Back in September 2024, I signed up for the autumn cohort of Self-Marketing Magic run by the fabulous Georgie Darling.
Things had been quieter than usual for me since early summer, and after eight years of freelancing I’d very much taken my foot off the accelerator with my business as I’d had a lot of other life stuff going on.
I knew I needed to make a change, but I also knew I’d struggle to find the motivation to do that on my own, and Georgie’s useful Roadmap to Retainers webinar won me over.
I’ve since had quite a few people asking me what I reckoned to the experience and whether I’d recommend the course. If you’ve ended up here you’re probably wondering the same thing. After all, it’s a big financial commitment for us freelancers, you want to be sure it’ll pay off, and there are endless business coaches to choose from.
So here’s my honest account of my experience with the course (which is, of course, unique to me).
First, a quick intro
In case we don’t know each other, hi, I’m Katie, a freelance Spanish and Portuguese to English marketing translator, copywriter, voiceover artist, subtitler and cultural consultant. Yep, I’m a fan of diversification, can you tell?
In terms of copywriting, I mostly work with other freelance professionals, helping them create website copy that makes them shine, and when it comes to content writing my main niches are ecotourism, wellness and lifestyle.
Right, now for what you’ve all been waiting for.
During the course
Self-paced courses can be hard to stick to, don’t you find? Self-Marketing Magic is self-paced to a certain extent, but it does have 12 weeks of the all-important live calls that give you the accountability you need (if you’re anything like me) to crack on and get stuff done.
It was great to speak to the other freelance writers and Georgie for the hot-seat style coaching once a week, and Georgie always had helpful answers for any of the questions we threw at her.
As a lot of my business is focused on translation, she naturally didn’t always understand the ins and outs of that side of what I do, but I still always found her advice helpful.
During the course, I:
- Managed to finally sit down and rewrite my website copy, which I’d been meaning to do for months and months, so it’s now more focused on the clients and niches I’d decided I want to target with the course’s help.
- Took the step of finally getting my website copy translated into Spanish (having had my website for eight years and always meaning to do just that). Before, I’d always resisted getting it translated because I’d never felt like it was ever quite done. Know that feeling?
- Landed a promising new blog writing client from the US, and had the confidence to go in with a higher-than-normal quote for a great one-off translation project.
- Felt supported and found it super useful to be held accountable not just to my accountability buddy for the course, but to the group as a whole.
- Posted on LinkedIn consistently and more intentionally 3-4 times a week.
Overall, my perspective definitely shifted and I started taking myself a touch more seriously as a business owner, inspired by Georgie’s super impressive freelance career.
After the course
There were pluses and minuses to taking the course in the autumn, as although I capitalised on that back-to-school feeling in September and October, once December rolls around my brain always checks out, and I lost a lot of momentum.
Since getting back to work at the beginning of January, things have been quiet around here, as they often are at this time of year. So there have been times when I’ve questioned whether taking the course was really worth it, as my business hasn’t transformed beyond all recognition.
But then I have to check myself, because I know it was:
- I’m approaching things slightly differently, being more intentional about how I use my time (although I’ve still got a lot of work to do here), and getting into a much better, more structured routine, which I hadn’t realised I really needed.
- I’m still posting religiously on LinkedIn (it’s now 4-5 times a week), getting good engagement, and I ran a limited-time offer in February on one of my services which it would never have occurred to me to do before SMM, generating some bonus income.
- I’m getting started with creating a newsletter for Spanish brands wanting to connect with a UK audience, my new niche.
- I’m prioritising online and in-person networking in a way I never have before and feeling much more confident about putting myself out there. I even introduced myself to 200 people on a stage at a conference last week (a massive deal for me, the stage fright is real).
- I’ve finally started cold pitching and though I haven’t had any positive responses yet, the world hasn’t ended either (I was fairly convinced it would), and I’ll keep going.
I’m a translator, and I know the course is mainly aimed at freelance writers. Will it work for me?
I’d say yes. As I was discussing with my accountability buddy, it’s good for us translators to get out of the echo chamber of our industry, look around and see what else is out there. Freelance writers like Georgie are earning big money and translators can learn an awful lot from her mindset.
Make sure your Self-Marketing Magic expectations are realistic
So do I recommend the course? Absolutely.
It feels like a big investment, but that also means you’re more likely to take it seriously and put the work in. And if you want to see results you really do have to put the work in.
In September, I think I was under a bit of an illusion that taking the course was going to be like waving a magic wand, and at the other end of it I’d automatically be earning more and have a new and improved version of my business.
Surprise surprise, that’s not how it works. These things don’t happen overnight, you’ve got to do the hard work if you want things to pay off. Whilst you might make stellar progress during the 12 weeks the course runs for, or it might just be slow and steady, it’s up to you to keep going after that and act on everything you’ve learned.
I’m still working on that, and I’m sure I will be all year, and beyond, and dipping back into the course content regularly (especially the pitching module).
But I’m here, determined, showing up for myself, keen to see what 2025 will bring and glad I made the decision to invest in coaching, because my business deserves it.
Quick note: If you possibly can, I’d recommend paying upfront or in as few instalments as you can handle, as continuing to pay for the course once the initial 12 weeks are over can feel a little painful, and I wish I’d just bitten the bullet from the word go.
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And that’s that! Any questions about my experience with the course? Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or send me an email.
