Freelancers can have career development plans just like employed people do. Because we have less structure built into our work life, we need them more. It’s something we should think about early in our freelance journey. Since they aren’t ready made for you like they would be under an employer, they take more focus and […]
How I Use Linkedin Ads as a Freelancer
This post will help you with Phase 3 of the BlackFreelance Foundations Workbook…if you haven’t started yours yet, download it now! Happy 2022! So to kick things off, I’m going to give a quick overview of how I used paid advertising on LinkedIn. (If you’re tired of cold contacting prospects, this is the post for […]
Here’s How You Turn Your Employment Experience into Freelance Elevation…
So a few weeks ago I asked the community about a theme for the next year or so…using employment to our benefit as freelancers. I got really good feedback, so that’s what we’re doing! The theme is going to evolve as the year does, but to kick things off, let’s talk about some practical steps—ways […]
5 Silent Threats to Your Freelance Business (And What to Do About Them)
You can define freelancing a lot of different ways, but my favorite is looking at it as “taking responsibility”…responsibility for marketing, taxes, vacation — in other words, the stuff employers take on in exchange for control over your sleep schedule, availability, and free time…you know how it works. Some responsibility is obvious, but some of […]
Are You Asking Your Niche for Too Much…or Too Little?
This post will help you with Phase 1 of the BlackFreelance Strategy Workbook…if you haven’t started yours yet, download it now! Sometimes we ask people for more than they can give. And sometimes we do the same of our niches. Here’s what I mean. I started in the world of paid writing in combat sports. […]
Discovering Your Niche: What Can I Do with Storytelling Skills?
This post will help you with Phase 2 of the BlackFreelance Strategy Workbook…if you haven’t started yours yet, download it now! Narrowing down your niche is one of the hardest things you’ll do as a freelancer. It’s also one of the most important. If you take the time to choose, test, and refine […]
Is a % Split the Answer to Your Freelance Career Problems?
When I started getting paid as a freelance blogger in my passion niche, I was making $45 a post. It wasn’t bad at the time, but now I make literally 10x that after switching to the niche I have employment experience in. If I ever went back, I probably wouldn’t dedicate more than a couple hours […]
5 Ways to Use Trade Publications to Master Your Niche
This post will help you with Phase 2 of the BlackFreelance Foundations Workbook…if you haven’t started yours yet, download it now! If you’ve been around here for a while, you know I’m quick to recommend trade publications to basically everybody. That’s because they changed my career (more on that later) but it’s mainly because trade […]
What is Low-Friction Freelancing?
BlackFreelance welcomes all skill sets and freelancers, but I gotta be honest — some freelance work gets priority over others. That’s because BlackFreelance is all about leveraging freelancing to improve lives, not the other way around. And if we’re keeping it 100, there’s a lot of freelancing out here that’s happy to eat your life […]
What is “Strategic Freelancing” Anyway?
I’m a big believer that most of our freelance “failures” eventually point back to not being able to state why we’re freelancing in the first place, and then not having a plan that’s grounded in that ‘why’. If you follow me over on Twitter you’ve probably seen me mention “Strategic Freelancing”. It’s a concept […]