the right questions.

What are you most excited about for your business in 2016?

Collaborating with other amazing entrepreneurs and small business owners.

People are the heart of any project and I’m a just an extrovert. My mission this year is to focus on building and nurturing those relationships!

Angela is passionate about helping creative entrepreneurs spend more time doing work they love. She provides expert guidance on WordPress, marketing plans and social media. You can read about her work as a fiction author on The Four Worlds Series or follow her on Instagram.