24. Why Offering Free Work Pays Off in the Long Run
Have you ever found yourself lying awake at night, dreaming about jumpstarting your own business? The excitement, the freedom, the impact, it's all so tantalizing. But then, doubt creeps in. How do I even start? Who would want what I'm offering? Am I really cut out for this?
I've been there, and I know firsthand how paralyzing those fears can be. But the truth is, that discomfort is where the magic happens. It's where you grow, learn, and ultimately, thrive as an entrepreneur.
Tune in this week to adopt a powerful strategy that will help you take action in the early stages of your business: offering free work. It's a confidence-boosting, skill-sharpening, network-building powerhouse that can open doors and help you make a real impact, even before you officially launch. By the end of this episode, you'll have a concrete action plan to start taking meaningful, scary steps that will move you and your business forward.
If you're looking for the right environment to start your networking journey, look no further than my group, the Mom Entrepreneurs Circle. Sign up below for mutual support, advice sharing, and the tools you need for both you and your business to thrive. We meet on the 2nd Thursday of each month and participation is totally free!
What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
Why offering free work is a powerful way to start your business journey.
How free work can boost your confidence, refine your offerings, and build a support network.
My story of reaching out and offering free work to kick my business into gear.
How to set clear expectations and boundaries around free work to ensure it serves you and your clients.
Strategies for gathering powerful, results-focused testimonials that showcase your impact.
Listen to the Full Episode:
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Full Episode Transcript:
I want to share a truly tangible and actionable strategy that will help you to start taking action in your zone of genius and you actually might already be doing it without realizing its potential.
Welcome to How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. It’s a podcast that helps working moms just like you, optimize your time, manage your mind, and start a business that helps you create more freedom, flexibility, and, yes, fun. I’m business and mindset coach Jenna Rykiel. And I offer practical tips to help you ditch the nine-to-five. I have been exactly where you are and I know what it takes to make the transition without trading one form of burnout for another. So, let’s get started.
We’ve all been there lying awake at night, our mind buzzing with a brilliant business idea, the excitement is palpable. You can almost taste the freedom, the impact, the success. You share it with your partner and for a moment you’re on cloud nine. But then like a toddler interrupting your me time, doubt creeps in. How do I even start? Who would want what I’m offering? Am I really cut out for this? And that, my friend, is your brain trying its best to keep you safe. It’s trying to protect you from the unknown and doing anything outside of your comfort zone.
But here’s the thing, that unknown is where all the magic happens. Now, I know you’re probably thinking that’s great, but what do I actually do? And that’s exactly what I want to talk to you about today. I want to share a truly tangible and actionable strategy that will help you to start taking action in your zone of genius and you actually might already be doing it without realizing its potential. It was a powerful tool when I was starting my own business and I’ve seen it open so many doors for other mom entrepreneurs as well. This isn’t just any strategy, it’s a confidence boosting, skill sharpening, network building powerhouse.
Imagine having a cheerleading squad of supporters before you even actually officially launch. And that all may sound too good to be true, but I promise it’s not. By the end of this episode, you’ll have a concrete action plan to take meaningful, scary action, which of course, is the stuff that actually moves you and your business forward, rather than the stuff that takes up time but doesn’t help you build your business. This is a tangible tool to start taking action today, and it’s called free work.
When we’re starting a business, we can often feel like we’re standing at the edge of a diving board, staring down at the deep end of the pool below without knowing how to swim. That’s where many of us find ourselves when starting a business and of course, we’re scared to take the plunge. But offering free work is a way to dip your toes in the water, build your swimming skills from the shallow end, and have a cheering squad all at once. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Free work, are you crazy? I’m trying to make money, not give it away, but hear me out.
When I first started my business, I was terrified. Could I really help people? Would anyone want to pay for my services? How do I even know what type of results my clients can get if I’ve never had a real client before. And I couldn’t answer those questions for myself, I didn’t know where to find clients and I didn’t know how to even get started.
So, what I did was reached out to a local single parent housing coalition, and I know I’ve talked about this before. But I asked if they’d be interested in me donating coaching hours to the women at the facility. It was very scary reaching out and telling the program director that I was a coach. I felt like a complete impostor. But even creating the flier that they would post around the housing unit pushed me out of my comfort zone in the best way possible. Coming up with language around what I did for clients was really helpful in my understanding of the type of coach I would be.
That free work also just felt really good, not only did it align with my passion for empowering women but it also gave me invaluable experience. I walked away with sharpened skills, touching stories and a clear vision of the impact I could make. But let’s say that donating expert hours isn’t an option for you. That’s okay, everyone in the world knows people, so you can even tap into your own network for offering free services.
Early on in my business, my mentor challenged me to offer 50 free sessions. Yes, you heard that right, 50. I do not necessarily recommend investing that much time in giving away your services for free, but it worked for me and this was pre kiddo, so I had a little bit more time on my hands. Between the donated hours and the friends and family I coerced into helping me with what I called an obnoxious coaching assignment there were so many benefits for me and my business. And these same benefits are what I see for my clients and for anyone who is looking to start a business.
Confidence, the first thing is you get a confidence boost with each time let’s say you’re offering a service with each session. I know I felt more assured in my abilities. It was like going from wobbling on a bike with training wheels to zipping around the neighborhood with ease with every coaching session that I offered. There’s also client chemistry that you’re able to get. Free work is like dating for your business. You get to see if you click with your ideal clients without the pressure of long term commitment, because remember, early on you’re still figuring out whether this is really something that you want to do.
You definitely don’t want to build a business that you hate, which leads me to the third benefit, which is basically a passion check. So, if you’ve ever been excited about an idea, only to realize it’s not as fun in practice, free work lets you test drive your services to ensure they energize you rather than drain you. The other thing that’s so tangible about free work is it’s a testimonial gold mine. Those free clients that you’re working with, they become your biggest cheerleaders and they provide heartfelt testimonials that are worth their weight in gold.
There’s also a support network that you build. Gratitude is a powerful force. So, these clients often become your first supporters, spreading the word about your amazing services. They may not be paying you in cold, hard cash. But they definitely will have gratitude that you were able to offer your product or service for free, and they are more often than not willing to support you and spread the word about your business and that can be amazing.
And I wanted to share both of those angles that I had experience with because I want you to think creatively about who you can tap into to offer your services or product. And maybe it’s friends and family that would be more than willing to help you and maybe there are ways that you can donate hours or offer a big discount for your work. The important takeaway here is that I want you to get out there and start offering value to the world. If you can get paid immediately for that value, by all means do that and revisit episode 14 on selling jenna.coach/14.
But if you’re sitting there thinking, I don’t know where my first clients are going to come from or I don’t know if this is really what I want to do. You can get into the water through the shallow end first and free work is a great way for you to do that and for you to be able to see the impact you can make and then take bigger leaps. Now, before you go offering free services to everyone and their mom, literally, let’s talk about some ground rules.
Think of free work like the samples at Costco. They’re great for getting a taste, but you can’t make a meal out of them. The biggest pitfall is getting too comfortable with not charging. Remember, your expertise has value. Free work is a stepping stone, not the entire path. It’s about building a foundation, not constructing the whole house for free. So, here’s how you can keep things in check.
Number one is, set clear expectations, so treat free work with the same professionalism as paid gigs. Outline what you’re offering, for how long and what you expect in return.
The second thing is to put a cap on your free services and this is maybe a subset of the set clear expectations. So maybe it’s a set number of sessions or a specific timeframe and this creates urgency and value, but helps you avoid a situation where you just keep giving away services for free to the same people. You can even say something like, “I’m offering four free coaching sessions and at the end of those sessions there will be an opportunity to continue if you’re interested, on a subscription basis.” We see this with products all the time.
I’ll give you a month for free of this platform or product and then the expectation is you either cancel or become a paying client. You need to have that same expectation where at a certain point they either drop as a client or start paying you.
The third thing is quality over quantity, so pour your heart into these free projects. Vary your portfolio, your case studies and your future marketing material all rolled into one. And remember, mindset matters so, approach free work as an investment in your business, not a handout. You’re not working for free. You’re exchanging services for experience, testimonials and connections.
Alright, hopefully you’re sold on the idea of free work, but how do you make sure it pays off in the long run? And that is all about strategy. You want to make sure that when you’re offering free services, like I said before, you lay out your expectations like you’re planning a military operation and you think about what you need in return.
A couple of examples of things that you can request in return that aren’t monetary. And I’m sure people would be more than willing to exchange are things like testimonials, connecting you with others who may need your services, posting about their experience on social media, sharing your business in general. Giving in depth feedback or even doing something like an interview where they share about their experience.
By offering free work, you can create brand ambassadors. So, ask your clients to become ambassadors of your brand. And this could mean sharing your posts, referring friends, starring in a video testimonial. This one works really great with products. You may need to give away a couple of prototypes or early additions at first, but getting the product out in the wild so that it starts being talked about is crucial, and that’s how you create supporters and brand ambassadors, truly, by giving away some of your stuff for free.
You also want to make sure that you’re leveraging everyone’s network. Request introductions to people in their network who might benefit from your services. It’s like getting a warm intro to your next potential client. And then the last thing is the feedback loop. So, this is an opportunity to gather honest feedback, what worked, what didn’t. That intel is great for refining your offering. And while you’re getting feedback, make sure you’re getting those testimonials.
And on the topic of feedback and testimonials, that could be an entire episode all its own but I want to touch on it now because it’s a huge part of free work in my opinion. Testimonials are like having your own personal cheer squad, convincing potential clients that you’re the real deal. But here’s the thing. Not all testimonials are created equal. Jane is nice, doesn’t quite pack the same punch as Jane’s coaching helped me double my income in six months.
So how do you get those juicy results focused testimonials? It’s all in the ask. And I want to share a couple of strategies that will make the ask more streamlined for you.
The first is creating a survey. Create a simple survey for clients to fill out after they’re done working with you. This gives them a structure to follow, making it easier for them to articulate their experience and guide that narrative. Focus your questions on results and transformation. Questions like, how has this experience changed your business or life? What specific results have you seen? Those are really great questions to get answers that future potential clients want to hear.
The third thing is, you’ve got to make it easy for people to give this feedback. Offer multiple formats. A survey makes it easy, but you could offer ways for them to write the testimonial, do a video or submit audio testimonials. Some people freeze up at the thought of writing, but could talk about your awesomeness all day long. So, something that I do in my business, I send out a form that people fill out at the end of the coaching program. What I actually do with that form is I take all of their answers and I create the testimonial for them based on the answers that they gave.
I am actually doing the work for them and summarizing what they said in the form. And then what I do is I send that testimonial to them and say, “Please send along any edits and confirm whether this is aligned with your feedback for the coaching program.” And nine times out of ten they say, “Fantastic, yes, you can use that.” And every now and then they’ll request a shift or an edit, which I absolutely love. I’m trying to make it easy for my clients, but I also want to make sure that it is an honest depiction of their experience
Another thing that I’ve done that I have absolutely loved is interviews with past clients. So doing an Instagram Live or doing a recorded Zoom meeting where I’m asking them about the results that they created in their business and life. And then I’m able to use snippets of that conversation for different types of marketing. It’s really great for those folks who perform better in conversation and on video than in writing.
Also, timing is everything, so make sure you’re asking for testimonials when the excitement is high like right after a breakthrough moment or at the end of the successful package or coaching program. That’s when you want to get the feedback, because as time goes on, they will absolutely forget about all the magic that you created together. The reality is that you may already be offering your expertise for free. That may be a reason that you were feeling inspired to get into a particular space or industry. And if that’s the case, don’t be shy, go back to those friends, family, acquaintances and ask for feedback and testimonials.
You might even want to set up a coffee chat to talk to them about your business idea, since they were technically your first clients. There’s so much value we can glean from these folks, so be sure to go back and have conversations no matter how long it’s been. Sometimes these people can be the extra motivation and boost we need to really solidify that this is the area we want to create a business around.
Okay, my mom entrepreneurs, I want to recap some of what we talked about in this episode because I think it’s so tangible and helpful to creating business success, especially early on in your business.
Number one, embrace free work as a weapon in your business. It’s not about giving away your value, it’s about investing in your future success. And again, this is for all my moms out there who have this business idea, are really excited about it and just have no idea what to do first. Offering free work can get you out there, testing it out, doing the thing that you think you’ll love so that you can learn more about yourself and the business.
Number two, set clear boundaries and expectations for their free work to ensure it serves both you and your clients. Whatever you do, don’t get stuck in free work quicksand where you shy away from ever charging people. Once you’ve built up your confidence and proof of concept, start having those true sales conversations.
Number three, leverage the free work opportunities to build confidence, refine your services and create a network of supporters.
Number four, we talked about the art of gathering powerful results, focused testimonials that really showcase the impact of your work. And again, these are worth their weight in gold. And again, I don’t really even know what that means, but I know it means that these things are gems and we should definitely be getting as many testimonials and leveraging that time that we spend with those customers so that it leads to more business in the future. Remember, every free session, every testimonial, every connection is a stepping stone on your path from corporate burnout to entrepreneurial freedom.
Now, here’s your mission, should you choose to accept it and trust me, you want to. This week if you’re not already getting paid for your product or services, I want you to offer your expertise for free to three people, yes, just three. It can be your best friend, a coworker, your neighbor, maybe even your pastor. Pick someone who you know would be glad to help you. And you can even say something like, “My coach challenged me to do this assignment. Do you mind helping?” That’s what I did when I was offering my 50 free sessions to friends and family and people jumped at the chance to help me.
Then I want you to really reflect on how it went. Did it energize you? Did it scare you? Did it give you new insights? What did it do for your confidence? Did you get testimonials or client stories that you can use in your business now? If so, make a plan for how you’re going to use those gems. This episode is all about a practical tool to get you out there and do work that you think you’ll love. So many people I work with are sitting on the sidelines doing a lot of thinking about what their business will look like without putting themselves out there and doing the thing.
Free work is one option to put yourself out there in a real, tangible, meaningful way. Yes, it won’t be comfortable, but it will move you and your business forward. Oftentimes when we start taking action, that’s when next steps really reveal themselves to us. So, allow yourself to trust the process, start taking action, and open up opportunities to whatever comes next.
Keep tuning in for inspiration and practical strategies so that you can take your future business from idea to action and please share your progress with me. I’m eager to hear about what’s working and what’s not. The more you can share about obstacles and challenges, the easier it is for me to address them on the podcast so, the hurdles become more like cracks in the sidewalk.
You’ve got this. Take care of yourself, especially as we near the holiday season. In a couple of weeks, I’ll be talking all about the why, what and how you can really make the end of year chaos, something you actually enjoy this year, so be sure to keep tuning in. Take care of yourself and I’ll see you next week.
Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. If you want to learn more about how I can help you stop making excuses and start making moves, head on over to www.jenna.coach. I’ll see you next week.
Welcome to How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. It’s a podcast that helps working moms just like you, optimize your time, manage your mind, and start a business that helps you create more freedom, flexibility, and, yes, fun. I’m business and mindset coach Jenna Rykiel. And I offer practical tips to help you ditch the nine-to-five. I have been exactly where you are and I know what it takes to make the transition without trading one form of burnout for another. So, let’s get started.
We’ve all been there lying awake at night, our mind buzzing with a brilliant business idea, the excitement is palpable. You can almost taste the freedom, the impact, the success. You share it with your partner and for a moment you’re on cloud nine. But then like a toddler interrupting your me time, doubt creeps in. How do I even start? Who would want what I’m offering? Am I really cut out for this? And that, my friend, is your brain trying its best to keep you safe. It’s trying to protect you from the unknown and doing anything outside of your comfort zone.
But here’s the thing, that unknown is where all the magic happens. Now, I know you’re probably thinking that’s great, but what do I actually do? And that’s exactly what I want to talk to you about today. I want to share a truly tangible and actionable strategy that will help you to start taking action in your zone of genius and you actually might already be doing it without realizing its potential. It was a powerful tool when I was starting my own business and I’ve seen it open so many doors for other mom entrepreneurs as well. This isn’t just any strategy, it’s a confidence boosting, skill sharpening, network building powerhouse.
Imagine having a cheerleading squad of supporters before you even actually officially launch. And that all may sound too good to be true, but I promise it’s not. By the end of this episode, you’ll have a concrete action plan to take meaningful, scary action, which of course, is the stuff that actually moves you and your business forward, rather than the stuff that takes up time but doesn’t help you build your business. This is a tangible tool to start taking action today, and it’s called free work.
When we’re starting a business, we can often feel like we’re standing at the edge of a diving board, staring down at the deep end of the pool below without knowing how to swim. That’s where many of us find ourselves when starting a business and of course, we’re scared to take the plunge. But offering free work is a way to dip your toes in the water, build your swimming skills from the shallow end, and have a cheering squad all at once. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Free work, are you crazy? I’m trying to make money, not give it away, but hear me out.
When I first started my business, I was terrified. Could I really help people? Would anyone want to pay for my services? How do I even know what type of results my clients can get if I’ve never had a real client before. And I couldn’t answer those questions for myself, I didn’t know where to find clients and I didn’t know how to even get started.
So, what I did was reached out to a local single parent housing coalition, and I know I’ve talked about this before. But I asked if they’d be interested in me donating coaching hours to the women at the facility. It was very scary reaching out and telling the program director that I was a coach. I felt like a complete impostor. But even creating the flier that they would post around the housing unit pushed me out of my comfort zone in the best way possible. Coming up with language around what I did for clients was really helpful in my understanding of the type of coach I would be.
That free work also just felt really good, not only did it align with my passion for empowering women but it also gave me invaluable experience. I walked away with sharpened skills, touching stories and a clear vision of the impact I could make. But let’s say that donating expert hours isn’t an option for you. That’s okay, everyone in the world knows people, so you can even tap into your own network for offering free services.
Early on in my business, my mentor challenged me to offer 50 free sessions. Yes, you heard that right, 50. I do not necessarily recommend investing that much time in giving away your services for free, but it worked for me and this was pre kiddo, so I had a little bit more time on my hands. Between the donated hours and the friends and family I coerced into helping me with what I called an obnoxious coaching assignment there were so many benefits for me and my business. And these same benefits are what I see for my clients and for anyone who is looking to start a business.
Confidence, the first thing is you get a confidence boost with each time let’s say you’re offering a service with each session. I know I felt more assured in my abilities. It was like going from wobbling on a bike with training wheels to zipping around the neighborhood with ease with every coaching session that I offered. There’s also client chemistry that you’re able to get. Free work is like dating for your business. You get to see if you click with your ideal clients without the pressure of long term commitment, because remember, early on you’re still figuring out whether this is really something that you want to do.
You definitely don’t want to build a business that you hate, which leads me to the third benefit, which is basically a passion check. So, if you’ve ever been excited about an idea, only to realize it’s not as fun in practice, free work lets you test drive your services to ensure they energize you rather than drain you. The other thing that’s so tangible about free work is it’s a testimonial gold mine. Those free clients that you’re working with, they become your biggest cheerleaders and they provide heartfelt testimonials that are worth their weight in gold.
There’s also a support network that you build. Gratitude is a powerful force. So, these clients often become your first supporters, spreading the word about your amazing services. They may not be paying you in cold, hard cash. But they definitely will have gratitude that you were able to offer your product or service for free, and they are more often than not willing to support you and spread the word about your business and that can be amazing.
And I wanted to share both of those angles that I had experience with because I want you to think creatively about who you can tap into to offer your services or product. And maybe it’s friends and family that would be more than willing to help you and maybe there are ways that you can donate hours or offer a big discount for your work. The important takeaway here is that I want you to get out there and start offering value to the world. If you can get paid immediately for that value, by all means do that and revisit episode 14 on selling jenna.coach/14.
But if you’re sitting there thinking, I don’t know where my first clients are going to come from or I don’t know if this is really what I want to do. You can get into the water through the shallow end first and free work is a great way for you to do that and for you to be able to see the impact you can make and then take bigger leaps. Now, before you go offering free services to everyone and their mom, literally, let’s talk about some ground rules.
Think of free work like the samples at Costco. They’re great for getting a taste, but you can’t make a meal out of them. The biggest pitfall is getting too comfortable with not charging. Remember, your expertise has value. Free work is a stepping stone, not the entire path. It’s about building a foundation, not constructing the whole house for free. So, here’s how you can keep things in check.
Number one is, set clear expectations, so treat free work with the same professionalism as paid gigs. Outline what you’re offering, for how long and what you expect in return.
The second thing is to put a cap on your free services and this is maybe a subset of the set clear expectations. So maybe it’s a set number of sessions or a specific timeframe and this creates urgency and value, but helps you avoid a situation where you just keep giving away services for free to the same people. You can even say something like, “I’m offering four free coaching sessions and at the end of those sessions there will be an opportunity to continue if you’re interested, on a subscription basis.” We see this with products all the time.
I’ll give you a month for free of this platform or product and then the expectation is you either cancel or become a paying client. You need to have that same expectation where at a certain point they either drop as a client or start paying you.
The third thing is quality over quantity, so pour your heart into these free projects. Vary your portfolio, your case studies and your future marketing material all rolled into one. And remember, mindset matters so, approach free work as an investment in your business, not a handout. You’re not working for free. You’re exchanging services for experience, testimonials and connections.
Alright, hopefully you’re sold on the idea of free work, but how do you make sure it pays off in the long run? And that is all about strategy. You want to make sure that when you’re offering free services, like I said before, you lay out your expectations like you’re planning a military operation and you think about what you need in return.
A couple of examples of things that you can request in return that aren’t monetary. And I’m sure people would be more than willing to exchange are things like testimonials, connecting you with others who may need your services, posting about their experience on social media, sharing your business in general. Giving in depth feedback or even doing something like an interview where they share about their experience.
By offering free work, you can create brand ambassadors. So, ask your clients to become ambassadors of your brand. And this could mean sharing your posts, referring friends, starring in a video testimonial. This one works really great with products. You may need to give away a couple of prototypes or early additions at first, but getting the product out in the wild so that it starts being talked about is crucial, and that’s how you create supporters and brand ambassadors, truly, by giving away some of your stuff for free.
You also want to make sure that you’re leveraging everyone’s network. Request introductions to people in their network who might benefit from your services. It’s like getting a warm intro to your next potential client. And then the last thing is the feedback loop. So, this is an opportunity to gather honest feedback, what worked, what didn’t. That intel is great for refining your offering. And while you’re getting feedback, make sure you’re getting those testimonials.
And on the topic of feedback and testimonials, that could be an entire episode all its own but I want to touch on it now because it’s a huge part of free work in my opinion. Testimonials are like having your own personal cheer squad, convincing potential clients that you’re the real deal. But here’s the thing. Not all testimonials are created equal. Jane is nice, doesn’t quite pack the same punch as Jane’s coaching helped me double my income in six months.
So how do you get those juicy results focused testimonials? It’s all in the ask. And I want to share a couple of strategies that will make the ask more streamlined for you.
The first is creating a survey. Create a simple survey for clients to fill out after they’re done working with you. This gives them a structure to follow, making it easier for them to articulate their experience and guide that narrative. Focus your questions on results and transformation. Questions like, how has this experience changed your business or life? What specific results have you seen? Those are really great questions to get answers that future potential clients want to hear.
The third thing is, you’ve got to make it easy for people to give this feedback. Offer multiple formats. A survey makes it easy, but you could offer ways for them to write the testimonial, do a video or submit audio testimonials. Some people freeze up at the thought of writing, but could talk about your awesomeness all day long. So, something that I do in my business, I send out a form that people fill out at the end of the coaching program. What I actually do with that form is I take all of their answers and I create the testimonial for them based on the answers that they gave.
I am actually doing the work for them and summarizing what they said in the form. And then what I do is I send that testimonial to them and say, “Please send along any edits and confirm whether this is aligned with your feedback for the coaching program.” And nine times out of ten they say, “Fantastic, yes, you can use that.” And every now and then they’ll request a shift or an edit, which I absolutely love. I’m trying to make it easy for my clients, but I also want to make sure that it is an honest depiction of their experience
Another thing that I’ve done that I have absolutely loved is interviews with past clients. So doing an Instagram Live or doing a recorded Zoom meeting where I’m asking them about the results that they created in their business and life. And then I’m able to use snippets of that conversation for different types of marketing. It’s really great for those folks who perform better in conversation and on video than in writing.
Also, timing is everything, so make sure you’re asking for testimonials when the excitement is high like right after a breakthrough moment or at the end of the successful package or coaching program. That’s when you want to get the feedback, because as time goes on, they will absolutely forget about all the magic that you created together. The reality is that you may already be offering your expertise for free. That may be a reason that you were feeling inspired to get into a particular space or industry. And if that’s the case, don’t be shy, go back to those friends, family, acquaintances and ask for feedback and testimonials.
You might even want to set up a coffee chat to talk to them about your business idea, since they were technically your first clients. There’s so much value we can glean from these folks, so be sure to go back and have conversations no matter how long it’s been. Sometimes these people can be the extra motivation and boost we need to really solidify that this is the area we want to create a business around.
Okay, my mom entrepreneurs, I want to recap some of what we talked about in this episode because I think it’s so tangible and helpful to creating business success, especially early on in your business.
Number one, embrace free work as a weapon in your business. It’s not about giving away your value, it’s about investing in your future success. And again, this is for all my moms out there who have this business idea, are really excited about it and just have no idea what to do first. Offering free work can get you out there, testing it out, doing the thing that you think you’ll love so that you can learn more about yourself and the business.
Number two, set clear boundaries and expectations for their free work to ensure it serves both you and your clients. Whatever you do, don’t get stuck in free work quicksand where you shy away from ever charging people. Once you’ve built up your confidence and proof of concept, start having those true sales conversations.
Number three, leverage the free work opportunities to build confidence, refine your services and create a network of supporters.
Number four, we talked about the art of gathering powerful results, focused testimonials that really showcase the impact of your work. And again, these are worth their weight in gold. And again, I don’t really even know what that means, but I know it means that these things are gems and we should definitely be getting as many testimonials and leveraging that time that we spend with those customers so that it leads to more business in the future. Remember, every free session, every testimonial, every connection is a stepping stone on your path from corporate burnout to entrepreneurial freedom.
Now, here’s your mission, should you choose to accept it and trust me, you want to. This week if you’re not already getting paid for your product or services, I want you to offer your expertise for free to three people, yes, just three. It can be your best friend, a coworker, your neighbor, maybe even your pastor. Pick someone who you know would be glad to help you. And you can even say something like, “My coach challenged me to do this assignment. Do you mind helping?” That’s what I did when I was offering my 50 free sessions to friends and family and people jumped at the chance to help me.
Then I want you to really reflect on how it went. Did it energize you? Did it scare you? Did it give you new insights? What did it do for your confidence? Did you get testimonials or client stories that you can use in your business now? If so, make a plan for how you’re going to use those gems. This episode is all about a practical tool to get you out there and do work that you think you’ll love. So many people I work with are sitting on the sidelines doing a lot of thinking about what their business will look like without putting themselves out there and doing the thing.
Free work is one option to put yourself out there in a real, tangible, meaningful way. Yes, it won’t be comfortable, but it will move you and your business forward. Oftentimes when we start taking action, that’s when next steps really reveal themselves to us. So, allow yourself to trust the process, start taking action, and open up opportunities to whatever comes next.
Keep tuning in for inspiration and practical strategies so that you can take your future business from idea to action and please share your progress with me. I’m eager to hear about what’s working and what’s not. The more you can share about obstacles and challenges, the easier it is for me to address them on the podcast so, the hurdles become more like cracks in the sidewalk.
You’ve got this. Take care of yourself, especially as we near the holiday season. In a couple of weeks, I’ll be talking all about the why, what and how you can really make the end of year chaos, something you actually enjoy this year, so be sure to keep tuning in. Take care of yourself and I’ll see you next week.
Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. If you want to learn more about how I can help you stop making excuses and start making moves, head on over to www.jenna.coach. I’ll see you next week.
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