The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started
Back to feedPost
The brutal reality of building a freelance network and getting client approvals from scratch
Let’s talk about the part of freelancing nobody romanticizes: the initial wall.
When you’re starting out, building a network and convincing clients to take a chance on you feels like shouting into a void. You look at established creators and agency owners with their steady streams of inbound leads and five-star review grids, and it's easy to assume they have some secret playbook you missed.
The truth? They just survived the grind.
1. The Approval Paradox
Getting approved or building initial traction on modern professional and freelance networks is uniquely exhausting. Platforms want social proof to rank you, but you need clients to get social proof.
You end up spending hours tweaking your portfolio, rewriting your bio, and tailoring case studies, only to watch proposals get swallowed by the algorithm or ghosted after a brief "looks good, let's chat." Every rejection stings a little, and the silence is even worse.
2. The Network Doesn’t Exist Yet—You Have to Build It Brick by Brick
In the beginning, you don’t have a "network." You have a blank slate.
Cold outreach feels mechanical and desperate until you learn how to actually solve a specific problem instead of pitching yourself.
Warm leads are scarce, and leaning on friends or family usually only gets you so far before you need real, paying strangers who found you on merit.
Every single connection requires over-delivering just to get someone to vouch for you or leave a review.
3. What Actually Shifts the Needle
If you're in the trenches right now wondering when it gets easier, here is what actually starts to move the needle:
Stop selling services; start solving friction: Clients don't care about your tech stack or your design tools. They care that their conversion rate is dropping, their store is loading slowly, or their brand looks amateur. Speak their language, not the developer/designer language.
Treat every small gig like a marquee project: Your first few clients are your highest leverage. A glowing review and a referral from a small $200 job are worth more than ten unverified proposals sent into the void.
Build in public and show your thinking: People buy from humans they trust. Sharing your process, your roadblocks, and how you fix problems attracts clients who already respect your competence before you even hop on a discovery call.
To anyone currently refreshing their dashboard waiting for that first notification, or wondering if putting yourself out there is worth the friction: it is. The transition from chasing clients to having a self-sustaining network doesn't happen overnight, but every completed project chips away at the wall.
How did you land your very first client when your profile was completely empty? Let’s hear how others survived the cold start.
that initial wall is where most people quit honestly. glad you pushed thru
The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started
Related posts
Not every visitor is ready to “Start Free Trial.” And that's okay.
Here's something I think businesses sometimes overlook: a CTA isn't just a button. It's an invitation to take the next step.
But what if that step feels too big?
If your business is relatively new, or even too niche or unknown, customers might not be ready to sign up yet. They may still be trying to understand what your software does, how it works, or whether it's right for them.
That's where CTA copywriting becomes more strategic.
Think about the difference:
- “Explore Features” — for someone who wants to learn more.
- “See How It Works” — for someone looking for clarity.
- “Start Your Free Trial” — for someone who's ready to experience the product.
The right call to action depends on context, user intent, and the level of commitment you're asking for.
I think we can all agree that effective conversion copywriting is about understanding what your audience is ready to do.
A strong CTA doesn't pressure every visitor into the same action. It makes the next step feel relevant and clear.
Would you rather have one CTA everywhere, or guide visitors with different calls to action throughout the buyer journey?
One CTA for each phase of the journey. It's the one-step-at-a-time strategy.
From 30 September to 8 October I took part in "Smartphones for Change", an Erasmus+ Youth Exchange run by Learning Without Borders.
We spent the week on digital literacy, online safety and responsible smartphone use: misinformation, privacy, screen time and social media pressure, through workshops, practical activities and a lot of talking with young people from other countries. The working language was English.
Grateful to the organisers and everyone I met there.
Such an experience!🙌
