Smarter Freelancing: Freelance Work | Getting Clients | Freelance Writing | Freelance Design | Ed Gandia

I remember when one of my female colleagues first told me about the struggles many self-employed women face. It was about 10 years ago.

"Yes, there's discrimination," she said. "But much of it is self-sabotage. We just weren't brought up like men. We're not supposed to be driven and assertive."

I was shocked.

Yet the more I talked with other women freelancers and entrepreneurs, the more I realized that this is a huge issue.

We've addressed this issue before here at the Academy. In fact, Dianna Huff's detailed post a few years ago is one of the most shared articles on our website.

But in this week's episode my pal Coach Jenn Lee shares a few more insights on the issue — along with a few great ideas for breaking out of this cycle.

Who said you had to limit yourself to your core services as a freelancer?And who said you couldn't launch a separate side business that allows you to practice a hobby or passion?That's one of the beauties of self-employment. You can chart your own course and make your own rules.In today's episode, I interview my VP of operations, Crystal Coleman. Crystal has been instrumental in helping me grow my coaching and training business over the past 4-1/2 years. One of the many things I admire about her is how she's recently taken a passion of hers and turned it into a rapidly growing side business. Not only that, she's involved both her kids in virtually every aspect of this venture. And that alone has made the whole concept hugely successful.In this interview, she explains what she's doing ... what she's learned ... and what you need to know to make a sideline work for you.

Michael Port's Book Yourself Solid was one of the most important books I read when I was freelancing part time while working my day job.

It was a big reason why I was able to grow my business so quickly.

I loved how Michael broke down the process of filling up your pipeline with high-quality clients. He described the process in a very methodical way that I could understand. But he also addressed the critical "softer" side of building a solo business.

In this interview, I get to chat with Michael for the first time. It was fun to finally have a conversation with someone who shaped my thinking at this critical juncture of my business.

But I was also a bit nervous — especially early in the conversation — until I finally got my footing.

I guess I was a bit star-struck! :)

This episode is NOT a step-by-step training class on how to book yourself solid. But I hope it gives you a handful of ideas for making positive changes in your business.

Ten years ago, when LinkedIn was new, the "newness" of the medium made it stand out.

I remember how easy it was to connect with prospects and start productive dialogue.

But as hundreds of millions of professionals have joined this social network, it's become harder to stand out and drum up great leads.

That doesn't mean you should ignore LinkedIn. It just means you have to be more strategic and deliberate about HOW you use it.

In this episode, LinkedIn expert and author of the new book The LinkedIn Code, Melonie Dodaro, shares simple and very specific steps you can take to find great prospects (and land freelance work) through LinkedIn.

Are you having trouble getting clients to pay you what you're worth?Sick of all the low-cost providers who are bringing down prices in the creative arena?I have a different take on all this. And that's exactly what I'm discussing in this week's show. Once you understand what's really going on, you'll have a key piece to solving the "getting higher fees" puzzle.