Shownotes
Discover the inspiring journey of Jan Slovnik, a marketer who transitioned from the Google Ads agency world to freelancing. Join the conversation on navigating the freelancing landscape with Jan's valuable experiences and insights. Listen to this episode now.
Gain insights into his self-discovery, landing the first client, and growing a freelancing career. Furthermore, learn valuable tips on charging rates, focusing on output, expanding your client base through LinkedIn and referrals, and more.
Connect with Jan here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janslovni...
Watch the full video here:
🚀 Expert Insights: How to Start Your Freelancing Career with Jan Slovnik:
• 🚀 Expert Insights: How to Start Your ...
0:00 Starting Your Freelancing Career
3:23 Transitioning to freelancing
6:59 Make sure you cover your core expenses first
9:53 Client acquisition
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Transcripts
Scottson with the Daily Google News and I'm here with my buddy Jan Slonik.
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:Yes.
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:How did I do?
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:Good.
5
:Yeah.
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:Long time YouTube subscriber,
asks brilliant questions.
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:One of the sharpest guys that
shows up to our live regularly.
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:How long have you been
watching us on the tubes?
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:I think I've subscribed
before you had 1k subscribers.
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:Nice.
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:I was going to say back when we
didn't know what we were doing.
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:The truth is we still don't
know what we're doing.
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:Yeah.
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:But in the infancy of the YouTube
days, super appreciate you, man.
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:You've always been just like so engaged.
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:and you bring hard questions and
those are my favorite people.
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:Cause it means you're thinking, so if
you're watching this, Jan moved from
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:the agency world to the freelance world.
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:And I love those stories because
I feel like so many people.
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:Need to do that in art, maybe, or want to
do it and don't know how, we're going to
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:hopefully get there a little bit young.
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:Tell us if you don't mind
just a little bit of your
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:background, a little of the story.
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:Yeah, maybe I just want to touch
on, because you said a lot of
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:people don't know how I think a
lot of people are scared to do it.
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:Yeah, because.
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:Like it's a hard, like move
to make, whenever something
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:is hard, I feel like you grow.
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:I think it's really important
to ask yourself those questions.
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:If you are a right person to do something
like this, and if you can do it, or
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:at least try to do it, it's going to
make you grow no matter if you go back
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:to work for someone else, or if you're
going to stay a freelancer, I think I
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:grew like personally and on a business
level the most since I've moved.
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:So it's been good three years now.
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:started in an agency, because my
brother is an agency owner, but
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:I quickly figured out it wasn't
for me, like the nine to five.
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:I'm not a morning person.
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:It was really hard for me to get up.
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:like to stay up late at night.
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:I figured and also he figured out
like after a year and a half ish
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:that it just wasn't working right.
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:This isn't where you're most effective.
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:I want to meditate on
that for just a minute.
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:we, for some weird reason globally, like
to shame people that don't fit in the box.
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:I agree.
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:there's something about it.
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:It was like, Oh, you don't conform.
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:And so you need to feel
bad about yourself.
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:You're doing it wrong.
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:it's such a flawed model
because often not to pander, but
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:those are the sharpest people.
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:Those are people that really should maybe
be given the flexibility that they need
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:to go do the thing that they're doing.
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:And my business partner,
John Moran is he's like that.
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:John's a night owl stays up
two o'clock in the morning.
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:John is horrible at.
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:Following processes, John doesn't
do a bunch of things that if we were
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:a night, not brick and mortar, but
ivory tower, white glove agency,
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:like he wouldn't have lasted 30 days.
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:And yet he's the best Google
ads guy in the whole wide world.
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:what I'd love to do, and this is more for
our listeners and our viewers, Yohan, than
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:it is for you, but I love what you said.
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:Oh, I figured out this didn't work for me.
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:Yeah.
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:That's okay.
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:Stop trying to smash yourself into a box.
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:Like you're Play Doh you're not, if
people really like the nine to five
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:and they feel really comfortable
with the security and they're like,
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:gosh, I have a ton of fun being here.
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:Awesome.
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:If not, there's nothing wrong
with you and do what Jan did and
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:take the leap, which is scary.
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:So talk to us about that.
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:Like year and a half in the
agency, you figured out like, all
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:right, this isn't really my jam.
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:Were you scared?
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:Were you ready?
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:How did that feel?
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:I definitely wasn't ready.
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:I wouldn't say I was scared 'cause
I'm, not such a person to be like,
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:intimidated by something I feel.
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:I just go with the flow.
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:What happens.
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:I'll figure it out in a way.
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:but can just step back a bit ' cause
I think it's important ' I think
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:it starts in school, right?
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:Because you just, learn.
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:A wide variety of topics and you can
be only good at one, but the school
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:system tells you are you're bad, right?
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:But if you're good at that one
thing, just do that one thing, right?
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:And just do it great.
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:And things are going to
work out for you, I feel.
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:don't think I was scared but yeah, now
that I have eight clients I manage eight
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:clients with my girlfriend as well.
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:Business is going great.
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:how did you get your very first client?
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:Cause that's every freelancer's
biggest problem is where does
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:my first client come from?
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:basically my girlfriend was working
with a guy that was working as a
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:freelancer for another company.
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:And he said that they needed a Google ads.
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:Advertiser.
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:It was easy to get the first one.
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:so that's the story that I hear from a lot
of people is they started their freelance
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:career after a client fell into their lap.
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:And so really for those watching that
want to start freelance, maybe that's
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:the key is run a flag up the pole,
on LinkedIn, put the word out, start
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:talking to your network and just let
people know, Hey, I'm interested.
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:And you don't have to
quit your job, by the way.
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:You can work your job, work freelance
on the side, and then figure it out.
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:How did you decide what to charge them?
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:How did you know what to bill?
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:basically the agreement it was
about a minimum wage for Slovenia.
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:So let's say you get about a
thousand euro net in Slovenia.
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:It's a bit lower or it was
a bit lower at the time.
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:when I went as a freelancer, you
have to open a sole proprietorship
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:and you have to pay taxes.
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:So it was like a thousand
plus the taxes, let's say.
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:So I knew I was covered like,
on the lowest level I could be.
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:And then I was like, okay, I'll get
through the day with this kind of money.
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:and the initial agreement was
that I will be working, eight
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:hours a day for that company.
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:and I also did, and I still do
some Facebook advertising for them.
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:but nowadays don't do closely to
eight hours a day for that company.
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:But I don't think that matters At the end
is what you bring to the table, right?
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:how well you can do your job, right?
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:so you just said something that
I think is really brilliant.
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:The 1st piece of the freelancing
model for me is you have to cover
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:your nut, make sure that you
can cover your core expenses.
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:And then once you've done that.
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:Now, you can start to be branch
out, be more sophisticated, have
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:higher end clients, but covering
your core expenses is critical.
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:Number 1 number 2, the thing that I really
liked is avoid anything that's hourly.
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:It's not about the time in.
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:It's about the output.
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:What is it that you're doing?
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:What is it that you're pushing out?
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:that's the freelance model.
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:If you're going to be paid hourly,
go be an employee somewhere.
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:That's my opinion, I don't
want to project that onto you.
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:Do you agree or do you work
on an hourly I totally agree.
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:I really rarely work on an hourly basis.
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:If I know it's going to be a really
short project, for example, I might
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:go with hourly rate, but I really
try to avoid it as much as I can.
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:Yeah.
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:And so if you've got eight clients,
how did you get the other seven?
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:I think for about a year, I
only had that one client and I
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:didn't feel like even I was capable
enough to take on more clients
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:because I was still figuring it out.
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:So I was mostly working for on
Google ads Sometimes I felt like
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:had no clue what I was doing.
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:And that's where your channel came in.
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:It doesn't go away, by the way,
Jan, I still have this doing
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:something, I still have this.
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:but at least now I know, okay, I can do
it at the decent level, To put it mildly.
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:I was still figuring out a lot of stuff.
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:I was watching your channel, like I
still do basically daily and that's how I
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:leveled up my knowledge everything I do.
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:And then, I got the 2nd client
after, I think it was just about
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:a year, maybe a year and 2 months.
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:After the first one, and they
reached out to me on LinkedIn.
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:It was, an agency that, was looking for
a digital agency that was looking for a
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:Google ads advertiser because, they didn't
have a proper one in house, let's say.
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:and I, still work with them to this day.
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:And, I work on two projects with them.
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:is awesome.
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:I love that they came from
LinkedIn, by the way, I feel like
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:LinkedIn is, Underappreciated.
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:And it's a really good
opportunity to do some networking.
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:not that cold outreach jump in your
DMS BS, but like some honest to
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:goodness, real networking and outreach.
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:if a meteor hit my business tomorrow and
I had to just pound the pavement and get
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:new work, would be on LinkedIn for me.
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:it's just so many people are so
accessible and if you'll take the time
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:to really get to know them and their
needs, I get that question a lot.
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:What do you find clients?
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:I think LinkedIn is a good place,
but it's not just Oh, can I do your
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:Google ads via direct messenger?
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:it's being, intelligent and sophisticated
and having good conversations.
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:I don't even do that much
on LinkedIn on its own.
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:So it's surprising to me how many.
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:outreaches I get, like how many
people write to me that they need help
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:with something or even job offers.
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:And I basically always decline them
because they want someone, on the site.
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:And I'm like, no, I'm really grateful.
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:I can do this freelancing work from my
home, especially I'm a big introvert,
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:even though it might not show.
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:I learned how to be an extrovert,
let's say, but, In my core, I'm
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:still a huge introvert and I really
don't like big groups of people.
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:And that's why this didn't work for me.
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:most of my clients came
from LinkedIn or referrals.
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:Someone knew someone that needed
help that's the easiest way.
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:and I feel like the longer you
are in business, More people
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:will just reach out to you.
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:Work flows to the competent.
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:That's exactly right.
