Rather than telling you about yet more things you should be doing in your freelance language teaching business, I thought I’d try a different approach.
Because there’s an awful lot of advice out there about what you supposedly HAVE to do to be successful. You need a niche, you need to be posting consistently, you need to be reaching out to potential clients every day…
And if you’re trying to do all of that, on top of actually delivering your services, it’s hardly surprising if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed.
So, here are three things you DON’T have to do in your business. Cue big sigh of relief.
1. You don’t necessarily have to find your niche first
I’m a big believer in having a clear niche. It makes marketing so much easier if you’re focused on delivering a tangible result to a specific group of people.
You can make sure that your social media posts and other marketing materials really ‘speak’ to those people. You can develop an offer that’s closely matched to what they need. And it makes you much more referrable. (‘I know someone who’d be perfect to help you!’)
However, what I see time and again is people getting really stuck trying to work out what their niche is, or should be. They feel they can’t get started until they’ve worked it all out, and somehow it never does really become clear.
If this sounds familiar, I’d say that it may well be better to start with a working idea of your niche and refine it as you go, rather than thinking you have to find the perfect niche before you can get started.
You can do this by:
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Working out what kind of work you really enjoy and which flows naturally for you (assuming, of course, that there are people who will be happy to pay for it).
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Watching carefully what kinds of people follow you and interact with what you’re doing, particularly when they seem genuinely interested in your expertise.
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Asking people why they hired you. Their answers may illuminate something you offer that you’d never really thought about.
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Noticing which kinds of clients get the best results from working with you, and where you seem to be able to make the biggest difference.
And bear in mind that a niche doesn’t necessarily have to be built around a particular type of course or a particular profession, such as IELTS preparation or business people.
You might find your niche in coming in and rescuing ELT writing projects that have gone horribly off track, for example. Or perhaps you discover that you’re particularly good at working with people who lack confidence in their English, despite already having a reasonable level.
The important thing is that you’re gradually building a clearer picture of who you want to help, what they need and why they might choose to work with you.
I wouldn’t recommend trying to market yourself to absolutely everyone while you wait for inspiration to strike. But equally, you don’t need to have every last detail worked out before you can start putting yourself out there.
Sometimes the clarity comes from actually doing the work.
2. You don’t have to be posting regularly on ALL the social media channels
In fact, I’d actively advise against it.
It may seem that, especially with scheduling tools, it’s no big deal to post the same thing across five different platforms. But that fails to recognise how social media actually works.
It’s not (only) about what you post. It’s about how you build trust and relationships with the people you want to reach.
And that doesn’t happen by posting and running.
It’s called social media for a reason. It’s supposed to be social!
Using social media effectively means responding to comments on your posts, reading and commenting on other people’s content, and generally networking just as you would face to face.
Posting and running is the equivalent of throwing a handful of business cards into a meeting room and expecting everyone to pick one up and call you.
Now, of course, there’s nothing wrong with repurposing content across different platforms. It can be a sensible use of your time. But you also need to think about whether the people you actually want to work with are there, and whether you have the time and energy to develop relationships on those platforms.
Otherwise, you’re just creating more work for yourself.
And I’d go a step further. You don’t necessarily have to be posting constantly on even ONE platform.
For example, you might find that commenting thoughtfully on posts written by people your ideal clients follow, or getting involved in relevant conversations, brings you more useful visibility than continually producing your own content.
Or perhaps you’d rather put your energy into writing a regular newsletter, developing your website, building referral relationships or appearing as a guest on podcasts.
The important thing is to choose marketing activities that make sense for your business, your audience and your own strengths.
So, start with one platform, or perhaps two at the most, and learn how to use them effectively before trying to do more.
And please don’t feel that you need to be everywhere. You really don’t.
3. You don’t need to cold call or cold message people
To be honest, I’ve never done this anyway, as it never felt comfortable to me.
But I speak to a lot of freelancers who think it’s the only way to go, and who invest quite large sums of money in LinkedIn Premium or various prospecting tools so they can contact people who’ve never heard of them and may have absolutely no interest in what they’re offering.
Harsh? Maybe a bit.
Cold messaging absolutely can work if you have the persistence, the right approach and a fairly thick skin. And I’m certainly not saying that you should never contact someone you don’t already know.
But I’ve managed to build a successful business without sending endless unsolicited sales messages, and I know it’s possible for other freelancers to do the same.
Again, it comes back to building relationships.
If the content you share on social media, through blog posts, newsletters, podcasts, webinars and so on really ‘speaks’ to the people you want to work with, you’re giving them opportunities to discover you and get a sense of what you can help them with.
They need to know that you understand their situation, that you have the expertise to help them get the results they’re looking for, and that you’re someone they’d actually like to work with.
And that often takes time.
Someone might follow you for weeks or months before they’re ready to take things any further. They might attend a webinar, read a few of your emails or have a conversation with you on LinkedIn before they even start seriously considering your services.
But I do think there’s a danger in assuming that if you just share enough good content, people will automatically come knocking on your door.
You also need to be clear about what you offer and make it easy for people to take the next step.
That might mean inviting someone to download a useful resource, asking whether they’d like more information about an offer, or suggesting a conversation when there’s a genuine reason to think you could help.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with following up with someone who’s already shown an interest in what you do, or making a thoughtful connection with someone you’d like to get to know professionally.
That’s very different from sending dozens of generic messages to strangers, immediately pitching your services and hoping that one or two of them might say yes.
You can be proactive about building your business without turning into someone who spends their days chasing people around LinkedIn.
And, personally, I think it’s a much more pleasant way to do business.
So, what SHOULD you be doing?
Well, I’m not going to spoil the whole point of this article by giving you another enormous list of things you ought to be doing!
But I would encourage you to think carefully about where your time and energy are going.
Because just because something works for another business owner doesn’t mean it’s necessarily right for you.
Perhaps you’ve been told you need to start a podcast, or create an online course, or build a huge following on Instagram. But before you add yet another activity to your to-do list, ask yourself how it’s actually going to help you achieve your goals.
Are your ideal clients there? Does it make sense for the kind of offer you’re selling? Is it something you can realistically sustain alongside delivering your services?
And what might you have to STOP doing in order to make room for it?
I’ve found that building a successful freelance business often involves making decisions about what not to do, just as much as deciding what to focus on.
So rather than trying to follow every piece of business advice you come across, work out what matters most for your particular business, choose a few things to focus on and give them a proper chance to work.
You can always change direction as you learn more about what works for you and your clients.
And hopefully, that means a little less overwhelm and a business that’s actually moving in the direction you want it to go.
Want to build a business that works for you?
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the things you think you should be doing, or you’re struggling to decide where to focus your efforts, you might find my Business Strategy and Growth Resource Centre useful.
I’ve brought together practical articles and videos to help freelance language professionals make clearer decisions about their businesses, develop offers that work for them and their clients, and grow without constantly adding more to their workload.