LivingCheaply.net » Earning more

You don’t have to start Google to earn money on the side

jos — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:17:04 +0000

Yesterday, I was walking around in the afternoon doing some errands. I called my friend, who runs his own company in Chicago. As we were catching up, he suddenly goes, “Yeah, I’ll have ham — no, not ham — smoked turkey. And lots of mustard please.” It took me a second to realize he was ordering Subway, then I started making fun of him. Actually both of us. I said, “Do you realize what kind of degenerates we must sound like? We’re both walking around, you ordering Subway, me checking out lamp stores, at 1:30pm on a Monday.” And yet, that is one of my favorite parts of being an entrepreneur. I value freedom and flexibility over almost everything else, so the simple act of being able to walk around in the middle of the day makes me LOVE what I’m doing. Many other news sources are starting to write about the increasing move to entrepreneurial work (especially in this economy), pointing out the good and the bad. From a recent New York Times article : “SITTING in their cubicles, rolling their eyes over the latest bureaucratic slowdown or marveling at the near-incompetence of higher-ups, some employees are thinking: If only I were my own boss, I wouldn’t have these problems. No, they wouldn’t. They’d have a host of different problems. Still, some people make the leap to self-employment and find it was worth the risk. How can a salaried employee with some savings tell if the idea of becoming self-employed is a viable option and not just an escape fantasy? And how can a recently laid-off employee with some severance pay determine whether this is the right time to pursue her dream of being an entrepreneur? At one of her consulting clients, Ms. Pryce-Jones once talked to a high-level employee who was complaining bitterly about having to work 40 hours a week. “He thought that if he went freelance he would magically become happy,” she said. She asked him, “How many hours a week do you think you’d have to work if you were freelance?” The man put the number at about 35. She told him he needed to double that number, at a minimum.” I’m thrilled that the NYT and other media have started acknowledging that Americans can take their income into their own hands and start earning more. In fact, my own proprietary data confirms what the NYT author notes: The #1 reason people decide to earn more is not because they want to fly to Vegas for the weekend, or because they want to pay off debt. It’s because they want have the option of eventually quitting their job and working on something they love. BUT…there are a few things I want to note: The NYT article confounds “being an entrepreneur” with “earning money on the side.” The term “entrepreneur” is loaded and often makes people feel uncomfortable, conjuring up images of having employees, massive payroll, and a complicated setup. Guess what? I know 1-man entrepreneurs who make more than 20-person companies. You don’t have to describe yourself as an entrepreneur, but you can think entrepreneurially. It’s sexy to write about being an entrepreneur (i.e., dropping everything and going to work for yourself with no life vest). Yet this happens for perhaps less than 1% of the population — and rightfully so. For the vast majority of people, there are better ways to manage risk and earn more than jumping head-first into an unproven idea. Again, there’s a more common, long-term, and sensible method of thinking entrepreneurially and earning money on the side. As I teach in my Earn1k course , you employ the Tuner Strategy to execute a series of small, increasing wins. For example, once you earn $500, then $1,000, then $5,000/month, you mitigate risk and you’re far more equipped to make decisions about what you really want to do. The vast majority of my students who are earning more money on the side — whether $100/month or $10,000/month — will never quit their jobs. They’ll just earn more on the side, saving/investing/spending it and living a rich life. Nobody says you have to quit your full-time job if you enjoy it . Bottom line : When you equate “earning money” with “I need to start a company like Google,” that’s ultimately paralyzing. You don’t have to put it all on the line or make a huge life change. Instead, think of earning money as an opportunity to make a series of small bets in order to rapidly find one that’s profitable. If you want to scale up and go full-time, great! But most people don’t ever need to do that. It’s nice making extra money on the side and giving yourself more opportunities to do the things you love. On Friday, we have a great Masters of Earning More , my new series that features in-depth case studies on people who are earning more money. Stay tuned. And, as always, you can get extremely comprehensive material (videos, case studies, worksheets, and more) from my free Earn1k preview course .

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You don’t have to start Google to earn money on the side

Earning more money: Finding the right idea

jos — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:15:03 +0000

In our research of over 5,000 people, we found that the #1 barrier to earning more money was, by a huge margin, finding the right idea. If you’re like me, it can get frustrating to have 0 ideas — or too many! — and not know where to start. Today, I’ll cover several frameworks to generate and test profitable ideas that you can implement today. Recently, one of my readers, Barbara S., made a very interesting comment that highlighted why many people can’t find a profitable idea: “Many of the people who focus on the “save” half of things do so because when they focus on earning, the things that come to mind are so little that saving actually does measure up better. For instance: I have an ongoing freelance gig that brings in over $1,000 per month. Because it sometimes results in a long day, I have no problem doing the work over a sandwich rather than working and then cooking. $10 meal/$300 session of work. The friends who find this wasteful aren’t thinking of that scenario . They’re thinking about doing a $15 an hour shift someplace: $45. So, they’d rather cook at home and save the $10 than earn $45. It makes perfect sense. If you’re not sure how to earn money, and the only ideas that come to mind will generate a paltry $50/month, why would you try to earn money? Here’s the kicker, though: I’m not talking about a crappy $50/month. I’m talking about $1,000+. Today, I want to challenge the notion that you should “look for an idea” to earn more. Instead, I’ll show you the first step of identifying, testing, iterating, and validating to virtually guarantee that you’ll make more money to live a richer life. * * * Freelancing is the easiest way to earn more money right NOW Let’s first cover a few stipulations. For delusional people, these will crush their kooky dreams of living a passive-income lifestyle with no work. But for people who are serious about earning money — and who realize that to earn money passively, you have to start out doing work actively (just like I’ve done) — this is what you need to know. Out of the 3 primary ways to earn money , the easiest way to earn money on the side is to freelance, meaning you take your skills and turn them into direct income. It costs virtually nothing to get started, you can start earning money right away, and you can rapidly test and refine what you offer to earn even more. For this reason, freelancing will be the main focus of my strategies for earning more, but note that you can (and many, many of my students HAVE) applied these lessons to other productizing or earning more at their regular jobs. (Productizing is unrealistic for most people who are starting out since it involves both the critical aspects of freelancing, as well as an entirely separate set of skills.) MOST jobs can translate directly into freelance work and EVERY job implies skills that can transfer to indirectly to related freelance work. But there are a small percentage of jobs that can’t: For example, you don’t see any freelance cardiothoracic surgeons. (But you can see some doctors moving in that direction .) People worry about the time involved, but this is really just an excuse to do nothing. Do you think successful people say, “Waa…if I start earning money, I’ll have too much work, and I don’t know if I want that…”? Of course not. They know that the real problem is getting any money at all, not getting too much . Since you’ll be earning money on the side, you can control exactly how much time you put in. There are proven ways to minimize the time you spend so you can hit your target goals. Finally, it’s FUN to earn more, not drudgery. Just like dating, it will probably take repeated failures to find a good match between your skills and what the market wants. Please re-read that last point about repeated failures. This is probably the most important fact to keep in mind as you’re working through ideas that can make you money. I personally keep a “Failures” tag in Gmail where, if I’m not getting at least 5 failures/month, I know I’m not doing enough. What are your real skills, and how can you turn them into something that other people will pay for? Let’s say you have a full-time job as a project manager or salesperson or translator. How can turn what you already know how to do into $200/month, $500/month, or even $5,000/month in side income? Earning more is about creating a process to rapidly uncover, test, and hone a series of ideas until you find the right one. Of course it’s difficult. That’s why losers whine about it, but you’re going to actually do it. Setting up a Facebook page or Twitter is a waste of time Most people waste time on things that will never produce a cent of income. If your goal is $1,000+/month, here are the biggest wastes of time : Setting up a Twitter account Setting up a Facebook page Setting up a blog Buying business cards, getting a business license, or doing anything backoffice-related This angers a lot of cranky unsuccessful businesspeople, mostly because they see themselves in the above and wonder why they’re “still” not earning money — even though “they’ve done everything they can.” Yes, they’ve done everything they can. EVERYTHING EXCEPT TALKING TO SOME GOD DAMNED PROSPECTS. It’s so much easier to set up a useless Twitter/FB page than talking to actual people about their actual needs, isn’t it? I swear to god, if I hear another person complaining about business, yet they haven’t done any customer research, I’m going to drink 40 gallons of water, take a barrel into a sauna, sit in it, and drown myself in my own sweat. What the hell is wrong with these people? None of the above things will get you paying customers. In fact, they will distract you from what you really need to be doing, which is identifying needs of potential customers, talking to them, and validating (or invalidating) your ideas. I have a guy who works with me who has NO website, yet he is killer at understanding what his clients (aka me) need. I paid him $10,000+ last month. Because it’s so hard, the rewards of earning more are large Earning more is not some simple 1-2-3 checklist, which is what most people want: A one-size-fits-all solution that they can “set and forget” and then magically start earning more money. Here’s the good news, though: Because it’s so challenging, the rewards for earning more are likewise extraordinary. That’s because 90%+ of ordinary people will simply go away and play XBox at this step, leaving those who rose to the challenge to collect the lion’s share of the rewards. You’ve been warned — if you expect this to be easy, or if YOU’RE one of those people looking for the one-size-fits-all, then just go away. If you expect a set of guaranteed earning more ideas to be painstakingly tailored to your situation, go away. But, if you’re ready to step up and really change your finances in the second half of 2010, then I can help you get there. With that, let’s get started on the first steps of examining your skills and finding your $1,000 idea. No more “analysis paralysis” There are two major areas of finding an idea where people break down. 1. They can’t identify an idea at all 2. They have too many ideas and don’t know where to get started Let’s break them down. “I don’t have an idea at all” This one is common. Here’s a hint: Most people think only of themselves and what they’ll pay for. And since most people are cheap asses, they think that nobody will pay for anything. Wrong: Go walk in a mall or at a local market. People pay 5x for organic beets at a farmer’s market. They pay $5,000+ for weird-looking art. And they pay virtually anything for their kids and pets. People pay for value (Wal Mart). They pay for convenience (housecleaner). They pay for simplicity (Apple). They pay for motivation (personal trainer) — even though they “could” technically work out on their own. The question is: What can you offer that they’ll pay for? And how can you find out? Let’s start by analyzing the two major failings with “finding” an idea. “I have too many ideas and I’m overwhelmed” Having too many ideas can be just as paralyzing as having no ideas. A comment from last week: My other hesitation is with ideas. I have over 10 ideas that recirculate through my head on a weekly basis (i’m an Aries, it’s normal.) Some I have put into practice and then let slide, while others never got finish or started. How does a person like me stick to one idea? Or is there a way to use all my ideas in one business? First of all, are you seriously telling me your horoscope when it comes to building a process for earning more money? Anyway, see if this sounds familiar. You’ve spent all day thinking through your 50 competing ideas for earning more money. You could be a chef! You could create iPhone apps! What about a website? Maybe teaching music. By 9pm you’ve run a mental marathon, yet you have nothing to show for it. You’ve reached analysis paralysis, where your quest for finding the “perfect” freelance idea (by thinking and analyzing the idea but not doing it) keeps you frozen at step 0. Then, even if we get past this initial paralysis, we can end up spending so much time building up an idea — naming the idea, designing business cards for the idea, putting up a website and figuring out exactly how to describe it to our friends — that when we forget the most critical part: seeing if there’s actually a paying market for that offering. After all that work, it’s easy to give up, exhausted and frustrated. I’m getting frustrated right now writing this and I’m contemplating violence. Remember, just like in the dating world, you probably won’t find your right match the first time, second time, or even the 5th time. That’s where MOST people give up. Instead, I want you to think about building your idea generation system to test, measure, and refine until your idea is earning you your first $1,000 on the side. The ‘right’ freelancing idea meets 4 key criteria What constitutes the ‘right’ idea for freelancing? There are literally thousands of ‘right’ freelancing ideas out there, but here are 4 key criteria that every viable idea has to meet: 1) Skills . Your idea matches what you can do with skills you currently have. Skills are tangible, countable abilities that you’ve acquired through experiences on the job, in school, or elsewhere. And listen, stop short-changing yourself. You HAVE skills. Are you really good at math? (Did you know I once hired a math tutor and paid him a lot of money?) Can you play a musical instrument? Are you really good at interior design? Are you in shape? There are a million skills you have, but we overlook things about ourselves all the time. Except for me, because I am incredibly narcissistic. Find your skills : What are all the specific things you could list on your resume? Examples of skills : • HTML • Personal training • Japanese • Ad sales • Video editing 2) Strengths . Your idea showcases what you’re best at. Strengths are intangible qualities that you have a natural affinity for that make you stand out from the next person with your skill set. This is typically what college kids often cite in place of real experience and, while I like to mock it, these actually matter. For example, I know a woman who openly said she never wants to talk to customers — her strength is working behind a computer and that’s what she likes. Great! Be brutally honest. You might be really good at building systems, or turning complex ideas into actionable insights. Find your strengths : What are the qualities that have gotten you the most praise on the job or in school, or that have made you feel the most ‘in the zone?’ Examples of strengths : • Developing rapport with others quickly • Managing multiple people and projects • Organizing data into actionable information • Teaching other people new ideas 3) Interests . Your idea matches what you like to do. Interests are the things you love to do, and not just on the job. What do you read or research in your spare time? Magazines? Blogs? TV shows? What fascinates you most? A good example that my friend Ben always mentions is, “What do you read on a Saturday morning?” Examples of interests : • American politics • Live music • Gardening • Cycling • Online gaming • Street fashion 4) Market . There’s an actual market for your idea, meaning there are people who will pay you for your service. A market only exists if there are real people — that you can pinpoint, reach, and validate BEFORE you start offering a service — who are willing to pay you for your service. Ok please read this carefully because too many delusional weirdos get this wrong. The above skills, strengths, and interests were important, but they are also relatively easy since you can look inward and knock out the answers in 5 minutes. So when someone comes to me and says, “EUREKA!!! I AM GOING TO EARN $5,000+/MONTH KNITTING COLORED BUTTONS ON FLANNEL SHIRTS BECAUSE I AM REALLY GOOD AT KNITTING!!!” I carefully nod, turn away, vomit in my mouth, and call my assistant to immediately ban them from ever joining my Earn1k program. Do your potential customers have the ABILITY and WILLINGNESS to pay? Nobody really cares about your skills and interests. They care about THEIR OWN NEEDS. Your market must have the ability and willingness to pay. And some people and groups are markedly bad markets. Let’s take a look at 3 examples. For example, if your idea is to offer services to non-profits (let’s say grant-writing), you might as well give up now. That is because most non-profits have neither the ability (they have no money) nor the willingness (because they are cheap and short-sighted) to pay, even though technically it would improve their organization. If your goal is to sell some video-game service to kids, think again. While they may have the willingness to pay, they generally don’t have the ability. And the CLASSIC CLASSIC bad idea is, “Let me sell to mom and pop shops/restaurants/businesses” and help them create a website/do marketing/etc. While local businesses have the ABILITY to pay, they don’t have a willingness to pay, mostly because small-business people are often treading water and, in the words of a coffee-shop owner where I write, “too busy to do marketing.” Yes, it’s irrational and dumb, but it’s TRUE. Do not pursue markets where people are not willing and able to pay you. How can you determine if there’s a market for your idea? Two quick tests: 1. Check for supply: Is there anyone else offering your service? Now, a lot of people I know will actually get depressed when they notice there’s someone ‘already doing’ their idea. The competition makes them shrink away like a white guy in a spelling bee. This is the opposite of how I see it. When I see a healthy range of providers for an idea, it tells me there’s very likely a decent market for that offering. It’s good news — not something to shy away from. Since most people are terrible (see The Craigslist Penis Effect ), with some ingenuity you can crush them. 2. Check for demand: Is there anyone out there looking for your service? DO NOT OVERLOOK THIS OR YOU WILL BE DOOMED TO FAILURE AND I WILL CURSE YOU. Have you ever seen a job posting or help wanted ad for the service you’re thinking of providing? On Craigslist, other jobs sites, or even via word of mouth? These are clear signs of demand in the marketplace for your idea, and that’s also very good news. Every one of my Earn1k students knows that that MUST validate the demand of their idea. In other words, if you think that you can do marketing for local restaurants, you had BETTER interview 15+ restaurant owners to see if they (1) care about your idea, (2) value it, (3) use the same words you do to describe their problem, and (4) will pay you for it. If you have no demand, you have no business — end of story. Should you pursue your passion or your income goals? People love talking about passion. Your should be passionate about your job! Travel around the world for passion. Be a passionate lover. Eat your meals passionately. Guess what I get passionate about (besides teaching)? WINNING. Too many people use “passion” as a crutch to do nothing. But as Cal Newport puts it, passion happens when you master something : “…passion is the feeling generated by mastery. It doesn’t exist outside of serious hard work. When Scott’s readers say “I have too many passions,” what they really mean is “I have lots of superficial interests.” When my readers complain that their major is not their passion, what they really mean to say is “I don’t have a level of mastery in this field that is earning me recognition.” We all know that uncle who has many passions, but never actually did anything, and is waiting for his magical idea to come… Pick an idea, and begin testing it. If it doesn’t work out, your system will let you accommodate another idea. Trust me, you get pretty passionate when you start dominating. Examples Here are a few examples of ideas that were rigorously tested and found to be profitable. Music teacher: I have a student who is earning thousands of dollars per month after taking Earn1k. She teaches violin to young students. Why? Think carefully. Who is her market? Think deeper — it’s not really the students. And is she targeting everyone? People in a geographic area? People of a certain income? People of a certain racial/ethnic group? What would you do? Personal organizer: I know a young woman who cleans her room EVERY DAY. SHE LOVES IT. I find it really weird. Yet I would totally hire her to set up an organization system for my house. And so would TONS of other people, especially…who? What group can you think of that has an ability and willingness to pay for this service? Does gender matter? Age? Location? What do people REALLY want (hint: it’s not just a clean house…it’s much deeper). Interior designer: I recently hired an interior designer for a project. I auditioned 5 people on Craigslist and picked her. Why? Even though I technically “could” do it myself, why would I spend thousands of dollars to have someone else do a project for me? The 2 major takeaways are these: Your job does NOT have to be where you get your brilliant freelancing idea . Your job CAN shed light on your best skills and strengths, even if it doesn’t speak to your interests. For example, my friend is a high school history teacher by day, but a kids’ party entertainer on the side. Although his side job is pretty different from his day job, both pull from the same skill set and personal strengths. He’s great in front of groups of younger people, is energetic and organized, and can effectively direct their attention to whatever he needs them to focus on. Combining skills, strengths and interest to start generating income is NEVER a cookie-cutter formula (be wary if someone’s trying to tell you it is). Instead, it’s a process that requires intelligence and critical guidance. If a high school teacher can earn $1,000 on the side being a party entertainer, what could you do? Your job skills CAN be transferred, no matter how unique you think your job is . So you’re a horse whisperer in Wyoming. Wow, unique job! Not really. You have skills in working with animals, obviously, which would suggest training pets. But you also have expertise in behavioral change, which many academic labs and companies would love to tap — and pay for. You can tutor children, or lead a summer camp. You can train people’s cats to use the toilets (real example from my friend who used to work with horses and now works with cats). And tons of other different options. You work as a claims adjuster for an insurance company? I bet you have a ridiculous level of attention to detail. How could you position that? What group of people needs a project manager or meticulous proofreader? You can do this. But it requires a mindset change: Instead of waiting for something to come to you, you have to AGGRESSIVELY interrogate your assumptions and test them to see what (1) you’re interested in, and more importantly, (2) what your market is interested in and will pay for. Get past “Waa…I don’t have any ideas” (or “I have too many ideas”). Don’t simply say, “I’m a software localization specialist! Nobody hires freelance software localization specialists. I give up” (wipes face with tears and becomes a troll on blog comments of every single newspaper site online). Instead, ask yourself: “What do I enjoy? What am I good at? And, how can I position this so people will pay for it?” There are thousands of monetizable skills, some of which you know how to do AND are good at. This is what I want you to walk away with today: finding the $1,000 freelancing idea isn’t a lightning bolt that comes to you in the middle of the night. It means thinking critically about your skills, which may or may not have anything to do with your full-time job, overlapping them with your strengths and interests, and then systematically testing them in the marketplace to find the offering that people will pay you for. Get a free Idea Generator Tool I run a full, 8-week Earn1k program that goes into extreme detail about idea generation, validation, marketing, upsells, automation, and more. But you can start finding and testing your own viable ideas with the free Idea Generator Tool straight from the full Earn1k program.

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Earning more money: Finding the right idea

Masters of Earning More: How Web Developer Ciaran Lyons Crushed His Barriers

jos — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 10:47:38 +0000

Today, I’m launching a new weekly series, highlighting case studies of people who are earning more money . It’s called Masters of Earning More . You’ll learn how they did it — including both tactics and the critically important mental side of earning more money — and how you can start earning more, too. Today, Susan Su interviews Ciaran Lyons, a web developer who’s begun earning more money. I love this quote: “I was earning a good salary, but never seemed to be able to afford to do the big things we wanted to do as a family – traveling, and more.” Things to note below: Ciaran has a family, so it’s not like he has a ton of free time. So how is he earning $100k+ and on track for much more? Ciaran was one of my Earn1k students. Then he pitched me on an idea, and now I’m sending him thousands of dollars of work. How’d he stand out among so many people? He acknowledges that he was always busy — but he was “busy on the wrong things.” When he’d look back at the last week, or month, he’d realize he hadn’t actually achieved his real goals. That probably sounds familiar to every one of us. He got a job copywriting, but transitioned into a much more sophisticated job managing analytics. This is key: When you first secure a client, if you’re good , you can rapidly add on responsibility…and compensation. He talks about mental barriers a LOT. A lot of people just want more and more content/tactics/tips, which is a red flag for someone who just wants more information but doesn’t really want to do anything. Ciaran points out that once he changed his perspective, he started earning much more. * * * Susan Su interviews Ciaran Lyons on earning more Can you tell us what you do in a nutshell? Web development, digital marketing, and code monkey for a small digital agency. We’re a web shop – if it’s on the Internet, we can do it. The freelance stuff is now closer to consultancy – getting in really deep into business problems and identifying issues, and then proposing tech solutions to tackle them. Now, let’s get right to it. What’s your income looking like these days? I earned about $100k last year. I’m currently on track now to increase my income by at least 10%, and I’m just getting started. Ok, let’s back up and work through it. Think back to when you were working your regular 9 to 5 job. What was your “Aha!” moment where you started thinking about doing something to earn money on the side? One baby in the house and plans for a second. Time to start knuckling down and shoring up our finances against the flood of additional expenses – schools, insurance, etc. Can you remember a single event or moment when you finally realized, ‘hey, this complaining about money isn’t helping me?’ What finally made you take action? We were never poor, but never rich. So when Ramit’s Earning More posts started coming in, they really struck a chord. It was a culmination of small things, but the best thing was these niggling money pressures. I was earning a good salary, but never seemed to be able to afford to do the big things we wanted to do as a family – travelling, and more. Speaking of niggling money pressures, toddler’s school fees can be really over-priced! What were the next immediate steps you took? How did you brainstorm ideas, and how did you know which were any good? First step was before I wanted to earn more, and that was just trying to gather up some of the money we had floating around that wasn’t doing anything. Bank accounts with small sums in a couple of countries, unpaid invoices for a couple of ad-hoc freelancing jobs I had done for friends and family, that sort of stuff. Then when we found that we had scraped together a couple of thousand dollars in wasted/dormant money it made me realize that I kinda liked the feeling of having more money. Alright, so you got the first taste of what it was like to have a little extra money, and it was good. What was your biggest barrier to getting started with earning extra money on a consistent basis? Feeling too busy. Me telling myself “I’d love to do this and this, but I’m just so busy. I’m working all the time, etc.” When you say that one of your biggest barriers was “feeling” too busy — let’s dig into that. There is the actual fact of being busy, and then there’s the ‘feeling’ of being busy, which is more like being overwhelmed. That can really stop people in their tracks, whether or not they’re actually busy or accomplishing things. Were you actually too busy? I was actually extremely busy. Long hours, late nights. But, I was busy on all the wrong things. I started asking myself, “Is this really the BEST use of your time right now?” And if it wasn’t, passing it to someone else to do. Not shirking work, just delegating better. Do you think you were allowing yourself to be busy on the wrong things just by accident? Sometimes people will let themselves ‘get busy’ as a way of avoiding doing the important stuff. Not even ‘by accident’, I think. More like a self-imposed barrier that’s almost ‘on purpose.’ Maybe it’s to avoid ‘real’ work, meaningful work. Ok so how did you eventually get past it (the barrier of feeling so busy)? I realized that by being so obligated to my day job – extra hours, taking on too many projects – I wasn’t doing the company I was working for, or myself any favors. So I started really re-prioritizing – delegating a lot more, saying no a lot more. What made you think you could try something on the side while your coworkers did the same old thing — that is, nothing? I work at an agency, so we contract a lot of freelancers. Over the years, I’ve had plenty of people ask me to recommend freelancers to them. And we’ve even hired a bunch. And you know what, they’re not all that great. So I decided to be a bit more selfish and look for opportunities for myself. Hmm, selfish is not the right word, but you get what I mean — looking out for what I personally could get out of it more. Ok Ciaran, I know you also work for clients all around the world. Does being a remote freelancer make it harder? Working remotely is actually better in a lot of ways. There are fewer distractions in the evening and night-time. You’re online while other folks are doing their thing in other time-zones. Most importantly, when teams are working remotely, everyone has to give each other the information they need to do their tasks. In an email, or a document or something. Which means there are (so far) less mis-communications – like “I thought you said you were going to do that thing when I passed you in the hallway even though you thought I was talking about that other thing but anyway why isn’t it done?” When it comes to earning more money, what are most people afraid of? We’ve seen that there is a lot of fear around earning more — much of it deep-seated, unconscious fears. (By the way, this is crazy. Why be afraid to EARN MORE MONEY??) Why do you think people are so afraid to earn more money, and what would you tell those people? I think a lot of people are martyrs to their situation. It’s like Person A: “I have this problem”. Person B: “Here are some things that you can do about this problem”. Person A: “But I like my problem!” (I can’t recall which cartoon I stole that from) I was the same way, grumbling over how busy I was, and how I couldn’t do anything about it. And how all the bills were mounting up, etc. But really that was just an excuse to Do, I dunno, nothing really. Except grumble. I think a lot of people are afraid they won’t have the motivation. Do you ever just not feel like doing stuff? I mean, do you ever look at your friends at Cisco, or who work for the government, and think, “Wow, I wish I could just kick back a bit too?” As part of my day job, I work for a lot of clients who have it pretty sweet. Knocking off at six, plenty of perks. But that doesn’t mean I’d like their job. Corporate structure, career starts here at year X and ends here at year Y, just clock in and clock out. I definitely feel like I have to be pushing a little harder than that. I work on the internet – the pace of change there just makes you feel really old and slow if you’re not doing something to keep up. And that means challenging yourself a little. It sounds like you get a lot of motivation from the environment and people you work around. Definitely, and that’s why working remotely has been so good. You can draw on resources from smart people around the world – you’re not restricted to just the people that work in your office. Ok, a lot of I Will Teach readers WANT to earn more, but to them, their main barrier is finding the right idea. What would you tell them? The idea is nothing. Finding ‘the idea’ is just a crutch. Doing something, anything, is the only way to get started. And then as soon as you start, the idea changes, and the plans change and new ideas come along and it just snowballs until “Yay! This is great fun and I’m making money and there’s still a bunch of opportunities ahead.” I totally agree. So my last question just has to do with how you WON a contest pitching Ramit during Earn1k, and actually got him to hire you through your winning pitch. A lot of people actually did’t participate in the contest at all, but you did. Why do you think some people would shy away from the contest? Well, when I entered I was kinda peeing myself a little. I’ve listened to some of Ramit’s tear-downs and they can be a bit intimidating. So I can fully understand that people didn’t want to be on the receiving end. But then, that’s why we joined the course and paid the money. So I forced myself to do it. And enjoyed it. I think as well that a lot of people felt that they didn’t have the right skills to contribute. But I deliberately pitched Ramit on a copywriting job (even though I’m not a writer) as I reckoned that was an easier job for him to say ‘yes’ to. And then what happened? You’re not doing copywriting now. It’s all about the foot in the door. Once Ramit said ‘yes’ to the small job and I was able to begin working with him, I saw a whole host of opportunities where I could add value and make things better for I Will Teach You To Be Rich. So I suggested this and that and got a couple more little projects, until we reach the point today where Ramit’s contracted me for the next three months and I’m doing the work that really matches my skill-set. What do you think was so good about your initial pitch? Did you spend a lot of time studying Ramit or I Will Teach? For a start, I had no idea that I was in the running – I didn’t think it was that great a pitch. But I did try to put all the lessons from the Earn1k course into it. I dug right down into I Will Teach and read a lot of articles. And I tried to get into Ramit’s head (like Earn1k was constantly telling us) and break things right down so that he could see he wouldn’t need to spend a lot of time managing the project. And finally, I wanted to add some extra value, so I proposed a consultation where I could tell him my recommendation for his blog (without actually giving away what those recommendations were. I guess the intrigue worked in my favor a little. Ok to recap, how many freelance clients do you have, and how much time do you spend freelancing? At the moment, only 2 1/2 clients. And I’m spending around 10-15 hours a week. Wow, pretty manageable. That’s less than the time you were spending on freelancing before, right? Less time, better rate, better work. And these clients actuallly pay their bills, which is a plus. It’s around 25% less time, at a 25% better rate. Ok, so you’re spending less time, and making more money — sound about right? That’s about right. And much less time on non-productive busy work, which is easier on the soul too. Have you ever invested in a course, books, etc? How much do you spend on training materials each month? I’m an information scavenger, so I pick up bits and pieces from a lot of blogs and things that I follow. And then I try to implement them.. And I’ve bought a few books here and there but nothing hard-core. The Earn1k course was the most expensive one-off purchase I’ve made for self-development (and it was a bit of a challenge convincing my wife that I was going to splash out on an online course). But I had followed the blog for a long time, and really grooved on the Earn1k preview stuff. And in line with the other changes I had been making, it felt like the right thing to do. And so far it’s totally paid off. I think the most important thing for me was just to take action. Don’t beat yourself up over your job or your situation and make a small change for the positive. In my case, it started with the decision to not to be in the same place doing the same thing 12 months from now. Once I overcame that barrier, things really started rolling. * * * 1. Get featured in an upcoming “Masters of Earning More” case study : If you’ve earned $500+ in the last 3 months and want to be featured, click here . 2. Stuck on finding an idea to pursue? Get my free Idea Generator Tool .

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Masters of Earning More: How Web Developer Ciaran Lyons Crushed His Barriers

5 surprising insights on earning more money

LivingCheaply — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:07:19 +0000

Sound familiar? The conventional wisdom goes like this: Keep a budget, save 10% of your income, don’t spend on any extravagances (especially not lattes, the most evil of all), invest your money (where? oh, you know…just “invest it”), don’t use credit cards, and buy a house because it’s a “good investment.” And somehow, someday, you’ll be financially secure. Not rich, just okay. Never mind that few people have the skills or discipline to save 10% of their income. Never mind that each of those recommendations depends on willpower, which lasts for a month or two, then dissipates as predictably as the effects of diets. Never mind that credit is essential and can save you over $100,000 on the purchase of an average house. I Will Teach You To Be Rich readers know that those “tips” are filled with so many holes that it’s almost difficult to believe — chiefly human psychology. This is why you’ll have a friend whose new resolution (every month) is to stop spending money and really save! This nearly always fails — just like diets — because behavioral change is extraordinarily challenging and few people study how it actually works. Yet “experts” continue spouting off this nonsense of saving and trying harder through sheer force alone. Why? Because it’s easy to write, inoffensive, produces pageviews, and requires very little energy from a largely apathetic and semi–financially-conscious public. Real behavioral change takes systems, not simply willpower. Real behavioral change requires conscious spending, not across-the-board cost-cutting. For example, the ordinary wisdom of “stop wasting your money on stuff” is filled with outdated cliches like encouraging us to stop spending on lattes, eating out, and bars — all things that people in their 20s and 30s spend money on as a natural part of life . Even more importantly, we’re all embedded in a social system that reinforces this spending, making it virtually impossible to cut down discretionary expenses by willpower alone. This is like telling teens to stop having sex: You can try, and it may make you feel better to say it, but that’s not going to change the actual numbers. (Exception: My future kids, who I will lock down with one ankle chain each, like an elephant.) Today, we’re over halfway into 2010, and I want to check in with you on where you are with your finances. If I’d followed the advice of most “experts,” I “should” have done the following this year: Stopped eating out, cooked at home every day, never take a vacation, sit at home (no cable) and knit, reuse plastic bags 47 times, cut down on the amount of toilet paper I use, walk everywhere (no cabs or driving), and on and on. Who the hell in their 20s and 30s wants to live like that? In fact, based on some back-of-the-reused napkin math, all I have to do is use 50 fewer squares of toilet paper each day, which will save me $2.35/month, times TWELVE MONTHS!! I WILL TEACH MYSELF TO BE RICH!!! Instead, after automating my finances, I’ve decided to earn more. In fact, in one hour this year, I earned 10x what I recently earned in an entire year . Many people are spending the summer being lazy, watching The Hills, and drinking themselves into a Chico State-inspired stupor. Screw them. You’re going to crush them like a dump truck. Let me show you what I’ve learned recently. Then I’ll tell you what’s coming your way. The case of the confused man Two weeks ago, I get this email from someone who’s unsubscribing from my newsletter. Now, every time someone unsubscribes, I get an email with their reason, and I usually reply to most of them just to see why they’re leaving. This guy says he “already knows all the basic stuff” I write about. Whenever I read this, it’s usually a tipoff that you’ve got someone who’s more interested in finding newer and newer material (!!) instead of actually doing something. Anyway, I decide to ask a few more questions. Ramit: “What kind of material would you be interested in?” Guy: “I have done the basics. I am looking for ways to grow my money substantially, high-risk investing, take a vacation. I am looking for a stronger background in finance.” Ramit: “Have you done [XYZ]“? Guy: “Yes, I have done all that.” Ramit: “Would you be interested in earning more?” Guy: “Yes, I would but its all scam material out there. Any way to earn more would be appreciated.” My first thought was, HOLY SHIT, I spent all of January writing all-new material on earning more. How could he not know? But in retrospect, it’s my fault: Why should I expect him to know about it? Honestly, I haven’t talked much about earning more since then, even though I announced that 2010 is the year of earning more. And then, as I searched my email and survey responses, I found more and more people asking for material on earning more and quitting their jobs to do something better. So, oops… I can’t believe I haven’t shared what my team and I have been doing behind the scenes for the last 4 months: creating hours and hours of audio/video material, case studies, new techniques to earn more, and capturing tons of stories about people earning more. My fault for not sharing. So I’m going to spend the next 4 weeks giving you a bunch of free stuff that you can use to take action right now to earn more — and use the money to quit your job, fly to Vegas, pay off debt, or whatever else you want to consciously do. Why earning instead of cutting back? I like to focus on earning more instead of cutting back for a few reasons that make a profound difference in living a rich life. There’s a limit to how much you can cut back, but no limit to how much you can earn . In fact, as you cut back on spending, it gets increasingly harder, but as you earn more, it gets increasingly easier . For example, one of my students is earning several thousand dollars more per month. Let’s say he makes a small 10% tweak (say, a phrase he uses in his pricing negotiations, or the way he presents his guarantee, or even the customers he pursues). At his scale, that small tweak alone can be worth hundreds of dollars per month. Cutting back on everything really sucks . Really, when you read some of these judgmental people who think it’s unconscionable to spend a little money on a nice dinner or trip or shirt…don’t you wonder, who really wants to live like that? Let’s assume you want an extra $1,000/month in your bank account. Let’s compare what you’d have to SAVE vs. what you’d have to EARN. Saving: No eating out, cancel gym, cancel cable, no going out, reduce cellphone minutes…etc. Earning more: Spend 4 weeks testing ideas rapidly (these could be anything you’re good at, including dog walking, organizing, writing, singing, high-school math, programming…), spend 4 more weeks developing your service offering, testing it in an iterative fashion, then identifying 50 leads, qualifying, and pitching them. If you get 1 client, you have $1,000/month. That’s about 5 hours/week. And the best part? As long as you continue doing a great job for your client, that money continues flowing in, and you can find more clients to compound your growth. The point is, if you can earn $50, you can earn $500. And if you can earn $500, you can earn $5,000. For those people who are willing to challenge themselves beyond the simple mantra of “cut back on everything,” there is a lush and rich life waiting for you — not just financially, but also intellectually, because knowing how to earn more money is a skill that applies to so many areas of your life. Anyone can cut back for a few days. Few can persist. And even fewer can earn money on the side, which is a GOOD thing for you. How often have you gotten gung-ho about saving money, cut back 80% on your spending, then watched it float right back to what it was before? Anyone can make a short-term resolution, but it’s extraordinarily difficult to change behavior for the long term. Since we have limited willpower, I believe we should automate as many basic decisions as possible, and concentrate our limited cognition/willpower on more things like relationships, health, and our work. Also, since we have limited willpower, if you’re going to direct it to your finances, why not pick something that will result in a BIG WIN — something like earning more money? If you earned just $300/month for 5 years, that’s $18,000/year. My students know how they can easily earn that much and, since it’s such a modest number, how they can virtually automate that money. Think bigger. If you earned $1,000/month for 5 years, that’s $60,000. That assumes you don’t increase your income and that you earn more for just for 5 years. You see? When you earn more, it’s in your control — and the numbers are staggering. How many lattes is that worth? Who wants to wait 40 years to live life? Not me. When you see people taking trips, or maxing out their Roth IRA, or spending consciously however they want…I don’t think to myself, “Waa…I can’t afford that.” I ask myself, “How could I afford that?” That simple shift in the form of the question has a profound effect on your ability to take action. I’ve heard a lot of people say something like, “Oh yeah, HE can earn more money on the side because [some reason], but *I* never could.” That is wrong. In fact, as you know I generally hate artists because they are the worst business people in the world. But look at this from one of my students: “Thanks to you, I’m an artist that’s not starving. Your Earn1K course helped me successfully secure two new corporate accounts (Anthropologie and Takashimaya) in the last month.” – Julie F. My new motto is, if an artist can do it, so can you. In general, people behave conservatively in times of ambiguity . So when faced with the ultra-ambigous idea of earning more, most people create barriers in their mind to justify why earning more is impossible. “How does so-and-so always get to go on those weekend trips / have flexibility / work from home? She’s so lucky” “But I’m a [fill in your job here]… I just CAN’T earn more on the side with my skill set.”

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5 surprising insights on earning more money

Wow, look what Earn1k members are already doing

LivingCheaply — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:10:19 +0000

Note: I’m giving 2 talks at Stanford this evening (Monday, 2/22). If you’re around, please stop by and say hi. * * * My Earn1k course — to help you earn your first $1,000 on the side, and beyond — has been live for 3 weeks. Instead of telling you how it’s going, I thought I’d let my users do the talking. What have you learned in Earn1k that you didn’t know before? Please be SPECIFIC. “Having too many ideas is not an acceptable excuse. Also, you don’t need an original idea. Just do better than crappy people.” “I learned a better process of how to narrow down a niche by what questions to ask. Learning which areas I should devote more my time to (figuring out what is MOST essential for your business) was also a great lesson because I can sometimes get caught up on some of the non-essential things (i.e. go to networking events, get business cards, etc.)” “-To start with a narrow niche focus and broaden if necessary. The point is to actually start doing things that matter. -Ask for referrals. Ramit recommends “Referral Flood.” Noah: Ask each client for three referrals, and “Who do you normally hear about this stuff from?” -From Tim and Ramit: Don’t rely on willpower. Develop habits to avoid having to think about every detail every time you encounter it. Form new habits to create new behavior.” “I thought that online surveys would work well for getting in the head of your market. I found that there is nothing better than meeting face to face with potential clients. The meetings are so dynamic that the information is so much richer and full of potential products and services that you would never be able to capture with a survey. Surveys have their role, but you can’t design a survey to deliver this much essential information.” “Step away from the computer and GO TALK TO POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS.” What have you DONE after watching the Earn1k material? Please be specific: Include details about what ACTIONS you’ve taken. “I have contacted three potential clients, one of who is very close to becoming a paying customer. I have adjusted my game plan, focused, found a niche that I think is the right size and scope, and learned a lot from my conversations with existing customers.” “1. Wrote up the 3 most important things to do for my business (price list – which i already have, contact 3 customers, contact 3 mentors). 2. setup a surveymonkey page for customers to fill out 3. Contacted 3 people from my target market. Meeting with two of them this weekend. 4. Also contacted so far 1 person who is in the same business I am interested in and seems to run it very well. Asked for 30-60 minutes time to meet and chat 4. Added my business info to local google information.” “The number one thing I’ve done is throw most of my planning out the window (swallowing my pride in the process) to start talking to people. I’ve volunteered with a non-profit and planned trips to talk with important figures. I put my website on hold. My interviews and calls are much more concise and market oriented (”what would you like to see?”) instead of my previous questions (”blah blah blah…what do you think of my idea?”). Finally, I’ve done my best to get out of idea-land and make concrete moves. This means less reading/writing time and more email/phone/social time.” “After watching the videos, I keep the worksheet and pdf files of the lesson open on my laptop as I go through the material again. I also find myself going back to read the transcript the next day.” “1. Identified an additional service I could offer in my current freelance gig, and negotiated an increase in hours to do this work (grant writing: $500+ this month) 2. Talked with a colleague with a similar market who offers different services than I do, getting her feedback about what she saw the market needing that was not currently supplied. 3. Sent 3 emails to potential clients for coffee/lunch dates 4. Sent a survey out to participants in an event I recently facilitated” What specific steps will you be taking this weekend to earn more on the side? “I am replying Sunday afternoon. I have already had my call with Susan, and I gathered a lot not only from that, but from listening to the other people on the call. I will be sending Susan my email conversations with my prospects so she can give me advice on them. I’ve gotten the contact number I needed to proceed with my marketing strategy, and plan on calling that person (non-client) this evening.” “I will send out at least three emails to current students this weekend. On Tuesday I will be back at school and will actually speak to potential clients.” “1. Set up a meeting with my current freelance gig to get feedback / testimonials 2. Send 3 more emails to potential clients 3. Outline questions for potential client meetings 4. Do that extra work on grant writing that I negotiated!” “Just had a great phone conversation with someone I contacted via email. Have another in-person meeting set up for next week. Will prepare some follow-up emails using the techniques/tips I learned in the Office Hours” * * * I’m so impressed with the caliber of Earn1k members. Want to earn more money The Earn1k course is closed for now, but you can get on the Earn1k list to get notified next time it opens . Want to save money? Check out my savings program, The Scrooge Strategy .

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Wow, look what Earn1k members are already doing

Announcing the “Earn Your First $1,000 On The Side” course

LivingCheaply — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:02:06 +0000

Today I’m thrilled to announce a totally new course called Earn Your First $1,000 On The Side . The short version : An all-new course that I’ve been quietly developing for a year, which includes 16 super-specific lessons on finding a profitable idea, testing it, finding clients, pricing, marketing, all designed to help you earn $1,000 (and more) on the side — every month. Also includes hours of gorgeous HD video strategies and tactics, Master Classes from people like Tim Ferriss (4HWW) on specific topics like marketing, time management & productivity, and psychology. Course registration ends tomorrow — click to see course details . Q: What’s surprised you so far? A: “The level of polish, thought, and effort that goes into every aspect of it so far. It is seriously the best looking, most relevant material I have seen online.” –Ned White, Earn1k preview member

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Announcing the “Earn Your First $1,000 On The Side” course

The Briefcase Technique — to earn thousands of dollars

LivingCheaply — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 05:03:55 +0000

Here’s a technique I’ve used to earn thousands of dollars in salary and freelance negotiations. The Briefcase Technique God I love it This is just one simple example of the hours and hours of HD video in a new course I’m launching, called “ Earn Your First $1,000 on the Side .” Live webcast tonight, Tuesday, 2/2 So tonight, I’m hosting a special webcast. In the webcast, you’ll see… 2-3 “teardowns” of people’s freelance ideas: I’ll get them on the line, analyze their freelance business, and show them how to skyrocket their earnings. Live. What the #1 mistake of people who try to earn more money is The first public look at the new “Earn Your First $1,000 on the Side” course — choose which course is right for you How to attend the live webcast Date: Tonight, Tuesday, February 2nd When: 7pm Pacific Where : http://www.earn1k.com/webcast Backup URL : http://earn1k.weebly.com if something goes wrong Oh yeah. On the webcast, I’ll also answer this question: Why did I turn down $60,000 cash last night?

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The Briefcase Technique — to earn thousands of dollars

This week, I’m unveiling the new I Will Teach You To Be Rich course to earn more money

LivingCheaply — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:12:06 +0000

Over the past 4 years, the #1 request on this site has been how to earn more money. Over the last 3 weeks, I’ve covered earning more money in extreme detail . But over the last 11 months… I’ve been quietly working on building the I Will Teach You To Be Rich course on earning more money. This week, after previewing it to 10,000+ people, I’m ready to release it publicly. Here’s a quote from people one of my preview members: Q: What’s surprised you so far? A: “The level of polish, thought, and effort that goes into every aspect of it so far. It is seriously the best looking, most relevant material I have seen online.” –Ned S., Stay tuned this week.

Recap of the 3-week course on earning money

cheapo — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:31:09 +0000

This course on earning more has been a lot of fun. Instead of more useless tips on saving money on lattes and burritos, we’ve gone through case studies, exercises, and specific email scripts to earn more money on the side. The important thing is to understand that it’s not simply a series of formulaic tactics to follow. To earn money, you have to get inside your customers’ heads and understand what they really want. For example, check out the comments on this post — you’ll see that some people can do this very well, while others cannot. Here’s a recap of the material I covered. Week 1: Mindset of earning more money Attention whiny complainers: Why you STILL aren’t saving money The 3 easiest ways to earn more money Case study: How a venture capitalist started earning more money on the side Week 2: Freelancing is the easiest way to earn more Week 2: Earning more money “But starting a freelance business is too risky!” and other reasons people don’t earn more money Earning more money: How to turn your skills into services that people will pay for But I don’t want to take a SECOND full-time job to earn money on the side The Freelance Diaries: The Caffeinated Project Manager Week 3: Getting inside your customers’ minds Want to earn more money? How to find your first 3 paying clients Case study: From $17/hour to $65/hour. How did she do it? Psychological tactics to earn more (video) The Freelance Diaries: The laid-off marketing consultant whose income has skyrocketed Things will be quiet on the blog next week. I’ll be running a private email course, covering things like: Case study: How an iwillteach reader started earning $1,500/month in the last 2 weeks– including a $750 check *I* am writing him each month (includes email script) How one of my readers went from free to fee, convincing me to write him a $10,000+ check in one month (includes the presentation he used to convince me) Psychological barrier training If you haven’t already signed up at Earn1k.com , we’re closing it down soon. See you guys in a few days.

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Recap of the 3-week course on earning money

Want to earn more money? How to find your first 3 paying clients

LivingCheaply — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:42:06 +0000

Maybe it’s uncouth to say, but most of the advice on earning money via freelancing is terrible. That’s because when it comes to finding clients, typical advice goes something like this: “YEAH! Just start blogging! Create great content and someone’s bound to come along someday!” “Make a website and do some SEO on it so you always get free traffic!” “Do something unique and eye-catching, like creating a viral video to get lots of viewers and show off your viral video-making skillz!” “Go on some forums and you know, be helpful… answer questions… establish your presence and see what happens!” Wow, I’ll just do a little SEO. It’s so easy! Then a simple viral video. Ugh, get the hell out of here. Problems with creating creating fancy marketing strategies Problem 1. Stop building complex marketing strategies for clients you don’t have. Your first goal is to get 3 clients. Do you really need a blog to do that? And notice I said 3 clients, not just 1 — that could be a fluke. Get 3. Once you have 3 clients, you’ve proven that you have a reliable base of people who’ll pay you for your services. You can test service offerings and prices on them. And now you can start with more complex marketing strategies. Remember: Skip all the fanciness and get 3 people to pay you first. Problem 2. It makes complex marketing strategies like SEO, blogging, and viral marketing appear both easy and discrete, when in reality they’re often an excuse for you to avoid the hard work of finding actual people who will pay you for your services. Do you know how long “SEO” takes to work? Do you just start a blog, and then check it off your to-do list 5 minutes later? If you say yes to anything I just asked, I will kill you. Generic freelancing advice tells you to do high-level – and in reality, highly complex – work that actually encompasses dozens of subtasks. Where will you be after Subtask 11? In all likelihood, you’ll have given up. Honestly, are you defaulting to high-level, almost impossible-to-finish strategies as a way of avoiding getting down to the real work? It doesn’t have to be this way. Solution: Get your first 3 paying clients Getting your first client is a 2-step process that I call Locate and Communicate. 1. Locate. Who is your exact client, and where do they go to look for a solution to their problems? Do they read magazines? Go to the grocery store? Ask their priest? Where are people already looking for solutions to problems, and how can you make a match between them and your service? (By the way, the 2nd option is something that anybody can do by posting and responding to ads on sites like Craigslist. Just last week, after I recommended Vin give niche guitar lessons, he posted an ad on Craigslist and got immediate responses.) The 1st option, though, is my favorite: Identify very specific leads in your very specific target market, and figure out where they go to look for a solution to their needs. Look, most people don’t want to buy your services. Most people think you’re ugly! But a few people might be into paying for your services. When you’re starting out, your job is to find those few people and turn them into long-lasting customers. Here’s how you find them: First step is to niche down your market . Do not try to find every person who uses a computer between the ages of 18-34, lives in the USA, and likes pictures of naked girls. NICHE IT DOWN. By age, location, interest, income level, and so many more options (that we will explore in detail at Earn1k.com ). Then, find out where they go to find solutions. Get in their heads : Want to pitch to moms that blog about children? Go to The Mom Blogs and start with the ones under “Popular Blogs.” Looking for physical or massage therapists within 50 miles of your house? Yelp should get you started easily. What about tech startups with over $1 million in funding, with more than 10 employees, but less than 50? Here’s 100 of them . If you want to do… large dog grooming and sitting, well there’s probably a local pet store or dog park near you where owners are all congregating just waiting for you to offer them a solution. Listen closely. Over the last few weeks, people have been coming to my weekly video office hours saying things like, “But Ramit! I have this idea and have NO IDEA where to find customers!” My response is always calm, yet you know that anger boils closely below. “What have you done to research your audience?” Have they emailed a few people? Taken them out to lunch ? Asked complementary service providers if this is a good idea? The answer is almost always no. Example that made me angry : Last night, someone said they were going to start a wedding-montage photo business. What should they do? They appeared to be stuck. Answer: Go talk to a few wedding photographers and ask them if this is a good idea. Would their customers buy it? Are there holes in the market that are not being served? What about event planners? Florists? You could do this in 1-2 weeks and save 1 year of your life. 80% of your ideas will be strengthened — or washed out — with this simple exercise. And it only takes a week or two to get started. Get in these people’s heads & then niche it down. Read their minds and then act on those insights. So you’ve figured out where the secret large dog pet store is. Great. Now look at their website, visit the store, talk to the owner. GET OFF YOUR ASS AND TAKE ACTION. Could you pitch one potential client each morning? You probably could if you created an email template. How about 10 over the weekend, playing with different headlines/offers so you can see which ones work better? It doesn’t have to take a long time, and it doesn’t have to be agonizing…which brings us to step 2. 2. Communicate Email will be your most important communication tool for pitching clients. I get pitched via email all the time for guest posts, product pitches, and people who want to work together. I vomit routinely. The emails are usually way too long and have no clear point. Bad email: Subject: to the real ramit [ Subject line is too vague ] Ramit (please forward to him, if VA reading), I’m impressed, I’ve scanned your blog from 2004 to now, left a few comments and felt the need to contact you for networking, an offer, and advice. This should take you about 4 minutes to read, I hope you can. [ Good compliments, but 4 minutes is way too long ] Background: I’m influenced by Tim Ferris, Seth Goden, Leo Babauta, Rocky Balboa, and Steve Jobs. Effective efficiency meets ideas, the power of less, will power and innovation. Status: Working 40 hours a week until I can escape via passive or easily managed income. I am IT support for an all Apple global consulting firm. I run [Company], a well oiled machine of an IT support, web development, and internet consulting company (just me and my VA’s). I run [Website] – a chronicling of the stages of becoming self actualized to the fact that life isn’t how people tell you it is, and you can design it otherwise. I just bumped up my pretax savings to %11 of my earned income. I am unrelentingly in pursuit of the break that will come and free me to live out my dreams of supporting people and their technology, training in crossfit, learning spanish, and giving to youth without worrying about money. [ Too long=I'm starting to lose interest ] My need is to learn from you (not your typical money wisdom), and your need is that you or someone you know could use me like a cup of coffee on a Monday morning. [ This is where most busy people make the decision not to read on ] I’ve seen enough cases now, yours included of people vice gripping life and making it their own. I’ve always been service oriented in the quiet leader type way, and I’ve made smart no risk decisions, I’m 25 and will no longer take the slow road. I’m primed for a break, and will be unrelenting until it comes. I’d like to include you in that because I think you’re smart, on your way up, and accessible. Please review me below, I hope you can make use of me before I realize my full potential and be swept up in that. Although I can be wordy, I’m not a magician with words, I’ll lay my most powerful qualities/experiences out in bullet points. I hope you see them as I do, as ammunition. will power like no other (never lost a “bet you can’t stay…”) technical savant (no technology too frustrating or complex) people person (communication is a strength, met several C level execs, Sony for instance) action oriented, all plans suck without implementation. simple plans plus action work. business man. started and sold several businesses founder of [Company] i save %11 of what i make, split to an IRA and emergency fund. i make very little. building a backup information product and breaking the ice of online marketing traveled the world while being a digital worker self starter, will succeed and see the positive regardless of situation educated, technical, fast and i think before i act Would you let me help you or someone you know with these skills? If yes, please connect with me. Honestly, the guy sounds like a nice guy who wants to offer his services. I think. I’m not really sure. But instead of getting in my head and suggesting how he could help me specifically, he just listed a series of vague skills that were all over the board. And the call-to-action is…for me to “connect” with him? I responded, as I usually do to vague emails, with a 1-sentence: “So what would you like to do for/with me?” He sent another rambling email, so I at that point I simply shrugged and moved on with my life. Good email: Subject line: I want to work for you for free [ Best subject line I've ever received ] Hey Ramit, Love your site, especially the articles about automation and personal entrepreneurship. It’s because of you that I have multiple ING Direct accounts for my savings goals, a Roth IRA, automatic contributions, and asset allocation all set up. [ Good buttering me up ] I’m a web developer for [Company], a site that gets around 50 million hits per month. I used to do freelance work exclusively, and I’m preparing to make the switch back to doing freelance work ~30 hours / week while I travel and study in China. I work in Ruby on Rails, doing everything from the database to the front-end, and I’m especially good at rapidly prototyping new ideas and projects. [ He's in my head: I'm always looking for talented developers and he's clearly one of them ] In order to start getting myself back out there, I’d love to have the chance to do some development work for you, completely gratis. If you like my work and have some paid projects for me down the road, that’d be great of course, but I’d be happy just for the opportunity to network and receive a little advice. I’m sure you have a project or two in the back of your head that you haven’t had time to prototype yourself yet; let me do it for you! [ I LOVE IT!! As a matter of fact, yes I DO have some side projects I've been wanting to do ] You can give me a call at ###, or find me on Google Talk under this address. You can also check out some samples of my work here: [website] Thank you! Two things: First, that was the best subject line I’ve ever received. Second, it’s clear, concise and makes me a strong offer while highlighting his experience. I called him within 60 seconds of receiving this email. Note that if you are looking for paying clients, you can often skip the work-for-free arrangement that I often urge by creating an incredibly niche offer. For example, if he had attended the last 5 video office hours I did and had heard me make an offhand comment about how I’ve been wanting to launch XXX project, his subject line could be: “I can help you launch XXX in 2 weeks.” This could then lay out why he’s good, what he would do, and it could lead directly to paid work. When it comes to communicating with your prospects, I hear many people complain that they’ve tried to reach out with little success. The truth is they’re often reaching out in the wrong way. But by getting in your clients’ heads, you can fix that and write emails that engage and lead directly to paid work — no fancy marketing strategy needed. Why your first client is your most important It’s not what you think. Yes, you need your first client so you can actually say you’re in business. And you definitely need your first client before you can unleash a full-scale marketing campaign. But, the most crucial thing your first client brings you is NOT money. It’s feedback. Is your business feasible? Does your basic pitch work? Can you execute on the service you’re selling? Would you rather find these answers now, or in 6 months after you’ve put in massive amounts of your own money and time into marketing a business that doesn’t yet exist? The point is to build a simple system that lets you rapidly test and iterate on your business. And while most people are worrying about building a fancy website or taking other useless steps, you’ll realize that the best simple system begins with THREE PAYING CLIENTS. Today, I covered how you can LOCATE and COMMUNICATE with specific, targeted leads. Once you’ve done that, you’ve built your first simple system. Then what? What’s next for earning money from your clients This is just the tip of the iceberg. These are the next questions you might be thinking about: What about pricing? How do I test that? Can I negotiate as a freelancer? What exactly should I offer, and how should I structure my service? Hourly? By project? How do I get referrals? Should I be networking? How do I do that without wasting my time? When do I raise my rates? These are all critically important questions that will shape the success of your freelancing work to earn more money. Over the last 3 weeks , I’ve been giving you specific suggestions for earning money, so if you read closely, there are enough recommendations for you to easily earn your first $500 — and this is just my free stuff. Imagine what my upcoming premium course, which I’ve been working on for 10 months, will contain. If you want to get the answers in detail — and get your ass kicked to take action — sign up to learn more about my upcoming Earn1k program , where I’ll show you how to earn your first $1,000 (and more) on the side with a detailed video course, case studies, master classes, and comprehensive strategies and tactics. Free signup now gets you a 1-week advanced course at Earn1K.com . * * * For those of you who’ve already signed up to earn more money , let’s do an exercise to help crystallize this and make it real. Leave a comment with your responses to these questions: What will it take you to get your first 3 freelance customers? 1. My specific customer is someone with this problem: _________. 2. My prospective customer spends time researching the problem / solutions in these 3 places: 1) 2) 3) 3. One way I can break in to one of the places above: _________. 4. My opening line in an email to them: __________. Leave a comment with your responses.

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Want to earn more money? How to find your first 3 paying clients