The Freelancer’s Dilemma: Build an Offer or Find Leads First?

Why This Matters

Here’s a familiar scene: you’ve finally decided to step out as a freelancer. You’re buzzing with ideas, your skills are sharper than they’ve ever been, and you’re itching to get cracking. But then you hit a wall. Before you earn your first pound, you’re plagued by the classic question: should you polish your offer until it shines, or get out there and start chasing leads with what you have?

This dilemma has sapped more hours, energy, and early ambition than just about anything else in the freelancing world. It’s paralysed would-be web designers, brand-builders, and digital marketers before they’ve even opened a Google Doc for their first client. Spend months perfecting your pitch, and you risk building something nobody wants. Rush out with half a plan, and you’re likely to meet closed doors.

I’ve been there myself, notes strewn everywhere, obsessing over the right offer while the bills keep mounting. Every hour you faff about can cost you real opportunity. Worse, it can delay the most important thing about building your freelance career: learning what actually works for real people in the messy, unpredictable world out there.

Common Pitfalls

Let’s name the traps, because almost every new freelancer trudges into one.

• Perfecting in the Void: You sit behind your laptop for weeks (or months), tweaking your offer or portfolio like a hermit, convinced it needs to be bulletproof before anyone sees it.

• Free-Fall Pitching: You dive straight into cold-pitching with a template you cobbled together in a hurry. You send a dozen emails, none get replies, and you wonder why this whole freelancing thing looked easier on YouTube.

• The Value Black Hole: Afraid to “undervalue yourself,” you refuse any low-paid or free gigs. But without proof of your work or happy clients, you find yourself stalled at the start line.

• The Feedback Famine: You wait for your offer to be “done” before you ever show it to another human. As a result, you miss early, honest feedback from the only people who matter: your clients.

Sound harsh? Maybe. But I learned every one of these the slow, expensive way, and I’ve seen plenty of bright, talented beginners repeat the same mistakes.

Step-by-Step Fix

Here’s how you sidestep the worry and actually build momentum, even if you feel like you have nothing but scrappy ideas, good intentions, and maybe a battered laptop.

Step 1: Build a Simple, Clear Offer (But Don’t Get Stuck There)

Don’t try to craft the fifth version of Apple’s branding. At the start, you just need one clear, simple service you can actually deliver. If you’re moving from graphic design into web design, don’t offer “end-to-end digital transformation.” Offer “I’ll build you a website that works on any device and is easy for you to update.”

It’s tempting to load up your offer with shiny extras because you’re worried it’s not enough. Trust me, it’s always easier to add value as you go than to edit a monster menu of services you can’t back up.

Write a description in plain English. If your mum or your mate can’t understand it, it needs editing. Tangible, specific, no jargon, no fluff.

Example:

• Instead of “Bespoke web development and creative strategy”
• Try: “A starter business website (up to 5 pages) for small companies who want to be found online."

Step 2: Do Free or Discounted Work (Yes, Really, But Don’t Be a Doormat)

I know. Offering your talents for free feels like an insult to your skills. If you’ve just come out of university or another industry, pride will tell you to protect your hourly rate at all costs. But early on, experience is the currency you want to collect.

The clever bit? Always anchor your real price. When you approach a lead (think friends, family, local businesses, even your barber), say something like:
“My usual fee for a site like this is £1,500. I’m looking to build my portfolio and would love to offer it free in exchange for a video review and, if you’re happy, a Google or Facebook testimonial.”

This isn’t charity—it’s strategic marketing. Those testimonials are rockets for your reputation. I once built a free site for a community club. The project itself didn’t buy me a takeaway, but over the next year, three referrals worth real money landed in my inbox because of it.

Step 3: Gather Ruthless Feedback (Use It, Don’t Fear It)

Once you’ve delivered, don’t slink off quietly. Ask your client what worked and what didn’t. Did communication ever get confused? Was something missing in your process? Did you overcomplicate anything?

Even one honest reply cuts through weeks of second-guessing.

You’re not after empty praise. The gold is in the small frustrations and surprising compliments that pop up. Keep a simple sheet: what people liked, what confused them, what they wish had happened. You’ll spot patterns before you know it.

Real Example:
When I first started, I thought clients cared most about design flourishes. Turns out, every bit of feedback raved about how quickly I answered emails and explained things without jargon. So I doubled down on my project management and my pitch. I was surprised when my close rate shot up.

Step 4: Spread Your Testimonials Like Confetti

You know those awkward video reviews you gathered? They’re more valuable than any flash template. Short clips of real people saying what you did for them are worth their weight in clients. Pin them to your website, your LinkedIn, your social media. If a testimonial is written, pair it with a friendly photo and ask if you can tag them.

People trust people. A real face from your community singing your praises means infinitely more than “Hi, I’m a multi-skilled creative technologist with a keen eye for visual storytelling.” (Yes, I cringe at that too.)

Step 5: If You Need Money Fast, Laser Focus on a Simple, Solvable Problem

Sometimes you can’t wait. Maybe you’ve got bills breathing down your neck. If that’s you, step back from the seven point transformation offer. Instead, answer one question: “What do my would-be clients complain about most?”

Are they desperate for a website up and running before their launch? Short on cash but need a one hour call to work out why no one’s called? Are they swamped and would happily pay someone to take just one task off their hands?

Example quick offers:

• “One hour website audit: find out why your site isn’t bringing enquiries. £79, delivered tomorrow.”
• “A starter site up by Friday: five pages, your branding, one round of amends, £599 flat.”

Test your idea fast. If people ignore you, tweak the headline or the problem you’re solving and try again.

Step 6: Refine as You Go (Borrow From the Best)

Don’t fall for the myth that you need to read twenty business books before you can sell your skills, but take a leaf from people like Alex Hormozi. His advice is blindingly simple: start scrappy, offer value, use feedback to improve, repeat. If you want, pick up his book 100M Offers or check out the free stuff on Acquisition.com. Priceless lessons, no fluff.

But here’s a secret: nobody nails it first try. Every so-called “overnight” freelance success has a trail of old Google Docs, changed prices, and weird one off offers behind the scenes. Tweak, learn, and don’t be afraid to raise your prices when you’ve nailed the basics.

What Most People Miss

Here’s the difference: the fast risers are willing to be a beginner in public.

That doesn’t mean oversharing every wobble. It means getting real-world projects under your belt as quickly as possible, even if the first few are unpaid, underpriced, or a bit rough around the edges. You discover what people actually want by talking to them, not by guessing in private.

Success is rarely about the “right” starting offer. It’s about speed of learning. The biggest risk isn’t launching too soon. It’s drifting so long in planning mode that you miss the lessons only real clients can teach.

And by the way, most clients will forgive early wobbles far more when you’re upfront that you care about their results, not just a fat invoice. The magic is in the follow-up: “Can you give me honest feedback? I want every project to be better than the last.”

The Bigger Picture

Sort this conundrum and you unlock a career that actually grows. Here’s what you gain:

• A Portfolio That Gets You Noticed: Real projects, even tiny ones, stand out a mile compared to yet another “concept mockup for an imaginary yoga brand.”
• Confidence in Client Conversations: Confidence (and the ability to close deals) comes from knowing you’ve solved a real business’s real problem before. Testimonials beat theory every time.
• A Reliable System for Improvement: Mistakes become lessons, each project sharper than the last. Instead of reinventing the wheel, you build on what works.
• Early Word of Mouth: Deliver well and even your discounted clients will refer you to paying friends. I’ve watched this snowball for freelancers across every field.
• Freedom to Grow: Once the basics are rolling, you can— and should— up your prices, refine your audience, or explore different niches. You’re not stuck; you’re in charge.

Let’s be blunt: if you want a freedom-led freelance career, and you want to move beyond endless one off gigs, this is how you start stacking the bricks.

Wrap-Up

You don’t need a perfect offer to find your first clients, and you don’t need a fat mailing list to create a credible offer. What you need is action, humility, and the willingness to learn from each honest project.

Start scrappy. Use feedback for fuel. Collect proof with every project, and don’t let ego keep you from the tiny jobs that will teach you the fastest. Real projects eat perfect plans for breakfast.

Here’s your cheat sheet:

• Write a simple, clear offer
• Trade free or discounted work for testimonials (never for “exposure”)
• Ask hard questions, tweak what matters
• Spread your feedback everywhere credibility counts
• Laser in on urgent problems if you need cash now
• Refine often, trust the process, not your ego

Want more helpful systems like this? Join Pixelhaze Academy for free at https://www.pixelhaze.academy/membership.

You’ve got this. Go on. Take step one today.