No Experience? No Problem. How to Find Your First Freelance Service

Hey there, future freelancer! 👋

Let's address the elephant in the room: figuring out what services you can offer as a freelancer is like trying to write your dating profile—suddenly you forget everything interesting about yourself and panic-type "I like long walks and… um... breathing oxygen?"

As someone who went from healthcare compliance (literally the most boring sentence starter ever) to a top 1% Upwork copywriter working from my RV, I'm living proof that you don't need to have it all figured out to start making money online.

Full disclosure: This post is the written companion to my video training (above), but I've included EVERYTHING here so you can follow along even if you hate watching videos as much as I hate unexpected phone calls. 📱🙅‍♀️

How I Accidentally Became a Six-Figure Freelancer (Despite Having Zero Relevant Skills) [00:45]

Let me paint you a picture: It's 2020. I'm drowning in chronic illness while working in healthcare administration. When I finally ask for accommodations, my employer's brilliant suggestion is to "close my office door" on bad days.

So I quit. Like any rational human would. Like someone having a complete mental breakdown might.

After three years of chasing passive income dreams (aka buying courses that collected digital dust), my husband loses his job after 25 years and my dad gets diagnosed with terminal cancer.

The universe basically looked at my life and said: "You think THAT was challenging? Hold my beer." 🍺

With my back against the wall, I returned to Upwork—a platform I'd tried and quit in 2019 because it felt "too hard."

Plot twist: I decided to market myself as a copywriter.

BIGGER plot twist: I am NOT naturally good at writing. My high school English teachers are probably spitting out their coffee reading this. ☕💦

What I did have going for me:

* Strategic thinking abilities (from fixing broken healthcare departments)

* A past in sales (that I hated because #introvertproblems)

* Early adoption of AI tools (because new tech is my love language)

* Basic marketing knowledge (from all those passive income courses that emptied my wallet)

That hodgepodge of random skills was enough to get me started. Six months later, I had walked my rate from $15/hour to $85/hour and was making more than my corporate salary ever paid me.

The Specialization Funnel: The Most Important Concept You've Never Heard Of [06:56]

Here's where most people get it completely backward: they try to enter the freelance market as specialists charging premium rates from day one.

That's like showing up to your first-ever boxing match and challenging the heavyweight champion. Good luck with that, champ. 👊

(Spoiler alert: You will get knocked out. Possibly literally.)

The Upside-Down Freelance Strategy That Actually Works

Let me introduce you to what I call the Specialization Funnel:

(Here’s the deeply unsexy mouse-drawing I did on the live training.)

This funnel explains EXACTLY how successful freelancers actually build their careers (versus what they tell you in their fancy courses). Let me walk you through it step by step:

1. The Top of the Funnel: Broad & Beginner-Friendly

When you first start freelancing, you're going to position yourself at the TOP of this funnel:

* What you offer: Very broad services (like "writing" or "design")

* Your rates: Lowest they'll ever be ($15-20/hour was my starting point)

* Competition: You're competing with EVERYONE else at this level

* Effort level: Highest it will ever be (lots of applications, lower conversion rate)