On The Waterfront (1954) is one of my favorite movies, and there’s an iconic scene part-way through the film that should be required viewing for ALL Freelancers, creatives, and entrepreneurs.
Marlon Brando’s character (Terry) is sitting in a car with his brother, reflecting on what his boxing career could have been if he hadn’t been forced to throw a fight just to satisfy a greedy mob boss.
With real regret in his voice he says, “You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.”
(watch it here for the full effect)
I’ve reflected on this scene many times over the years because it holds powerful lessons about regret, the things that keep us stuck, and choice.
You see, back in 2007 I was a bum.
Literally.
I slept in a tent inside of Forest Park in Portland, Oregon for almost a full year before finally making my way off the streets.
During the day time I would hang out in the public library and mindlessly watch YouTube videos until I got kicked out by the staff. Then I’d do an odd job or two, just enough to get something to eat and repeat the cycle again and again.
Fast forward to today and I run 3 companies, donate 6-figures a year to charities, and spend every single day doing what I love.
I don’t tell you this to brag (nothing to brag about being homeless). Instead, I want to pass along what made the difference for me. This is the key that unlocked the door to trading regret for results.
This is what eventually broke the cycle:
I realized that I was stuck being a bum because I believed certain myths about what being successful really looked like.
There are myths right now in your life that are keeping you stuck. Everyone has them.
For some people it’s the myth that all vegetables taste like cardboard and so they refuse to eat healthy food.
Or those who believe that mindlessly watching YouTube for 6 hours a day will make them happy when true happiness could be found in playing with their kids instead.
We all have these myths that keep us stuck and prevent us from reaching our goals.
In this post I want to share with you the 4 biggest myths that creative Freelancers believe in that keep them stuck from flourishing and achieving high income levels and living a balanced life:
Myth #1. “I don’t have anything worthwhile to sell to clients”
I see this one all the time.
Creative people downplay what they have to offer the world ALL. THE. TIME.
The reality is, that as technology continues to shorten attention spans, distract us from what Cal Newport calls “Deep Work”, and turns everyone into walking zombies…
… the demand for creative workers will EXPLODE.
In 2018, the World Economic Forum held a special forum where they talked about the increasing automation of jobs and discussed strategies for dealing with this growing crisis.
Their conclusion?
People who are creative, strategic, and empathetic stand the greatest chance of thriving in the new automated economy.
Why?
Because it’s really, really hard for computers to do all that stuff really well.
In other words…
People like YOU will possess the highest in-demand skills.
In other, other words…
The fact that you are empathetic, creative, and like to think things through means that you not only have something to offer the world… YOU WILL CREATE THE FUTURE.
If you’re still really struggling with ideas of how to turn your creativity into something worth selling we’ve compiled a few lists that I think will spark some ideas:
40 Fun Freelancing Business Opportunities for Creatives in 2019
20 Most Marketable Freelancer Positions in 2018 (and Beyond)
Myth #2. “I have to be sleazy in order to sell my stuff”
Yuck.
I’ve been a full-time Freelancer for 10+ years making 6 figures a year for most of that…
… and I HATE sleazy selling.
As a matter of fact, I believe that I have an unfair advantage in the marketplace because I don’t use sleazy sales tactics to grow my businesses.
Do you know how refreshing it is for clients when I’m transparent, upfront, and don’t use tricks or gimmicks to get them to buy? They love it.
Do you know what I don’t do?
I don’t use a 57 step “funnel hack” to trick people into buying my stuff.
Why?
Because nobody actually falls for that garbage.
People want to buy from people they like. Nobody likes a sleazy salesperson.
That’s good news for people like you who don’t want to trade your soul for a bag of rupees. You don’t have to. There’s a much, much better way. A more profitable way.
One of my students in the No Pants Project Coaching Program lays out some of the strategies she’s learned in this in-depth article on our blog.
My favorite takeaway of hers?
“Your Best Angle = You, No Additives”
For more information on the strategy behind how I generate $3k – $5k client projects without being sleazy, click here.
Myth #3. “I don’t need to market my business”
There is a CRAZY dangerous myth out there that “if you build it, they will come.”
The idea comes from Steve Jobs and his concept of product pre-eminence.
The problem is…
… that Steve Jobs and his company Apple were master marketers and advertisers. For all his talk of making a perfect product, the guy spent billions on advertising.
This is a case of “Do what I say, not what I do”.
The reality is that the world is a big place, full of lots of people who have lots of stuff on their mind. They are busy. They are tired. They just want to sit in front of Netflix and veg out for 6 hours straight.
You need to get their attention if you want them to hire you.
The problem is that most Freelancers get sucked into the trap of places like Upwork which promises to do all the marketing for you.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get you clients.”
Yeah. Freaking. Right.
Here’s what Upwork really does:
Step 1. Sucks you into their marketplace.
Step 2. Makes you submit competing proposals against hundreds of other Freelancers just like you for lower paying gigs.
Step 3. Takes a percentage of what the client pays you and puts it in their pocket.
That, my friends, is the definition of highway robbery (and why we wrote this article: If You’re On Upwork, You Aren’t Really Freelancing).
The good news is that you don’t have to be gross to market your business.
Frankly, if you spend more than 30 minutes a day trying to get people to hire you, you’ve likely over complicated the process and are doing too much unnecessary work.
Click here to read how one Freelancer quit Upwork and replaced the gig-to-gig lifestyle with consistently high income with his own client attraction in place.
P.S. Wanna know a real high level, oh-my-gosh-I-can’t-believe-you’re-revealing-that secret of the big money makers?
The most expensive thing you can do in your Freelancing business is to get a new client.
Therefore, the best business to run is one with fewer clients who pay more.
Not sure what I mean?
Check out this post which talks about the very best strategy for creating a scalable 6-figure Freelance business.
Read this post on turning one-off clients into long-term retainers to really see the strategy work.
Myth #4. “I can only start selling once I’ve built a big expensive website”
You need way less to be a successful Freelancer than you might think.
I got started using the public library computers, and a scratch pad for taking notes. That’s it.
Most of the time, if you’re focusing on things like “what should my logo look like?” or “is this the right font for my website?” what you’re really doing is procrastinating the important work of growing your business.
And what exactly is that “important work”?
This simple:
- Finding people you can help
- Offering to help them in exchange for pay
- Helping them
That’s it.
Every day do those 3 things.
Everything beyond that is overcomplicating the most simple business model in the world. It’s causing unnecessary stress, and likely creating more confusion and lack of clarity.
When a new opportunity or ad or gadget or strategy pops up to distract you, just ask yourself this:
“Is this thing going to help me find more people I can help, offer them help in exchange for pay better, or allow me to help more people?”
If the answer isn’t a resounding abso-freakin-lutely…
… then you toss it aside like a greasy banana peel so you can focus on the stuff that matters.
To make my point, let me show you really quick how to get clients with just a LinkedIn account and a little bit o’ elbow grease:
10 Simple Ways to Land High-Paying Clients on LinkedIn (for Free)
Notice how nowhere in that blog post does it say “spend $10,000 on a website first.”
If you visit my website MikeShreeve.com you can see that it’s garbage. I haven’t written an article for it since 2016.
And yet, my Freelancing business does mid-6-figures a year.
The secret?
I focus on the three core things:
- Finding people I can help
- Offering to help them in exchange for pay
- Helping them
Trust me, simple is WAY better.
P.S. If you are ready to build a website or you think I’m full of codfish guts, we’ve got you covered with these articles:
The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Client Winning Freelance Website [Part 1]
The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Client Winning Freelance Website [Part 2]
You Can Have Anything You Want If You Are Willing To Give Up Believing The Myths That Are Keeping You Stuck
Sometimes, you just need to hear an idea or see someone else do it differently before you wake up and recognize that you’ve been believing in myths.
For me, it was stumbling upon Jim Rohn videos on YouTube in the public library. The way he thought and talked about life made me realize I was holding onto ideas that were hurting me.
I’m not saying I’m Jim Rohn (I’d never disrespect him like that), but I have put together a little video that you can watch where I break down exactly what I did to create a $26,500/month Freelancing business from scratch.
Maybe there’s an idea or a way of thinking in that video that’ll help to shake you awake too.
Either way, it’s free to watch and might just keep you from ever saying “I coulda been a contender!”
