Can you be successful at art and business? Can you sell your work without compromising your artistic integrity?

We’re all familiar with the identity of the starving artist.

The assumption that artists and freelance creatives must forego financial stability to preserve their creative integrity usually goes unchallenged. It’s taken as a fact of life, like gravity. Art and commerce don’t mix. They’re fundamentally at odds. You’d better love what you do because passion don’t pay, pal. 

This mentality runs rampant in art schools, creative writing programs, and even the online creator community.

But what if that way of thinking is wrong? What if art and commerce can mix and always have?

You don't need to struggle with money just because you want to keep creativity and craft front and center in your life. The truth is, you can make exceptionally good stuff while also creating a great livelihood for yourself. You can put an end to the starving artist mentality and embrace the reality that the right people will place a high value on your work.

In Episode 007, Austin discusses the false dichotomy between art and commerce. He then breaks down the Japanese concept of “ikigai. Finally, he encourages freelancers to overcome self-limiting beliefs about money by viewing it as a tool – rather than a goal – that allows them more creativity, freedom, and generosity.

Key points

• Intro (00:00)
• The "Ikigai" Concept and How It Relates to Freelancers (00:35)
• The False Dichotomy Between Art and Commerce (02:43)
• How Do We Define Artistic Integrity Anyway? (06:52)

Notable Quotes

"None of us can really make the case that financial struggles somehow make you a better artist, or that not struggling financially means you're bound to compromise your artistic integrity."

"Being paid to use a skill does not make you a second-rate artist, and not getting paid does not make you a first-rate artist."

"If we learn how to make more money in less time, we can serve our customers better, have more freedom, and give more generously without burning out or becoming people we don't like."

"Let’s toss out our false dichotomies into the wind and come up with some more robust and durable beliefs about the relationship between art and commerce. Once we upgrade our beliefs, we'll find it easier to build freelance businesses that we really love."

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For specific beliefs, principles, and practices you can use right away to make the freelance game more profitable and satisfying, subscribe to Freelance Cake podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!

To niche or not to niche, that is the question.

Many freelancers have the "jack of all trades" mentality. To survive in the freelance business, we take on a variety of projects in a variety of industries. That's what Austin did for 6 years. As a generalist, he made freelancing harder on himself. 

After adopting more of an abundance mindset, Austin specialized in content marketing for tech founders and SaaS companies. Specialization simplified his marketing.

When you study freelancers or consultants who make six or seven figures, you’ll notice they provide only a handful of services or outcomes for a narrow slice of a single market or industry. 

Picking a niche can help you make more money as a freelancer and find more satisfaction from your work.

In Episode 006, Austin shares 16 benefits of finding a profitable and sustainable nice niche and explains why so many freelancers still choose not to specialize despite the apparent benefits. He also tackles 4 myths about niching down to encourage more freelancers to take the leap.

Key points

• Intro (00:00)
• Identifying Your Niche (or Is It Even Necessary?) (00:36)
• The Difference Between Being a Generalist and a Specialist in Marketing (02:17)
• So, What Are the Benefits of Niching Down? (03:47)
• And Why Doesn’t Every Freelancer Specialize? (10:08)
• Debunking Niching Down Myths: I Want To Tell You What’s Really True (12:28)
• Real Niche Product Examples That Found Success in Specializing (15:10)
• How Do You Know a Nice Niche When You See One? (21:05)
• Things (Lenses) To Look Out for in Finding Your Niche (23:10)
• Resolving Two Long-Standing Disputes in Freelancing (27:05)
• You’re the Boss, You Make the Rules (28:31)

Notable Quotes

“When you’re a generalist, you believe that anyone can be your client. When you’re targeting everyone, you target no one.”

"If there's one thing in your freelance business that you should put some work into, it's scarcity mindset."

In this episode, Austin shares the 20 Stories Exercise that helped him build a predictable flow of freelance income. He also goes over the 6 questions you need to uncover which of your current marketing strategies bring you your best, easiest money.

Then, once you know where your best income is coming from, you can put his marketing ideas into action!

What is the biggest challenge most freelancers face? Unpredictable income. And what is the main cause of unpredictable income? Not enough project leads. 

So what’s the one lever that could make many other freelance problems disappear?

A surplus of leads.

Austin's freelancing business did not always have predictable cash flow. Like many other freelancers and consultants, he was dissatisfied with his income. 

When he was busy with client work, marketing was the first thing to go. When his pipeline dried up, he’d be scrambling to find enough freelance work and get money in the bank.

Eventually, he realized that the best time for marketing is when he had no time for marketing.

The only way he would stay consistent was if he simplified his approach. Complexity gets in the way of consistency!

The need to simplify his approach to marketing led Austin to create the 20 Stories Exercise. The exercise reveals which strategies deserve a freelancer’s time and effort and which are ineffective, if not futile.

Freelancers have a bad habit of chasing every new marketing strategy on every platform, but we get better results when we do less but better:

• Focus on a handful of core strategies.
• Pick numbers to track in a scorecard.
• Stop doing what doesn’t work.
• Double down on what does.
• Improve over time.

Less but better is a marketing principle Austin drew from German industrial designer Dieter Rams.

If you struggle to stay consistent with marketing or find the whole process intimidating, this episode is for you. 

Key points

• Intro (00:00)
• The puzzling $1 bills at Starbucks (00:37)
• What does pattern-matching have to do with freelancing and marketing? (03:24)
• How does the 20 Stories Exercise work? (05:15)
• A marketing principle + 7 ideas to improve proven marketing strategies (09:23)
• Investments that promote your growth (21:41)
• What persistence and consistency can do for your freelance business (24:53)
• Build better systems and commit to doing them consistently (29:15)

Notable Quotes

“When you’re in a car moving really, really fast, the objects passing by the window become a blur. The same happens with our businesses. It’s not until we actually take a break or when we slow down that we get clarity.”

"As time passes, as I develop my business, I want to be a little less wrong…and then a little less wrong."

“Take messy, imperfect action. Realize that it’s gonna be ugly, but that’s how improvement happens over time.”

"Marketing is probably the biggest lever for your freelance business."

Resources mentioned in this episode:

1. 20 Stories Exercise
2. Justin Welsh's The LinkedIn Operating System
3. Top Podcast Picks
4. Austin’s High-Income Business Writing Podcast Appearance
5. 22 Open-Ended Consulting Questions
6. FreelanceCake.com/Coaching

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For specific beliefs, principles, and practices you can use right away to make the freelance game more profitable and satisfying, subscribe to Freelance Cake podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!

A potential client named Andrew asked Austin that question when he first started freelancing. 

Austin had just been laid off from his job at a marketing agency, and he chose $40 per hour as his rate because his agency had billed out his time at $85 an hour. If he charged half, then maybe clients would feel like they were getting a good deal.

He wasn’t confident in that rate though and would have agreed to less. With only $486 to his name, he was desperate for a paying freelance gig! 

Does that describe you now?

Are you one of the many freelancers who think clients only want a good deal? Do you come down on price when clients push back? Do you feel like you have to charge less than the next guy or gal to be competitive?

Chances are, you're charging less than you should be.

But how do you know how much your work is worth? What are the actual costs of doing business? Who even decides these things? Pricing our services can feel like pulling teeth. 

Here's something to think about:

Steve Jobs once paid a designer named Paul Rand $100,000 to create a logo for NeXT Computing. You read that right—$ 100,000 for a logo. In 1986.

Was Paul Rand’s work a hundred times better than the designer who charged $1,000?

Of course, not!

Talent or skill can’t explain a 100x higher price. So what gives?

What we’re able to charge often comes down to our confidence and mindset. Our target audience is certainly a factor too. What value do clients in that market or niche put on the outcomes you deliver?

Things are worth what people will pay, and what people will pay goes up with perceived value. Perceived value goes up with perceived expertise.

If you aren’t satisfied with your prices or your freelance income, you need to reassess self-imposed psychological barriers.

What if you knew that shifting to a particular pricing strategy could help you stand out from the competition? What if you were confident that your freelance pricing were sending the right signals about your brand, services, and value?

Your pricing strategy can attract the types of clients you want.

This episode will give you the chance to ponder your current pricing, identify your mental traps, and start upgrading your limiting beliefs. To get paid what you're worth, you’ve got to take your head trash to the curb.

If you do nothing else, follow the advice Andrew gave me: raise your prices.

Key points

• Intro (00:00)
• The great recession and my journey into freelancing (00:37)
• Learning about value-based pricing from an unlikely source (02:42)
• The most important lesson I learned from this experience (08:09)
• Price-sensitive vs value-focused clients (11:30)
• What signals are you sending with your prices? (12:55)

Notable Quotes

Resources mentioned in this episode:

freelancecake.com/coaching

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

For specific beliefs, principles, and practices you can use right away to make the freelance game more profitable and satisfying, subscribe to Freelance Cake podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!

Freelancing is hard work. There are so many moving parts in your freelance business: project management, marketing strategies, setting your freelance rates, you name it. 

With all those priorities flying around, all that noise and motion, it’s easy to get off track. It’s easy to keep saying yes to crazy clients and boring projects. It’s easy to forget why you got into this in the first place.

One of Austin’s coaching clients experienced a record month, and said "It nearly killed me."

Can you relate? Do you ever feel like you’re getting dragged around by your freelance business? Take this podcast episode as your opportunity to reconnect with what you really want. 

Freelancing can be rewarding and exciting. The more clearly you define your freelance goals and motivations, the better your decisions will be. Clear goals generate desire and intent. 

Are you not making enough? Are you making enough but working too much? What needs to change? 

Discipline is remembering what you want.

In this episode, Austin shares the goal-setting exercise that helped him and his wife break their overspending habit. He also goes over the 3 questions you need to keep your freelance business on the rails and get the kind of growth you want.

Listen through to the end, take 20-30 minutes to write down your goals and core motivations for your freelance business, and put them somewhere you can’t miss them.

Key points

• Intro (00:00)
• The quote that helped me beat overspending (00:38)
• Identifying your goals for your freelance business (02:17)
• 3 questions you must ask yourself to determine your freelance goals (04:16)
• Why setting your freelancing goals is important (07:40)
• Increasing your income opens up new opportunities (10:20)

Notable Quotes

“In our darker moments when the wave of emotions and the wind of doubt are tossing the boat around, our goals can act as a lighthouse.”

“When you stop worrying about money, when cash flow is no longer your primary limiting constraint, your imagination stands up, shakes out its wings, and takes flight.”

“You’ll find it easier to finish what you start if you focus on what matters most to you.”

Links and resources from this episode

freelancecake.com/coaching

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

For specific beliefs, principles, and practices you can use right away to make the freelance game more profitable and satisfying, subscribe to Freelance Cake podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!

Are you getting paid to uncover pains and problems your clients don't know they have? If not, you're probably in the same situation as Austin was: juggling multiple ventures, meeting with clients, and helping them get clarity around their problems (but not getting paid for that).

Discovering that his family was back in debt made Austin realize that certain aspects of his business just weren’t working. He had just stumbled on Brennan Dunn's The Double Your Freelancing Podcast, and Brennan shared an intriguing idea: project roadmapping. 

Wait, you can sell project strategy on its own?!

This paradigm shift helped Austin break the relationship between time and money, get off the content and copy hamster wheel, and pivot to consulting and value-based pricing.

Freelancers have a creative skillset that gets us into freelancing: writing, graphic design, coding, you name it. However, soft skills are often just as valuable. Many clients don’t know what their real needs even are, and we can get paid handsomely to help clients get clarity, confidence, and traction. 

More freelancers need to wake up to the possibilities!

In this episode, Austin shares his journey toward roadmapping, value-based pricing, and selling strategy as a standalone offer. This new path has offered more income and more time for creativity and relationships.

If you feel stuck and need help getting better leverage in your freelance business, then be sure to save this episode. Also, check out the link to the Freelance Cake coaching program below.

Key points

• Intro (00:00)
• Perfect start to their journey? Not my story (00:37)
• The deflating debt discovery at the beach (02:12)
• From $30k months to living paycheck to paycheck (07:05)
• The road trip that led me to the idea of getting better leverage in my freelance business (09:26)
• Getting paid for offering strategy for the first time (12:55)
• “Go find your most valuable aptitudes, not just your most valuable skills” (15:59)
• Do you want help getting better leverage in your business? (18:02)

Notable Quotes

"I haven’t had the Midas touch. And if we’re using mythical people, I have felt more like Sisyphus pushing a boulder up a hill."

“Go find your most valuable aptitudes, not just your most valuable skills.”

“Maybe why I really appreciate the people online who share all of the good, bad, and ugly in their stories is because my story has had some ugly too... I often find people’s failures more relatable than their successes.”

Resources

freelancecake.com/coaching

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

For specific beliefs, principles, and practices you can use right away to make the freelance game more profitable and satisfying, subscribe to Freelance Cake podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!

Freelancing isn’t easy, but many of us make it harder than it has to be. Working harder often doesn’t… work. Spending more time on the wrong things won’t produce better results. 

The way to break out of the freelance hustle is to ask what six-figure freelancers do differently. For starters, they remember that the Pareto Principle, better known as the 80/20 rule, is at play in every business. 20% of your effort produces 80% of your results.

The trick is finding those points of leverage. 

A good place to start is with a brand positioning statement or a positioning cheat code. When you make yourself the easy, obvious choice for your dream clients, you have an easier time winning the freelance projects you really want.

In this first episode, Austin introduces the concept of better leverage. He also covers how a positioning statement links up with the 80/20 rule and what both of those mean for smart, ambitious freelancers. If you want a step-by-step process for writing a positioning statement, then you listen all the way to the end and check out the link to the copywriting templates below.

Key points

• Intro (00:00)
• What is better leverage? (00:39)
• Why working harder is usually not the answer (02:24)
• A real-life example of a freelancer getting better leverage (04:44)
• Why your freelance business needs a positioning cheat code (07:57)
• A step-by-step process for creating your cheat code (09:55)
• The real benefit isn’t what you think (12:21)
• Now, it’s your turn. (13:25)

Notable Quotes

“Work harder is only good advice when the person that you're talking to is straight up lazy.”

“How could spending even more time on the wrong things fix the problem? To spend even more time on the wrong strategy or weak strategy would simply be pouring water through a sieve at a faster rate.”

“Freelancing is a real game with real money when you win and a positioning cheat code makes the freelance game easier. You can make more mistakes and still win.”

Resources

Click to create your own cheat code + copywriting TEMPLATES

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

For specific beliefs, principles, and practices you can use right away to make the freelance game more profitable and satisfying, subscribe to Freelance Cake podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!