How Much Did You Earn Today?
The garbageman who picks up my trash every Thursday morning has an advantage over me. He knows exactly how much he’s going to make that day. All he has to do is show up and do the work. When he goes home at night, he knows he’s earned a paycheck.
Not me. As a freelancer, I know (firsthand, I admit) that it’s possible to fritter the whole day away and not make a dime.
I remember a few years ago, during dinner, my wife asking, “How was your day?” I answered, “Very busy. I worked on my website for a while. Updated my portfolio. Cleared up some bookkeeping and . . .”
Then it hit me. I didn’t make any money! Not one cent.
So the next day, I put “Make money” on my to-do list. And it has been there ever since.
The best favor you can do for your freelance career – and your bank account — is to set a daily income goal. And then strive to reach that goal before you go onto anything else. Say, for example, your goal is to earn $200 a day. To achieve that target, you need to give your paying jobs priority and do $200 worth of work BEFORE you surf the blogs, chat online with colleagues, or sip coffee at Starbucks. (My wife calls it Fivebucks.)
I’ve been at this for a while, so my daily goal is relatively high compared to many freelancers. Yours doesn’t have to be. Even if your goal is a modest $200 per day – an eminently reasonable target for most freelance professionals — that’s $1,000 per week; $4,000 per month; $48,000 per year! And a four-week vacation!
The most important thing is, by setting a daily income goal, you’ll sleep better. You’ll know that, by the end of the day, you’ve made money. And that’s a damn good feeling.
“But what if I don’t have any billable work to do today?” you might be asking. Then you know EXACTLY how to spend your day: prospecting and marketing!
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Steve Slaunwhite is the co-editor of The Wealthy Freelancer and publisher of www.ForCopywritersOnly.com. He coaches freelance professionals in attracting more clients and better paying projects.
Alex the Freelance Twin says:
July 15th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
I’ve been doing this for some time now. I have a minimum I want (or, need) to make every day. Around lunch time if things are looking good I can think about taking the rest of the day off or something. If it looks bad, it’s time to kick it into high gear and earn some cash.
But knowing how much you want to make every day helps a lot. Good post.
Steve Slaunwhite - Editor says:
July 15th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Hi Alex,
Thanks for your comment!
I originally learned that particular habit in a wonderful book called “Make Something Happen Before Lunch”. (I think the author is Stephan Schiffman.)
In fact, most of the really successful people I know — all “wealthy” freelancers in the broadest sense — are very productive in the mornings.
Chad says:
July 15th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Great advice - this is something I used to do a much better job of. I’ll definitely try and get this back on track!
Rongen says:
July 17th, 2008 at 4:13 am
This is definitely true. It hits my head.
I just shared the link to my wife and we both laugh, since we use to ask each other about our day work. It applies to any kind of freelancers and businessmen.
I have bookmarked this site, Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experiences.
Regards,
Michael Martine says:
July 17th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I too know how easy it is to have the whole day pass by without engaging in an activity that leads directly to income. This is especially insidious when a blog is part of your marketing game, because there are endless tangents. Thanks for the reminder to stay focused on what matters.
Lee says:
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Ok, folks, I have a really tough one for you. I’ve been reading the articles on this site for a few weeks now (as well as Pter Bowman’s excellent site for freelancers), but my situation does not fit with the advice and anecdotes, and I am plagued by the near-certainty that I am DOOMED.
Here it is: 1) I have no money. Really. I don’t mean I don’t have an “extra” money; I mean, I don’t have Internet hook up at home (I’m at the local library); I can’t for the same reasons have my own blog or website to promote my services or even offer samples of my writing;
2) I live in a strange, small town with almost no businesses larger than mom-and-pops; I can’t move–no money, nowhere to go;
3) I have no family. None. No one to move in with, borrow from, etc. After 4 years living here I can say with confidence that there is NO professional writer around here, just a load of not-quite-average wannabees.
How I got into this situation is a long story and unnecessary. The fact is, I’m in it. I can’t move; I can’t borrow; I can’t fix it except to earn a pile of money. Although I’ve been a writer for 30 years, I never before tried to make a living at it, just wrote novels I never sent anywhere, academic pieces for my useless 22 years of education, and, for a few years, worked as a journalist outside of Chicago.
That’s my only income now: writing feature pieces for absurdly little money for a local weekly newspaper that Defines the term “quirky.”
Meanwhile, I can write business promotional pieces better than most people; my grammar is impeccable; and I have a sense of style that allows me to write for anything from dry-legal to convoluted academic, to quality-magazine informative to breezy-basic mag/newspaper.
Do I scrape together a few bucks and mail out promotional letters to an assortment of local businesses gleaned from the phone book? Do I continue to scoure craigslist and guru and sologig in hopes that–contrary to all the evidence of the past 4 years–I will GET one of the jobs I apply for?
Or do I rob a local bank? (My 14 year old car won’t provide me much of a getaway, though.)
Any ideas?
Ed Gandia - Editor says:
July 25th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Lee,
I know where you’re coming from. I recognize that it’s a very tough place to be in. It’s demoralizing and disheartening. I can also tell that you’re looking for honest advice, not a bunch of fluff, so let me be frank in my response…
Above all, you need is to truly believe that you can crawl out of your situation and emerge victorious. Without that belief — without an undying faith and can-do attitude, success will always be elusive.
I know a lot of very successful people (financial or otherwise), and none of them got to where they are without first believing that success would eventually be theirs. Sure, some went beyond where they ever imagined they would go. But they all knew they would be successful, even if that belief didn’t come until they were on their way there.
To nurture this belief, you should read as many legitimate rags-to-riches stories as you can find. I’m talking Napoleon Hill, Earl Nightingale, Warren Buffett, Mother Theresa, Oprah Winfrey, Stephen Spielberg, J.K. Rowling. Folks who came from nothing. People who overcame tremendous (almost unbelievable) obstacles to achieve what others though was impossible.
Immerse yourselves in these books. Read them and re-read them. Buy them used if money is an issue. Check them out from the library if you have to. But whatever you do, don’t dismiss this as an overly simplistic solution.
I know you’re looking for very specific answers, but those answers won’t mean a thing if you don’t first believe that you can be a true success, even in a small town in the middle of nowhere…and even though you now face some incredible obstacles.
It will happen for you, Lee. But you have to believe first.
Rongen says:
July 25th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Very good advice, Ed. I bow to you.
Maybe watching Kung Fu Panda will help - “There’s no secret ingredient - all you have to do is to believe there is”
Ed Gandia says:
July 26th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Good point, Rongen. That bit of wisdom is a big reason why I liked that movie so much!
For those of you who haven’t seen it, the story takes place in a Chinese village. The panda’s father runs a local restaurant that’s famous for its “secret ingredient” noodle soup. The soup is wildly popular and the main reason the restaurant is so successful.
Throughout the movie, Panda begs his dad for the secret recipe. Finally, at the end of the movie, panda discovers that there is NO secret ingredient: “The secret ingredient to the ’secret ingredient soup’ is that there is no secret ingredient,” his father tells him.
Panda suddenly realizes that he doesn’t need years of kung fu training to defeat the deadly Tai Lung. He only needs to believe in himself and leverage his unsatiable appetite for food (you have to see the movie to understand that part).
Sure, it sounds a bit corny. But don’t underestimate the wisdom in that line: “There is no secret ingredient.”
Ed Gandia says:
July 29th, 2008 at 8:23 am
Lee — Coincidentally, I came across a beautiful quote yesterday. Very appropriate for our discussion here…
“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.”
–Vincent Van Gogh