Let’s build more profitable, satisfying businesses together
members
& going strong
cake puns dropped
– S. Dickey
Building a profitable freelance business is hard.
You must be good at the work itself, and you must figure out your niche, positioning, offers, and prices.
Then, there’s marketing and sales. You can’t close too many projects because those big, busy months can lead to burnout. Lean months are just as stressful.
Freelance experts dish out all the advice online, but half of it assumes you’re willing to work 70 hours a week. You’ve had enough of hustle culture.
So you’ve had to learn how to manage your attention, time, energy, pipeline, finances, systems, and mindset. You’ve finally got a handle on some of it, but that means you’ve outgrown the communities catering to beginner freelancers.
What if…
What if you had a small group of people on your same level who could get good advice quickly? What if they understood your challenges because they’ve been there too?
What if their feedback on your next big offer, pivot, or price increase helped you to ship it sooner, with more confidence?
– M. Hyde • Web Designer & Developer
– E. Yuh • Freelance Writer
– M. Bourbonierre
- R. Campbell • Content Marketer
Business lab and advisory board in one
The Freelance Cake Community is not another content library. It's a business laboratory. Members perform experiments and report results. This is the advisory board you've always wanted.
Why members love it
"Community" is a fuzzy word, so here's what you're paying for:
- M. Kendall • Agency Owner
– A. Stone • Sustainability Report Writer
– J. Hoekstra • Strategist & Writer
What happens after you join
After you apply, we’ll review your application and respond within 24 hours, and once you get accepted, you have 72 hours to join.
Onboarding is pretty straightforward. We’ve got a dedicated space in Circle and a Quickstart Guide to make it clear.
We highly encourage you to create your 1-page growth roadmap and introduce yourself to the community right away.
Your roadmap serves you in three specific ways:
- It forces you to pick only 3 priorities and 5 tasks for each.
- It gives you permission to ignore what isn’t important.
- It keeps you focused on what you can finish in 1 hour.
Your roadmap also helps you cherry-pick the one or two tools in the Resource Library that you need right now—no chasing shiny objects.
Our commitment to you is to help you get wins quickly while we also help you build a business you don’t need a vacation from. And you’re going to have more fun with us along the way.
– B. Watkins • Copywriter
– H. Walden • Writer & Editor
– A. Martinez • Brand Marketer
Three lessons about growth
Hi, I’m Austin L. Church, the founder of the Freelance Cake Community. Over the last 17 years of freelancing, I have learned three important lessons about growth:
- I grow faster through regular subtraction, not addition.
- I grow faster when I surround myself with the right people.
- I grow faster when I believe in my value, my power, and my future.
I have a touch of ADHD, three kids, and many responsibilities, and yet I’ve seen the incredible things that happen as a result of ruthless focus, supportive community, and tenacious belief.
I have supported my family with a six-figure freelance income while reinventing myself and pursuing things that interest me (aka, side quests):
- Scaling up into a lean agency
- Developing and selling a portfolio of 30 iOS and Android apps
- Doing the tech startup thing (2013-2017)
- Co-founding a branding and marketing studio
- Serving as a fractional CMO (2018 - present)
- Publishing Grabbling (children’s picture book) and Free Money (pricing and money mindset guide for freelancers)
In 2018, I started sharing what has worked for me with other freelancers and consultants one on one. Helping freelancers build a profitable business and beautiful life is something I’m passionate about.
Is it going to be easy? No. But can you do it if you want to? Yes.
Is this community right for you?
This community isn’t for folks asking, “Can I do this freelance thing? Do I have what it takes?” It is for folks asking, “How do I keep growing without burning out? How do I make my business truly sustainable?”
You’ll be a good fit if:
- You’re passionate about what you do.
- You’re committed to putting in the work.
- You’re a seasoned pro with a strong point of view.
- You’re growth oriented and have a bias toward action.
- You’re a professional who works on the business, not just in it.
- You’ve been freelancing for 2 years or more or are leaving behind a more senior role.
If that describes you, then plan on asking for help, helping in return, coming to group coaching and coworking sessions (timezone permitting), and participating in the helpful monthly challenges.
You’ll get out what you put in.
Fear and discomfort point the way
In the community I encourage members to press into discomfort and take risks.
Why? Because doing uncomfortable things has changed my life. For example, on January 22, 2021, I pushed through my nervousness long enough to email a stranger named Ed Gandia.
Ed’s assistant replied to say they would be in touch if I was a good fit. Weeks passed. I heard nothing. Then came the critical move: I followed up. It was uncomfortable. I did it anyway, and here’s what happened:
- Ed interviewed me for his podcast, and his audience loved the episode.
- We created a program, “How to Sell Strategy,” and launched it 4 times.
- Revenue from the program and new coaching clients passed $100,000.
- More importantly, Ed and I became friends.
Imagine if I hadn’t reached out to him or followed up. Imagine if I had played it safe.
In the AI age, it’s more important than ever for us to surround ourselves with high-quality people and to do things that scare us. The business you’ve always wanted is on the other side of your fear.
How to apply and what you pay
Membership is by application only. We review and respond to every single application, and you’ll hear from us within 24 hours.
Click this link to apply or the big button at the top of the page.
You can save $159 with the 6-month plan or pay monthly.
Our Moneyback Guarantee
Try the Freelance Cake Community for 30 days. Show up to the sessions, use one or two of the resources, and engage in the forum. If after that you're not getting value, then email us, and we'll refund your full payment. No questions asked or hoops to jump through.
More from community members
P. Mihaylov
B. Watkins, Copywriter
G. Brewer
A. Martinez
A. Stone, Sustainability Report Writer
J. Hoekstra, Writer & Strategist
Frequently Asked Questions
What are good reasons to join?
You’re making decent money but you want to optimize more for joy, impact, and free time.
You need momentum and a place to validate ideas and processes.
You want to grow/scale an already successful business by getting more support (e.g., VA or subcontractors), scaling up into a micro agency, or diversifying revenue streams.
You’ve realized you need to look outside of your current community where everyone shares the same specialization and get some fresh ideas and perspectives.
You want to learn from other people who've done the work of building a "successful" business, and you want to share your expertise in turn.
What are bad reasons to join?
You have products you want to sell to freelancers, consultants, and agency owners, and this community seems like a room you could pitch to. Please don’t.
You hope to get some clients from successful freelancers who have more work than they can handle. Will you start new relationships in the community? Yes. Might some of those relationships organically lead to collaborations or referrals? Yes. Is this a smaller Upwork? No.
You want other people to answer all your questions and do your thinking for you. We’re here to answer questions for which Google doesn’t have a quick answer. Think “What CRM are you all using right now?” not “What is a CRM?”
You enjoy being controversial, combative, or contrarian, and think it’s all in good fun. Please take your fun elsewhere.
What can I expect in terms of content?
This community focuses more on connection and relationships than content and programming.
I don’t want to flood members with tons of content because is more content what any of us need? People showing up to listen to Austin deliver a sermon about [insert freelance issue here]?
The more content and events a community has, the less valuable each thing becomes by association, and the easier it becomes for members to deprioritize any one event or piece of content because there's always another one.
That’s why this community prioritizes relationships and focused business development. Let’s identify and do the things that will transform our businesses, finances, and lives. And let’s do that in good company.
When do office hours and other live group sessions happen?
Coworking sessions, Hot Seats, and Office Hours happen at either 11:00 am ET (GMT-5) or 1:00pm ET. That being said, if enough members want or need a different time, we occasionally mix things up.
Six months from now…
Six months from now, you could still be figuring things out alone, or you could have a small group of people in your corner who help you make better decisions every week.
Any questions? Email hello@freelancecake.com.