Setting up a business: getting off to a successful start as a freelancer

You need to be perceived as an expert in your niche. This is not possible if you simply offer everything. In this chapter, you will learn the basics of positioning.

Follow your passion - common recommendation and yet bad practice. More on this in this lesson.

A personal brand with your name or rather an artificial brand like Apple & Co? Here's a tip on how to make it easier.

Specialization is the way to position yourself well in the market. Set yourself apart from your competitors. Find out how to do this.

Extremely specialized, but unfortunately only two customers a month? This video explains how to find a healthy balance.

Market analysis is extremely important. Here I give you various measures with which this really works objectively. Not just "wishy-washy", but very concrete ideas.

Evaluation of your analysis and the resulting positioning. We are now developing this here.

How do you actually sell your services? This is where you develop a message for potential customers.

Go to the supermarket and buy some water. It's all just H2O - by definition. There you will experience unique selling points in action: filtered through volcanic rock & co. And that is exactly what you are now developing for yourself.

So that it doesn't stop at theory, here are some very specific tasks.

There are examples relating to positioning and USPs.

Online acquisition - this is what it should look like: Bringing customers to you and not chasing after them.

Get to know a few important principles of customer acquisition.

Being reachable by phone is good, but not around the clock. Here are a few tips.

Learn to position your contact form and offer it at a high value - that's the difference between half a liter of tap water (cents) and a bottle of Evian (approx. 1-2 euros).

The "About me" page is an important factor in marketing as it makes you tangible as a person. Get to know a few tips (including a book tip).

Addressing the right topics in advertising is not just about experience. You have to consider the customer. Find out more in this video.

You can find the basics of copywriting here.

Overall, the different versions of inbound marketing help you with acquisition. Here is an overview.

A great form of content marketing: your own blog. Learn about the important factors here.

A YouTube channel is also great for acquisition. Learn a few basics here.

How can you structure advertising campaigns on Facebook? Get started here.

AdWords is an important advertising channel. Learn how to use it strategically.

This is all about email marketing for freelancers.

Networking can also help. Since it is not directly part of the acquisition strategy - really more for inspiration than with exact strategies.

Several students have secured jobs and customers with five-figure revenues via job platforms. Not to be underestimated, especially when starting out.

There are also tasks for you in the second module.

Finances are a special topic for the self-employed. Here you will learn how to deal with them properly.

How can you protect your personal finances properly?

Preventive care is extremely important. While this is all very individual, here are a few ideas to inspire you to take action yourself.

How long can you survive without more income coming in? Here is the basic principle. While the math is relatively simple, you should still do the math.

You can also protect your business finances in business. Find out how this can work.

Customers who don't pay are annoying. Find out how you can reduce the risk here.

Everything stands and falls with your liquidity. What good is an order for €50,000 if the money is only paid after 6 months? Is your landlord also waiting that long for his money?

You need to have the numbers under control, not the numbers you. Here are a few very pragmatic approaches.

A few more tips that didn't fit into their own category.

One student wrote after the first live webinar: 'Just because of the overview he now has, the course was worth the money. And that's exactly what this is all about: sorting through your finances and getting an overview.

There are many everyday aspects that this chapter deals with. A brief overview? In this video!

How can you inspire and retain customers in the long term? Here are a few ideas. Simple means - great effect.

An extremely exciting topic: the hourly rate. Often too low for newcomers. An enormously important lesson for this reason alone.

How do you improve your chances of attracting new customers? If you can quote good prices. Great offers are important for this. Get to know the basic idea here.

Job done. Now you write an invoice! What sounds simple can also be optimized. Here are a few basic ideas.

You don't want to do every job. Sometimes it's just not a good interpersonal fit. Here are a few suggestions on what you should look out for.

Always dependent on customers? Find out how you can tap into other sources of income.

The time to take the plunge is entirely personal. Here is a little encouragement so that you are not put off by the wrong impression.

When acquiring customers via inbound marketing, you have relatively easy sales conversations. However, here are a few tips on how you can improve this.

Do you have services that are always in demand? Turn them into a product!

More tips for your everyday life as a freelancer.

Practical tasks that you should definitely do.

An overview of the following chapter.

What role does a business plan actually play?

Finance it yourself? Get outside capital? What's the advantage? Here are a few thoughts.

Which legal form for newcomers? Here are some aspects to consider.

A limited liability company can make sense. Here you can find information on provisions & Co.

Taxes are a particularly vexing issue for newcomers to self-employment. This gives you full control right from the start.

A name for your business. This is how it works (and you need to keep this in mind).

What role do the GTCs play? Do you need them?

Which insurance policies make sense? You can find ideas here.

There are a few traps on the internet. You can avoid a few of them with these tips.

What role do contracts play as a service provider?

How should you deal with digital documents & co?

More tasks for your business.