Marketing Manager Andre De Almeida
About this podcast episode…
FRACTIONAL MARKETING MANAGER ANDRE DE ALMEIDA
Moving from Brazil to London to learn English, Andre didn’t just pick up the language. He picked up episodes of the Being Freelance podcast and studied a new way to live and work!
He would make notes on what he’d learnt from each freelance guest. When he was made redundant from an in-house role he wasn’t exactly fluent in 'business’ (but then who of us really is when we start?), but he was confident enough to start.
In person networking has been the driving force behind Andre’s success. Both with potential clients and with his peers. Plus his willingness to experiment - with different events, with forms of marketing, even with the title he gives himself. CMO? Freelancer? Fractional Marketing Manager? Let’s test out what works!
In this episode of the Being Freelance podcast, Andre shares:
Vulnerability builds genuine connections: Showing up authentically and admitting when work is slow resonates far more with people than pretending everything is perfect.
Positioning makes sales easier: Replacing titles like "CMO" (which sounded out-of-budget) or "Freelancer" with "Fractional Marketing Manager" made prospects immediately understand his availability and offering.
Collaboration over competition: Connecting with peers in community spaces doesn’t just bring you friendship and support, it can result in long-term client sharing and referrals.
Networking extends beyond the room: In-person networking starts the conversation, but consistent 1-on-1 follow-ups on LinkedIn build the long-term relationship.
Andre is a member of the Being Freelance Community - come join us! And yes, he genuinely got a friend and a long-term client project out his first Being Freelance meetup on the mini-golf course. See a video of it on the Being Freelance Instagram.
This episode is available to watch in video here on the site, on Apple Podcasts, YouTube and Spotify.
Read a full transcript & get Links in the tabs.
More from ANDRE DE ALMEIDA
Andre’s website
Andre on LinkedIn
More from Steve Folland
Andre De Almeida: Hi, I'm Andre De Almeida, a freelance marketing manager originally from Brazil, now based in London.
Steve Folland: And I'm Steve Folland, a freelance podcast and video editor and creator of this here podcast and community. So, time to meet Andre, find out what it's like for him being freelance!
As ever, how about we get started hearing how you got started being freelance?
Andre De Almeida: Yeah. So, I moved from Brazil to London back in 2016 to learn English. So, it took me about three years until I had enough English that I felt comfortable to get an office job. But, obviously, didn't have any network or anything around marketing in London, so luckily, I found your podcast back then. It was about 2019, 2020.
And that's when I said, "Okay, how do I get myself into the marketing world in London?" So, I just found the podcast, "Being Freelance," and I was listening to it, taking tips from people. I had this note on my phone, which unfortunately, my phone died back then, and I lost it. So, for every podcast, I was literally taking notes, how people got clients, what did they say that they did, or it worked or didn't work. And I remember Sarah Townsend?
Steve Folland: Yeah.
Andre De Almeida: I think I pronounced her name right. Sorry, Sarah.
Steve Folland: Yeah.
Andre De Almeida: And I think she said, "Tell your family and friends, the immediate circle supporting network, about your business, about your freelancing business." So, I said, "Okay, let's get this started. Let's see how this works." So, I did, and that's how I got my first client back then. Literally messaging family back in Brazil saying, "I'm starting this business," because it was just a way for me to keep in touch with marketing as well. And my auntie was working at a company at the time, and then her company needed some help with LinkedIn. So, that's kind of my freelance journey started. It was very brief. It lasted for about six months, because then I got offered an office job. So, that's what I was looking for at the time. So, I left the freelancing world after six months, and then I got myself into a office job. It was a really interesting, nice challenge. That's what I wanted. And then after three years, that's when my second freelancing life started, because I was made redundant.
I then thought to myself, "Okay, do I want to go back to a corporate? Do I want to go back to an office job, 9:00 to 5:00, Monday to Friday?" And then I said, "Okay, let me try this freelancing thing that people rave about and people say it can work." But I never saw myself doing it as a full-time job, basically, or that I could make a living out of it. I always thought it's a side gig or something, like you can just do in between jobs. And then, yeah, meeting people, the more people I met, kind of the same story repeated. I got made redundant, and I didn't want to go back to corporate. I started my business, I have my clients, and I can travel. So, that sounds really interesting. So, that was about now two and a half, almost three years since I started the business.
Steve Folland: So, finally, about three years ago, you think, "I'm done with the whole being made redundant, getting rehired-"
Andre De Almeida: Yes.
Steve Folland: "... all of that." I know originally you contacted family, but how did you get the first freelance clients this second time around?
Andre De Almeida: The officially freelancing world, freelance life. Yeah, so basically, I did the same thing again. I started messaging people, but at that time, I'd already built some sort of a network in London. So, the company I was working for, I said, "Okay, I'm going to talk to the owner because they might have people to recommend me," because we left in good terms. So, I start messaging people that I collaborate with because I was a marketing manager for them. So, within that three-year period, we run events, we run charity funds. So, I ended up expanding my network, and I reached out to those people. At the same time, I start visiting and going to networking events, which it was very challenging at the beginning because I always hated network events.
But when you go as a freelancer, as a business, it is so much different than when you go as an employee to a big trade fair. And that's how I found, "Okay, I like this now. I like this better." So, officially, my first client came out of one of the networks events that I went, recommended by another freelancer that was there. So, then again, this opened up my little box of, I can collaborate with people. That exists. It's not everybody trying to steal your clients. People recommend you. People compliment your work. So, that's how I got my first, was basically out of a networking event. I was talking to someone, and I pretty much said, "I started my business. I'm a marketing manager, more a generalist marketing manager, if you like, because that's what I've been doing in corporate for the last 15 years." And then the person said, "Oh, okay, I know somebody that might need some help with day-to-day work." So, I said, "Okay, fine."
So, I got that first client there, and then the second client happened. So, it was a very good beginning of my freelance life because I got two clients within a month. And I said, "Okay, this is good. This is promising. This can work." The second client was a friend of my partner. She had run her business, and she needed help. I said, "Great, let's do it." We'd done some work. We worked for three months, but then I stopped searching for new clients because I was so busy, A, starting the business and working on those two projects, and then everybody knows what happened next. Those two projects finish, and then I saw myself, "Okay, I have no clients again. What do I do?" How do I survive? Is this how we work, right?
Steve Folland: The marketing manager stopped marketing himself.
Andre De Almeida: Honestly, yes. It's absolutely crazy, but I just didn't know how to run a business. I think that's the right way of saying it. I knew how to do marketing. I know how to do marketing, but all of those extra set of skills that you just don't learn when you corporate. You just don't know how to, yeah, account, and not that I don't now, I have an accountant, but how to sell, how to onboard, and how to assess if that client is good for you or not. That's something I had to learn, because not every client is my client. So, all those things that at the beginning, A, I didn't say no to anyone because it all felt like losing money. All projects, I said, "Okay, I can do this, and I can stretch myself a little bit on this area, and I can do it." Until you... Well, it took me, again, that was a hard probably six months after those two projects finished, because then I say, "Okay, I don't have clients. What do I do?" And then I start going back to networking events and meeting people and talking, and I've been vulnerable, telling people that it's okay to say it to you, you don't have no clients. It's okay to say that. You don't have to be successful all the time. That's how I learned. The more transparent you are, the more honest you are, you don't try to say that you are in a position that you're not, people connect with you, and they understand you. That was my experience mainly, but...
Steve Folland: What kind of networking events were these?
Andre De Almeida: It was a little bit of everything. I was going to, obviously joining the Being Freelance, that helped me. I met people there that recommend me to clients. Cat, we share a client until today. Catherine Saunders, she's a marketing manager as well, and yeah, we've been collaborating with this client for over two years now.
Steve Folland: Oh my God. Sorry to interject. Right, okay, we'll put a pin in networking. What's crazy about that is I remember when you two first met.
Andre De Almeida: Yeah.
Steve Folland: Because we went on a Being Freelance golf day, which was mini golf-
Andre De Almeida: Yes. It was a mini
Steve Folland: ... in London, and it was your first time, and it was Cat's first time, and you were both marketers, and you hit it off. I didn't realise you'd been working together with the same client since, well, almost since then.
Andre De Almeida: Yeah, we have.
Steve Folland: Amazing.
Andre De Almeida: Yeah.
It's incredible when you look back that we were in the same position at the same time, starting our businesses and-
Steve Folland: Yeah
Andre De Almeida: ... going through the same type of thing, and yeah, it's really good. We've been sharing this client and looking forward to carry on for next year. Yeah, apart from the Being Freelance network and the co-working, I went to, Steve, every network event that I saw online. I said, "Okay, I'm going to go to this," because I had the time. I wasn't busy with work, and I did free work as well. I messaged people saying, "Hey, would you like a free marketing audit?" Because it was my way of, A, testing some process, but also keeping myself busy. I hated not having anything to do during the day. So, free work, and I was, like I said, anything in London, network-wise, I was going to breakfasts, I was going to dinner, catch-ups, IT, AI. Oh my God, every event that I could come across. Got invited to some interesting ones that I never came back, but it felt like a cult. I'm not going to name and shame, but yeah, it felt like a cult that they want to convert me. But, yeah, and then I found, I think from those networking events, I just found my voice, the way I want to present the business, the way I present myself, and that's what the clients get. The same Andre that they meet on the network events is the same Andre that worked with them. Networking became my main source of clients, really.
Steve Folland: So, does that mean when you first went to networking, you felt you were pretending to be something else?
Andre De Almeida: Yeah.
Steve Folland: And then event... Yeah, go on, what happened?
Andre De Almeida: Yeah, yeah, that exactly it. So, when I went for the first time, you meet people, and everybody is always... It felt like almost like an Instagram Live. Everybody had a perfect business, everybody was busy, everybody had inquiries coming, everybody had projects. And I was like, "Okay, I don't have any of those. So, do I have to just not tell people that I started a business now, or it's a recent business? What is the right thing to say?" It wasn't until I said to people, "Oh, how's your work going?" Said, "Oh, actually, it's going really tough because I have no clients." So, that's when I felt I connect with people more, when I was being transparent. I wasn't trying to hide that I didn't have clients or that I had a successful business then. So, for me, it was a tipping point. Just, yeah, it's okay. It's okay to have no clients. Financially, it's not, but as a business, as a person, it happens. And it was all new to me.
Steve Folland: So, is networking still today your main marketing channel?
Andre De Almeida: Yeah, it is, for two reasons. One, gives me a reason to get out of the house and get out of the office. And the second one, I just like to talk to people. I found out that I like to be out and understanding people and trying to learn what I can help them with on a marketing side. And sometimes I just give, yeah, free tips. And I was in a network event last month that I organized, the Business Buzz, that I help to organize every month. And I was talking to this guy, and he was telling me a few things, and I just said, "Oh, from my experience, I think you should do this and that," because he was asking me. I said, "Oh, but I don't want to pick your ears too much because I'm not your client." He said, "Listen, that's fine if you feel this is valuable to you and will help your business." Because a lot of people helped me when I started, so I just feel fine to give it back and help people in that way. And if they see the value and they can become a client, why not? I don't see that as a problem. But for me, it's getting out of the house and talking to people and meeting people. I really like that. And yeah, clients come from it.
Steve Folland: And did you say just now that you organise a networking event as well? Is that what you said?
Andre De Almeida: Yes, it is, yeah. So, there's a event or a company called Business Buzz. Not Business Bus. My partner always corrects me because it sounds like the bus.
Steve Folland: Buzz.
Andre De Almeida: Buzz.
Steve Folland: Like a Bee.
Andre De Almeida: Bee, yeah.
Steve Folland: Yeah.
Andre De Almeida: So, probably one and a half years ago, I went to this network event, Central London. Again, small event for business, solopreneurs. It's a very diverse type of event. And I really liked because it didn't feel like a card swapping event. So, people were actually wants to talk to you and wants to know you, and not just, "Hi, my name is Andre. Here's my card. Grab your card," and off you go. So, I went a few times, and then they were expanding to Canary Wharf, which is literally one stop for me on the tube here. They were looking for somebody to help them to run the event in Canary Wharf. I said, "Oh, okay. Well, that sounds fun, sounds convenient. It's a good timing." So, I joined the host, and now we run these events in Canary Wharf. Yeah, network events.
Steve Folland: So, you've been doing that about a year, 18 months?
Andre De Almeida: 18 months, yeah, with them.
Steve Folland: Yeah.
Andre De Almeida: Yeah.
Steve Folland: Since becoming an organiser, have you noticed a difference in the way people get to know you or maybe work that might come your way, or any, like a difference between attending to being an organiser?
Andre De Almeida: Well, there is, yes. I feel that organising, I have less time to network.
Steve Folland: Oh.
Andre De Almeida: Because I just want to make sure everybody's welcomed in the room and they feel introduced to people that they can collaborate, but also put me on the other side of the room, on the other side of the coin, rather. People know me as the person that helps to organize the event. I don't feel I then have to network too hard when I'm there. But even so, when I attend a network event now, I have so much more to talk. I've been running the business for almost three years. I run a network event, and a few other things I've done on the business over the last couple of years, that it feels easier to go to a network event now.
Steve Folland: Now, that's not the only way that you have tried to market yourself, though, because I know you did a podcast, or maybe you still do do a podcast as well, right?
Andre De Almeida: Yeah, you're right. Yeah. So, I don't know if we still do. We paused it. We didn't stop it, we paused it. That's what we say. Because we did two seasons, so we have probably about 24 episodes live. But I got super busy with work, and my podcast partner decided to grow her family, which is incredible, amazing. So, yeah, managing both of us at the same time was quite hard. So, we stopped the podcast for probably two years, let's say, because we really enjoyed doing it quite a bit, because, A, it was our way to keep in touch with each other, collaborating and learning and researching, keeping us fresh, really. And then the other side of the podcast, obviously, was the conversations and the amount of people that we got to meet. So, it started again with immediate friends and colleagues from Brighton, because I did my master's in Brighton.
So, we had the immediate teachers and coordinators from the course, and they introduced us to some people, and then their people. It was just like a domino effect of incredible people that came our way. I said, "You know what? Why not?" Again, I have the time. I was just trying. That's what I like about marketing. It's all about trying, isn't it? You can try, and it's my business. If it doesn't work, that's my problem. So, yeah, I was just trying just different ways of putting myself out there and getting to show my experience, and show people, in a way, what can I do to help them.
Steve Folland: What was the format of it?
Andre De Almeida: Similar to what we're having here. It was three people, because it was Prachi, myself, and the guest, talking about marketing. So, we always had a marketing person coming in, or a branding person, or a design. Basically, a very friendly conversation about marketing. That's it.
Steve Folland: And that helped you on network as well?
Andre De Almeida: It helped me on getting comfortable with my English, getting comfortable being recorded, comfortable on camera. So, that really helped a lot. And then when you get the feedback from people, that's when, for me, I was like, "Okay, yes, we can do this. Prachi and I, we can carry on doing it." Because people were introducing, like I said, us to other people that they trust. So, it was just that kind of a social proof, personally and emotionally, I guess.
Steve Folland: So, you get to experiment with your own marketing. Have you tried anything else?
Andre De Almeida: I collaborated on a marketing book, if that counts.
Steve Folland: I should say so.
Andre De Almeida: So, it started because of the podcast. So we did one episode on Pret A Manger expanding to India, and the marketing strategy behind, and the pricing, and everything. One teacher, one lecturer from Brighton saw, watched the podcast, and she was writing a marketing case study book, and then she said, "Andre, would you like, and Prachi, would you like to write a case study on that to be included in the book?" I said, "Oh, my God. Yes, why not?" So we did. It was a lot of work. If only I knew how much work and effort would have to be to write a official case study and get published in a book. But we did. So yeah, I can say that, if you buy a marketing book, on a marketing, obviously, library, you can find my name there.
Steve Folland: Come on. I mean, that underlines credentials and authority in what you're doing. There was a point in this when you were feeling like you had no idea how to run a business. How's that feeling now?
Andre De Almeida: It feels much better. Some days, I feel the same. I was like, "Oh my God, what's happening? What I'm doing here?" Panicking a little bit. But, I guess, I will keep learning. You keep facing challenges and you learn from it, and the next time it happens, it gets better. But now, yeah, I have processes of onboarding clients. So when a client comes to me, we have a talk, and then I think it's a joint decision. Does that client fit my work, and do I fit within their brand or their company, really? So, that kind of a process is that I had to go through the beginning. They don't know how does that going to look like in six months. I can sell the project, but what I'm delivering, how do I assess, how do I measure, what KPI they're going to implement? And now, I feel much more comfortable to talk to somebody and understanding, "Okay, I can help you," or, "No, sorry, I can't. No, I can recommend you to somebody else because it's not my expertise." So, in that sense of running the business, I feel I got much better.
Steve Folland: Yeah. As you put it earlier, not every client is your client. I love that.
Andre De Almeida: Yeah.
Steve Folland: Put that on a T-shirt.
Andre De Almeida: Yes. Yeah, and it's true. It's true because at some point, there will be a clash. There will be a clash on the client expectations or the way they communicate. I had to have some tough conversation with clients. "Listen, you need to respect me. That's not the way I will let you to talk to me. And, if that's going to carry on, we better part ways here." Some tough conversations I had to learn how to do, how to have, and stand up for myself, stand up for my business. And, I had clients asking the most crazy things, and I said, "That's not how my business operate." And it felt really good.
Steve Folland: Yes, Andre!
Andre De Almeida: Yeah.
Steve Folland: So what do you think does make a good sort of client relationship, sort of dealing with clients?
Andre De Almeida: Ooh, that's a really good question. I think, obviously, everybody's different, but for me, it's somebody that understands why I started the business. So for example, if I have to sell marketing to somebody, it is already a red flag for me. It's a no. Because it's hard enough selling myself. If I still have to convince you that your business needs marketing, then no. You better go somewhere else. Because I don't want to invest the energy and time try to convince, because it will be a everyday battle. So, that's for me- It's already a big indicator that, okay, we can work together or not.
Some values, some way of communicating, respect has to come both ways.
Steve Folland: You said that you go to a lot of networking, that that really worked and continues to work for you. What I didn't ask was, what does it actually look like? How many events are you going to a week or a month? Day, night? What's the-
Andre De Almeida: Oh, I can't do night events. No. So, two things. If the events are too early in the day, I don't go anymore. So some events, they are quite good, but they start at 7:00 in the morning, so I'm sorry. No. Or after 6:00 p.m., it's like, no, that's my time to be home, watching my games, relaxing. So, any other events that fit in between 10:00 in the morning and 4:00 p.m., that works well for me. It's a good problem to have. I'm quite busy with work, so I'm literally just attending the events that I organize, so basically that one once a month. Over the last eight to 10 months, I had to really choose where I spend my time between working on my business or working on client projects, so now I have to really prioritize the clients. Yeah, as an independent business, there's only so many days a month that I can work. There's only so many hours I can work, so there's only so many clients I can take in. So, I really need to be careful. But I still have a pipeline of clients. I learned that the hard way.
Steve Folland: Yes. Well, I like the fact that you're not working after 6:00 p.m. by the sounds of it. So your work/life balance is pretty good, is it?
Andre De Almeida: It is. It is because when I decided to start the business, I had this vision of, if I want to take a Friday off, I'll take a Friday off. If I want to, I don't know, work tomorrow from 10:00 in the morning, I will do that. I always try to fit in, and I think I heard that on another guest from the podcast, Steve, on your guest, fit your work calendar after your life calendar or something like... It was something on those lines, because it's true. I can sit here to work and spend 10 hours working. That's every day, I can. It's not that I don't have work, but I need to organize. You need to be organized. Otherwise, I'm just going to let the work take over my life.
Steve Folland: "Schedule life first".
Andre De Almeida: That's it. That's this, yeah.
Steve Folland: It's one of my favorite quotes from Rachel Ramsey, and yeah, I try to cling to that as well. Put life in your calendar first. In fact, Helen said something similar on a few episodes ago. How about taking time off?
Andre De Almeida: It's an ongoing struggle. It always feels wrong for me. It's still weird. It feels wrong taking time off because I create this relationship with my clients so they can count on me. I'm always available on my phone or WhatsApp, or email. So taking time off from it, it's strange. It's probably been three years that I have not switched off completely. If I'm traveling, or I always have my laptop with me, so I go to Brazil for two weeks, I take my laptop, because if something happens, I need to be able to work and help my clients when the problem happens. But I always try to take a week, so say, I'm not working this week, but I'm available. So it's an interesting for me, and it's something that I probably still need to work on, is that it's okay to take time off. Take two weeks off, and it's okay. The business will survive, both sides, clients and mine. You would hope. I have some trips coming, so looking forward to those as well, and I will have to take 10 days off for sure.
Steve Folland: Nice. Well, enjoy those days. And have you had any sort of business coach or mentoring or anything like that along the way?
Andre De Almeida: Not officially. Like I said, I had this support networking group. So, for example, it was a friend of a friend that we had a good relationship, that I could always go and ask some questions. Again, tapping back on the freelance community, people that I met that had a business, and I could message them, say, "Hey, I'm struggling with this. What do you think?" So, I was never scared to ask. If you don't ask, you don't get, basically. So, never had an official coach, but had people that I trusted, and we created this really good work relationship that I could go and ask them questions about marketing, about running a business, and I have. I always have.
Steve Folland: Now, Andre, if you could tell your younger self one thing about being freelance, what would that be?
Andre De Almeida: Just do it. Just go for it. It will work out. Just go for it. You have everything that you need, so go for it. There is no coming back, Andre.
Steve Folland: One quick thing. I noticed on your LinkedIn that you have the word fractional mentioned.
Andre De Almeida: So I've tried quite a few things. I've tried part-time marketing manager. I've tried
CMO. So I've tried part-time, I've tried CMO, I've tried freelancer marketing manager, and fractional marketing manager. And I did a few tests, a trial with those at network events and online events, and even marketing there on a blog, for example. Fractional had the best... People were much more comfortable talking to me as a fractional marketing manager than a CMO. CMO, I've always had people telling me, "Okay, so you might be too expensive for me." That was the common-
Steve Folland: So CMO being chief marketing officer?
Andre De Almeida: Yeah. People quite often said, "Oh, okay, so you might be too expensive for me. Might be out of my budget." But it doesn't mean as a fractional marketing manager, I'm not. It's just that the feeling from the word. A freelance marketing manager, I didn't get much traction when I presented that. But yeah, fractional is just a word that worked for me, for my audience, if you like.
Steve Folland: Yeah, I think that's important, isn't it? If that's the word that people are looking for and that they respond to.
Andre De Almeida: Yeah, they did, yeah. And I think fractional is quite clear, the interaction. They can have me for as many days as they want in a month. So it's quite clear within the title that that's what I do. So I'm not full-time, I'm not just theirs. I can do as much as long as they need me, really.
Steve Folland: Andre, it's been so good to talk to you. Thank you so much. Go to beingfreelance.com. There will be links through so we can find Andre online, both his website, go say hi on LinkedIn as well. That's something I didn't actually ask you, though. Do you do a lot on social media, or it feels like it's much more in person?
Andre De Almeida: Yes, you're right. Yeah. It is more in person. My social media is really horrible. I shouldn't say that, but I do more for my clients than for myself.
Steve Folland: That's interesting. Yeah, but it's, again, it's you paying attention to what works for you-
Andre De Almeida: Yeah
Steve Folland: ... I guess.
Andre De Almeida: And what takes more effort from me and from my business. So for me to sit down and plan and strategize my LinkedIn, for example, takes me more effort than going to a network event and talking. It's just the way it works for me, I guess.
Steve Folland: But do you use LinkedIn to stay in touch with the people you might meet at the marketing event?
Andre De Almeida: 100%, yeah.
Steve Folland: Build networking.
Andre De Almeida: Yeah. Because the magic is what happens after the network event, not so much on the day or the morning. It's how do you keep in touch with those people? So that's why I mainly use LinkedIn, for the messaging side.
Steve Folland: Anyway, listen, I've got to let you go. Andre, thank you so much. Real joy. We need to put another mini golf date in the diary, quite clearly. Let's do that in early 2027. But for now, thanks so much, and all the best being freelance.
Andre De Almeida: Brilliant. Thanks, Steve. Thank you for having me. It was a pleasure.
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