Shoestrings… bootstrapping… plenty of references and analogies through footwear when it comes to financing your business or freelance startup. Mike Smith at the Bootstrapping Blog has a nice article (spotted yesterday) on bootstrapping your freelance career.

Bootstrapping, in essence, is to start or fund your business idea without any real external assistance or financial input. You’ve got little or no funds to start your idea and you’re doing all the footwork yourself. However, there are a number of things you can do to get yourself started. While they may seem common sense to some, they could be an eye opener to others.

Click here to see Mike’s 10 steps in detail or see the list below.

1. Study your market.
2. Study your competition.
3. Outline your plans.
4. Get a website.
5. Get promotional materials.
6. Call call call.
7. Email email email.
8. Delegate (when the time is right).
9. Expand (giving yourself room to breathe to watch your business flourish).
10. Reward yourself.

These are a pretty much a step by step guide to getting going. Having been through the process before and currently going through the process again, you can never underestimate the early steps. Going into any type of business, particularly freelance, you should know what opportunities are out there and who your competition is. How can you approach things differently, how can you offer more value in your service (we’re talking value for money, not to be confused with lowering your prices).

The planning stage can be quite tedious but it is something you must go through and something which can save you an awful lot of time in the long run especially when it comes to dealing with finances, advertising, future expansion - have a plan for everything.

If you’re stuck for free advertising ideas, why not read my post from earlier this week on How Do You Advertise Yourself Online?

I’ll be looking at some of these aspects in my blogging for beginners talk next week, especially when it comes to getting a website (a blog can be the perfect, and free, solution) and promotional materials.

While the 10 steps can’t guarantee success, they can certainly put you on the right track and save you a few pennies along the way.

Popularity: 14% [?]