Less than a year ago, Merideth left her full-time job to become Merideth the Money Coach. She helps clients with money management techniques and helps them recover from financial crisis. She’s on Freelance Transformation today to talk about the work-life balance that is sometimes hard to manage when working for yourself. She shares how to pull off the transition from full-time to self-employment and how she balances her career in order to be there for her family.

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Merideth shares with us:

Working for yourself isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible. Our guest today left her career of over twenty years to start her own business. It was always something Merideth Bisiker wanted to do, and being there for her family finally inspired her to do it.

Leaving the 9 to 5 Behind
Meredith left her full-time job in order to create a better life for her family. Her daughters needed her at home, and while the transition was hard, it was the best decision Meredith ever made for herself.

I had to just put my ego aside and realize this is what we need to do. I was lucky that I had my business set up and ready to go.

Merideth set the foundation of her coaching business from the very beginning. At first, she pulled it off by working at night, but that became a terrible cycle of staying up too late and waking up too early. These bad decisions took a toll on her health, and she shares how she had to make the hard choices in order to build her business.

Her advice is to only focus on the things that are most important to you. Don’t try to do everything all by yourself. You need to dedicate your energy to the things that are going to give you the most back to your business. Saying no isn’t always as easy as it looks, so Merideth recommends checking in with yourself and picking out what you really want to say yes to instead. Focusing on something you love can be really inspirational and will definitely open up more doors for you to grow your business.

Expanding Your Business
Merideth said yes to podcasting and coaching, and she created a schedule around those two things. She admits it was easier for her since she started working on her business early on. Already having faithful clients and plenty of referrals really boosted her confidence, and having a supportive husband was also a heap of help, but she still had to start somewhere.

Now, I am so confident about what I do because I see the results that my clients get that I have no problem saying ‘hey, let’s talk about money coaching!’

Finding clients online is Merideth’s forte, and she shares some of her techniques. She says that finding clients is easy when you’re focused on making a genuine connection with people. Merideth truly believes what's best for business is meeting new people and building those connections.

Building the Connection
Merideth reaches out to potential clients through her blog and her Facebook. She doesn’t immediately offer her services. Instead, she just has a conversation and listens to people vent their financial frustrations online. Don’t be afraid to go into “coaching mode”, as Merideth calls it, but don’t throw your services out there for free. Simply ask people a couple questions that get them thinking about their problems in a different way. This kind of conversation can inspire people to become your clients in the future.

There is never a right or wrong way to connect with clients, either. Merideth recommends trying different avenues to see what works for your ideal clients. Right now, Merideth is developing a TV show, a process she is very excited to learn about. She isn’t focused on the success of the potential TV spot, either. Rather, she’s focused on what kind of connection she can create with a different piece of media.

It’s still a really great way to connect with people, learn more, and if a show doesn’t work, then it just opens up other opportunities.

If you pay attention to the connections you make, it will make the transition into freelancing that much easier. Breaking out on your own and starting your own business could be the best decision you ever make for yourself and your family, even if it isn’t the easiest.

Resources mentioned:

• Gail Vaz-Oxlade

Find Merideth Bisiker online:

• Website: MeridethBisiker.com
• Facebook
• LinkedIn