Find the golden thread in your work and say it in one sentence. Then watch what it does to how you get paid.

You're good at a lot of things. That's what is stopping you from getting hired.

You can write the bid and fix the CRM. But ask you what you do, and it takes 4 minutes, and the client still isn't sure if you're the person they need.

Say What You Do is 3 short episodes on fixing that. About 30 minutes in total. Free, and it goes straight into your favourite podcast app.

Does this feel familiar?

When "so what do you do?" takes 4 minutes to answer.

Most of your work has come through people who already know you. An old colleague. A former manager. They did the explaining, so you never had to.

Then a long contract ends, and you need work from someone who's never heard of you. You get on the Zoom call and list everything. Bids, a bit of strategy, some comms, and that time you sorted out their CRM.

They nod. Politely. And hire someone else.

The charity sector trained you to be good at everything. Every job description ended with "and any other duties as reasonably required". In-house, that made you gold. Freelance, it makes you hard to hire.

It's got nothing to do with how good you are. Nobody ever made you practise saying it.

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What's inside?

A short intro and 3 episodes. Listen in order: each one ends with a small job that the next one builds on.

Intro: Who it's for, and how to get the most from it.

Episode 1: Any other duties as reasonably required. What school timetables and "any other duties" have to do with your business, and why referrals have been quietly doing your marketing. Ends with a 5-minute job in your inbox.

Episode 2: Finding the golden thread. The two-column exercise I use with every new Freelancers for Good member. Your clients have already told you what you're good at. This is how to hear it and turn it into one sentence.

Episode 3: What changes when you can say it. From sentence to service, and from day rate to a price for the result. Plus where Freelancers for Good comes in, if you'd like help with the rest.

Who is this for?

This is for you if you're already freelance in the charity sector. Maybe you planned it. Maybe a restructure or a redundancy was decided for you. Either way, the work comes in, and the invoices get paid. You're just fed up with making it up as you go.

Fundraisers, comms people, data folk, consultants, creatives. If people describe you as "brilliant at a bit of everything", you're in the right place.

It'll make more sense later if you're still employed and wondering whether to make the jump. You're very welcome to listen, but my 6-week programme, Take the Leap, is built for exactly where you are right now, and we start in January 2027.

Meet your host:
Bethany Helliwell-Smith

Business coach. Former fundraiser who somehow ended up leading a CRM migration, licking 250 envelopes, fixing the printer and taking major donors to the opera. Standard Tuesday in 2019.

16 years in the charity sector. 6 years freelance. Which, for someone who used to update her CV every 18 months "just to see", is a bit of a shock.

I spent years being everything I could be to everyone around me, while the responsibility of raising the money to cover their wages also sat on my shoulders. So I know exactly where the "any other duties" statement at the bottom of every charity sector JD turns into the habit of a lifetime.

Now I coach charity freelancers through Freelancers for Good. I help them build businesses that fit around their lives, and get paid for the result instead of the day.

I coach like the big sister I am. Bringing Big Sister Energy to charity freelancers. I've done it first, I've made the mistakes already, and I'll tell you the truth whether you asked for it or not.