What It's About
A freelancer hits her target zone designing for health and wellness professionals.
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
Jess has some great advice for freelancers starting out, "I would say, do all types of projects. Work with lots of different people, on different types of projects. Figure out what you like and don’t like. Then zero in and niche down on what you love."
Fun Fact
Jess is a self-claimed health and wellness fanatic. She loves learning from her clients. Jess was diagnosed a Type 1 diabetic since she was 3 years old, so her health has always been at the forefront of her mind.
Notes from Chris
Episode 985
During college, Jess Freeman designed a t-shirt for a group on campus. In return, she earned a grand total of $10 and a free t-shirt. This was the humble beginning of her side hustle journey! When she finished her degree in graphic design, she worked as an intern and a communications manager at a few local churches. After a couple years, she moved on to full-time at a creative agency. Throughout her time working a day job, Jess often had a steady stream of freelance work. One time, a friend-of-a-friend recommended her to some local moms who wanted to start a science subscription box for kids. Jess designed the instruction cards and booklet that came with the box. Getting this job was especially helpful because she had just moved to a new city and didn’t know many people. She began working with other freelancers to create their online presence and branding. Soon, this graphic design and website building side hustle was bringing in more than DOUBLE her salary. So one Friday night when she came home from work she told her husband she was not happy at her job. They talked it over and decided it was time to jump wholeheartedly into Jess Creatives. She gave notice to her job on Monday. After only three weeks, Jess had a waitlist of interested clients. One thing that helped was to try as many types of projects as she could. This way she could build her business and start zeroing in on what she was particularly good at. Jess says that finding her niche was a long process—and at first, it wasn’t an intentional one. Jess would make small tweaks to her website, gently signaling to others (and perhaps herself) who her ideal clients were. In the process, she learned she loved working with female business owners in the health and wellness industry. Jess naturally gravitated to this niche in part because she was diagnosed as a Type 1 diabetic at the age of three. She narrowed her focus by sending out an email to her health and wellness clients telling them about her shift. She also asked them to spread the word to their colleagues. Next, she decided to focus her social media platform toward health and wellness businesses. This includes a YouTube channel, a podcast, Instagram, a blog, and of course, her website. During this time, she also engaged with as many health and wellness professionals as she could find. Her goal was to get in front of as many people in her field as possible. With a startup cost of $20 per month for her website and a projected income of $80,000 this year, Jess’s side hustle is in good shape. Additionally, 90% of her clients now come from her desired field of health and wellness. Jess plans to continue working with clients advancing their side hustles in the health and wellness field. She’ll also continue producing her podcast and YouTube channel. In the future, she may expand into speaking and holding live workshops … this time first making sure she knows what her customers want.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- jesscreatives.com: Check out Jess's website and examples of her client work.
- “Graphic Design for Dogs” Earns $84,000: A graphic designer and pet lover unleashes a side hustle that earns $84,000 a year. Dog-ear this episode!
- Designer Makes $1M Giving It The Old College Try: Missing the south after migrating north to Boston, a designer creates a series of sports-themed pennants and t-shirts that put hometown pride on display. Since starting up, he’s had more than $1M in sales and earned a profit of $5,000 each month.
- Freelance Writer Starts School To Help Writers Start Side Hustles: After answering the same questions over and over, this freelance writer opens an online school to help others break into the business.
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