BlueCatServices
Banned by request of the account holder.
- Apr 4, 2020
- 487
- 486
I think sharing my current situation and having external opinions might bring some good insight.
There are lots of options in front of me, but time and energy are such scarce resources that I feel like I need to think carefully about my next move, in order to minimize loss (of time).
Current Situation
Less than a year ago I was completely broke, had no skill, and no clear plan.
I still am broke but I'm getting back slowly.
I was around here seeking the magic pill, the secret formula to overnight success, and becoming a millionaire while watching Netflix.
Luckily enough, I woke the f*ck up and start putting together a realistic plan (myself first).
I started picking some skills and studying seriously.
A few months later I became pretty good at web design, dev, SEO, ui&ux stuff, and started to work my ass out for free or for very small prices just to build a portfolio, reviews, and experience.
I niched down a bit, which helped to get more leverage than being just a generic frontend dev (this was the best move probably).
It's been a bit more of a couple of months now that I'm fully booked and have more work I can handle; all the hustle of the past months is paying off, 'cause landing new projects is easier and easier.
My only source of clients, though, is Upwork, which has a lot of downsides:
- not in control
- crazy fees
- risk of getting bad clients and have my profile screwed by some bad review
- market prices pretty low
- a shit ton of competition (not scared of this)
Where I Want To Go
Simply put, my plan is to use the freelancer activity to get somewhere between 2x - 3x living expenses per month, which means making enough to live and getting extra money each month to invest in other ventures.
My goal is to keep growing and, honestly, someone might insult me for this but I won't give up on this goal, being able to retire in 5-10 years max.
Currently at the point where I still grapple to get to 1x monthly expenses though.
I manage my time obsessively and I'm able to put 30hrs/week of purely focused work (time blocking technique, for who knows it).
Those hours don't include all the admin tasks, communication with clients, etc...
I'm really interested in the web properties/site flipping world, and would love to have a good income stream from something like that, as well as building up bigger budget flipping sites in the future.
Current options
Having such a small amount of resource is making a bit difficult deciding where to put my efforts, considering most of the time has to go in clients projects.
Here the options I see.
1. Focus on growing my activity as a web designer
I can't leverage Upwork much more than now, so the idea would be building out content and trying to rank my own website in some big cities around my local area, hoping that it would bring a good amount of lead.
The advantage of this direction is the opportunity to increase my prices drastically and have leads coming to me (cutting the project research activity); so I might get to the sweet spot where I hit my monthly goal, working just 20hrs/month.
Downside: I'll be more and more hooked with client work, getting in the top spot will take lots of time and I've no clue about the actual volume of leads in my local area
2. Start immediately creating niche websites
Advantage: if they are successful, one year for now I might "quit" the freelancer activity and having my monthly income just from the web properties, having all my time freed up to build more and grow
Downside: need a bit of investment (which I don't have now) and higher risk (it might be a fail after 6 months of effort)
3. Dunno, any other idea?
Thanks.
There are lots of options in front of me, but time and energy are such scarce resources that I feel like I need to think carefully about my next move, in order to minimize loss (of time).
Current Situation
Less than a year ago I was completely broke, had no skill, and no clear plan.
I still am broke but I'm getting back slowly.
I was around here seeking the magic pill, the secret formula to overnight success, and becoming a millionaire while watching Netflix.
Luckily enough, I woke the f*ck up and start putting together a realistic plan (myself first).
I started picking some skills and studying seriously.
A few months later I became pretty good at web design, dev, SEO, ui&ux stuff, and started to work my ass out for free or for very small prices just to build a portfolio, reviews, and experience.
I niched down a bit, which helped to get more leverage than being just a generic frontend dev (this was the best move probably).
It's been a bit more of a couple of months now that I'm fully booked and have more work I can handle; all the hustle of the past months is paying off, 'cause landing new projects is easier and easier.
My only source of clients, though, is Upwork, which has a lot of downsides:
- not in control
- crazy fees
- risk of getting bad clients and have my profile screwed by some bad review
- market prices pretty low
- a shit ton of competition (not scared of this)
Where I Want To Go
Simply put, my plan is to use the freelancer activity to get somewhere between 2x - 3x living expenses per month, which means making enough to live and getting extra money each month to invest in other ventures.
My goal is to keep growing and, honestly, someone might insult me for this but I won't give up on this goal, being able to retire in 5-10 years max.
Currently at the point where I still grapple to get to 1x monthly expenses though.
I manage my time obsessively and I'm able to put 30hrs/week of purely focused work (time blocking technique, for who knows it).
Those hours don't include all the admin tasks, communication with clients, etc...
I'm really interested in the web properties/site flipping world, and would love to have a good income stream from something like that, as well as building up bigger budget flipping sites in the future.
Current options
Having such a small amount of resource is making a bit difficult deciding where to put my efforts, considering most of the time has to go in clients projects.
Here the options I see.
1. Focus on growing my activity as a web designer
I can't leverage Upwork much more than now, so the idea would be building out content and trying to rank my own website in some big cities around my local area, hoping that it would bring a good amount of lead.
The advantage of this direction is the opportunity to increase my prices drastically and have leads coming to me (cutting the project research activity); so I might get to the sweet spot where I hit my monthly goal, working just 20hrs/month.
Downside: I'll be more and more hooked with client work, getting in the top spot will take lots of time and I've no clue about the actual volume of leads in my local area
2. Start immediately creating niche websites
Advantage: if they are successful, one year for now I might "quit" the freelancer activity and having my monthly income just from the web properties, having all my time freed up to build more and grow
Downside: need a bit of investment (which I don't have now) and higher risk (it might be a fail after 6 months of effort)
3. Dunno, any other idea?
Thanks.