Today is Labor Day and I thought it would be a great day to share a more in depth post about my experience coming back from Australia and what I did to rock out such large earning numbers by my third month of freelancing. Was it a fluke? How are things going now? And some major take aways. Here is a recap of my freelance chronicles.
There is a huge reason why I am think about this now and that is the following: I am not making enough money right now and I know why. One of the unexpected things that happened this summer was that I slacked. I’m not sure that it was unexpected…it WAS summer. But, it was my first summer working for myself. I needed to take that into account and continue working “my process” that landed me a number of clients with reoccurring income, great references, and additional skills. Remember the story of the Ant and the Grasshopper? Well, this year I was the Grasshopper.
My 6000 Month
When I returned from Australia I had savings. It was o.k. for a single person but I was operating with a sense of urgency and excitement when I returned. One thing that happened was that I decided to wait until I was in Hawaii to begin looking for opportunities.
- February 16-Flew to Hawaii from Sydney! First thing that I saw after leaving the airport at 7:00 a.m. a man peeing by the side of the road and an adorable guy wearing a t-shirt selling gun range experiences. Glad to be back.
- February 16-February 22-In Hawaii begin actively looking for leads on projects that I could work on social media management opportunities, and content creation. I began to send in pitches and schedule a focus group for the night that I arrive in Denver. I also landed a direct ad sale out of the blue so I made around $150 that month. Please note: I was not looking for freelance writing gigs at that time-just project management (I just started looking for freelance writing this month-September 1, 2015. If you need freelance writing help email me! shopmyclosetproject@gmail.com)
- February 22-Flew to L.A. then depart for Denver. Fell in the street next to Santa Monica due to crazy vertigo because the flight from Hawaii was so turbulent. Luckily I was rescued by a nice Grandma who tells me that she was watching me and noticed that I didn’t lift my foot to step on the sidewalk. Oops.
- February 23-Arrive in Denver. Drop my stuff off and go to Focus Group. My mom thinks I’m crazy. No-I’m just driven.
Takeaway #1
There is an intense level of sustained focus that has to be tapped into to make freelancing or working for yourself happen. Scheduling yourself to work the night you fly in after an epic trip is like shouting to the Universe-I’m ready for abundance to happen and I will do ANYTHING (legal) to get money to come in.
February 26-My tax appointment. I have a nice refund! I expected this because I worked the same job for 10 years I received the same refund (just about) every year. I claim one month of self-employment expenses. It all balances out.
February 23-April 30, 2015-I pitched, worked my brand ambassador side hustles and began to land project management jobs. Some of the jobs hired in 2 weeks some took 3 months. In fact, I told my mom that if one company didn’t stop dragging its feet I would say “no” by the following Wednesday regardless of wether or not they wanted to hire me. They must of “heard” what I was saying and contacted me that Wednesday. I am still working for them right now and it has been a positive experience.
Takeaway #2
It may take months for your job “seeds” to take root and grow. It took awhile for a lot of the opportunities that I was seeking out to really happen. Once I was hired on it then took time to produce the work and get paid. I was also working my side hustles and actually had a pay delay for the first time with one of those hustles. That was a $1000 dollar paycheck that ended up getting into my hot little hands a month after I was supposed to be paid.
I received my tax refund in March and a teeny tiny check at the end of March from one of my new clients.
My Epic May and Takeaway #3
I received my late side hustle money, and pay from my all of the jobs that I started to work and I was still working brand ambassador gigs. It was a groundswell of time put in and gigs that paid bi-monthly (nice). I think it’s also important to touch on another experience that I’ve had which is a lackluster summer…directly related to the effort that I was putting in.
Takeaway #3
I looked for a number of different ways to make money. Even though my goal was to make money online via online services, I was more than happy to pick up side hustles to help “bridge the gap.” Because of that I was able to make a large amount of money in a short amount of time. I continue to incorporate side hustles into my business plan and will probably do so for about another 9 months.
Also, over time your efforts will be a reflection of your success. Recently I listened to a Listen Money Matters Podcast interview with Cat from Budget Blonde. She made the following comment on the podcast and I couldn’t agree more and it illustrates the difference between my spring and summer. She said “Your 80% is other people’s 100%.” Deep. When I look at how hard I worked during the spring it’s not surprising that I rocked my income. There is no surprise at all. I was working my a@@ off.
Successful Spring/Slacker Summer
I had an epic Spring and I should have had an epic Spring in terms of work because I did the following:
- I had a plan-and I WORKED that plan.
- I had very clear goals that I was trying to attain.
- I was consistent with my efforts.
- I believed that I could do what I was trying to do.
- No excuses
- I tracked EVERYTHING!!
Slacker Summer
- I needed to adjust my plan or at least re-visit my plan and I didn’t.
- I got distracted by summer fun.
- I became inconsistent with my pitches. Umm, basically stopped pitching aggressively.
- Made excuses.
- Uhh, I lost track of stuff. And honestly if I had been tracking my money I would have noticed I was slacking faster!
Your Pitch Process-Do You Have One?
Having a pitch process will make the difference between you getting consistent work coming in or not.
Here was my Spring Pitch Process:
- Pitch every single day! At least 10-15 good pitches a day. Seriously.
Basically, I would send pitches to businesses, side hustles, etc. Every single day. I did not take a day off from pitching Monday-Sunday. In fact, this is what makes all the difference in a freelancer having consistent work coming in. Uhh, you have to be looking for work consistently. Every time you pitch-you are planting a work and opportunity seed. There is just no way around this. Also, it’s a metaphor for life-the more open you are to seeking opportunity the more opportunities you will find and will come in. You have to be intentional about finding work. I basically stopped pitching over the summer and so even though I’ve been working I should have been adding new clients=growing my business and increasing my income.
As you get used to working for clients you will find that you will complete your work faster as time goes on. You should be pitching so that harder more engaging work comes in. That is work that you can get paid more to do.
You don’t have to pitch as much as I do but you do need to add consistent pitching to your business model in order to bring money making opportunities to you. It’s not rocket science…it’s just hard work.
What’s Your Why?
And how It affects work in general freelancing or not. I love freelancing. The upsides for me are so great that I don’t imagine I will work in a traditional job again. But my “why” changed to a certain degree.
When I returned from my trip, my immediate “why” was I needed money and to be honest…I wasn’t 100% sure I would be able to make freelancing happen. Seriously. I was starting basically from scratch.
Except for the low cash months, I discovered that I absolutely LOVE FREELANCING!!! I LOVE IT. And, having my wake up call cemented the fact that I have no desire to ever work for business as an employee again. Ever. I hate it. Rediscovering my “why” has reignited my passion to kick a@@ and take no prisoners. I will do whatever it takes to never work in an office again. I’m pretty freaking passionate about this.
And, yes-I’m sending out about 10-15 pitches a day again.
**Follow up post that will be published at 3:00 p.m. MTN today**
That post will have an income breakdown from the time that I returned from Australia until the end of August. The income will clearly show what I was talking about. I will also show when I stopped actively pitching and how quickly that reflected in my incoming (it dropped). Finally I will talk about why I didn’t notice my income drop-there are two reasons (one is kind of awesome). The other reason is kind of dumb.
Are You Freelancing?
Have You Had Similar Experiences?
How did I get into freelancing for myself? I started a blog, I changed my life, and imagined more for myself. It hasn’t been easy but I’m making it happen. If you’re interested in starting a blog check out my post on How To Start A Blog, Change Your Life, and Find Your Tribes. I use Bluehost and if you click on my affiliate link you can host your blog for $3.49 a month. See How You Can Set Up a WordPress Blog in 15 Minutes Please note: I may receive some compensation if you use purchase a package through this link.
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Your summer was my first couple years freelancing. I waited for a lot of things to come to me and they didn’t. It was a real wake up call to understand that it was completely up to me to make things happen. No one else was looking out for me. The reverse of that is that income can be unlimited. But there is also, as a result, the cautionary tale of burning out from working too much or too hard. It’s a delicate balance.
In terms of this summer the money aspect was not epic. But-it was an epic summer. I don’t regret how the summer went and honestly I knew why I rocked my May. I loved having that money coming in. Now that I’ve got a good routine going I’m looking forward to amping things up. I’ve got goals to achieve and stuff to do. The burnout issue is very real and fortunately I’ve set some non-negotiables in terms of social life/exercise. Trust me when I say I won’t be making this mistake again. I like my lifestyle way too much now and I don’t want to put it (or me) at risk.
You are so right about pitching every day. I got busy with work & life and stopped pitching. How do I expect freelance work if I’m not pitching?
No pitches=no money b$tches!! LOL! I crack myself up. This is now a non-negotiable. I’ve begun pitching everyday again and will do it even when traveling. It takes time to land jobs, do the work, and then get paid. This won’t be a mistake that I make again.
Love this post! Thanks for being so honest and for a thorough breakdown of the steps. With any side hustle or opportunity, you have to put yourself out there A LOT. The pitch-everyday tip is gold.
Thanks! I have a second post that will go “live” at 3:00 pm MTN. It will be a month by month breakdown of earnings.
I’m underpitching significantly. 0 a day. LOL! Actually freelance work is something that I’m juuuuust starting to consider. I am not sure if the time invested & away from my project is the right way to go. On the flip side, that’s income that could be used to grow my biz. Still weighing. But if I do start, daily pitching is a good idea. Thanks for the tip.
I think that you could be very intentional about the types of gigs you look for. I am already actively pitching and it’s already beginning to bear fruit. Pitching.every.single.day.
I’m not currently freelancing, but I think about it more and more everyday. I’ve just started doing guest posts and I’m realizing that other people like my articles. I’ve also realized that I’m beginning to enjoy writing more in depth post as well. Freelancing may be in my near future.
I like the endless number of possibilities that freelancing creates. I haven’t begun writing actively until literally a week ago. So, we’ll see how that goes. Good job on rocking the Guest Posts! Looking forward to reading them.