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I’m really here for the continued actualization that our work doesn’t need to be a constant hustle in order to deliver results and impact. A lot of the time that’s the truth, but when you’re first freelancing, unscalable tactics are likely necessary.
Unscalable tactics are big and small investments in building the foundations for your freelance practice that require more effort upfront and aren’t self-sustaining.
For me, that was writing hundreds of articles about marketing in the early years of my freelancing efforts. For another freelancer, that might mean contributing to Reddit on a set of topics multiple times a day for months. And for someone else it could be manually customizing the onboarding process for every single client.
I consider these unscalable, meaning they’re not able to be automated or delegated, and they require a significant investment in time and your expertise.
Yet, these are really valuable actions to take in the early days as they’re meant to help you attract a reliable flow of client work, establish trust in your reputation, build key relationships, and establish important processes for your practice.
Sure, there’s many actions you’ll take in the early stages of freelancing that will easily scale, like using a tool to automate invoice processing or building an email sequence to nurture leads on autopilot.
But anyone can quickly figure out those tactics and have their business up and running in those regards given there isn’t much barrier to entry.
The tasks that can’t scale typically require expertise that’s uniquely your own and a significant amount of repeat effort with intention, making it more of a competitive advantage that not everyone can duplicate.
That’s how you initially stand out in your industry to attract work, foster a reputation and connections, and establish the workflows for your business.
From 2011 to 2017, I wrote between 800 and 1,000 articles for industry publications and companies, all covering marketing advice for businesses.
It was exhausting and rewarding. Almost every week I’d have a new piece published or be writing the next drafts, and it was a consistent hustle, alongside other kinds of client work like consulting and teaching.
It was not sustainable as there were long hours which I was more willing to put up with in my twenties. And it was a ton of writing leading to momentarily losing interest in the craft and needing to reduce writing from my overall workload.
It was also a massive investment in my freelance future as showing versus telling what I knew about marketing established my reputation publicly and drove tons of professional opportunities my way. I’m still reaping the benefits to this very day.
I’m still writing now because I like it and it’s a way to share my expertise, but I’m not publishing anywhere near the same frequency of pieces as before.
The goal isn’t to hustle for the sake of it. Instead, identify the actions that can significantly boost your ability to attract, deliver, and retain work for the long haul, even when they’re unscalable and unsustainable.
Not everything is going to fit nicely in the “work-life balance” framework, especially at first, so don’t shy away from these tasks because they’re too much.
The activities that seem like too big of an investment are often the kind of unscalable actions that’ll help you find your place as a freelancer.
What are examples of unscalable and unsustainable actions that are worth it? That certainly depends on the context of the work you deliver, who you serve, the industry you’re a part of, and the impact you’re trying to have. Some examples:
Continuously showcase your expertise with unwavering consistency: Whether publishing multiple videos a day on TikTok, hosting a livestream a few times a week, leading webinars bi-weekly, or publishing weekly industry reports as a newsletter, show up in the right place(s) at a consistent and high frequency where you connect with others around your one-of-a-kind expertise.
Emphasizing volume and high-touch business development: This could be sending out dozens of client pitches a week, asking all your contacts for referrals, and hand-crafting every proposal. It’s going all in on activities that allow you to present your offerings as a freelancer to as many prospective clients as possible, but staying deeply involved in the details of each pitch.
Customizing every project and interaction to the client’s unique needs: Tailoring all your deliverables and communications so each client feels understood, valued, and supported. This won’t scale as you’ll need some repeatable processes and standardization in the future, but trust and loyalty is earned by this attention to detail. Some level of personalization is always necessary with clients in the future; it just can’t be to this degree forever.
Persistently networking and nurturing meaningful relationships: Whether scheduling coffees multiple times a week, following up on every referral, frequently attending industry events, or engaging with contacts, peers, and clients one-on-one, focus on depth and breadth to create connections that are both unscalable and genuine. This will pay dividends over time.
Of course, there’s pitfalls to avoid here as the unscalable and unsustainable nature of certain work investments have downsides too.
Despite these being unscalable tasks, working on them can’t be at the expense of your well-being. Don’t sacrifice your health or happiness for a work accomplishment. Sure these kinds of activities will sometimes require a late evening or longer hours here and there, but if that starts to become a consistent trend, it’s time to scale back these actions so they’re more manageable. If you’re showing up exhausted or frustrated, these tasks won’t amount to much.
Recognize these are short-term investments of weeks, months, or even years, but they need to have an end date in the long term. Get clear on what the goal is behind this unscalable action so you know when you’ve made enough progress to scale it back and reap some of the rewards. Eventually, these practices need to be replaced with scalable, sustainable processes for your longevity as a freelancer.
Not all the unsustainable moves you make will pan out, and that’s normal. Think of them as experiments that need enough runway to reap results. Just don’t be afraid to call it quits when they’re not moving the needle or another activity is indicating it deserves your energy.
Finally, unscalable actions need focus. You can’t go all in across ten different activities, I’d argue you can do this in maybe three areas max. Look for immediate wins that indicate important outcomes like landing a client or making a connection with someone you admire in your field.
Writing extensively about marketing was the move I went all in on because I quickly saw others positively react on social media, other marketers began reaching out, and project opportunities started to come my way.
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I owe my career to committing what doesn’t scale. Love this!
I’m excited to see what you share Brian. You’re top class in this world and I’ll be happy to recommend your publication and send folks your way. Thank you for putting this effort out BH!!