6 Things They Don’t Teach You In Freelance School

Brad Bartlett
4 min readMay 1, 2023

If you’re gonna make it in the freelance game, you’ll have to learn some unexpected lessons.

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Freelancing can be an incredibly rewarding career path that offers flexibility, creativity, and the opportunity to pursue your passions.

But here’s the deal — there’s a lot you won’t learn from any online course or textbook about what it really takes to be a successful freelancer.

I’ve been out on my own for nearly 4 years now and there’s still a lot I’m learning along the way. Some lessons can only be learned the hard way — and often that’s the best way.

But if I can help spare you some of the bumps and bruises I’ve experienced, here are 6 things they don’t teach you in freelance school:

1. It Takes Time To Build A Client Base

Most freelancing courses focus on teaching you how to create attractive portfolios, send proposals, and approach clients.

And boy, do they make it look easy!

But what they don’t tell you is that it takes time and effort to build a solid client base. You’ll likely have to send out countless proposals and pitch yourself dozens of times before you land your first paying gig.

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Brad Bartlett

Professional Freelance Copywriter. (www.bradleebartlett.co) Musings on #freelancing, #productivity, #self-development, and more!