A few weeks ago, my friend and colleague, Dianna Huff, wrote a comment in response to my blog post about doing away with the starving artist mentality.
I’m not sure if Dianna realized it at the time, but the idea she communicated in her message is so powerful and relevant to freelancers today, I felt compelled to write a post to elaborate on it.
Essentially, Dianna suggested that if you want to truly succeed as a freelancer—if you want to consistently have the clients, projects, income and lifestyle you want (which is essentially how we define “wealthy freelancing”), you need to reach outside of your freelancer circles.
Here’s what she suggested:
“If you want to be successful, meaning you make more than enough money to meet your financial obligations, take a few weeks off every year, save money, etc etc., then you need to hang out with other successful people OUTSIDE OF YOUR INDUSTRY.
“This means that if you’re a writer, don’t hang out with writers. Hang out with complementary professionals — i.e. hugely successful Web marketers or bookkeepers or designers or business owners. You’ll not only get some really good ideas, you’ll see how and why others have become successful. You’ll learn to think the way they do. Even better, these people, who aren’t your competitors, will refer work to you.”
Why do I think this idea is so powerful? Because most of the best ideas in ANY business don’t come from watching competitors. They don’t come from incremental improvements in an existing process or technique within your business.
Massive, quantum leaps in performance almost always come from adapting ideas other businesses outside of your own industry are using successfully.
It’s taking an idea you learned from your local grocery store and applying a modified version of that to your own freelance business. Or one you picked up while reading about a regional toy retailer in Entrepreneur magazine.
In fact, if you go back in history to some of the greatest scientific achievements, you’ll find that they were inspired by an event or observation outside of the lab, out there in the real world.
For us freelancers, the key is to keep and open mind. And when we see a successful strategy in another business, ask ourselves, “How could a similar strategy help me get more clients, land better projects, serve my clients better, have more time off, increase my income, help my spouse quit his/her job, or pursue a long-held passion?”
Just the other night, I had dinner with a client who’s a hugely successful businessman. Fascinating story, this guy. Founder and president of a multi-million-dollar company. Came from very humble beginnings and worked hard to get to where he is today.
I got GREAT value from hearing him tell his story and learning more about how he thinks and how he views the world. Not only because he thinks BIG, but because he provided me with a different perspective on marketing, human nature, business success and injecting passion into what you do every day.
As I drove home and pondered our three-and-a-half-hour discussion over a great dinner, it dawned on me that some of the most impactful conversations I’ve ever had have been with super-successful (in more ways than just material success, by the way) individuals outside of my industry/business.
That’s precisely what we strive for here at The Wealthy Freelancer — to provide you with great ideas, strategies and insights from both inside AND outside the freelance world. We hope we’re living up to that ideal.
What about you? What great ideas, tips or strategies have you learned from others outside of your industry? How have they helped your business or personal life?
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Ed Gandia is co-founder of The Wealthy Freelancer and author of the popular e-book Stop Wishing and Start Earning: A Low-Risk Plan to Escape 9-5 and Launch a Profitable Copywriting Business.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Ed,
Wow! One, thank you for making me sound so smart and two, this is an AWESOME post! You captured exactly the process I use in terms of creating new ideas and new ways of looking at things. I have always looked outside of myself and my work for new ideas and it wasn’t until I read Michael Port’s book, “Beyond Booked Solid” that I realized this process has a name: “cross-appropriation.”
Cross-appropriation is “taking an idea from one area and using it in another. . . . It means we overcome historical attitudes or ideas, that we understand that what we think of as paradigms (or givens) are most often our own creation and much more fluid than we imagined. It is about questioning our beliefs of how it is and how it should be. Instead, we should ask, ‘What is possible?’” (Beyond Booked Solid)
Thanks for posting this, Ed. Excellent, excellent post!
I’ve been reading and blogging on Borrowing Brilliance and The Medici Effect lately, both of which play on this concept – more in the second book – for innovation purposes, but I hadn’t really thought of it in regards to personal growth or individual relationships, although it was amazingly obvious once you mentioned it. Thanks for the insight.
Excellent post! When I look at my own business and look at where I have received some of my biggest breakthroughs that have caused me to take the business in a totally different direction is from this type of interaction.
I have an idea from Thomas Jefferson I use and that is to carry a commonplace book and write down pieces of these conversations, quotes from books, ideas, etc. It is a bit a of everything and not terribly well organized, but I am amazed when I go back and look through it how many great pieces of info I recorded in there.
I love hanging out with the freelance community from any profession as well. Read Daniel Pink’s book called the “Free Agent Nation” and you will see what a tremendous movement this is becoming. The world’s best kept secret for how to make a living and thrive, even in this economy.
Dianna – I couldn’t have made you sound smart because I used your actual words. It’s all you, sister! Thanks for your kind words, though. Oh, and I completely agree about Michael Port’s book. “Beyond Booked Solid” is a must-read if you’re a solo professional looking to take your business to the next level.
Beth – Thanks for your comment! Those 2 books sound fascinating. I’ll have to check them out.
Michael – I love that idea. I’ve wanted to do that for a while, but never kept it up once I started it. Need to get back into the habit, because you’re right — taking notes, recording ideas free-form as they come to you can lead to some incredible breakthroughs. Now that I’ve become better at taking notes with mindmaps, I’m going to give it another try. Dan Pink is brilliant, BTW. Completely agree!
Michael – One more thing re: the trend toward free agents. I couldn’t agree more. I truly believe we’re in the middle of a massive shift in the way talent gets sourced. The world of work will never be the same after the economic crisis is over. We address this a few time in our upcoming book. I think it’s a fascinating trend and topic.
Ed:
Thanks for the great post. I whole-heartedly agree that mixing with pros from outside your own industry can give you great inspiration.
I have been fortunate enough to work in a variety of industries – the arts, technology, retail, restaurants and now consulting / copywriting. It is through these varied experiences that I have been able to pull inspiration from past industries to assist me with my current efforts.
Beth, I agree with your recommendation of “The Medici Effect: What Elephants and Epidemics Can Teach Us About Innovation” by Frans Johansson. Great book. I highly recommend it to your readers, Ed.
Doug
I work in iPhone development. I went to a conference related to it. I found a guy who was just walking around with lot of business cards and chatting with the developers. I found out he is a Android developer and he gives out his business card and says he is available for Android projects. People contact me regarding Adroid apps but I only focus on iPhone apps, so it is a very simple effective way to market your services.