Welcome to the latest episode of the Business of Freelancing Podcast.  My guest is Jeff Steinmann, author of the book  How to Quit Working  which can be found, along with other services he offers, on his website  howtoquitworking.com.

First, a reminder to sign up for ticket information for my event, The Business of Freelancing Conference.  The show will be September 16-18 in Norfolk, VA. Sign up now to be notified when tickets go on sale.  I’m very excited about the speakers that are lined up for this event!

Jeff Steinmann planned to quit his banking job in 2001, but rather than walk away, he went back to his desk.  The idea of working for himself resurfaced and in 2012, he began working on his own as a marketing consultant.  In two years, he turned his book and podcast into a 6-figure coaching business.

In our interview Jeff talks about the mental steps he took to enable him to start his own business.  He believes the key skill you need to go into a freelance opportunity is to be able to take what you do and translate that into something that is meaningful to a client.  Jeff says small business owners value somebody who can talk in terms they understand and can ask the right questions to understand the details of what they need.

We discuss the best path for going forward into full time freelance work.  Jeff believes it’s important to decide where you will specialize and set yourself apart.  Determine what attribute makes you unique to your potential client.  It can be difficult to get clients when you are first starting.  I believe that a potential client can be your former boss because not only do you know the business but your boss may be looking at easing transition costs.  Jeff thinks it’s a good idea to start conversations with people in your personal network and then move toward networking events in your neighborhood.

Jeff’s final tip deals with understanding how to close the gap between how little your potential employer cares about what you do and how much they care about getting their problem solved.

You can reach out to Jeff on howtoquitworking.com or on Twitter @JeffSteinmann.

If you like today’s podcast, I would really appreciate you taking just a minute to leave a review for the show in iTunes.