Freelance University Review

Freelance University is a cloud-based training portal that offers comprehensive, easy-to-follow courses that focus on businesses and freelancers’ skills to succeed online. Craig and Kelly Cannings co-founded Freelance University, also known as FreeU, in 2008. VAClassroom was created to meet the educational needs of freelancers and virtual assistants. There had been virtually no training in these fields until then. Over 15,000 students in 75 countries have benefited from FreeU. Their current training tracks include social media marketing, online management, content development, graphic design, podcast production, and many other freelance jobs. It’s a good idea to go over to the Freelance Foundations section after you’ve finished this process. Freelance 101 can be found here. These lessons will take you from developing an entrepreneurial-minded and defining your Big Why to studying how to obtain your first freelance client and making networks that work for you and your new business if you’re just getting started. There are also courses on how to price freelance work, legal and productivity tips, a freelance toolbox, and other resources in this section. Client Training is the final section of the Start Here section. You’ll find plenty of information here to help you get clients in more detail, from networking and discovery calls to referral marketing and proposal writing. FreeU has courses on onboarding skills and building client relationships with healthy boundaries, so everyone knows what to expect once you’ve landed your first freelance client. When you’ve finished learning about Freelance Foundations and Client Care, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a freelance entrepreneur. You’ll be prepared to jump into one or more of the training tracks as well. Each training track focuses on a specific service offering, with several courses to help you gain practical skills and hone your expertise in that area. Some courses are available in multiple training tracks.

Starting with Social Media, which includes social media management and ads, Facebook Messenger marketing, brand, Facebook Community building, and more, the complete list of training tracks. Some courses have a certificate of completion. Learn about email list building, book and product launches, digital marketing for small businesses,  influencer and video marketing, and other topics in digital marketing. Digital Media and Content Production – This extensive training program includes, among other things, online course development, virtual conference and summit planning, multimedia editing and production, Zoom meeting facilitation, podcast production, online event management, and digital content management. This track includes website and graphic design foundations and intermediate skill levels, WordPress fundamentals and maintenance, graphic design foundations and intermediate skill levels, learning Squarespace and WooCommerce. Online Business Management – Learn about online business management, virtual bookkeeping, how to start a consulting firm, virtual team building, effective systems, day-to-day business management, and project management here. Some courses include a certificate of completion. Support for technology tools such as Kajabi, CRM, Asana, GSuite, Google Analytics, LeadPages, ConvertKit, Shopify, Zapier, etc. Writing and Editing: This track will teach you how to blog, proofread, write SEO content and online copy, repurpose online content and create effective email sequences. Courses in digital research, email inbox and calendar management, digital customer service, and more are available on this track.

FreeU offers a comprehensive course catalog updated three times a year in January, May, and September. (These are also the registration periods.) Each listing includes a link to the course’s FreeU homepage. While you must be a FreeU student to view the course materials, the link provides a description and syllabus of the system. You can also read other students’ assessments if they have reviewed the course. This makes determining whether FreeU offers the training you require to achieve your objectives much easier. The length and complexity of the courses vary. Some workshops are 90-minute to 2-hour long and can be completed in an afternoon. A typical FreeU course has 3-5 hours of video content. The certification courses are the most in-depth, containing 6 to 10 hours of video content. Your circumstances and personal learning pace determine the amount of time it takes you to complete any class or workshop material. Each course is broken down into modules. These videos contain short lessons. Worksheets or actionable items are also available as downloadable PDF files in some modules. The system usually comes with a worksheet that walks you through the lessons and reinforces what you’ve learned. Students can also join FreeU’s private Facebook community. There are eight expert mentors on hand to help you. Mentors write posts and updates about their areas of expertise, such as upcoming WordPress updates. They are available to respond to comments and answer freelance questions via tagging. If they don’t have the information you require, they will go out of their way to help you locate it. Every month, a Facebook Friday LIVE takes place in the FB group, and previous LIVES are archived so you can simply catch up on any you missed or go over old favorites. It’s also a meeting place for newbie and veteran freelancers alike, where they can get the help they need to start a successful business, celebrate victories, commiserate, or simply find a community of like-minded people. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming. You will be welcomed and given new opportunities to learn and grow in your freelance career – all at no cost to you.