I tried, I really did. I wanted to love freelancing as a part of my business model. But, the reality is this…I just don’t love it enough to grow the revenue stream in my business. In fact, as I spoke to friends who were making $10 grand a month freelance writing I wondered what was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I just suck it up and go after the money? My blog is called Michelle is Money Hungry for a reason. Well, it all goes back to why I quit my 9-5, how I feel about freelancing as a business model…and what comes next.
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The Reality of Work
Here’s the thing, you’re not always going to enjoy every aspect of the work that you do. And, because I am aware of this I chalked up my dissatisfaction with freelance writing from that perspective. The thing is the longer I did freelance related work, the more it got on my damn nerves.
Here’s the thing…
I currently like my clients. I love the scope of work that I’m doing, the organizations are great and the people are lovely. But, and I fought this or a long time, freelancing is not for me.
But, the creativepreneur lifestyle is.
For the past 8 months (basically since FinCon) I’ve spent a lot of time focusing on what is my “Why?” Basically, why on earth would I quit a stable 9-5 job and take the leap? What was I wanting? Let me tell you LOL!
My Why….
When I quit my job I was wanting freedom. And, that freedom looked like the following:
- The time to manage my health and wellness-In the past I was commuting for almost 4 hours a day, gained 60+ pounds, was stressed the hell out, broke a tooth, and my hair fell out. Since I quit my job I’ve been able to really focus on taking care of myself and I.LOVE.IT!!!
- Being able to spend more time with family and friends-My friends and mom have fairly open schedules. It has been wonderful meeting people for lunch, hiking during the week, hanging out on patios, etc.
- Growing my professional expertise in whatever way I was able-One of the most frustrating things about my old job was that there were certain professional skills that I wanted to grow..and was roadblocked within the organization from growing. My website and podcast have allowed me to grow those skills. I wanted to learn how to market projects, speak publicly, develop products and more. I’ve done all of that.
- Passive Income-When I first thought about quitting my job and working digitally, I was extremely excited about the idea of passive income. But, I got distracted by the reality of working for yourself and got sucked into freelancing, random side-hustles, and life in general. Not any longer.
Back to My First Love
This Spring I decide to focus on growing my passive income. The goal was to begin making consistent passive income (in particular affiliate income) each month. In the past I’ve made affiliate income inconsistently. But, I wanted to focus on making it consistently. Because once that happened I could share what I was doing with other people. And, I’ve ALWAYS loved passive income-specifically affiliate income. None of this should surprise any of you that know me well.
My business coach, Amanda Abella, made the point that conviction sells products and grows business. My lack of conviction and excitement for freelancing was becoming an issue for me. So, I had to make some scary changes and begin the process of breaking up with freelancing and any other way that I make money that doesn’t light me up. By the way, of course if a bank wants me to write a post, cha ching, I’m going to do it. BUT, I can no longer have freelancing be one of my primary revenue streams.
Why I Love Affiliate Marketing
- I get to share what I love and get paid for it. LOVE. And, these are products, goods, and services that I was already sharing with other people.
- As affiliate income grows it changes the possibilities of a freelance website-based creative business.
- You can do launches each month for a specific product, tool, or resource that you love and then know how much money will be coming to you in the same month, 30 days, or 90 days from the moment that you’re in.
- While getting ridiculous page views can translate to great affiliate payouts…you can still make money without them. You can focus on growing the money and those results will begin driving people back to your website. In fact, I’m now focused on income growth vs. page views because results are compelling.
Break Up With Clients
So, I created two courses that I think will help people in two areas that I’m focused on. The first course is called “Break Up With Clients” it is an affiliate marketing course created for people who are in the freelancing space.
If you’re a:
- Freelance writer
- Copy Writer
- Graphic Designer
- Photographer
- Creativepreneur
Or, offering a service that relies on you to actually take care of a task, project, or take an actual action this course is designed for you. If you’re a blogger looking to monetize your blog I would recommend that you take Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing by Michelle Schroeder-Gardner (and, yes-I’m an affiliate). But, if you’re someone who hasn’t really grown affiliate income on your blog and are now a freelancer, there are a number of ways you could be making money as an affiliate specific to your scope of work.
- You don’t need a ton of page views
- You do need a strategy
- You do need a clear business expertise that people are coming to you for
- And, you need to LOVE sharing solutions to people’s questions.
The Goal of the Break Up With Clients Course is the Following:
- Reestablish your role as an expert in your professional interactions. As a freelancer I always felt that the project/client relationship put me at a disadvantage.
- Grow income that is predictable over time. That income then creates opportunities for:
- Hiring a VA
- Marketing
- Education
- Breaking up with lower paying clients and having your new VA help you find better paying clients who you LOVE!
- Giving you the time to developing your own products
- Earn money when you’re sick
- Grow income that is predictable over time. That income then creates opportunities for:
- Build in a way to bring money into your business that can occur without you taking actions beyond sharing what you love.
- Help freelancers break up with clients who
- Don’t pay on time
- Pay too little
- Don’t communicate well
The course will launch in the next couple of days. You can do three things:
- Sign up for my 5 Day Mini-Affiliate course by texting the following phrase: AFFILIATEINCOME to 66866 (I will send updates on the course live date via the list)
- Join The Unapologetically Money Hungry closed Facebook group for current and future creativepreneurs. I will share course info (and discounts for members) in the group. F.Y.I. this group is a chill, spam free zone.
- Listen to the Michelle is Money Hungry Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. I will share course updates on the show in upcoming episodes.
Umm, so I created another course LOL!
Make Money Podcasting
In 2017, I put together a panel for Podcast Movement (Anaheim) called “How to Monetize Your Podcast with Blogger Skillz.” I recognized that people who had blogged first and then added podcasts to their businesses had a distinct advantage in understanding all of the ways a podcast could be leveraged to make money.
This course is ideally suited for:
- Podcasters who are wanting earn money ethically with their shows.
- Podcasters who actually believe that it’s possible to make money podcasting.
- Podcasters who will actually do the work.
Listen to the Michelle is Money Hungry Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. I will share course updates on the show in upcoming episodes.
Both courses will be launched by the end of this week!
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really interesting point of view, thanks for sharing
How are things going?!
So happy for you for doing what is best in YOUR business! Congrats on realizing what you love and don’t love.
We’ve had our convos about freelance writing. I’m with you on growing the affiliate income. I have work to do, but I am seeing some strides.
LOL!!! I’ve actually set an end date for freelancing. So, I’ll still be doing it for awhile. But, I was beginning to feel like I’d accidentally trapped myself and that I would never be able to do anything else. Building out the courses and getting my funnel created has given me a better sense of what’s next.
Weirdly enough, I enjoy writing. But, the business end gets on my nerves A LOT. Now that my entire funnel has been built out I’ve got an end date in mind for when I will finish freelance. Am super happy about it. Pivots are GOOD!!