Issue 01 – Laser focused on making $200k
Laser focus
This is something I have NOT had for many years.
From running The Lettering Animation Course, Personal Project Accelerator, Full Harbor Membership a digital summit and many more little endeavors here and there, I have been anything but laser focused.
That has all changed. I'm not running any courses in 2021... only Full Harbor Membership and freelance.
And it feels amazing!!!
Why $200k?
Two reasons:
It's a big, scary number
It's exciting, life changing if achieved, and remarkable. And by remarkable I simply mean that since it's more than what the majority of freelancers make (according to any survey I've seen at least), people will talk about it. And the reason I care about that is...I'm hoping it will open up productive dialog in the industry
Money can feel so taboo to talk about... especially when it comes to income. I want to make talking about money feel less icky. I also want to help you and others to see that your potential earning ability may be higher than what you previously thought.
So what's the plan?
I'm breaking my big goal into quarterly goals. First, I'm aiming to get my monthly income rate up to 2x what it is now.
Q1's Wildly Important Goal
Currently: I make about $8k/month freelancing
Goal: I want to make $16k/month
By: The end of the quarter
If you want to lose 20 pounds, you need to do more than weigh yourself every day. You need to measure calories in (food) and calories burned (exercise). While I'm measuring money invoiced, I'm really focusing on lead measures (aka things I can actually DO).
The real focus is on 3 lead measures.
Client outreach emails (5/week)
Conversations with other freelancers (1/week)
Updating my portfolio/reel (30 min/day)
Scoreboard updates
*Edit: Since writing this, I change the way I was “tallying” the $200k… by invoices/money earned that month.
Total income: $0
Some invoices came in from Dec work, but I have decided to only count “earned money”… aka money earned from work done in 2021. Obviously, for taxes money received is what Uncle Sam cares about, but for the sake of my goal… I get to make the rules :D
Client outreach
No client outreach yet. I've been updating my reel (almost done). And I will catch up with client outreach by the end of the month.
Freelance chats
Week 1: none
Week 2: 1
Week 3: 2 so far (1 more scheduled for Friday)
Advice received
Read book Freelance Manifesto by Joey Korenman (I read this a few years ago, but will be giving it another read)
Direct to client (or direct to agency) generally bring the best rates
"Rather than chase the number, I'd just focus on introducing yourself to new potential clients everyday. Direct to client is great way to to turn a 5k project into a 15-20k project." See the tweet from Adam Hill and some good back and forth
Develop a strong foundation of artistic ability and business foundations... this will lead to making money AND making work you love.
📅 I send updates every other week so you can…
✅ See what generates the best paying work
🚫 See what efforts do not work
💬 Get advice from in-demand freelancers
📈 See my progress along the way (will I succeed or fail?!)