How to break out of the freelance rat race

Another Wednesday, another Freelance Income Accelerator newsletter issue that arrives in your email inbox!

In this newsletter, Anthony Muhye, your favorite freelance guide, covers one burning ❤️‍🔥​ freelance topic in depth - and by the time you’re done reading, you will be at least 1% better!

And this might be the last Freelance Income Accelerator issue you ever get.

Wait, what? More about this below…

In this issue, you will learn:

• Why mindset growth is as important as income growth.

• How I helped a freelancer multiply their income without changing their niche.

Total Reading Time: 6.9 minutes.

Are you ready? The only valid answer is YES. Let’s dive in!

Imagine you’re making 6-figures, but… you’re still chasing clients and drowning in deadlines.

This isn’t an imaginary situation - it’s actually the reality of many veteran freelancers out there.

Whether $10k or $1k monthly, mindset issues still persist if you don’t fix them.

In fact, I know plenty of people who earn more than me as freelancers but have zero freedom.

They are constantly under the watch of 4-5 clients at once, delivering work 24/7.

A day off is a blessing. Two days off? Impossible. They’ll get behind with work!

Meanwhile, I can sit back and say “no” to opportunities that will take up my leisure time.

And, not to brag, but since May, I’ve been to 12 countries… but even when I’m not traveling, I’m exploring Madrid.

So… what makes me different?

I’d say mostly five things - five things you should apply if the above example sounds like you:

1. A little more income isn’t heavier on my scale of income/freedom. I will take a $5k offer out of your hands without thinking. But $500 contracts many times are NOT worth the pain.

2. I focus on long-term, high-ticket projects. Small projects can be insanely profitable, but they’re just not my type of gig.

3. I work with clients that have vision. VISION = long-term thinking and an actual business. Not people testing the waters. More on that later.

4. I don’t hurry to say yes until I know the details. Many freelancers get tied up in bad agreements because of the scarcity mentality of “Take the job, ask questions later”. I don’t rush. Negotiations with me can take DAYS.

5. My life is minimalistic and frugal. I have the privilege (and I’m aware) of not having student debt, kids, or a health condition. But I try to keep things on the cheaper side. Travel is my expense.

But enough about me - let me give you another reason why this method really works.

How I helped a freelancer scale their income on LinkedIn without changing their niche (Case Study)

The “without changing their niche” part is very important, and let me tell you why:

This person works in psychology, specifically with teaching writers how to use psychology to “program their reader’s mind” via NLP.

It’s excellent for sales… but the freelancer I was helping was really losing faith.

In fact, they were thinking of completely quitting this niche and going back to talking about copywriting/ghostwriting, like previously.

Work was also really bad, leads weren’t coming in, and they were resorting to offering free trial work. Worse, they were doing trials for just about anybody who wanted it.

The situation wasn’t good.

But I wasn’t going to allow someone to ditch their passion. I’ve been there - ghostwriting - and I know how important it is for you to LOVE what you do.

This is how I helped her (oops, revealed their gender!) get her messaging and positioning right, leading her to land multiple clients within 2 WEEKS:

1. Stopped the trial offers ASAP. Free work leads to… more free work, or badly paid work. Instead, we switched them for low-paying trials, and then full price. Result: Entry offer 📈 

2. Focused the niche FURTHER, not less: If you want to land better clients, you want to write higher-level content and position yourself as an expert. It’s a misconception that you need to make your writing easy for ALL. Result: Attention from target audience 📈 

3. Helped her create a defined offer: You don’t get far if you’re just offering random services like “5 LinkedIn posts”, “Banner redesign” and things like that. Package your offer, make it big and profitable, and make clients keep coming back. Result: Still a WIP, but bigger contracts already being signed!

4. Finally, mindset: She was struggling a lot with mindset. Imposter syndrome was crushing her and she was worrying too much about competitors that were far ahead, anyway. Through voice notes and constant motivation, including my own life stories, I managed to change that. Result: Confidence EXPLOSION 📈 🔥 

Conclusion

No matter where you are, what you’re doing, how bad you feel…

I can be there and save your entire career with a few, well-placed fixes.

If you have time, energy, drive (and of course, a monthly fee) to invest…

Reach out. I don’t bite.

Finally, this may be the last issue of the “Freelance Income Accelerator”.

I’m rebranding, as you know… and I just don’t like the name of this newsletter.

I picked it one day randomly to test my beehiiv trial, and boom, it ended up being the final name.

I’ll tell you more about my rebranding as it happens. I’m working with a few people to make it just perfect.

Yes, I’m paying them. Yes, they’re expensive. I mention this because even at my level, I still need to hire help.

Remember this - it’s another part of growth in your career and business.

You will always need help in one way or another.

P.S. You don’t need to do anything. The newsletter will continue arriving in your inbox. Just under a new name and potentially new branding materials.

That’s all for today, don’t forget to rate the newsletter!

Thank you for reading.

See you next Wednesday, and if you don’t follow me yet, find me on LinkedIn!