Let me just get this out of the way…avoiding broke freelancer life isn’t about doing more work. All that is is a faster path to burnout.
I was just listening to Ed Gandia’s podcast on six-figure freelancers (writers specifically, but in this case, it really isn’t about skillset.) He talks about the nine traits he sees among freelance writers. You can listen to the whole thing here, but today I’m going to call out one in particular.
Working with people who solve expensive problems.
I want
to turn that on its head a little, because not all of us want a huge paycheck for freelancing. (Nothing wrong with that if you do…that’s one of my priorities.)
The
problem a lot of us do have, is just not making enough money, or only making more if we work more.
That usually isn’t because we don’t have a marketable
skill or don’t do good work (remember that “good” is completely subjective). It’s usually because we’re aiming at niches that solve low-dollar problems. The thing about these niches though, is that even if they’re fun, popular,
or high-profile, those low-dollar problems eventually become our low dollar freelance fees.
Think about what your clients or target market sell and how much people
pay them for what they do…are they paying in the tens and hundreds or thousands and millions?
If you don’t know, that’s a problem too.
I’m not going to tell you to decide you need to be a six-figure freelancer tomorrow (even though it’s a realistic goal for more people than you think), but if you’re focusing on a broke
niche, it’s time to rethink things.
Megan
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