How Hard Should Freelancing Be? - 053

MIDCONVO
13 Feb 202342:17

Summary

TLDR本集中,主持人开场讨论了自由职业的魅力与挑战,特别强调了自由职业者面对的不确定性和风险容忍度。他们深入探讨了转向自由职业所需考虑的几个关键因素,如财务准备、市场需求和个人能力。通过分享个人经历和实际例子,他们讨论了自由职业的真实面貌,包括潜在的收入波动和工作不稳定性。此外,他们还讨论了如何有效地将自己的业务转化为可持续的职业道路,以及如何在自由职业生涯中保持积极的心态和健康的工作生活平衡。整个讨论不仅为想要进入自由职业领域的人提供了实用建议,也为那些正在考虑是否继续自由职业生涯的人提供了深刻的见解。

Takeaways

  • 😊 自由职业既有自由,也有缺点。
  • 😄 考虑财务缓冲、服务需求和学习经验,然后再全职自由职业。
  • 😎 自由职业需要承受风险,管理压力和习惯于起起落落。
  • 🤔 如果你对金钱和组织缺乏商业头脑,自由职业可能不适合你。
  • 😢 如果财务状况不稳定,考虑兼职。
  • 😞 如果你不喜欢管理和金钱,自由职业可能不适合你。
  • 😕 向某人学习,他正在做你想做的工作。
  • 😌 衡量风险容忍度,然后决定自由职业适不适合你。
  • 😉 试图让你的公司成为你的客户。
  • 🤩 制定五年计划,然后评估自由职业是否符合。

Outlines

00:00

😊 段落1: 开场白

泡水消遣,准备录制第53集播客,内容是自由职业相关的建议。

05:02

😃 段落2: 自由职业的定义

自由职业指的是人们通过提供服务获得收入,而不受特定公司的约束,有更大的时间和工作灵活性。

10:03

🤔 段落3: 自由职业的风险

自由职业存在较大的收入波动,需要有较高的风险承受能力和财务储备。

Mindmap

Keywords

💡自由职业

自由职业是一种独立从事职业活动的方式,不受特定公司的约束,具有高度的时间和工作地点的灵活性。在视频中,讨论了自由职业的优势和挑战,包括风险承受能力、客户关系管理和财务规划。自由职业者可以根据个人喜好和专业技能,选择合适的项目进行合作,但同时需要自我管理和承担更多的不确定性。

💡创意企业家

创意企业家指的是那些在创意产业中创办企业的个人,他们利用自己的创新思维和创意技能来开发新的商业模式和产品。视频中提到,自由职业对于创意企业家来说是一种可行的职业道路,旨在探讨自由职业如何帮助创意人士实现职业自主和财务自由。

💡风险承受能力

风险承受能力是指个人面对风险时的心理和财务承受能力。在自由职业的背景下,这涉及到能否处理收入不稳定、项目不确定等情况。视频中强调,自由职业者需要有较高的风险承受能力,因为他们常常需要在没有固定收入保障的情况下工作。

💡自我怀疑

自我怀疑是指个体对自己的能力或决定产生怀疑的心理状态。自由职业中的自我怀疑可能会因为工作的不确定性和挑战而加剧。视频提到,每位自由职业者都可能会遇到这样的时刻,讨论了如何克服这种心态的策略。

💡项目基础

项目基础是指自由职业者根据具体的项目进行合作和收费的工作方式。视频中提到,自由职业者可以选择基于项目、月度或季度与客户合作,这种灵活性是自由职业的一个重要特点,但也要求自由职业者具备良好的项目管理能力。

💡营业额

营业额在这里指的是自由职业者通过提供服务所获得的收入。视频强调了自由职业不是免费的概念,而是一种业务运营方式,自由职业者需要管理自己的营业额,并确保其收入能够支持个人和业务的开销。

💡合同

合同是自由职业者和客户之间就项目合作达成的正式协议。视频中提到,确保工作通过合同来确认是非常重要的,因为这为自由职业者的工作和收入提供了保障,帮助避免潜在的误解和纠纷。

💡财务垫底

财务垫底指的是自由职业者为自己设立的财务安全网,以备不时之需。视频讨论了在自由职业之前确保有足够的财务储备的重要性,这可以帮助自由职业者在收入不稳定时继续维持生活和业务运营。

💡市场需求

市场需求是指市场上对自由职业者提供的服务的需求程度。视频强调,在决定成为自由职业者之前,了解自己的服务是否有足够的市场需求是非常重要的,因为这直接关系到能否成功吸引客户和产生收入。

💡自我管理

自我管理是指自由职业者必须具备的管理自己的工作和生活的能力。视频中讨论了自由职业需要高度的自律和组织能力,包括时间管理、财务管理和客户关系管理等,这些都是自由职业成功的关键因素。

Highlights

自由职业者需要有足够的财务缓冲才能开始(大约6-8个月的开销)。

确保有人询问或需要你想提供的服务/产品。如果没有任何人问你,那么自由职业可能不适合你。

考虑你的风险承受能力。自由职业压力大、需求不稳定。

Transcripts

play00:02

let me open my Topo Chico first ASMR

play00:06

all right let me hold on we gotta put we

play00:08

gotta put this into the glass bro yeah

play00:10

put this into the glass

play00:13

oh yeah

play00:15

that's what I'm talking about I already

play00:17

know Christine got that trendy glass off

play00:19

an Instagram ad you already know all

play00:22

right let's get this episode started

play00:23

what are we talking about episode number

play00:25

53

play00:26

we're gonna talk about is freelancing

play00:29

for you uh I think this is relevant to

play00:32

anyone who is a creative entrepreneur

play00:34

creative freelancer

play00:36

um we're about to get into some

play00:37

nitty-gritty details and talk about all

play00:40

things Ed want to break it down some of

play00:43

the topics that we're going to be

play00:43

hitting on today yeah definitely I think

play00:45

we're gonna be talking a few things like

play00:47

Risk tolerance you know tips for

play00:49

Freelancers because as the year starts

play00:53

um it's already been starting but a lot

play00:54

of people you could either already be

play00:56

freelancing and I know that Paul and I

play00:59

both uh because we've talked about this

play01:00

off the mic you can feel some doubts

play01:02

right every freelancer has those moments

play01:03

where they're doubting okay is this

play01:05

actually going to work is this actually

play01:07

the thing that I should be doing and

play01:09

then also if you're working a job right

play01:10

now and you would like to freelance but

play01:12

you're scared to because you're just

play01:14

worried about all the things that might

play01:15

be involved with it we're gonna go into

play01:17

all those types of things in today's

play01:18

episode so let's roll intro music and

play01:21

get right into the conversation

play01:26

foreign

play01:28

[Music]

play01:35

our intro music gets me every single

play01:38

time yeah for real I don't know when

play01:40

we're gonna switch it up but for now we

play01:42

rocking with it yep uh here's the thing

play01:46

when someone decides to take something

play01:49

that they're passionate about

play01:51

and they know that they can

play01:54

provide a service this to another party

play01:57

in order to produce income

play02:01

I think freelancing is one of the topics

play02:04

that comes to mind or words that comes

play02:06

to mind uh when it comes to you know

play02:09

exchanging your services for something

play02:11

where you're not tied down to a specific

play02:13

company a nine to five and you are

play02:16

flexible you most likely have your own

play02:18

business set up and you're able to work

play02:20

with client on a monthly quarterly or

play02:23

per project basis

play02:25

um

play02:26

and freelancing let's be honest that I

play02:29

just put out a post today on my

play02:30

Instagram

play02:31

freelancing doesn't mean free

play02:34

um it's not a charity it's you're

play02:37

running a business and I think as a

play02:40

photographer and also someone who

play02:41

dabbles a video

play02:43

I am so glad that I signed up to be a

play02:46

freelancer and I made that decision

play02:48

because

play02:50

I just feel like when I was working at

play02:53

nine to five there was a ceiling that I

play02:54

was hidden and the only way that I was

play02:57

going to be able to break through that

play02:58

was by almost redefining and creating my

play03:02

own sort of nine to five if you will

play03:05

um and starting my own business but I

play03:07

would love to hear from you

play03:09

you know when did you go freelance

play03:14

um I know on previous episodes we talked

play03:16

about just like how we became

play03:19

and got influenced to be an entrepreneur

play03:21

but

play03:23

when do you feel like you were like oh

play03:25

I'm gonna go freelance

play03:27

because I know you you worked at a

play03:28

company for some time like what does

play03:30

that look like for sure I think we

play03:32

should

play03:33

um I agree with what you just said to

play03:35

start the episode and kick it off I

play03:37

think for the listeners who are coming

play03:39

in who may be newer who have not been

play03:41

listening to Mid combo for that long I

play03:43

think we should give them a little Cliff

play03:45

Notes on you and I how we started as

play03:48

Freelancers like it could be short but I

play03:50

think that would be helpful because

play03:52

they're about to listen to us for

play03:53

hopefully third the next 30 minutes and

play03:55

they'll be like who are these guys to

play03:57

give us advice on freelancing so for me

play04:01

for me so this is a little cliff notes

play04:03

in my story I went to school for digital

play04:05

marketing and Entrepreneurship keep in

play04:07

mind during this time I was working odd

play04:08

jobs I've worked at Starbucks I've

play04:10

worked at Nordstrom I used to work at

play04:12

Zumiez for those of you who are in this

play04:14

area who knows what Zoomies is yeah

play04:16

um

play04:17

interesting yeah a lot of different odd

play04:19

jobs and then I thought I wanted to be a

play04:21

social media manager so I kind of was

play04:23

headed towards that route went to school

play04:24

for digital marketing but basically long

play04:27

story short I got a job at a startup

play04:30

working as essentially the digital

play04:32

marketing and content so I did that for

play04:34

two years that's where I got a lot of my

play04:36

business knowledge you know how to email

play04:37

how to talk to ambassadors how to talk

play04:39

to influencers how to facilitate

play04:42

different campaigns all the deal the

play04:44

thing is as Paul just mentioned if you

play04:46

work a job I had a glass ceiling the

play04:49

reason I'm grateful for that job like I

play04:51

think I learned so much at that job met

play04:53

amazing people great connections learned

play04:55

a lot but the thing is about things

play04:57

about glass ceiling is that you could

play04:58

see through it and when I was there I

play05:01

saw everything that was possible and I

play05:04

just felt like I was being held back by

play05:07

where I personally was not necessarily

play05:09

in a negative way like not throw shade

play05:11

at any of my past because it thought

play05:12

shaped who I was but it was more of

play05:15

knowing that I could do more which is

play05:18

what led me into freelancing and so

play05:21

everyone has a story it wasn't just like

play05:23

one day I woke up and then I was like

play05:25

you know what I'm going to freelance and

play05:26

just sent it like it was definitely more

play05:28

calculated than that which we'll get

play05:29

into but Paul tell us a little bit about

play05:31

how you started on this freelance

play05:33

Journey like where how many years ago

play05:35

are we talking and you know how did you

play05:37

first break into the idea of going quote

play05:40

unquote freelance yeah

play05:43

I feel like for me it was graduating

play05:44

from college and realizing that if I

play05:47

ever wanted to do my own thing which for

play05:49

some reason like even in college I'm

play05:51

like I don't want to work for anyone I

play05:53

want to do my own thing but I need money

play05:55

so I worked at an agency for a year

play05:57

while I was working at that agency I was

play05:59

burning the midnight oil spending my

play06:01

weekends building my portfolio for

play06:04

you know eventually taking the leap to

play06:06

full-time freelance

play06:08

um

play06:09

through that I guess sees in and through

play06:11

that process

play06:13

um I started to really better

play06:16

understanding you know how I could

play06:20

almost

play06:22

become my own thing uh it's hard when

play06:25

you have that Financial cushion and

play06:27

you're getting a check every two weeks

play06:28

they're going freelance and having

play06:30

sporadic months where some months you're

play06:32

making a thousand dollars some months

play06:35

you're making zero some months you're

play06:36

making ten grand

play06:38

um so for me it's been a 10-year process

play06:40

and I will say like it took me

play06:43

probably three years in to really have a

play06:46

good idea on how to build it in a way

play06:49

that was sustainable and how to pursue

play06:50

freelance in a sustainable matter and I

play06:53

like to tie the word freelance with

play06:55

freedom at times because I feel like

play06:58

when you step into freelance you're

play07:00

given a lot of freedom and flexibility

play07:03

but that can be a benefit to your

play07:05

business just as much as a detriment to

play07:07

your business and I have found just as

play07:10

I've grown and as I've matured as

play07:12

someone who

play07:14

I feel like has always had a love for

play07:16

the business side of things

play07:18

um at the end of the day I'm an

play07:20

entrepreneur I'm a business owner and I

play07:22

just happen to be a photographer and

play07:24

that's kind of how I see my freelance

play07:27

Journey

play07:28

yeah

play07:29

I think that's really good I love how

play07:31

you just break down the word freelance

play07:34

because it can really mean so many

play07:35

different things to a wide range of

play07:37

people

play07:39

um one thing I would love to give you a

play07:41

little push back on let me know what you

play07:43

think about this so there's some free

play07:46

there's Freedom there's freedom in

play07:48

freelancing for sure I agree with you

play07:50

but I think there's I'm going to mini

play07:52

rant here I think there's like a

play07:53

misconception misconception with

play07:56

freelancing especially people who

play07:58

haven't done it yet they automatically

play08:00

think okay freelancing is my way to work

play08:03

Less hours take it way more easy on

play08:06

myself and somehow magically make a ton

play08:08

more money

play08:09

so that's like it's kind of what is sold

play08:12

on social media on coaches gurus they're

play08:15

always telling you like take advantage

play08:17

of your own life and make a ton of money

play08:19

and make your own schedule which there

play08:21

are seeds of Truth and like all of those

play08:23

however I think you know especially now

play08:27

if your freelancer going trying to do

play08:30

this for a living

play08:31

you can't really have just that fairy

play08:34

dust in your in your mind you you kind

play08:37

of need some realities and you need to

play08:40

understand that it's going to be a grind

play08:41

you know there's always that saying

play08:42

people will say you know you quit your

play08:45

um you quit your what is it 24 what is

play08:47

it called you quit your nine to five to

play08:50

work 24 7. yep seriously yeah and I do I

play08:55

really feel like it is that way

play08:57

sometimes how has that been for you I

play08:59

guess do you relate to that do you also

play09:01

feel that there's a little bit of a

play09:04

misconception with the sexiness of

play09:08

freelancing so to speak

play09:11

yo here's the deal

play09:12

brilliancing isn't sexy

play09:15

um but also working at an agency where

play09:17

you're tied to a team that you didn't

play09:19

get to choose and you're told that

play09:22

you'll get a

play09:23

five thousand dollar raise every five

play09:25

years but based on your performance I

play09:27

mean pros and cons to both but what I'll

play09:30

say is

play09:31

I've had Seasons where I kid you not

play09:35

I worked so dang hard I was just talking

play09:38

about this earlier I was burned out all

play09:40

the time but my bank account looked nice

play09:43

and I feel like as you grow any sort of

play09:46

business and as you are you know trying

play09:49

to figure out the type of clients you

play09:50

want to work with and the type of

play09:52

clients that you know you'll never want

play09:53

to work with

play09:55

um you start to as you grow you start to

play09:59

figure out like what a healthy balance

play10:00

is but I will say I've had Seasons where

play10:03

I'm like

play10:04

I am going to go on LinkedIn and find a

play10:07

job ASAP but then I've had Seasons where

play10:10

I'm like

play10:11

dang I just got that fat check

play10:14

yeah

play10:16

it really is a roller coaster at times

play10:18

but I think there's a lot of fall off

play10:21

with um business owners and Freelancers

play10:24

because of how hard it gets so I think

play10:28

that really brings me to like the

play10:30

question of

play10:31

you know are you an entrepreneur

play10:34

um are you built for the ups and the

play10:36

Downs the roller coaster the risk

play10:39

um because let's be honest it's not for

play10:42

everybody I have friends that are

play10:44

extremely extremely happy and content

play10:47

with where they're at working at an

play10:48

agency as an in-house photographer

play10:51

for me nah I want to do my own thing and

play10:55

also I'm not going to say it's always

play10:59

been butterflies like you said

play11:02

mm-hmm

play11:04

I think uh

play11:05

for I just want to make a point as well

play11:08

that if you love your job and you're

play11:10

getting paid well and you have a boss

play11:13

like that's awesome I definitely don't

play11:16

want to be I used to be more so like

play11:18

truthfully speaking in the past I used

play11:20

to be of the camp like everyone should

play11:21

freelance it's so awesome like everyone

play11:23

should go make their own money but as

play11:25

I've been in my business now for going

play11:27

on you know four or five years there is

play11:29

there is definitely something to be said

play11:31

about having a good paying job with

play11:33

structure because then it creates

play11:35

routine and all those kind of things so

play11:36

I think

play11:37

don't always be so quick to dismiss

play11:39

people who have routine have a paycheck

play11:42

like have have whatever and I'm just

play11:45

speaking more generally

play11:46

um to everyone who are listening because

play11:47

you might be working a job right now but

play11:49

to make this episode a little bit more

play11:52

actionable maybe speaking directly to

play11:55

the people who are listening let's speak

play11:56

to two different groups okay let's start

play11:58

with one

play12:00

let's speak to people who maybe are

play12:03

considering freelancing right they're

play12:06

considering it they work a job right now

play12:07

maybe it's part time maybe it's

play12:09

full-time but they're not making the

play12:10

type of money they want to be making

play12:12

they have a passion for creating content

play12:14

or something online or with client

play12:16

facing uh work but they want to go

play12:18

freelancing so let's talk about some of

play12:20

the things they should be thinking about

play12:22

or considering

play12:23

before making the jump hmm that's so

play12:27

good uh I think the first thing you

play12:29

gotta consider

play12:30

whatever your craft is or whatever

play12:32

you're looking to do you have enough

play12:34

financial cushion set aside to play with

play12:38

I need to experiment with

play12:40

um I gotta give puno some uh props let's

play12:44

go she's amazing she's uh with I love

play12:47

Kratos and she talks about she calls it

play12:49

a slashy face but essentially it's like

play12:52

having cushion uh Runway right Financial

play12:56

runway in order to

play12:59

pursue that freelance whatever you're

play13:02

trying to do

play13:03

um where you're not going to go broken

play13:05

bankrupt so for me when I took that lead

play13:08

I had a couple clients locked in on

play13:10

retainer and I found myself getting a

play13:13

few inquiries here and there so when I

play13:15

took that leap I knew okay I got like

play13:18

eight months of Runway so if this thing

play13:21

flops for whatever reason

play13:23

I'm gonna be Gucci for eight months I'll

play13:24

find a different job so I think um

play13:26

that's the first thing that comes to

play13:27

mind how about you

play13:29

yeah

play13:31

um I think that's awesome just to build

play13:33

off of that real quick before the second

play13:34

one I just think that having runways

play13:36

could look different for everyone as

play13:38

well like some people might feel

play13:40

comfortable to work in their Prime with

play13:43

only six months of Runway some are like

play13:44

run really lean they can run off three

play13:46

months Runway you just have to decide

play13:48

what do you feel comfortable with right

play13:49

like how what makes you anxious when you

play13:51

see a certain number hit when it hits

play13:53

that certain number in your bank account

play13:54

you're like oh crap I need to make more

play13:56

money like what that number could be

play13:57

different for everyone so figuring out

play13:59

what that number is is crucial in

play14:02

understanding like what your runaway is

play14:03

because just because your friend or your

play14:05

other freelancer friend says okay yeah I

play14:07

have six months Runway but you you feel

play14:09

more comfortable having like two years

play14:11

of Runway that's okay like it's okay to

play14:13

have different perspectives on how much

play14:16

you know Runway you have or how much

play14:18

Financial cushion because that is going

play14:19

to dictate how locked in you could get

play14:22

when you're freelancing because you're

play14:23

going to make decisions based off of

play14:25

those things I like that so yeah I think

play14:27

it's a good point the second the second

play14:29

thing for me that you should consider

play14:32

when you're thinking about freelancing

play14:36

is

play14:38

our people

play14:40

are do you have like people asking you

play14:42

for

play14:44

the service that you're about to be

play14:46

freelancing for this is huge because

play14:49

this is a very dead giveaway if you

play14:51

should start freelancing what I'm about

play14:53

to say if you work a job right now and

play14:55

you have a side hustle let's say it's

play14:57

photography videography graphic design

play14:58

whatever it is your creative craft

play15:00

you're doing it on the side kind of and

play15:02

you start to get family friends or other

play15:06

colleagues people went to school with

play15:07

you start just they start to hit you up

play15:09

and say hey how much do you charge for

play15:12

this how much you charge for that you

play15:13

start to get those types of messages in

play15:14

your circle it's a good sign that you

play15:17

are headed in the right direction to

play15:18

freelance however if you're working a

play15:21

job right now and you're like I would

play15:22

love to be a photographer a videographer

play15:24

but your inbox is dry like you don't

play15:26

even have your aunt or Uncle hitting you

play15:29

up being like hey let's let's do this

play15:31

for our next family function can you

play15:33

take photos first if you have nothing

play15:34

like nobody is asking about this craft

play15:36

of yours yeah it's going to be rough

play15:39

waters for you when you go out

play15:41

freelancing because you need some sort

play15:42

of traction and you need to ride that

play15:44

momentum when you start freelancing like

play15:46

when you were in freelancing Paul like

play15:48

did a lot of people you would get those

play15:50

DMS you would get those text messages

play15:52

maybe from old high school friends being

play15:53

like yo I see you're doing photos like

play15:55

can you help me do this right

play15:57

yeah the demand has to be there but also

play16:01

like it's one thing for someone to text

play16:03

you and ask for some quick head shots

play16:04

but then it's another thing to lock in

play16:06

an actual contract even if it's like one

play16:09

project but you're like no I have a

play16:12

process I'm going to take 60 up front

play16:14

pretty 40 after because you're able to

play16:17

start project your cash flow where you

play16:20

can never Bank on a DM or a text message

play16:22

to turn into

play16:24

um paid work unless there's the contract

play16:26

involved and that's something that I

play16:28

learned early on is I would like get

play16:30

super excited about all these projects

play16:32

that were coming in and then last minute

play16:34

they would ghost me and um yeah I think

play16:38

that's a huge aspect of like that leap

play16:40

is making sure that again you have your

play16:42

ducks in a row but also that there's a

play16:43

demand for whatever service you're

play16:45

providing

play16:46

yeah so the demand for your service so

play16:48

we've talked about demand for your

play16:50

service and also Runway like Financial

play16:52

cushion uh what's like a third thing

play16:55

that we could think about if you're

play16:57

looking to freelance so what is like one

play16:59

more pillar that you should probably

play17:01

check out before you put in your two

play17:05

weeks or something to go do your own

play17:07

thing

play17:08

I think

play17:09

maybe this isn't the last pillar but

play17:11

it's just like an additional tip but

play17:12

it's like uh Shadow or assist someone

play17:15

that's in a position that you are trying

play17:17

to become it uh so

play17:21

I'll be honest like I worked at that

play17:23

agency to learn and absorb as much as

play17:25

possible I was in rooms that let's be

play17:28

honest I didn't belong to be in but what

play17:30

I did is I absorbed as much as I could I

play17:32

was doing roles at that agency that did

play17:36

they get me up in the morning were they

play17:37

like making me super super excited to

play17:40

like show up not really but I knew that

play17:42

it was a part of the marathon not the

play17:44

spread and um I think every single no

play17:48

matter what your craft is or what you're

play17:49

trying to do I think it's best to learn

play17:51

from someone that's already done it and

play17:52

that's an expert in it so that seems

play17:55

like a no-brainer there's a reason why

play17:57

when people go into dentist school that

play17:59

they have to first start as like a

play18:01

resident because they have to learn same

play18:04

thing goes with like photography and

play18:06

videography and like graphic design web

play18:08

design whenever you're creative

play18:09

freelance uh heart desires that's a big

play18:13

one for me

play18:15

that's awesome I think for me the last

play18:18

one

play18:19

to consider I this kind of ties in maybe

play18:21

could go to our second category as well

play18:23

but if you're working a job right now

play18:25

you're looking to freelance

play18:27

I'm a hot take this is a hot take kind

play18:30

of but

play18:31

if you're mentally weak you should in

play18:33

freelance nope like I think that

play18:37

in general with how plugged in we are

play18:39

socially speaking nowadays especially uh

play18:42

younger younger entrepreneurs or

play18:45

creatives who want to run their own

play18:46

thing there's just so much media there's

play18:49

so many people crushing it there's so

play18:51

many YouTubers coming up every single

play18:53

day Tick Tock is going viral like if you

play18:55

are mentally weaker like you know that

play18:58

about yourself like you get anxious with

play19:01

hard decisions more often you know when

play19:03

when you when a client ghosts you you

play19:05

know that puts you back like two days of

play19:06

productivity for example because you're

play19:08

just down on being ghosted like if

play19:10

you're if you if I'm saying these things

play19:12

then you're thinking dude that's me like

play19:14

I feel very down when certain big

play19:16

decisions happen

play19:18

not that you can never start freelancing

play19:20

I'm just saying that is really something

play19:22

to consider like your tolerance to

play19:24

stress I guess and your tolerance to

play19:26

anxious situations because especially in

play19:29

the first two years those come up

play19:31

constantly like constantly like

play19:34

comparison trap imposter syndrome you

play19:36

know like anxious that clients are gonna

play19:38

ghost you like all those things get

play19:40

crazy crazy amped up from when you're

play19:42

working your day job because it's all on

play19:45

you now so assessing your tolerance for

play19:48

I guess I guess you could call it stress

play19:50

is such a huge Factor before you send it

play19:53

and start freelancing because I have

play19:55

friends who who try to go freelance or

play19:58

are currently going through it and you

play20:01

have to be good at managing that stress

play20:03

because if you're not

play20:05

it can really hinder your ability to

play20:07

make great decisions to have a

play20:09

successful business

play20:11

that's good I think in addition to like

play20:14

being tolerant of risk and like figuring

play20:16

out where you're at and that I think you

play20:18

also just got to weigh out the pros and

play20:20

cons for your own personal uh

play20:23

you know lifestyle I guess like for me

play20:28

I have a kitten I have two kids and a

play20:30

wife where like my wife doesn't work

play20:32

right now so I knew years ago that

play20:35

eventually I would need to

play20:37

get health insurance for the family

play20:40

uh how the heck am I going to pay for

play20:42

health insurance for an entire family if

play20:44

I don't have clients coming in so like

play20:46

I'll be honest that's a make or break

play20:48

for some Freelancers health insurance

play20:50

yep it's expensive yo it's expensive but

play20:53

like

play20:54

depending on where you're at and how

play20:57

you're able to like you know I whenever

play21:00

I see a prom or whenever I see something

play21:01

I'm like this sucks but guess what I got

play21:04

to take care of it

play21:06

um you know you figure out how to be

play21:08

strategic you figure out how to get an

play21:09

extra client

play21:11

um and I think for me it's like you

play21:13

gotta roll with the punches but also you

play21:15

got to be willing to

play21:17

um it's the I think it's the ones that

play21:19

are able to really make it through like

play21:21

the storms and

play21:23

are able to like

play21:25

be financially smart during that but

play21:28

also know that work's not just going to

play21:31

come to you it's going to take you

play21:33

grinding and tapping into everything and

play21:34

I think that's a huge one where it's

play21:36

like

play21:37

when we talk about risk

play21:39

if you are like I have anxiety of even

play21:43

thinking about having to pay myself

play21:44

because I'm so used to getting a check

play21:47

for my nine to five

play21:49

um probably not a good fit for you

play21:51

because I'll be honest there was months

play21:52

where I have a pretty incredible risk

play21:55

tolerance

play21:56

there was months where I'm like I'm not

play21:58

gonna pay myself

play21:59

because I know that I need to keep money

play22:01

in the business

play22:02

um but I don't know I think that's just

play22:05

like important to bring up and I'm glad

play22:06

that you brought it up because most

play22:08

people aren't willing to talk about it

play22:10

yeah no I agree I think those are all

play22:13

great tips a lot of those honestly cross

play22:15

over into this next category of

play22:17

listeners that we have most likely maybe

play22:19

these are people who

play22:22

um

play22:23

are

play22:25

are currently freelancing that it bought

play22:28

are thinking about quitting freelancing

play22:31

right or maybe they're thinking about uh

play22:34

this is difficult this year like I don't

play22:36

make enough money it's been a couple

play22:37

months right uh

play22:39

personally as Paul mentioned earlier in

play22:41

the episode I didn't really feel comfort

play22:44

in running my own business probably

play22:46

until about year three or year four even

play22:49

like up until more recently where I'm

play22:51

like okay yo I could this is good this

play22:53

is headed in a direction where I really

play22:55

feel like this can be a big win for

play22:57

myself for my future for my family Etc

play23:00

however I didn't hit that until more

play23:03

recently which is going on three four

play23:05

five years and so for those who are

play23:09

currently freelancing who are thinking

play23:11

about you know just evaluating where

play23:13

they're at with that let's go over some

play23:14

tips that they should consider on if

play23:16

they should stick it out or if they

play23:19

should consider going back to a nine to

play23:20

five because there's nothing bad about

play23:22

going back to a nine to five but you

play23:24

have to be smart about it so what are

play23:25

some things that you should keep in mind

play23:27

Paul if you're currently freelancing and

play23:30

you're having some

play23:31

sucking yeah sucking guesses on

play23:33

freelancing I think if you've seen if

play23:35

you have seen patterns in your business

play23:37

of

play23:38

Financial insecurity so again you're not

play23:42

hitting where you want you've been doing

play23:44

it for maybe a couple years and

play23:48

like you have a family or you have

play23:50

things that really require attention

play23:52

from like a monetary perspective I think

play23:55

then it might be a good time to start

play23:57

looking at

play23:58

grabbing an additional job there's

play24:00

Freelancers that I've coached before

play24:02

actually that on the weekends they do

play24:04

like a waiter job and to be honest

play24:07

they're like kind of nice like I enjoy

play24:09

it other people

play24:11

um so don't be embarrassed by you know

play24:13

throwing in the towel and being like hey

play24:15

I'm gonna do both but like

play24:17

I'm probably not going to just solely

play24:19

focus on my freelance stuff anymore

play24:21

hey on an honestly kind of off topic you

play24:24

know what I could see you doing on the

play24:27

weekends Paul but

play24:30

you'd be a great I feel like

play24:33

I feel like you'd be a great bartender

play24:36

bro tell me what says some cocktails we

play24:39

would have some cocktails getting those

play24:40

tips dude you would slay at that bro

play24:43

here's the deal Sammy always laughs at

play24:45

me when I bring this up to her and like

play24:47

people that I know uh here in Miami but

play24:49

I'm like you know what a job one job

play24:51

that I would do if I wasn't doing what

play24:53

I'm doing

play24:54

I would be a waiter

play24:56

I would and I honestly think within the

play24:59

next couple years

play25:00

um it would it would like fuel me like I

play25:03

wouldn't do it for the money I would do

play25:04

it for the enjoyment of like being

play25:06

around the people and also just

play25:08

I don't know I just love the idea of

play25:12

I don't know it's like the same thing at

play25:13

church I'm like the parking guy at

play25:15

church like you would never think that

play25:19

I've heard cars like a church

play25:21

I agree though because I've thought so

play25:24

my brother is a GM at a like a

play25:26

restaurant at the airport and like hey

play25:28

they sometimes are hiring for positions

play25:30

and like recently they're like oh yeah

play25:32

we're looking for a bartender and then

play25:33

in my mind I'm like dude that kind of

play25:35

sounds nice he can't tell me how much

play25:36

they made and bartenders actually make a

play25:39

lot of money and in my mind because this

play25:42

is kind of going into our episode topic

play25:44

because of the amount of things that I

play25:46

have to think about as a freelancer to

play25:48

run my business there's something very

play25:50

appealing about clocking in somewhere

play25:53

and pouring drinks and getting paid and

play25:56

then walking out of the building like

play25:58

that's awesome something something about

play26:00

that concept is very appealing to me and

play26:02

I think that this is I love that highs

play26:04

and lows that every freelancer goes

play26:07

through which is why it's important to

play26:09

understand yeah where your financial

play26:12

situation is as Paul was saying in this

play26:13

first tip for those who are currently

play26:16

freelancing you know what what are you

play26:18

where are you at with your finances I

play26:21

got another one that comes to mind and

play26:23

then you can like tee up the last one

play26:24

but uh

play26:27

I say this but I mean it it's like you

play26:30

might be super creative

play26:31

but not business minded and when you

play26:34

sign up to be a freelancer you're

play26:37

signing up to have to do

play26:39

the business admin tasks so if you hate

play26:43

organization if you hate talking about

play26:44

money

play26:45

you hate Finance like all if you hate

play26:47

all those things

play26:49

probably you know you might run into a

play26:52

wall with freelance and be like yo this

play26:54

is

play26:55

this is like not for me uh-huh and I'll

play26:59

be honest there's a lot of I've had

play27:01

conversations with a lot of friends over

play27:02

the years that have tried taking the

play27:04

leap and um

play27:06

Kuno says it in one of her episodes

play27:08

where it's like if your personal

play27:10

financial situation will bleed into your

play27:12

business

play27:13

and I'm like

play27:15

that's so true and that is one aspect of

play27:19

my childhood that I'm really thankful

play27:21

for thankful for actually is um my mom

play27:24

and dad did a really good job at being

play27:25

like safe first or invest first before

play27:28

you spend it so for me

play27:31

it's always been how I ran my business

play27:34

um but again we all come from different

play27:36

backgrounds we all approach money

play27:38

differently I think that's a big one as

play27:40

well

play27:40

yeah yeah how you're yeah I think

play27:43

sometimes it's tough because

play27:46

where you are the family you're raised

play27:48

in and geographically where you're born

play27:52

I feel like a lot of people especially

play27:54

in the entrepreneurial World everyone

play27:56

can talk about being self-made and and

play27:58

all this kind of stuff yeah don't get me

play28:00

wrong like people are successful worked

play28:01

hard but honestly like where you're born

play28:03

in the family you're born into has such

play28:06

a massive impact on the trajectory of

play28:08

your success like you could be the most

play28:10

hard-working person ever but if some

play28:13

people honestly like just the cold hard

play28:15

truth are just built with that better

play28:17

better cards than others yeah and some

play28:19

people just have to work harder to get

play28:21

to certain points that's just the

play28:22

reality of life I guess

play28:24

um so just taking that to account you

play28:25

know a lot of people say oh Ed you're in

play28:27

Seattle do you feel like that has an

play28:29

impact I'm like in the middle of nowhere

play28:30

and I feel like I can't find clients and

play28:32

honestly it's something that I don't

play28:33

really think about as much because it is

play28:35

I am in an area where people maybe the

play28:39

average salary is a little bit higher

play28:40

the average income for these businesses

play28:42

are higher so maybe I can pull in more

play28:45

money versus other parts of the country

play28:47

or even other parts of the world Landing

play28:49

a certain number like even five thousand

play28:51

dollars for a client or a thousand

play28:53

dollars could mean very different things

play28:54

in different parts of the world so like

play28:56

being aware of that is important

play28:59

depending on if you're thinking about

play29:00

quitting or freelancing and whatnot like

play29:03

how far does your money go with where

play29:04

you live

play29:06

um so that's not really a tip that's

play29:07

just more of a

play29:08

at least that's important though it's

play29:10

like I'm not gonna lie I've met

play29:13

photographers in my hometown Minneapolis

play29:16

that are trying to do high-end fashion

play29:19

listen

play29:21

Minneapolis is not New York

play29:24

but also

play29:25

any other Niche like if you're a food

play29:27

photographer yo you can crush the

play29:29

Minneapolis you can crush it anywhere

play29:31

where like I do feel like like you're

play29:33

saying there's specific locations where

play29:35

you can be held like it will hold you

play29:38

back and you might not be able to find

play29:41

like success if you stay where you're at

play29:44

um but I would say like it's a very

play29:46

select

play29:48

group of niches that kind of Falls

play29:50

within that but I think it's good to

play29:52

point out because

play29:53

I've had conversations with

play29:55

photographers where I'm like just want

play29:57

to let you know you might be better off

play29:58

like running in this Lane versus that

play30:01

lane and then they test it out and

play30:03

they're like wait

play30:04

oh my gosh like I'm getting leads so

play30:06

it's real yeah yeah for sure I think for

play30:10

me the third uh and the final one for if

play30:13

you're currently working

play30:15

um

play30:16

are currently freelancing and you're

play30:18

thinking about potentially

play30:20

not freelancy

play30:22

Paul out here just doing a straight

play30:25

of my

play30:27

bro we're going for the ASMR thing I

play30:29

thought

play30:31

you should have done it closer to the

play30:32

mic then I don't even know people would

play30:33

hear that you have to hey bro you don't

play30:36

know what I'm talking about during your

play30:38

net shot next um Pitch meeting or

play30:40

Discovery call but if you started doing

play30:43

that in front of your client on like a

play30:44

zoom call just like straight up

play30:49

I said no I was gonna say if you missed

play30:52

that real quick this will be on YouTube

play30:54

so if you're only on audio right now go

play30:56

to YouTube and you can go see what we

play30:57

just talked about at this time and also

play30:59

we've been watching that YouTube hard

play31:00

now we are yo we got some housekeeping

play31:03

updates at the end of the episode so

play31:05

stay around for that

play31:07

um the final tip that I just want to

play31:10

share with someone who is currently

play31:11

freelancing who's thinking about

play31:13

potentially second guessing themselves

play31:15

or they're not sure if they want to keep

play31:17

doing it it's just understanding what

play31:20

your Five-Year Plan is

play31:21

um and this is something that Mrs morso

play31:24

my

play31:25

this is more of a personal

play31:27

thing that I've been thinking about and

play31:29

I'm just turning it into a tip at the

play31:30

moment on the mic right now but this is

play31:31

something that's been on my mind a lot

play31:32

is when you talk about freelancing

play31:34

versus nine to five right what is your

play31:37

Five-Year Plan like where where do you

play31:39

see yourself like at the company you're

play31:40

currently at or maybe let's say of

play31:43

course even broader than that like at

play31:44

the role you're currently at let's say

play31:45

your social media manager your digital

play31:47

marketer maybe you're an accountant

play31:48

whatever it is right do you see yourself

play31:50

doing that in five years it right do you

play31:55

see yourself doing that in five years

play31:56

and if you're freelancing right now can

play31:59

you see yourself doing this in five

play32:00

years and does that make you excited

play32:02

if the answer is like no

play32:06

then you should probably start thinking

play32:07

about pivoting like if you're

play32:08

freelancing right now and you're like I

play32:10

can actually see myself doing this in

play32:12

five years and I just don't enjoy parts

play32:13

of this process then you should really

play32:15

consider about not never revisiting it

play32:18

but you should maybe think about getting

play32:19

a job to afford you some of those

play32:22

cushions that you want and have get to

play32:24

your Five-Year Plan quicker like for me

play32:26

my five year plan right

play32:28

I don't want to be doing only client

play32:30

work in five years right I want to be

play32:33

I want to be making money doing

play32:35

Affiliates or doing YouTube videos I

play32:37

want multiple streams of income and so

play32:39

therefore

play32:41

there's been days where I thought would

play32:43

it be easier to build my YouTube channel

play32:44

if I went and got a day job nine to five

play32:46

and then build my youth Channel at night

play32:48

that's what I mean when I say think

play32:49

about what your five-year goals are I

play32:51

mean I'm not gonna go do that on the mic

play32:53

but I'm just saying figuring out and

play32:57

really thinking of taking yourself out

play32:59

of your current situation thinking about

play33:00

where you want to be in five years can

play33:03

be a very big indicator on whether or

play33:06

not you should continue freelancing if

play33:08

you're currently doing that right now

play33:10

that's so good

play33:12

no wow I like that you laid that out

play33:15

because I think it gets like to the like

play33:17

let's get real type of thing I I think

play33:19

what's a hard response to that is like

play33:21

uh I think most people that are at nine

play33:24

to five jobs I mean if I'm wrong

play33:27

uh probably haven't thought that far in

play33:30

advance they're probably thinking about

play33:32

their Christmas bonus can I get an amen

play33:34

like you know what I mean they're

play33:35

probably like yo if uh you know the

play33:39

stock market does better and our

play33:40

business actually gets more sales this

play33:42

year quarter four I'm gonna get a fat

play33:44

Christmas chat and like go on a trip

play33:46

where

play33:48

no like I think it is actually good to

play33:50

even ask your boss like hey

play33:52

um

play33:53

you know five years from now I'd like to

play33:54

be here is that even realistic and if

play33:56

it's exactly that might be a good

play33:59

indicator they have to find a new

play34:00

company or you got to walk and do

play34:01

freelance dude

play34:03

like taking that to a micro level with

play34:05

what the example you just gave like for

play34:07

example

play34:09

um when I was working my job

play34:11

I was making so the first year I got my

play34:13

job I was making 45k a year hey at my

play34:17

last job right 45k a year then the next

play34:20

year I got a raise and I was making 54k

play34:22

a year right

play34:23

the amount of work that I put in in

play34:25

those year and a half two years I had to

play34:28

be brutally honest with myself right

play34:30

like when you're first starting out in

play34:32

freelancing or in general or just in the

play34:34

creative industry I think everyone's

play34:35

goal everyone talks about making six

play34:37

figures right so mentally speaking

play34:39

everyone's trying to hit that hundred

play34:40

thousand dollars a year which in 2023 I

play34:44

don't think 100K even gets you as far as

play34:47

people think it will but in general that

play34:49

is like the Milestone that everyone

play34:51

tries to reach right a hundred thousand

play34:52

dollars So at the trajectory that I was

play34:55

headed with this whole five-year thing

play34:57

or the whole conversation talking about

play34:58

if I was to hit a hundred thousand

play35:01

dollars

play35:02

as a salary

play35:05

it would have taken a lot like if at the

play35:07

pace that I was going it would have

play35:08

taken years to get to that number doing

play35:10

what I was doing

play35:11

and so that's what I mean when I say

play35:14

consider your Five-Year Plan because I

play35:16

know that can be a little bit

play35:17

overwhelming like you said Paul you

play35:18

better get a point like a lot of people

play35:20

don't even know what they're doing next

play35:22

year or what their plans are for the

play35:24

next month right sometimes it can be

play35:25

super overwhelming but I mean more so

play35:28

from a bird's eye perspective with the

play35:30

money you're making how passionate you

play35:32

are about what you're doing and then

play35:33

aligning that with where you where your

play35:35

end goal is just for five years not your

play35:38

life well just for five years I like

play35:40

that I'm about to drop a golden nugget

play35:43

did you team me up for this hey drop

play35:45

drop the Nuggets why are you holding it

play35:47

out bro why are you holding out listen

play35:49

listen if you're at a job and you're a

play35:51

creative entrepreneur in-house

play35:52

photographer videographer graphic

play35:55

designer and um

play35:57

Sammy and Myla

play36:01

all right

play36:03

if you are a creative

play36:05

photographer videographer graphic

play36:07

designer web designer and you're at a

play36:09

company and your boss

play36:12

can't tell you or you can't see where

play36:15

you can potentially be in a couple years

play36:17

and it's not a big enough raise or it's

play36:19

not a big enough leap if you will

play36:22

do this

play36:24

figure out how to have your company that

play36:30

you're working at your nine to five be

play36:31

one of your clients as a freelancer so

play36:34

instead of you getting benefits and like

play36:36

instead of you getting a 401k match or

play36:38

whatever

play36:39

you're actually telling your job your

play36:42

boss hey I'm looking to go freelance and

play36:45

again you got to make sure that you're a

play36:47

valuable asset where it's hard to

play36:48

replace you and they also need to be on

play36:51

the same page of you know continue to

play36:53

work with you but you might find it more

play36:56

beneficial to make more money by having

play36:58

them be one of your freelance clients so

play37:00

you can go out and work with other

play37:01

clients and still get paid the bread

play37:05

um that's something that I've touched on

play37:07

before in previous coaching materials

play37:09

and I think it

play37:10

is interesting because especially when

play37:13

the pandemic hit in 2020

play37:15

freelance was a buzzword like everyone

play37:18

was like how do you pivot to freelance

play37:20

because

play37:22

I don't know a lot of companies just

play37:24

change the way that they approach what

play37:25

they do but um

play37:27

yeah dude that's I'm saying that's a

play37:31

fire that's a fire tip to end end that

play37:34

episode because we could rip on what

play37:37

Paul just said probably for another 30

play37:39

minutes but we won't but I agree with

play37:41

you wholeheartedly that's actually what

play37:44

I did at my last job as well which we

play37:45

can dive into in another episode but yes

play37:49

if you're currently working a job

play37:52

or you're freelancing whatever the case

play37:55

may be

play37:56

we really hope that you found some

play37:58

Clarity in this episode because we know

play38:01

that with freelancing there's a lot of

play38:03

unknown territory a lot of

play38:07

um captions a lot of things you see on

play38:09

social media me and Paul our objective

play38:11

has always been on this podcast is to

play38:13

share our experience share our tips no

play38:15

strings attached like if you took

play38:17

something away from it that's all we

play38:18

want so yeah that's awesome what are

play38:21

some updates Paul real quick I know

play38:23

we're approaching uh 30 whatever minutes

play38:25

here but I need so I feel like there's

play38:27

some housekeeping updates we we should

play38:29

man we got some stuff we're working on

play38:31

me and Ed really value in-person

play38:34

interaction when it comes to the podcast

play38:36

I don't know I feel like ever since we

play38:39

ever since I officially became a co-host

play38:42

uh January 2022.

play38:45

um hey we enjoyed the in-person stuff we

play38:48

had Bradley on in person Corey Jenkins

play38:50

we had my wife samuela we got a lot of

play38:54

good persons and I

play38:56

I think what gets me excited is we have

play38:58

a lot of in-person episodes together

play39:01

coming up that we're going to be doing

play39:03

and then also we got some guests that

play39:05

are in the pipeline

play39:07

um some of my favorite creative

play39:09

entrepreneurs that I've looked up to in

play39:11

the space and uh Ed and I are going to

play39:13

be getting them on the Pod we're going

play39:15

to be getting into topics that I feel

play39:17

like most freelance creatives and

play39:19

entrepreneurs aren't willing to talk

play39:20

about so I think that's the first thing

play39:22

that comes to mind yeah

play39:24

um and we we kind of uh talked about it

play39:26

in this episode a little bit but we

play39:28

referred we were kind of quoting someone

play39:31

um puno she's a awesome creative she

play39:34

runs I love creatives husband I think

play39:37

isn't the host anymore but also as the

play39:39

founder of girl boss radio and other

play39:40

podcasts we're bringing it on soon as a

play39:44

guest so a little teaser there and then

play39:46

for everyone anyone who

play39:49

um has been rolling with mid combo even

play39:50

before Paul was here you would know that

play39:52

one of our most listened episodes is how

play39:55

to win the social media game with Ali

play39:58

and Rashad and they're both killing it

play40:00

Rashad recently moved to LA and he has

play40:03

grown crazy amount since that last

play40:06

episode and we're going to be having a

play40:07

conversation with him as well in person

play40:09

so just so many exciting things coming

play40:12

up in the next month or two here for

play40:14

midcombo and then we have a workshop

play40:16

coming up as well in March that's Paul's

play40:19

workshop for his program but I'll be

play40:20

there as a guest speaker do you want to

play40:22

talk about that for a little bit yeah

play40:23

real quick if you're listening to this

play40:24

there might be a few tickets left but um

play40:27

March 11th is the workshop it's in Miami

play40:29

it's a full day workshop last time I did

play40:31

a workshop Ed was at it it was in New

play40:33

York and

play40:34

it was a half day it was cool it was on

play40:37

pricing but like we're taking it up a

play40:39

notch where I'm getting I'm flying in Ed

play40:40

from Seattle to Miami getting the

play40:43

students some shorts in a Hawaiian shirt

play40:44

and we're about to be on a panel with uh

play40:48

Danny who owns most Studio she's the

play40:51

founder of most Studio here in Miami and

play40:53

we're going to be breaking down create a

play40:55

process

play40:56

there's going to be Hands-On shooting

play40:59

um if you're at a point in your business

play41:00

where you're lacking structure and

play41:03

you're trying to figure out how to

play41:04

navigate this the freelance Journey

play41:07

um and you're gonna walk away with some

play41:09

nuggets from myself Ed and Danny and

play41:11

also there's going to be Hands-On

play41:12

shooting we officially locked in a

play41:14

sponsor base travel

play41:17

um it's owned by Shane Mitchell yo we

play41:20

might have to let's just say there might

play41:22

be some uh pickleball influence in that

play41:25

uh shooting portion of the workshop so

play41:27

let's go love to see you guys there if

play41:30

you uh are listening to this after the

play41:32

workshop or it's sold out let us know if

play41:35

uh you know where you're located we'd

play41:37

love to we've got a few different spots

play41:39

in mind for where we want to travel to

play41:42

this year to do some in-person guest

play41:44

episodes and we might even uh throw in

play41:46

some sort of Meetup or potentially live

play41:49

podcast hat

play41:50

let's go sweet man I think that's that's

play41:53

uh that's all the housekeeping stuff and

play41:55

then we'll leave every relevant link

play41:57

down below if you guys want to check out

play41:59

our YouTube channel we're posting on

play42:01

there as well if you want to look at the

play42:02

video format of this or you want to see

play42:04

other previous episodes in a video

play42:05

format but yeah cheers see you guys

play42:08

later

play42:10

peace

Rate This

5.0 / 5 (0 votes)

Do you need a summary in English?