thegig

💲 Freelance pricing quick start guide

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Happy Friday! Season 5 of Drive to Survive comes out this weekend, so know what we’ll be doing this weekend. And if Formula 1’s not your bucket of bolts, Netflix has recently released two other documentaries from the D2S production team you might like: Break Point (about tennis) and Full Swing (about golf).

Mentioned in today’s newsletter: Skype, TikTok, and 4-day work weeks. Plus the freelance pricing quick start guide, and one readability rule when writing long-form copy.

Read time: 3 minutes and 35 seconds

Making the Rounds

  • Microsoft adds AI-powered Bing features to Skype. Bing has entered the chat: Skype users will soon be able to add Bing to conversations and group chats to leverage its AI-powered search features.
  • 90% of U.K. businesses in 4-day work week trial plan to continue after study ends. In one of the biggest trials to date, 61 businesses in the U.K. agreed to give employees a paid day off and shorten the workweek to 4 days. Many saw significant improvements in performance and productivity. 18% said they planned to make the change permanent.
  • TikTok launches new Top Products dashboard. The dashboard lets advertisers see performance data for a variety of product categories. This is a gold mine if you’re running TikTok ads.

Working For Clients

The Freelance Pricing Quick Start Guide

Pricing yourself as a freelancer can be tricky.

Most of us tend to undervalue ourselves…

Then sprinkle in a strong aversion to sales, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.

So here’s a quick primer on how to tackle pricing:

STEP 1: Charge by project or deliverable (not by the hour)

Billing by the hour incentivizes you to work slowly.

Who wants that?

Switching to a per-project or per-deliverable rate is a win/win for you and the client:

There are no unexpected surprises for them if the job takes longer…

And you get rewarded if you can get it done quicker.

STEP 2: Always ask for a deposit

This helps weed out crappy clients.

A deposit can be anywhere from 10-50%.

But as a gesture of good faith, we recommend waiting to invoice for the second half until the project is done to the client’s satisfaction.

(retainer deals notwithstanding)

STEP 3: Explore performance-based deals

Once you’ve established a track record of making money for clients, it’s time to explore performance-based deals.

To be clear — this step is optional.

You don’t need it to earn a great income.

Four clients at $3k/each is $12,000.

But if you’ve developed a solid relationship with a client, and have good proximity to the sale through writing copy, running ads, or closing deals for them…

You’re likely in position to initiate this conversation.

For example:

  • Media buyers can charge a % of ad spend
  • Copywriters can charge a % of revenue
  • Sales reps can charge a % of cash collected

Avoid profit-based agreements if you can.

There are all kinds of accounting jiu-jitsu tricks a business owner can employ to lower profits on paper and starve you of your commissions.

So you’re much better off working out a deal based on revenue.

Now, we could write a whole book on the topic of pricing…

But the bottom line is:

The more proof you can rack up (results for clients), the more you can charge.

So focus on getting great at what you do, overdelivering for clients, and collecting that proof…

And the rest will take care of itself.

From The Copywriting Gig

Follow This Readability Rule if You’re Writing Long-Form Copy

Yes, people still read long-form sales letters in 2023.

But that doesn’t mean you can afford to ignore readability when writing one.

And while liberal use of subheads and line breaks is important…

There’s another trick to making your sales page read fast:

Breaking up the copy with one image per full screen length.

Because not only do images help bring your copy to life…

But they support the “skim track.”

In other words…

Between your subheads and images, a reader *should* be able to grasp the basics of your entire sales message.

So keep this readability rule in mind next time you’re writing a long-form piece.

Your audience will often thank you with more sales.

Gig Alerts

Looking for clients? These freelance jobs were posted on Upwork in the last 24 hours:

NOTE: We only share job postings from Upwork. We’ve found it to be the most trustworthy platform with the highest-quality clients. 

Furthermore, job postings must be for high-income skills like copywriting, media buying, funnel building, graphic design, remote closing, etc in order to qualify.

In Case You Missed It:

Quote of the Day

“Never assume because you put more time into something, it’s getting better”

— Rick Rubin

Time doesn’t always equal quality.

Sometimes the first draft is the best one.


Share this on Twitter 🐦

Tools of the Trade

Looking to upgrade your toolkit? Here are some of our favorite tools we use to powerful our freelance business:

  • ConvertKit — Email marketing for creators. Simple, easy to use, and very cost-effective.
  • Kinsta — Super fast website hosting trusted by 25,000+ small businesses.
  • Fireflies — AI note-taker that can record client calls + create searchable transcripts.
  • Krisp — Eliminates echoes and background noise on calls and meetings using AI.
  • Wise — Unbeatable rates on currency conversions. Saves you a ton of money if you’re an international freelancer.

* Some of these are affiliate links. This means we may receive a small commission if you sign up for a paid subscription (at no extra cost to you.)

🧠 Why multitasking is the mind-killer

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Happy Thursday! Exciting news: we’re now on YouTube. If you’ve missed any past episodes of Inspector Lander, our weekly video series on marketing strategy, you can find them all on our new channel, including this week’s episode. 

Mentioned in today’s edition: Section 230, artificial intelligence, and YouTube. Plus why multitasking is the mind-killer, and a must-watch for anyone who sells digital products.

Read time: 2 minutes and 33 seconds

Making the Rounds

  • Supreme Court takes up two cases that could shake up the internet. Both are challenging Section 230, which grants platforms like Facebook and YouTube immunity from lawsuits over content posted by users. If the court struck down these protections, it would send a shockwave through the entire industry, as platforms would be forced to rethink how they moderate content.
  • The race to leverage AI tools is on. This deep dive from the WSJ reveals how everyone from CEOs to employees are scrambling to integrate AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney into their work.
  • YouTube testing new podcast feature. With more and more podcasters distributing their shows on the platform, this update makes a ton of sense. The feature will come with new podcast-specific analytics to help distinguish performance between traditional YouTube videos and podcasts.

Working For Yourself

Why Multitasking is the Mind-Killer

Multitasking is the mind-killer.

Research has shown our brains are not wired to handle more than one task at a time.

So while you may *feel* more productive when juggling multiple tasks…

Truth is, you’re leaking mental energy every time you jump back and forth.

This concept is known as “context-switching.”

By focusing on just one task at a time instead, you can reduce creative leakage from context-switching and work more efficiently to produce better results.

And if you’re charging a flat rate or per-project fee…

The faster you work, the more your effective hourly rate goes up.

So if you’re looking for an easy way to give yourself a raise…

Stop multitasking.

Marketing Strategy

If You Sell Digital Products, Watch This

Episode #006 of Inspector Lander is live on YouTube!

This week, watch as we audit a killer lander promoting a digital product for media buyers.

Lots of takeaways from this, including a few unusual tactics you don’t see elsewhere.

Check it out here:

[WATCH]: Inspector Lander #006: Elite Media Buyers Academy

P.S:

If you find these videos helpful, make sure to subscribe to our channel so you don’t miss the next one 🙂

Gig Alerts

Looking for clients? These freelance jobs were posted on Upwork in the last 24 hours:

NOTE: We only share job postings from Upwork. We’ve found it to be the most trustworthy platform with the highest-quality clients. 

Furthermore, job postings must be for high-income skills like copywriting, media buying, funnel building, graphic design, remote closing, etc in order to qualify.

Quote of the Day


“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” 

— Scott Adams

No one else has to see what you create.

Don’t let your inner Censor stop you from building something.


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🧬 The DNA of a perfect freelance client

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Happy Wednesday! Welcome back to The Gig, your daily morning memo on how to build a thriving freelance business.

Discussed in today’s dispatch: Instagram, Spotify, TikTok, and Microsoft. Plus the DNA of a perfect freelance client, and why A-Player marketers never start from scratch.

Read time: 3 minutes and 31 seconds

Making the Rounds

  • Instagram announces new broadcast chat feature. The platform’s new Channels feature lets creators send out one-to-many broadcasts with text, images, polls, and more to communicate with followers.
  • Spotify planning TikTok-style swipe feed. The audio platform is the latest to copycat features for fun and profit. They’re is reportedly set to announce a vertical swipe-based feed similar to TikTok at their upcoming Stream On event in L.A.
  • Microsoft previewing potential new Bing ads for agencies. With chatbots quickly displacing traditional search, one big question is how companies like Microsoft and Google will integrate paid ads into chat-based search. According to Reuters, Microsoft has already started talking to agencies about what those ads might look like.

Newsletter Shout Out

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Working With Clients

The DNA of a Perfect Freelance Client

The temptation to take on anyone with a pulse and a credit card as a client is hard to resist sometimes.

Whether it’s because you’re brand new…

Or simply because you need the scratch…

Learning to trust your gut is tough.

So let’s break down what a perfect client looks like.

#1 – Past experience hiring freelancers

Working with freelancers is different than having an in-house team member.

Clients can’t lay claim to 100% of your bandwidth.

You want someone who respects boundaries.

#2 – Validated offer

No matter what service you offer…

The best clients always have validated offers.

“Validated” means they’ve successfully sold their offer to other people.

This proves there’s a hunger for it in the marketplace.

It (usually) translates to a healthy business too.

#3 – Solid social proof

A common byproduct of validated offers is social proof.

Having lots of: 

– testimonials

– screenshots

– and case studies 

… to work with always makes your life easier.

#4 – Reasonable marketing budget

When it comes to paid traffic, everyone likes to say…

“Well if it’s converting, I’m happy to spend as much as possible!”

… No duh.

That’s obvious.

The more important question is: 

“How much are you willing to spend if it’s NOT converting?”

Not everything converts right out of the gate.

So it’s important to have a reasonable testing budget based on the offer, price point, campaign goals, etc.

Which ties in with our last point.

#5 – Understands asymmetrical bets

This applies more to cold traffic.

But a perfect client understands the asymmetrical tradeoff of testing new funnels, offers, or marketing channels.

In other words, one winner pays for a lot of losers.

It’s just like angel investing.

Most of your tests will fail, but that’s often what it takes to find a winner that will scale.

From The Paid Ads Gig

Why A-Player Advertisers Never Start From Scratch

You don’t need to be a creative genius to consistently crank out winning ad copy or creative.

You just need a solid swipe file.

This is one of the things that separates A-Players from rookies…

A-Players never start from scratch.

Instead, they model what’s working right now and put their own spin on it.

So if you’re working to become a high-performance advertiser…

Start building your swipe file.

Here are a few of our favorite tools:

When you see a good ad on Facebook or Instagram, you can also ‘Save’ it by hitting the ribbon icon on the lower right-hand corner of the ad.

This lets you circle back to grab it later.

Gig Alerts

Looking for clients? These freelance jobs were posted on Upwork in the last 24 hours:

NOTE: We only share job postings from Upwork. We’ve found it to be the most trustworthy platform with the highest-quality clients. 

Furthermore, job postings must be for high-income skills like copywriting, media buying, funnel building, graphic design, remote closing, etc in order to qualify.

Quote of the Day

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”

— Albert Einstein

Intellectual curiosity is a superpower.

Go down the right rabbit holes and you’ll often find money at the bottom.

Share this on Twitter 🐦

Tools of the Trade

Looking to upgrade your toolkit? Here are some of our favorite tools we use to powerful our freelance business:

  • ConvertKit — Email marketing for creators. Simple, easy to use, and very cost-effective.
  • Kinsta — Super fast website hosting trusted by 25,000+ small businesses.
  • Fireflies — AI note-taker that can record client calls + create searchable transcripts.
  • Krisp — Eliminates echoes and background noise on calls and meetings using AI.
  • Wise — Unbeatable rates on currency conversions. Saves you a ton of money if you’re an international freelancer.

* Some of these are affiliate links. This means we may receive a small commission if you sign up for a paid subscription (at no extra cost to you.)

🤖 9 cool new AI tools to play with

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Happy Tuesday! Special shout out to IRL friends of the newsletter Rodney, Brian, and Jacqueline. It’s easy to forget people actually read what we write sometimes, so thanks to all of y’all for the feedback and support 🙏🙌

And a friendly reminder to everyone else that we appreciate all feedback, good or bad. If you’ve got something you’d like to share, hit reply and let us know.

Discussed in today’s productivity-themed newsletter: Facebook, Instagram, inflation, and TikTok. Plus 9 cool new AI tools to play around with, and how to streamline your workflow with simple text shortcodes.

Read time: 2 minutes and 36 seconds

Making the Rounds

  • Meta testing paid verification program. Similar to Twitter Blue, Facebook and Instagram users will soon be able to pay to receive a blue checkmark. The program costs $12/month on the web and $15/month on mobile, and is currently only available in New Zealand and Australia. 
  • 69% of consumers planning to cut back on nonessential expenses. According to a new PwC survey of almost 10,000 consumers, 15% said they’d cut nonessential purchases completely as inflation takes a bite out of purchasing power.
  • TikTok testing in-app checkout. As part of its push to replicate liveshopping success in China, the platform has launched a pilot program in the U.S., allowing a handful of brands to test in-app purchases.

Working For Yourself

9 Cool New AI Tools to Play Around With

The AI Revolution is in full effect.

It feels like we come across an exciting new AI tool or use case every 5 minutes…

And today’s no different.

Alex Hormozi recently challenged his entire team to replace themselves with AI in just 7 days…

And while their jobs may not have actually been on the line…

This hypothetical thought exercise surfaced some crazy cool new AI tools we’re excited to experiment with.

Click below to check it out on YouTube:

[WATCH]: I Challenged My Team To Replace Themselves With AI

Tools We Love

Streamline Your Workflow With Simple Text Shortcodes

One consequence of the AI craze happening right now is that it’s forced us to re-examine everything we do throughout a typical workday.

We’ve uncovered a number of new chokepoints we’re eager to alleviate…

But one area we’ve already got on lock is repetitive work.

Templates, boilerplate messages, task descriptions — you’ve probably got a slew of stuff you end up typing over and over again too…

Whether you realize it or not.

While these tasks seem trivial on the surface, the reality is they gobble up a ton of time.

Luckily, that’s where Text Expander comes in.

This trusty time-saver lets you set up shortcodes for just about anything you can think of…

So you can auto-populate a chunk of text, big or small, in just a few keystrokes.

It may not sound like a game-changer…

But once you start using it, you’ll realize how much time you just got back.

Give it a go at the link below:

Click here to learn more about Text Expander.

Gig Alerts

Looking for clients? These freelance jobs were posted on Upwork in the last 24 hours:

NOTE: We only share job postings from Upwork. We’ve found it to be the most trustworthy platform with the highest-quality clients. 

Furthermore, job postings must be for high-income skills like copywriting, media buying, funnel building, graphic design, remote closing, etc in order to qualify.

Quote of the Day

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

— Maya Angelou

Share this on Twitter 🐦

Tools of the Trade

Looking to upgrade your toolkit? Here are some of our favorite tools we use to powerful our freelance business:

  • ConvertKit — Email marketing for creators. Simple, easy to use, and very cost-effective.
  • Kinsta — Super fast website hosting trusted by 25,000+ small businesses.
  • Fireflies — AI note-taker that can record client calls + create searchable transcripts.
  • Krisp — Eliminates echoes and background noise on calls and meetings using AI.
  • Wise — Unbeatable rates on currency conversions. Saves you a ton of money if you’re an international freelancer.

* Some of these are affiliate links. This means we may receive a small commission if you sign up for a paid subscription (at no extra cost to you.)

💡 Sticky ideas

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Happy Monday! It’s President’s Day in the U.S. and Family Day in Canada. If you’re off today, enjoy the R&R. You deserve it.

Mentioned in today’s holiday edition: Shopify, Bing, ChatGPT, and Twitter. Plus what all the top tier clients on Upwork are thinking, and the secret to an idea that sticks.

Read time: 2 minutes and 10 seconds

Making the Rounds

  • Shopify cuts 320k hours worth of meetings. The ecommerce company slashed 12,000 calendar events in a single month, thanks in part to “no meeting Wednesdays.”
  • Bing and ChatGPT are a match made in heaven hell. Since launching its new-and-improved version infused with GPT-4, Bing’s AI chatbot has been lying, insulting, and trying to manipulate users. Sounds like there’s still one or two more kinks left to work out.
  • Cannabis ads now approved on Twitter. There’s plenty of fine print though: advertisers will need to be pre-approved before they can run any traffic, they’ll only be able to run traffic in states where cannabis is legal, and they’ll only be able to promote a direct offer if it’s for topical, hemp-derived CBD products with less than 0.3% THC.

Newsletter Shout Out

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Check Out Find That Pod

Finding great podcasts is hard. Subscribe to Find That Pod, a weekly podcast recommendation newsletter with 5 great new shows to discover each week. 

Working With Clients

What All The Top-Tier Clients On Upwork Are Thinking

Upwork has 5M+ client accounts and 100,000+ open jobs on a daily basis.

Here are 5 tips to help you land more clients:

-Check every day

-Ask for reviews

-Submit relevant samples

-Apply for older jobs with no hires

-Create custom samples if need be

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From The Copywriting Gig

The Secret to an Idea That Sticks

Repetition is a powerful tool to drive your point home.

The more often someone sees your message, the more likely they’ll remember it.

So don’t say 1,000 different things once…

Learn to say the same thing 1,000 different ways.

Share this on Twitter 🐦

Gig Alerts

Looking for clients? These freelance jobs were posted on Upwork in the last 24 hours:

NOTE: We only share job postings from Upwork. We’ve found it to be the most trustworthy platform with the highest-quality clients. 

Furthermore, job postings must be for high-income skills like copywriting, media buying, funnel building, graphic design, remote closing, etc in order to qualify.

Quote of the Day

“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” 

— Henry David Thoreau


Share this on Twitter 🐦

Tools of the Trade

Looking to upgrade your toolkit? Here are some of our favorite tools we use to powerful our freelance business:

  • ConvertKit — Email marketing for creators. Simple, easy to use, and very cost-effective.
  • Kinsta — Super fast website hosting trusted by 25,000+ small businesses.
  • Fireflies — AI note-taker that can record client calls + create searchable transcripts.
  • Krisp — Eliminates echoes and background noise on calls and meetings using AI.
  • Wise — Unbeatable rates on currency conversions. Saves you a ton of money if you’re an international freelancer.

* Some of these are affiliate links. This means we may receive a small commission if you sign up for a paid subscription (at no extra cost to you.)

🔧 Old school fix for ad attribution

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Happy Friday! Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe kicks off this weekend with the new Ant-Man movie hitting theaters. It’s tracking for a $95M domestic debut, and while reviews have been mixed, it sounds like the new villain Kang may have what it takes to fill Thanos’s size 14s.

Here’s what’s on the docket as we head into the weekend: TikTok, Uber, and You dot com. Plus what to do if you’re tired of sending a gazillion cold DMs, and the old school fix for ad attribution.

Read time: 1 minute and 49 seconds

Making the Rounds

  • TikTok considering paywalled videos. Creators could soon be able to set a fee of $1 or more to view their content.
  • Uber projecting $1B in ad revenue for 2024. Since launching in-app ads last October, the company’s ad business has exploded to a $500M annual run rate.
  • You dot com announces multimodal search. The search engine, which actually beat both Microsoft and Google to AI-infused search, can now respond with other forms of media besides text when answering a user’s question.

Working With Clients

SPOTTED: New Freelancer After Sending a Gazillion Cold DMs

If you’re a freelancer looking to land clients, make sure you’re fishing in the right pond:

Freelancing platforms.

That’s where you’ll find paying clients with high intent who are looking to hire ASAP.

So focus on them…

And you’ll see results much faster.

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From The Paid Ads Gig

The Old School Fix For Ad Attribution

Apple’s iOS 14 update brought the Golden Age for paid ads to an end.

Ad tracking will never be the same.

But here’s a low tech fix:

Build out separate funnels for each traffic source.

Attribution is easy when each funnel is only getting traffic from one place.

Share this on Twitter 🐦

Gig Alerts

Looking for clients? These freelance jobs were posted on Upwork in the last 24 hours:

NOTE: We only share job postings from Upwork. We’ve found it to be the most trustworthy platform with the highest-quality clients. 

Furthermore, job postings must be for high-income skills like copywriting, media buying, funnel building, graphic design, remote closing, etc in order to qualify.

In Case You Missed It:

Quote of the Day

“Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know.”

— Jim Rohn


Share this on Twitter 🐦

Tools of the Trade

Looking to upgrade your toolkit? Here are some of our favorite tools we use to powerful our freelance business:

  • ConvertKit — Email marketing for creators. Simple, easy to use, and very cost-effective.
  • Kinsta — Super fast website hosting trusted by 25,000+ small businesses.
  • Fireflies — AI note-taker that can record client calls + create searchable transcripts.
  • Krisp — Eliminates echoes and background noise on calls and meetings using AI.
  • Wise — Unbeatable rates on currency conversions. Saves you a ton of money if you’re an international freelancer.

* Some of these are affiliate links. This means we may receive a small commission if you sign up for a paid subscription (at no extra cost to you.)

📈 Unlock higher productivity with this paradigm shift

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Happy Thursday! Friendly reminder that we source fresh job postings on Upwork for you every day in the Gig Alerts section. So if you’re looking to land more clients, make sure to check it out. And if you’ve landed a gig through posting in the newsletter, hit reply and let us know!

Discussed in today’s bulletin: De-influencers, Yahoo, and Slack anxiety. Plus a paradigm shift to unlock higher productivity, and how to audit a free plus shipping offer.

Read time: 2 minutes and 1 second

Making the Rounds

  • De-influencing on the rise. The new trend is all about telling people what not to buy, and it’s clearly resonating with some, as the #deinfluencing hashtag has received more than 76 million views on TikTok so far.
  • Yahoo laying off 50% of its ad tech employees. The company is shrinking its ad business in yet another sign of an industry-wide slowdown for advertising and media companies.
  • What to do if clients are giving you Slack anxiety. This article from the WSJ is all about what to do if your boss is pinging you all at hours, but it can just as easily be applied to clients. We may have to give a few of these tactics a try!

Working For Yourself

Unlock Higher Productivity With This Paradigm Shift

Forget time management.

Energy is the true constraint to productivity.

Here’s how to manage your energy better:

-Write your to-do list the night before
-Put your phone on Do Not disturb
-Work in short bursts
-Go for a walk as soon as you hit a wall

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Marketing Strategy

How to Audit a Free Plus Shipping Offer

Free plus shipping offers crush it on Facebook:

  • Books
  • USB sticks
  • Gadgets 
  • Etc

The positioning here is that you get the thing for free — all you have to do is cover the shipping and handling.

It’s proven to be a highly-effective strategy for promoting front-end offers.

In this week’s episode of Inspector Lander, we review a long-running F+S offer in the affiliate marketing space.

Click below to check it out:

[WATCH]: Inspector Lander #005 – Dean Holland

Gig Alerts

Looking for clients? These freelance jobs were posted on Upwork in the last 24 hours:

NOTE: We only share job postings from Upwork. We’ve found it to be the most trustworthy platform with the highest-quality clients. 

Furthermore, job postings must be for high-income skills like copywriting, media buying, funnel building, graphic design, remote closing, etc in order to qualify.

Quote of the Day

“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”

— Margaret Thatcher

Share this on Twitter 🐦

Tools of the Trade

Looking to upgrade your toolkit? Here are some of our favorite tools we use to powerful our freelance business:

  • ConvertKit — Email marketing for creators. Simple, easy to use, and very cost-effective.
  • Kinsta — Super fast website hosting trusted by 25,000+ small businesses.
  • Fireflies — AI note-taker that can record client calls + create searchable transcripts.
  • Krisp — Eliminates echoes and background noise on calls and meetings using AI.
  • Wise — Unbeatable rates on currency conversions. Saves you a ton of money if you’re an international freelancer.

* Some of these are affiliate links. This means we may receive a small commission if you sign up for a paid subscription (at no extra cost to you.)

🚫 3 client red flags to avoid

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Happy Wednesday! Looking to land more clients on Upwork? You can swipe our proven fill-in-the-blanks proposal template by sharing the newsletter with a friend. Just copy this link to start sharing.

Mentioned in today’s newsletter: Amazon, Meta, TikTok, Gen Z, and millennials. Plus 3 client red flags to avoid, and one simple way to spice up your copy. 

Read time: 1 minute and 51 seconds

Making the Rounds

  • Amazon’s ad business grew 19% in Q4 2022. The ecommerce king is gaining market share in the digital advertising space while Meta’s ad revenue has dropped for 3 straight quarters.
  • TikTok adds 4 new ways to turn organic content into ads. The new features are designed to help brands and small businesses boost organic content, similar to Facebook and Instagram.
  • 57% of Gen Z and 42% of millennials prefer short-form video. It’s no secret that short-form video content is crushing it these days, and this new 5-step guide from HubSpot helps explain why.

Working With Clients

Avoid These 3 Client Red Flags

One bad freelance client can make your life hell.

Here are 3 red flags to watch out for:

1) Previous bad experiences

2) Unrealistic demands about availability

3) They don’t pay on time

Don’t be afraid to enforce your boundaries.

No one else will do it for you.

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From The Copywriting Gig

One Simple Way to Spice Up Your Copy

Use power words to spice up your copy:

-New

-Myth

-Proven

-Exactly

-Secrets

-Sneaky

-Mistake

-Instantly

-Foolproof

-Excruciating

-Cringeworthy

But remember…

You need more than just spices to prepare a great meal.

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Gig Alerts

Looking for clients? These freelance jobs were posted on Upwork in the last 24 hours:

NOTE: We only share job postings from Upwork. We’ve found it to be the most trustworthy platform with the highest-quality clients. 

Furthermore, job postings must be for high-income skills like copywriting, media buying, funnel building, graphic design, remote closing, etc in order to qualify.

Quote of the Day


“How you climb a mountain is more important than reaching the top.”

— Yvon Chouinard

Be kind and respectful to everyone you meet along the way.

You never know when your paths might cross again.


Share this on Twitter 🐦

Tools of the Trade

Looking to upgrade your toolkit? Here are some of our favorite tools we use to powerful our freelance business:

  • ConvertKit — Email marketing for creators. Simple, easy to use, and very cost-effective.
  • Kinsta — Super fast website hosting trusted by 25,000+ small businesses.
  • Fireflies — AI note-taker that can record client calls + create searchable transcripts.
  • Krisp — Eliminates echoes and background noise on calls and meetings using AI.
  • Wise — Unbeatable rates on currency conversions. Saves you a ton of money if you’re an international freelancer.

* Some of these are affiliate links. This means we may receive a small commission if you sign up for a paid subscription (at no extra cost to you.)

💤 The magic of monotony in business

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Happy Valentine’s Day! Fun fact: the day began as a celebration honoring one (or maybe more) martyrs named Saint Valentine. It wasn’t until the late 1300s that it became associated with romantic love. 

Fast forward to 2023, and you could argue it’s become just as associated with consumerism — Americans are expected to spend more than $25B this year. That’s a lot of chocolate and roses.

Discussed in today’s edition: Twitter, TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Plus why monotony is the magic ingredient in business, and one free tool that’s a must-have for international freelancers.

Read time: 2 minutes and 36 seconds

Making the Rounds

  • Over half of Twitter’s top 1,000 advertisers paused spend as of January. According to analytics firm Sensor tower, 625 advertisers including Coca-Cola, Unilever, Jeep, and more, have paused paid advertising on the platform.
  • Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts both showing strong growth. According to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Shorts exceeded 50 billion daily views in Q4 of last year, while Reels attracted 140 billion daily views in Q3, as both their parent companies race to make up ground in the battle against TikTok for short-form video supremacy.
  • These are the top 10 U.S. cities to work remotely, according to the WSJ. They compiled the list after conducting a nationwide poll to discover the top 10 factors when looking for cities to work remotely. In other news, Gig HQ may be moving to Kansas City.

Working For Yourself

Why Monotony is the Magic Ingredient in Business

Enthusiasm is a superpower…

But it’ll only take you so far in business and in life.

Eventually, everything becomes a grind when you’re chasing big goals.

That’s why we really enjoyed this episode of Earn Your Happy, where entrepreneur Lori Harder and her husband Chris talk about how to fall in love with monotony…

As well as the unexpected benefits of doing so.

Click below to check it out:

[LISTEN] #1007: Find The Magic And Money in the Monotony

Tools We Love

This Free Tool is a Must-Have For International Freelancers

Inflation may have finally peaked…

But the U.S. dollar remains strong.

Which means international freelancers *should* still be pocketing a little more than usual on every invoice…

Only problem is:

PayPal and local banks offer terrible rates on currency conversions.

That’s why we use Wise instead.

With Wise, you can:

  • Get better rates on currency conversions than PayPal or a local bank
  • Send money cheaper and easier than old-school banks
  • Get paid like a local in 10 different currencies
  • And convert & hold up to 53 different currencies.

In fact, Wise is 6X cheaper than other international accounts on average.

That’s why over 13 million people trust them to handle their international payment needs.

So if you’re an international freelancer…

Set up a free Wise account today to start saving big every time you get paid.

Gig Alerts

Looking for clients? These freelance jobs were posted on Upwork in the last 24 hours:

NOTE: We only share job postings from Upwork. We’ve found it to be the most trustworthy platform with the highest-quality clients. 

Furthermore, job postings must be for high-income skills like copywriting, media buying, funnel building, graphic design, remote closing, etc in order to qualify.

Quote of the Day


“Life is short, and it’s up to you to make it sweet.” 

— Sadie Delany

There are no guarantees in life.

Entitlement and empowerment are allergic to each other.

So it’s up to you to discover what fills you up, then optimize for more of it.

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Tools of the Trade

Looking to upgrade your toolkit? Here are some of our favorite tools we use to powerful our freelance business:

  • ConvertKit — Email marketing for creators. Simple, easy to use, and very cost-effective.
  • Kinsta — Super fast website hosting trusted by 25,000+ small businesses.
  • Fireflies — AI note-taker that can record client calls + create searchable transcripts.
  • Krisp — Eliminates echoes and background noise on calls and meetings using AI.
  • Wise — Unbeatable rates on currency conversions. Saves you a ton of money if you’re an international freelancer.

* Some of these are affiliate links. This means we may receive a small commission if you sign up for a paid subscription (at no extra cost to you.)

🔥 Why hot takes make the best cold ads

by

Happy Monday! Welcome to the 17 new freelancers who’ve joined us since the last edition. 

Each morning, we send out a short email with news, tips, and tricks to help you build high-income freelance skills that pay the bills.

Mentioned in today’s memo: Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, and podcasts. Plus one easy way to upsell existing clients, and why hot takes make the best cold ads.

Read time: 2 minutes and 9 seconds

Making the Rounds

  • Bing search engine now powered by GPT-4. Microsoft’s forgotten search engine is suddenly in the spotlight, as they test an updated version backed by OpenAI’s latest large language model, GPT-4. And according to this report from The Verge, it’s pretty freakin’ good. Meanwhile…
  • Google’s AI chatbot makes a mistake in public demo. Bard, Google’s eagerly anticipated response to ChatGPT, said the James Webb Telescope “took the very first picture of a planet outside our own solar system.” Spoiler alert: that photo was actually taken by another telescope almost 20 years ago. Woops.
  • New podcasts launched in 2022 dropped by 80%. It’s not the only sign the industry is slowing down, either: U.S. weekly and monthly listenership declined for the first time ever in December, according to new data from Edison.

Working With Clients

One Easy Way to Upsell Existing Clients

Send out a short summary after you finish a client project.

This should include:

  • The goal
  • Quick breakdown of the work you did
  • Results (was the goal met? why or why not?)
  • Potential next steps

Easy way to show accountability + upsell them on the next project.

Share this on Twitter 🐦

From The Paid Ads Gig

Why Hot Takes Make the Best Cold Ads

Need a winning ad angle? Create controversy.

How?

By challenging mainstream wisdom.

Find out where you (or your client) disagree with commonly held beliefs of the audience…

Then turn that into your hook.

Controversial ideas are almost impossible to ignore.

Share this on Twitter 🐦

Gig Alerts

Looking for clients? These freelance jobs were posted on Upwork in the last 24 hours:

NOTE: We only share job postings from Upwork. We’ve found it to be the most trustworthy platform with the highest-quality clients. 

Furthermore, job postings must be for high-income skills like copywriting, media buying, funnel building, graphic design, remote closing, etc in order to qualify.

Quote of the Day


“If hard work is the key to success, most people would rather pick the lock.”

— Claude McDonald

Share this on Twitter 🐦

Tools of the Trade

Looking to upgrade your toolkit? Here are some of our favorite tools we use to powerful our freelance business:

  • ConvertKit — Email marketing for creators. Simple, easy to use, and very cost-effective.
  • Kinsta — Super fast website hosting trusted by 25,000+ small businesses.
  • Fireflies — AI note-taker that can record client calls + create searchable transcripts.
  • Krisp — Eliminates echoes and background noise on calls and meetings using AI.
  • Wise — Unbeatable rates on currency conversions. Saves you a ton of money if you’re an international freelancer.

* Some of these are affiliate links. This means we may receive a small commission if you sign up for a paid subscription (at no extra cost to you.)