Listen, this is, this is freelancing advice in general.
Charge more, charge more.
Hello, hello.
What's up and welcome back to another episode of the Freelance Friday podcast.
Are you someone who's thinking?
Yes, 2022 or whatever year you're watching this.
This is going to be my year.
I am so ready to do my own thing.
I'm ready to work in my pajamas or at a coworking space or wherever you work best.
I want to work for myself.
I want to take my side hustle full time.
If that sounds like you definitely keep on listening, or even if you're somebody
who is thinking of introducing a new revenue stream, maybe you are working
predominantly with clients right now and you want to move into something a
little bit more passive or vice versa.
This should help you out as well.
I've done a couple of episodes of the podcast and videos on my YouTube
channel about what you should do before leaving your day job.
I definitely recommend checking those out so I will link them for you all.
But this episode is really meant to unveil some of the secrets that enabled me.
Get to that point.
The first thing that I feel like nobody talks about is that when you are side
hustling, you should be super niche.
Now, listen, when I was side hustling, I took a little bit of what I could get.
Right.
In the very beginning, I was like, I just want to start a business.
So I'm going to take whatever I can get.
But after those first few portfolio projects of you just kind of working out
the kinks and learning how this stuff all works, you should be very niche.
You should only be taking on the types of clients that you want to take on.
You know?
Yes, this is somewhat just
general business advice, I suppose, but it's really important actually, in
this side hustle phase, because in the side hustle phase, you don't need the
clients quite yet to pay your bills.
What you're making is extra in, in most cases.
So it should be stuff that you actually want to do.
If you think about like extracurricular activities, you know, maybe
you're on a volleyball team or you
play golf with your friends or, you know, whatever you invest in some
type of relationship outside of your work life, those are voluntary, right?
Nobody is holding, you know, a weapon to your head and saying
that you have to do those things.
So you're going to choose the things that are the most important to you.
You're gonna spend time with the friends who matter most to you.
And you're going to say no to some of those more casual acquaintances,
and that should be the same thing, the same mindset for a side hustle.
If you start taking on everybody under the sun who wants to work with you, the
problem is you're going to have this portfolio that is all over the place.
So when it's time for you to go full-time in your business, no, one's going to know
what you really specialize in and you're probably also not going to do a great
job with all of those clients, you know, you should be taking on clients that
you really want, and that you're really excited about the niche, because that way
you are going to really blow it out of the park for them, knock it out of the park
for them and really perform and have good
numbers and good results to put into your portfolio.
It's going to help you a lot more when it comes time to do it full-time.
The next thing to think about is investing in your education now, you know, I
think a lot of people wait until they're full time to take a course, to go to
a conference, to do all those things, because then they realize they need some
particular skill or they do it maybe for the networking, which is valuable,
but you can do that stuff before too.
And again, you can do that when you have the time, because you can
say, you know what, I'm not going to take on a client this month.
I'm instead going to use this as an education month because I already have
my bills paid for from my day job.
So really get intentional with this too, you know, don't take
every course under the sun.
Don't go to every event and conference under the sun.
But if you're like, I really need to learn how to use Photoshop,
make it Photoshop month next month and take on minimal clients or no
clients and focus on that course.
If you're like, I just need to come up with a launch strategy, then
focus on a course about launching.
But you know, the thing is once you get full-time in your business, you're
going to be too busy, doing stuff to be sitting and learning all day long.
I'm not saying it's not possible.
And I do still think it is really important to invest in your
education, even if after you are full-time I still invest in my
education, but listen, I'd be lying.
If I said that there weren't, you know, months that I just don't crack open a
book or I don't enroll in a course, or I miss out on some of my mastermind sessions
because I'm just too busy in the business.
So you don't want that to happen.
And then you're like, oh, I wish I would have learned XYZ.
The other thing about this is depending on the industry that you're in and do
this ethically, of course, don't like steal essentially from your employer.
But if you're freelancing, if your side hustle is in the same industry
as your current job, there's a lot of crossover that can happen.
I really, I volunteered for all the things when I was at my day job, anytime
we got to go to a conference, I always raised my hand and said, I wanted to go.
Anytime there was like an opportunity to take a course or a certification
from like our social media management tool that we used or anything like that.
I always raised my hand and said, yeah, I'll do it.
Because, yes of course I wanted it to help me in my day job too.
And it did, but I was also thinking, you know, this will probably be something
that will help me with my business.
A lot of those things are expensive, you know, going to some of the
conferences I went to as a full-time employee, those are like thousand
dollar tickets for those events.
So, I don't want to say, take advantage of those opportunities,
like in a sketchy way, but do take advantage of them in a good way.
You know, if there's crossover say yes also I'll say that with projects too.
Like I raised my hand for all kinds of projects.
I would regularly help out with like web projects and PR projects and just
different things that maybe I wouldn't have the opportunity to do when I
was working full-time for myself.
So take those things as learning experiences too.
And, um, you know, try to get as much, as much experience
as you can while you're there.
Next thing that not enough people do not enough people talk about is you
need to charge a premium, listen, this is, this is freelancing advice
in general, charge more, charge more, but particularly when you're side
hustling, actually I think people go at it from the opposite view a lot and
they say, well, I'm only side hustling
like I don't have, you know, 40 hours to dedicate to this client.
So I am going to let them pay me less.
When really it should be the opposite.
It should actually be again, thinking back to that extracurricular activity
analogy I used, you should be working with clients who are like,
you're excited about these projects.
You're not begging them to take a chance on you.
It's actually the opposite.
Of course you have to be realistic, if a client does need you 40 hours a week.
Well, first of all, that's not a client, that's a job, but you know, if there
are things that you can't do, there are events, you won't be able to go
to because you can't travel because you have a job or, you know, there's
times you're not available or whatever.
Sure.
Then take that into account.
You of course, want to charge what's fair for the client, but
in most cases that doesn't matter.
Like I was working the same amount of hours on client work as a side
hustler and as a full-time freelancer, I just took on more clients actually,
when I was full-time freelancing.
And actually I would even argue that maybe they're getting less value that
way because now they're competing for my time a little bit more because I have to
take on more clients to pay the bills.
You understand?
So charge a full rate while you're side hustling do not give
discounts the side hustle discount.
You know, of course, maybe like I said about niches, you might need to take
on a couple of portfolio projects just to, you know, get the experience, get
the testimonials, things like that.
Same thing for the rates.
Of course, maybe you take a couple of lower price projects, but after that go
into full rates, your rate should be no different if you're a full-time freelancer
and if you're a side hustle, that shouldn't really matter, assuming
the role is not super travel heavy or you're not on the phone 12 hours
a day or whatever the case may be.
So yeah, this is something a lot of us mess up about.
I certainly did.
I was just kinda like taking on whatever and my goal, like my, my thought process
was I need to take on volume so I can get out of here so I can go full time.
So if that means I'm taking on ten five hundred dollar projects.
I'm just going to do it, suck it up.
Hustle, hustle, hustle, and I'll figure it out later.
That's what I tried to do.
I mean, it worked out for me in the long run, but I think the smarter thing
to have done, would to have said, I'm going to work with two $2,500 clients.
Even if that means I'm sticking around a little longer at my day job.
But I'm really building up that solid reputation for myself and
building up those systems in the back end of my business, you know,
I'm really doing things right.
Versus just hustle, hustle, hustle, and then, you know, feeling really stressed.
And then again, going into the same thing with the niches is not
doing a great job all the time.
Not always having something to point to in my portfolio that I'm super proud of.
Quality over quantity I would say is definitely, is definitely
something to keep in mind.
I just mentioned this a little bit, but the next thing I want you to think
about doing is setting up kind of the bones or the infrastructure of your
business before you go full time.
What I mean by that is developing your systems.
So your SOP's your standard operating procedures, setting up your client
management systems, setting up your email systems, setting up, you know,
your, your payment processors, getting your LLC, if you haven't yet setting
up your business bank account, finding an accountant, like all of these
things are actually so annoying.
Um, they are those little things in business that you're like, I just
got to, you know, fill out a form.
It's not that hard and they're not that hard.
But wouldn't you rather be able to run to your bank after work or on your
lunch break when you're, you're getting paid at your day job and take care of a
business bank account rather than take a whole, you know, half a day off of your
business where you could be making money.
And just get it taken care of then?
Besides just the, you know, annoying-ness of it, all of having to go to the bank and
do all these errands and stuff, you also just want to be landing in a good place.
So you don't want to leave the structure of a day job and have, you know, your
money is being deposited every two weeks and, you know, everything is really
systematized to just chaos, because that makes it really hard.
It was a really hard adjustment, regardless of how organized you are.
Things are just different, but you want to be really landing
in a soft space, I guess.
And, um, making sure that all of this stuff is set up and ready to go.
In addition to all of those financial and maybe some of that legal stuff,
which a lawyer and accountant, they can all help you with, again
it's great cause you have your day job money still, so use that to pay
for some of those things that can add up,$200 here, $200 there, it adds up.
Um, in addition to that, you also will want to build the
bones of your online presence.
So build a website, you know, building a website takes time.
I all the time
I'm like, oh yeah, I can just put a website together real quick.
No, it ends up taking me like three months to build myself.
If you're going to work with a designer, they book out,they take
time if they're a good designer.
So, you know, you want to invest in that stuff and play the long
game with some of those things.
So you're not scrambling to put something together the day that you
go full-time freelance and realize, oh my gosh, I really need a website.
All of the infrastructure stuff, by the way is covered in the
Online Business Launch Lab.
If you are not new around here, you've heard me talk about it before, but
actually doors are closing at the end of this week, um, or, or Monday, I guess.
So if this is something that you're listening to, you're thinking I'm
side hustling and I am ready to get some of this infrastructure set up.
I'm ready to sort of build the bones of my business, and develop
a launch plan, an exit strategy.
All of that stuff then the Online Business Launch Lab is going
to be a great place for you.
It's an eight week course.
You get to keep all the lessons and rewatch them at
your own pace though, as well.
And it's meant for any service providers like a freelance, social media manager,
graphic designer, anything like that.
Or a course creator or coach.
So if you're interested in that, I'll leave the link in the show notes for you.
We have payment plans available and the clock is ticking on that.
And I think it will be really good, especially for the side hustlers
out there, or those of you who maybe already have a business, but are
looking to introduce a new revenue stream, like a course or a coaching
program or something like that.
So wanted to let you know about that.
My last tip, the last thing that you will want to do before taking your
side hustle full-time of course, I think all of you know what I'm
going to say, it's save money.
Again, thinking about landing in a soft space, a soft spot.
You don't want to just do things chaotically.
I understand that this is not possible for everybody.
And I want to be sensitive to that.
Like, I'm very fortunate in that I wasn't run out of my job.
I didn't lose my job.
I could really choose when I left my job.
And I also will say that I made a pretty good salary, in my opinion.
I mean, it was more than I ever imagined I would make, uh, at that point in my life,
I grew up without a lot of money at all.
So I was fortunate in that I was able to save money.
Okay.
So I understand my, my privilege there, but if you can help it
at all, it really, really helps.
Now, if you are in this situation where you just have to leave for your mental
health or you're getting harassed or anything like that, I empathize
with you and you can still do it.
I know plenty of people who just quit like on the spot
and they are thriving today.
So you don't want you to think that you can't make it, but I am very conservative
in a lot of areas of, you know, when it comes to finances and things like that.
So for me, it felt a lot better to just save money and land in a soft spot.
So I, you know, I've done a lot of research on this.
I've talked about this many times before, but general financial advice
ranges from like three months of expenses, six months to twelve months.
It really depends I think, on your comfort level and your willingness
to take on risk for me when I left my job I was in my early twenties, mid
twenties, I guess I didn't have children.
I didn't have a husband.
I didn't have a mortgage.
I didn't even have a dog.
So I was in a area where it could be a little bit more risky, I think, than if I
had four kids, a husband, two mortgages, you know, um, I was taking care of my mom.
I would have probably wanted to save a lot more money than I did, but I'll be
honest about exactly how much I saved.
I don't think I've ever shared this.
I was Looking back at bank statements and I think I had saved pretty
close to $20,000 when I quit my job.
And I did the math on this I don't know, you know, $20,000 that might sound like
a lot to some people that might sound like nothing to some people you might
be like, wow, you're living on the edge to me though, was a lot of money.
I mean, like I said, I didn't grow up with a lot of money at all.
So to even have $20,000 in my bank account was like, what?
Um, so to me that was a lot and yeah, I pretty much took all of
my freelance side hustle income and put it into a bank account.
I didn't touch it except for, to pay taxes or to like buy
business equipment and stuff.
So that's a good way to just get in the habit of saving is just save it all.
Don't touch it, again keep in mind you don't need to be living large, right?
Like you already have a salary.
So your salary, if it's, if it's a decent salary, it should be
paying all your expenses as is.
You shouldn't need to be tapping into that at all.
And I did the math on it, I think my expenses at that time were
probably around $3,000 a month.
And that's, that's like very frugal, right?
Like that's, if I'm eating, I'm cooking every day, um, I'm not buying any
clothes, any makeup, I'm not going on any trips, I'm not buying any gifts.
That was just my rent, my groceries, my car stuff, and like
health insurance and things like that was around $3,000 a month.
So I guess it equaled out to me saving about six months of expenses.
So that was comfortable for me.
I didn't feel scared every day.
You know, I knew that if I couldn't make rent next month,
I could tap into my savings.
I never really did dip into my savings too much.
Honestly, I maybe the first month, a little bit, but I got
off on a really good start.
And then I had that $20,000 to just use for tax savings and as kind of an
emergency fund and things like that.
And then, you know, it grew from there.
So obviously, you know, the more that you can save the better,
you can say 40,000, 50,000.
Great, good for you.
That wasn't realistic for me, but do what you can do.
And the reason it's such a good idea to save money is because again,
you're going to be saying yes to people you want to say yes to, and
not saying yes out of desperation.
If I just needed to pay the bills, listen, there was a lot of things
I would do to pay the bills.
There's a lot of clients I would work with just to pay the bills, but they're
not going to be in your desired niche.
You're going to be kind of all over the place, taking what you can get.
You're probably going to be taking low rates, you're probably going
to be, you know, doing things that maybe you don't agree with.
So you want to make sure that you have that cushion so that
you can be a little bit picky.
And then of course if wild things happen in the world, in the
business, in your personal life, you know, life, life happens,
okay?
Um, I think 2020, 2021, 2022 , please let things get better.
But these years I've taught us a lot in that things can change in the blink of
an eye with our health, with the world, with our businesses, with the economy.
So having some cushion in the bank account is a good idea.
All right, those are my five secrets to, uh, actually taking
your side hustle full time.
I hope this was helpful for you.
If you are planning to go full time in the new year, I would say comments
on below, but you might not want to put all your business out there if
you do comment down below, but if not,I'm wishing you all the very best.
And again, if you are listening and you are looking to introduce
a new revenue stream, you are looking to leave your day job,
you're looking to launch your business in general definitely check
out the Online Business Launch Lab at onlinebusinesslaunchlab.com.
We're going to be starting class very soon I am so excited.
We'll be meeting at least once a week, sometimes twice a week for
eight weeks in a live kind of class format where you can ask me anything.
And we'll also be going over different modules that cover some of the eight
pillars or essentials to building an online business, everything
from content marketing, to business operations and more so I would
love to see some of you in there.
I'm already going to see some of you in there, but I'd love to see more of you.
And with that, I will talk to you in the next episode, I post new podcasts every
Friday and videos on YouTube every Monday.
See over there, have a good day.
Bye.