One of the biggest questions that I get is from people who are seeking to start their own business for the first time.
They have spent their whole life working in jobs for someone else, and thus the idea of starting a business seems scary and overwhelming.
My goal with this post is to share with you my biggest recommendations for first time entrepreneurs.
Read MoreOne of the fastest ways for any individual to make positive change in their life is to set goals, and then work at achieving them.
Every quarter, I do a quarterly review where I review my previous quarter and set goals for the upcoming quarter.
Below you will see a list of my quarterly goals I set for Q1 with the actual outcomes for each of those goals. Then I also dive into detail about what went well, and what didn't.
I encourage you to take this format and apply it to your own life and do your own Quarterly review.
Read MoreFor the past year and a half, I have lived without a cell phone plan.
When I tell this to most people, they think I am nuts.
We assume because the technology exists, we must have it.
But for millions of years we existed without cell phones, and we can still exist without them today.
Read MoreThere is a recurring trend I see among nearly all creative professional who are considering starting their own business or are in the early phases.
They overcomplicate what they do.
Learning to easily communicate what you do is one of the most important things every creative professional must learn.
Read MoreCreativity. There are few sellable goods or services that have such a wide range of pricing as creative work.
Why is it that one painting can cost millions of dollars, while another can't even be sold?
Why is that one designer can charge 10x what another designer charges for the exact same service?
My goal with this post is to share with you two examples of creative pricing in action, and then explain to you why they are priced the way they are.
Read MoreSeveral years ago Eric Ries published an popular business book called The Lean Startup.
The core principle of the book is that you shouldn't invest large amounts of time, money and energy into a new business up front without knowing if it will work.
That same principle is true for marketing your creative services.
Read MoreAll of us that do creative work face a similar challenge.
Despite our best efforts to be unique, at times we can feel like a commodity.
While we may have our own unique style, there are hundreds of other creatives out there with their unique style as well.
So it begs the question, ‘How do I differentiate myself in the creative field?’
My goal with this post is to share with you the single most powerful way to differentiate your creative business.
Read MoreThere is a mindset among many creatives who believe that doing creative work is a sacrifice in terms of income potential.
They believe that doing something artistic inherently means you will make less money.
The problem is that many creative professionals do not understand why their skill sets are so unique.
Read MoreOne of the biggest questions I regularly get through my site is from creatives who are wanting to quit their jobs and freelance full time.
They know they want to do it, but they are afraid to make the jump.
In this post, I will share with you two strategies for making the jump and stories of freelancers who have done it.
Read MoreI want to share with you a story. The story is of two designers.
Both designers make roughly $6,000 per month.
Yet there is one massive difference between these two designers.
One designer is working 60+ hours per week while juggling a ton of clients.
The second designer is working 20-25 hours per week while handling just a few clients.
Both designers are similar, but one works significantly more than the other.
How does this happen?
The difference is in the pricing.
Read MoreEarly in my career, a mentor shared with me a piece of advice that would change me forever.
"Perception becomes reality"
Those three simple words changed how I approached business, and my personal life.
Instead of being the floundering kid with a mediocre business, I began to change how the world perceived me.
Read MoreIf you are going to be a freelancer for a living, it is essential that you have a side project.
It is not a maybe, it is a must have.
Side projects are what fuel your creative energy, allow you to practice your skills, and will ultimately become the the primary projects that shape the course of your life.
My goal with this post is to share with you the reasons why every creative must have a side project
Read MoreFor years, I have used a strategy that has both improved my quality of life and generated a large amount of income.
The strategy has never cost me a single dollar, and I enjoy executing it.
Its not complicated, and it is something anyone can do.
I keep a list of people I like.
Read MoreIt has been proven over and over again than when we write down our goals, we are significantly more likely to accomplish them.
Then why is it that so many people today refuse to take the time to sit down and set out goals?
My goal with this post is to share the method that I use for goal setting as well as show you concrete examples of my goals for the upcoming year.
Read MoreFor the past year, I have been working remotely from my computer and traveling the world.
But I haven't been doing it alone.
Throughout this entire trip, I have been traveling with my wonderful girlfriend Elisabeth.
My goal with this post is to share with you some of the insights and experiences that we have learned from a year of traveling the world as a couple.
Read MoreThis week I returned to the United States after 347 days of traveling abroad.
In this year long trip, my girlfriend and I visited 13 countries and had an experience unlike anything I could have ever imagined.
My goal with this post is to share with you a bit of our experiences, and lessons learned from our lap around the world.
Read MoreDirect outreach includes e-mail prospecting, sending letters in the mail, etc.
Many don't believe direct outreach works. They are inundated with spammy requests all day and thus, they think all direct outreach is spammy.
But the truth is, direct outreach is an effective method of acquiring new work and it doesn't have to be spammy.
Personally, direct outreach has lead to 30% of my income this year.
My goal with this post is to share with you a few methods on utilizing direct outreach to grow your freelancing business.
Read MoreConsumption is easy.
It is easier to read a book than to write one.
It is easier to watch a move than create a short film.
It is easier to look at other peoples art, than it is to create your own.
Creation is a challenge.
Read MoreIf you are like most people, you hate networking.
The idea of walking into a room and schmoozing a bunch of people hoping to find an ideal prospect probably sounds horrible.
But networking doesn't have to be that way.
My goal in this post is to share with you just a few ways to expand your network without feeling sleazy about it.
Read MoreOne of the biggest areas of freelancing that many people fail to even think about is client communication.
Client communication may be one of the single most important factors in building your business.
How you connect with clients has the ability to turn one off jobs into repeat clients, referrals, and raving testimonials.
My goal with this post is to teach you some of the basic concepts of client communication.
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