the starving part of being an artist

Let’s be real.
Freelancing is hard.
Especially for creatives.

We care – a lot.

About the craft.
About the client.
About the audience.

The thing that makes us great at what we do,
is the same thing that can sabotage our careers.

Our caring nature has our instincts working against us.

We…
Undercharge for our services.
Overthink our specialties.
Overwhelm ourselves trying to learn everything. 
So we can be more things to more people
Hoping it will make us more valuable
So we can bring in more revenue.

It doesn’t.

Instead, we flail around like one of those wacky waving inflatable tube dudes in front of the used car lot, taking any gig that comes along until we slowly burn out and fade away.

Not a good look. 

And a really bad plan. 

I get it, because I lived it.

As a stand-up comic all I knew about business was how to show up on time and deliver the goods.

I wanted my ability to kill the room to be enough to carry my career somewhere better than the Laugh Shack in Des Moines, Iowa.

But I had no idea how that worked in the real world.
I had no confidence in negotiating my fees.
No plan for working better clubs or reaching a bigger audience.
No understanding of what would give me leverage as a performer.

And I paid the price. 

So, when I stumbled into copywriting, it seemed like a miracle.

I couldn’t believe I’d found a second thing I felt I could be really good at
And this time, a real chance to actually earn a good living with it.

I made a vow to myself, and my family…
That I would not screw up the business part of the show a second time. 

With a willingness to take some hits, and grow some scars, I figured it out.
And developed the business skills to match my creative abilities. 

Finally, I was able to call the shots in my freelancing career. 

It was like getting a second chance at life.

So, in 2014 I went on a mission…
To help other creative freelancers transform their businesses, 
from flailing towards burnout, to confident and proud. 

The results have been amazing:

A high school teacher who, in less than 4 years, grew a moonlighting copy gig into a 7-figure agency.

A new mom who collects royalty checks equal to a doctor’s salary for sales copy she wrote once.

A burned out retail manager who doubled his salary writing simple facebook ads, then doubled it again showing people how he does it. 

Anything is possible when you have a plan you understand, believe in, and trust. 

If you’re done with the starving part of being an artist and want to fix what’s broken then check out the info on this page. 

You don’t have to change who you are to start earning what you’re worth.

There are three areas you need to fix to get it right. 

I’ll cover them in detail over three days this November.

Wanna come?

P.P.S. Ready for more? Here are 3 ways we can go deeper…

 
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