tiktok

♾️ The next decentralized Twitter?

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Happy Monday! Welcome back to The Gig, the morning paper for A-Player freelancers.

Discussed in today’s newsletter: Meta, Twitter, and TikTok. Plus 13 things successful freelancers do differently, and why cost-per-acquisition goes up as you scale.

Read time: 3 minutes and 3 seconds

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Making the Rounds

  • Meta working on decentralized Twitter alternative. The company confirmed they’re working on a “decentralized social network for sharing text updates.” Mastodon is another decentralized Twitter alternative that gained traction after Elon’s acquisition. But it sounds like Zuck and co could have the bird app in their sights.
  • Twitter planning to enable 10k character tweets. After recently lifting the character limit on tweets from 280 to 4,000 for Twitter Blue subscribers, the platform is reportedly now planning to bump the max length up to 10,000.
  • TikTok continues to pitch big agencies on search ads. Select advertisers have been testing search ads on the platform by invite-only since March 2022, but now the company is ramping up the program before potentially unveiling to the public later this year.

Working With Clients

13 Things Successful Freelancers Do Differently

Success leaves clues.

So if you want to become an A-Player service provider with the fees to back it up… 

The best place to start is studying what they do differently.

Here are 13 things that set successful freelancers apart:

1. They work fast

2. They never miss deadlines

3. They’re highly-responsive

4. They’re enthusiastic about client work

5. They invest in themselves

6. They’re always managing expectations

7. They focus on one niche

8. They specialize in specific tasks

9. They pay attention to trends in the market

10. They build relationships with other service providers

11. They’re not afraid to step outside their comfort zone

12. They practice radical accountability

13. They actually get results

Producing results for clients is key if you want to climb the ladder…

But as you can see, that’s only one piece of the puzzle.

The elite freelancers who have the clients and income you want embody every item on the list.

From The Paid Ads Gig

Why Cost-Per-Acquisition Goes Up As You Scale

The default setting on ad platforms like Facebook and Google is “lowest cost.”

In other words, you’re telling the algorithm to find the cheapest conversions possible.

This is great for testing…

Or if you’ve only got a small budget to commit to paid traffic…

But what happens when you increase budget?

Cost-per-acquisition goes up as you scale because the algorithm has found all the cheapest conversions.

So the more you want to spend, the wider it has to cast its net to get you more conversions.

This can be a little counterintuitive, especially for clients…

Who often assume that because the campaign is “optimizing” the longer it runs, costs will go down.

When usually, they do the opposite.

Keep this in mind with any clients who are running paid traffic so you can better manage expectations.

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

“Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.”
— Epictetus

Leading by example is the only true form of influence.

No one likes being told what to do.

And not everyone wants to get better.

Demonstration is the most persuasive action you can take.

(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.)

🔐 TikTok paywall

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Happy Thursday! Word of mouth always makes for the best marketing. So if you’re enjoying the newsletter, share it with a friend to unlock rewards. One referral gets you a free copy of our fill-in-the-blanks Upwork proposal template. You can see the rest of our referral rewards here.

Discussed in today’s edition: TikTok, angry shoppers, and Reddit. Plus the importance of paying yourself first from a business bank account, and the latest episode of Inspector Lander.

Read time: 2 minutes and 50 seconds

Making the Rounds

  • TikTok launches new 20-minute paywall feature. Who needs 10-second videos when you can upload 20-minute ones instead? TikTok’s new Series features lets creators upload up to 80 videos in a single collection and charge anywhere from $0.99 to $189.99 for access to them.
  • Revenge of the consumer. Hell hath no fury like a shopper scorned, as a new study found the percentage of consumers seeking revenge (via angry reviews or posting on social media) for product problems or negative experiences has tripled since 2020.
  • Reddit testing TikTok-style video feed. Our favorite market research platform announced they’re experimenting with splitting out text and video into ‘Read’ and ‘Watch’ feeds, as vertical video continues to eat the entire internet.

Newsletter Shout Out

Get 5 Hours of Marketing Research
in 5 Minutes With Make&Market

Marketing yourself is no fun and way too complicated. But you still want a steady stream of clients, right? Get 5 hours of research in 5-minute emails with non-hacky advice you can implement right away! Join 2000+ smart founders by subscribing to Make&Market.

Working For Yourself

Pay Yourself First (Out of a Business Account)

If you’ve ever read The Richest Man in Babylon or Rich Dad, Poor Dad…

Then you’ve probably heard the phrase “pay yourself first.”

It’s simple, but powerful.

Especially when you’re running a freelance business…

Because the #1 goal of any business is to generate profit…

And paying yourself first ensures that profit ends up in YOUR pocket instead of being gobbled up by unanticipated expenses.

But here’s where most freelancers go wrong…

They don’t have a dedicated bank account for their freelance income.

Not only does this make it tough to manage cash flow…

It’s also a signal to your subconscious that you don’t take your freelance business seriously.

Treat it like a hobby and it’ll pay you like one.

But if you want to build a healthy six-figure client business, then it’s time to treat it like a real business.

And that starts with having a dedicated business bank account.

Marketing Strategy

🕵 Inspector Lander #008 is Now Live On YouTube

Audits are a great way to position yourself as not just a copywriter, media buyer, graphic designer, or other service provider…

… But as a marketing strategist.

And positioning yourself this way helps you charge more and attract better clients.

In this week’s episode of Inspector Lander, watch as Jim audits a landing page promoting a low-ticket info product that starts off strong, but then goes completely off the rails.

Click here to check it out:

[WATCH]: Freelance Marketing Audit: The Ultimate Sales Script (Inspector Lander 008)

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

“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” 

— Henry Ford

Going from zero to one is never easy.

But the more momentum you create, the easier it is to move forward.

(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.)

👀 Privacy-focused ad attribution

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Happy Friday! Welcome to the 35 new subscribers who’ve joined us this week.

Discussed in today’s edition: Anonym, Advantage+, and TikTok. Plus how to simplify your offer to close more clients, plus why TikTok videos make great ads.

Read time: 3 minutes and 2 seconds

Making the Rounds

  • Former Facebook execs launch privacy-focused startup to tackle ad attribution. Graham Mudd and Brad Swallwood spent 10+ years building out Meta’s advertising platform. Now they’ve launched Anonym to improve tracking for advertisers without sacrificing user privacy.
  • Advantage+ shopping campaigns saw 32% increase in ROAS. According to new Q4 stats released by Meta, campaigns using their AI-guided Advantage+ feature enjoyed a major boost in conversions.
  • TikTok rolls out Sounds For Business. With it, the platform is making licensed music available to creators for both organic and paid content.

Newsletter Shout Out

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your website, in 2 minutes a day

Learn what makes people tick and write higher-converting copy for your SaaS, Ecommerce or service business with Conversion Alchemy – in 2 minutes a day. Subscribe here.

Working With Clients

Simplify Your Offer To Close More Clients

A confused prospect never buys.

The simpler you can make your offer to understand, the easier it is for clients to say yes.

So aim to distill what you do into 1-2 sentences:

  • I write daily emails to make sales and keep your list engaged.
  • I produce unlimited ad creatives for you to test on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok each month.
  • I build funnels from end-to-end. This includes copy, design, and setting up all tech automations.

Don’t worry if you can’t nail it on the first go-around…

Just treat it like your Tinder profile and keep rewriting it until you feel like it’s converting well.

And this doesn’t mean you can’t offer additional services to clients on the backend.

But when it comes to prospecting and front-end marketing…

Simplify to multiply.

From The Paid Ads Gig

Why TikTok Videos Make Great Ads

TikTok is the king of short-form video.

Why?

Because their algorithm optimizes for one single variable: watch time.

Nothing else.

If you watch it, they’ll show you more of it. If you swipe past it, they’ll show you less of it.

So simple, and yet so powerful.

While Facebook and Instagram are trying to synthesize a million different data points so they can better understand what you watch, engage with, and buy…

TikTok isolated the one variable that rules them all when it comes to stopping the scroll.

What does this mean for you as an advertiser or designer?

TikTok-style videos often crush it as ad creatives.

So if you or your client have videos doing well on TikTok organic…

Try running them as ads.

We’ve seen 2-4X higher CTRs on these types of creatives compared to typical lifestyle images or sales videos.

You can also implement these same principles if you’re producing new creatives:

  • Captivating hook
  • Lots of quick cuts
  • Copy & emojis appearing on screen w/ colorful backgrounds

Bottom line:

If you need high-performing ad creatives, model what you see working on TikTok.

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

“If you go dark on vacation, you will be ready for the light when you return.”

— Brian Scudamore

You can’t be switched on all the time.

If you want to perform like a top athlete, you’ve got to learn to recover like 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.)

🤖 Windows Bing-ified

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Happy Thursday! One of the most underserved segments of the copywriting industry is Facebook ads. To put it bluntly, there ain’t many folks who know how to do it well. 

So we’re planning a workshop for those interested in learning more about how to write winning ads. Keep your eyes peeled 🙂

In the meantime, here’s what we’re discussing in today’s newsletter: Windows, WhatsApp, Messenger, and TikTok. Plus 3 mindset shifts to build a 6-figure freelance business, and the next episode of Inspector Lander.

Read time: 3 minutes and 24 seconds

Making the Rounds

  • Windows 11 now includes Bing Chat. Microsoft released an update on Tuesday making it possible for Windows users to launch its new ChatGPT-infused Bing search engine right from the search bar.
  • AI personas coming to Messenger and WhatsApp. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg envisions chatbots becoming a core part of its popular messaging apps to help users get answers and make the most of features.
  • TikTok imposing soft 1-hour watch limit for those 18 and under. Users 18 years old and younger will have to enter a passcode to continue using the app after the first 60 minutes of watch time. With multiple world governments having banned it from work devices and negative press mounting, there are rumors that TikTok could eventually be subject to an unprecedented worldwide ban.

Working For Yourself

3 Mindset Shifts to Build a 6-Figure Freelance Business

Building a business is a bit of a mindf*ck.

Success as an entrepreneur means breathing life into something that didn’t exist before you came along.

And no matter what your niche, product, or service is…

There are always key mindset shifts you need to make before you can unlock your full power.

Freelancing is no different.

So here are 3 mindset shifts you need to build a 6-figure freelance business:

1 – “I am an investment, not an expense”

One major obstacle to charging what you’re worth is thinking of yourself as an expense.

You’re not.

By hiring you, clients are making an investment to grow their business.

And investments generate returns.

So don’t get hung up on how much it’s going to cost them…

Emphasize (to yourself) the return on investment they’ll get from working with you.

2 – “There’s too much demand and not enough supply”

It’s easy to adopt a scarcity mindset online.

After all, with so many freelancers out there… how can you possibly compete?

But here’s the truth:

There are WAY more good clients and projects than there are competent freelancers to do the work.

It’s a massive supply/demand imbalance in OUR favor.

(if you don’t believe us, try hiring one and see for yourself 🙃)

So stop telling yourself it can’t be done.

Shift your mindset from scarcity to abundance.

There are literally millions of clients out there churning through one crappy freelancer after another.

Imagine how relieved they’ll be when they finally hire you.

3 – “I provide a world class service that clients are happy to pay top dollar for”

If there’s one thing that formal education is good for…

It’s keeping impostor syndrome at bay.

On the flip side, when you’re essentially self-taught, it can be easy to doubt yourself.

So here’s how to rewrite the script:

Clients aren’t just paying for outcomes and deliverables…

They’re also paying for an experience.

And making sure that experience is top-notch doesn’t have to cost you a dime.

Be responsive. Be excited. Go above and beyond.

Actually CARE about the project.

These little things won’t go unnoticed by clients…

And recognizing that service can set you apart from everyone else is essential to building a lucrative freelance business.

Marketing Strategy

🕵 Watch Inspector Lander #007 on YouTube

The latest episode of our video series on marketing strategy is live on YouTube!

In this episode, Jim audits a killer landing page for a book offer from a celebrity marketer.

(and debuts his very best YouTube face 😂)

Click here to check it out:

[WATCH]: Inspector Lander #007: Brendan Kane – Hook Point

P.S:

Don’t forget to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel so you can be notified when new videos go live 🙂

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

“The easiest person to fool is yourself.”

— Richard Feynman

Strong opinions, loosely held.

Always keep an open mind.

And cultivate a circle of influence who isn’t afraid to challenge your beliefs.

(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.)

👻 Snapchat AI

by

Happy Wednesday! Welcome to March. We’re 66% of the way through Q1. Are you on track to hit projections? Full disclosure: we are not. But that’s part of the game.

Missing projections isn’t always a cause for concern, it’s not knowing why that is. So if you’re on track, congrats! And if you’re not, figure out why then do something about it.

Now onto today’s agenda: Snapchat, LinkedIn, and the Government of Canada. Plus why every freelancer needs a “wins file,” and the anatomy of a top copywriter in 2023.

Read time: 3 minutes and 15 seconds

Making the Rounds

  • Snapchat enters the AI arms race. The company launched a new chatbot called My AI, powered by the same technology behind ChatGPT. Users can ask for birthday gift ideas, travel plans, dinner recipes, and as we already know, a whole lot more.
  • LinkedIn launches interest targeting for advertisers. The add-on comes with 3 categories: General Interests, Product Interests, and Service Interests. These new interest targeting options can also be layered with existing account targeting.
  • Canadian government bans TikTok. As of yesterday, employees are no longer allowed to have the app installed on government-issued phones. The ban follows a similar move by the European Commission and certain states in the U.S.

Working For Clients

Why Every Freelancer Needs a “Wins File”

What’s the #1 biggest hurdle to raising your rates?

We’ll give you a hint…

It’s not how many followers you have on social media…

Or how good your sales skills are…

Instead, it’s how much proof you have.

Proof of results is what allows you to raise your rates.

The more extensive your track record is, the more you can charge.

So if you want to 2X, 4X or even 10X what you charge right now…

It’s essential to create a “wins file” to collect as much proof as you can.

Get in the habit of screenshotting client messages…

Asking for testimonials after a big win…

And then sharing those wins with future prospects along with your audience on social media.

(if you have one)

Because there’s no amount of copywriting magic or verbal jiu jitsu that can stand up to a laundry list of client wins.

From The Copywriting Gig

The Anatomy of a Top Copywriter in 2023

Attention spans are shrinking fast.

Instagram and YouTube are throwing piles of money at short-form video in an attempt to catch TikTok…

Meanwhile, distractions are multiplying faster than AI chatbots.

So what does this mean for copywriters?

Being able to write killer hooks is quickly becoming a must-have skill.

Think of a hook as the:

  • First 125 characters of a Facebook ad
  • First 5 seconds of a video script
  • Subject line of an email
  • First tweet in a thread

Now, hooks have always been important…

But the rise of short-form content like Shorts, Reels, and TikToks have made them 10X more influential.

Best part is, a high-performing hook can be transplanted onto a winning ad…

Allowing you squeeze more life out of existing assets.

So, how do you write a great hook?

High-performing hooks are all about curiosity.

You’ve gotta stop the reader dead in their tracks so they can read your ad or watch your video.

And the only reason they’ll do that…

Is if they’re curious enough to keep watching or reading.

If you’re looking for inspiration to get the juices flowing…

Check out this list of 500+ TikTok hooks.

We wouldn’t rate these hooks A+, but if you study this list and start putting your own spin on some of them…

You’ll be well on your way to Captain Hook status 🏴‍☠️🪝

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

“Don’t follow your passion, but let it follow you in your quest to become really good at what you do.”

— Cal Newport

Find out where your skills and interests intersect with market demand, then sail in that direction.

Passion won’t be far behind.

(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.)

💲 Freelance pricing quick start guide

by

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.)

🧬 The DNA of a perfect freelance client

by

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

Don’t Have Time to Listen to All Those
3-Hour Podcasts? Check Out
Best Business Podcasts

⏳ Save 10+ hours a week… and discover the Best Business Podcasts. Get quick summaries of must-listen episodes covering a range of fascinating topics – without enduring hours of audio.

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.

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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.)

🤖 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.)

🔧 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.)

🚫 3 client red flags to avoid

by

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.

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


“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.)