6 Figure Creative

This is Episode #400 of the 6 Figure Creative Podcast. And it's my last one for a while. It's been an incredible 400 episodes and it’s helped to build the business to what it is today. But what got us here won't get us there. The podcast has been great for people to find us through ads, get sucked into the show, listen to a bunch of episodes, and eventually become clients. But there's no built-in...

Are there cases where paid ads DON’T work for freelancers Yes, and I cover them on this week’s podcast episode. If you’re in one of these industries, ads might be a waste of money. If you’re NOT in one of these industries, you then what’s your excuse? There really shouldn’t be any reasons not to make them work, unless you just don’t want more clients. You could realistically go from someone seeing...

If you’re a freelancer and you’re NOT running paid ads, chances are you fall into one of two types: Type 1: Never tried paid ads because they were too intimidated, too overwhelmed, or convinced they won't work. Type 2: Tried ads and for whatever reason, they didn’t work Most freelancers don't even know they're doing it wrong. Common scenario: You spent $100 on ads. Nothing happens. You shrug and s...

The #1 fear that freelancers have with paid ads? They’re terrified of lighting money on fire and never getting it back. I get it. It feels like a gamble that may not actually get you clients. And if this is you, I’ve got a challenge for you that I hope will change your mind. It’s called the $500 ad budget challenge. I want to prove to you that it’s possible to turn $500 into $5k or more with paid...

It’s January. You know what that means? Well, it might be “panic about how slow the holidays were” time. But for smart freelancers? It’s the start of our favorite season: cheap AF ads. The holidays are insanely expensive and competitive for paid ads. Black Friday, Christmas, end of year deals - it’s a marketing free-for-all that drives up costs and makes it nearly impossible to be heard. The begin...

Pop quiz: What do freelancers fear MORE than death, public speaking, and spiders? Answer: Potentially, maybe, somewhat looking desperate when it comes to getting clients. It’s not your fault…back in school most of us were taught to stay quiet, not stand out from the crowd. That being “pushy” and asking for what you want is bad. You're taught that if you stay invisible, you'll never face rejection....

Two freelancers. Both relying on referrals to bring in clients. One is fully booked solid with a 3-month waiting list. The other is barely scraping by. What makes the difference? These 7 “Referral Killers.” Get them wrong, and you’ll struggle for clients. Fix even just one of them, and you’ll get more leads and higher-quality projects. In this episode, we cover: How to give yourself a “referrabili...

Pure creatives are selfish. They create art for themselves. And your potential clients don’t care about your personal creativity. They care about what's in it for them. So as a creative, we can't just be selfishly isolated in our little rooms creating art for art's sake because it fulfills us. When it comes to actually being a business owner, we have to create real value for other people, which me...

You know what's wild? I had three of my coaches (Richie, Dennis, and Rob) on the podcast this week to settle the organic vs. paid ads debate once and for all. Combined, they've spent tens of millions on paid ads and generated hundreds of millions in revenue for clients. And here's what they said: If you're doing organic without paid ads, you're playing marketing on hard mode. Organic takes 90-100+...

I need to tell you something you probably don't want to hear. You don't have a marketing problem. You have a leads problem. Let me prove it to you: You're generating less than 5 new leads per month Some months you get 10 leads, some months you get 1 That's a 1000% variance from your best month to your worst Meanwhile, my business generates 1,974 leads per month on average Our variance from lowest...

Just because you're making money doesn't mean you're thriving as a freelancer. And if you're NOT making money? You're definitely not thriving. Here's what a thriving freelance business actually looks like: stable income, financial runway so you can take a hit without panicking, no constant fires to put out, and you actually enjoy what you do. Sound like your business right now? Yeah. Didn't think...

You know that massive to-do list in your head? All those things you're "supposed" to do as a freelancer? New website. Social media content calendar. Cold outreach. Warm outreach. Lead magnets. Funnels. Pricing revamp. Recurring revenue package. Portfolio update. It's overwhelming as hell. And oh by the way, 99% of that list doesn't matter right now. Because your income isn't capped by all those th...

You can spend years building a wildly successful six-figure (or multi-six-figure) freelance business... Only to watch it crumble to dust. Not because you sucked at your craft. Not because you weren't talented enough. But because you didn't defend yourself properly against a handful of silent killers. One of these silent killers once cost me five weeks of work I had to make up for free. (Could've b...

Most freelancers think: "The more work I show, the more clients I'll attract." But if you have a level 10 skillset working with level 5 clients… Your portfolio is gonna look level 6 at best. And it’s hard to level up your clients if your portfolio doesn’t match. Is your portfolio all over the place? Not showcasing work at the level you want to attract clients? This week’s podcast episode will fix...

“Raise your gosh darn rates.” I literally have a podcast episode with this title. But that advice is not for everyone because raising your prices isn’t always the answer. Every freelancer has a “Goldilocks sweet spot” for their pricing. The perfect balance of rates that keep you booked, profitable, and sane. Charge too much? You've got the "luxury mirage"… premium prices, but an empty calendar. Ch...

The vast majority of freelancers want one thing: more clients. But what if that’s not your biggest problem? What if you’re booked solid… And now the “good problem to have” is that you can’t ever take a vacation because your income is tied to the hours you work? It’s a dollars-for-hours trap. No work = no money. Vacation? You're not making money. Get sick? Not making money. In the hospital? Not mak...

We all get the same 24 hours in a day. So why can some people get more done in that 24 hours than others? It’s not ALWAYS about doing more. In many cases it’s about doing the RIGHT things consistently (at the right time of day). My day starts at 5:30 AM with 15 minutes of reading and straight to the gym for a workout. It’s a non-negotiable for me, whether I feel like it or not. So my advice for yo...

“I'd love to be jacked.” “I'd love to be great at pottery.” “I’d love to be a scratch golfer.” ← this one’s me. You can say you wanna be good at something, but if you’re not willing to do what it takes to get there, you don’t really want it enough. And sometimes that’s okay. But when it comes to your freelance business, I hear a lot of people say, “I want to be making 6 figures, charging $10k per...

If you've ever thought to yourself, "I need more clients, please God, rain them down out of the sky" - I'm probably gonna piss you off today. Hopefully in a good way. Some numbers I found interesting and concerning: 68% of freelancers rely on passive methods to get clients. 58% said client acquisition was their number one challenge. 🤨 Hmmmm…I wonder why that is? Now, when I say “passive methods”...

The average freelancer is often absolutely clueless when it comes to running a business. And I can only say this because I did some of the dumbest possible things for the first five years that I was a freelancer. Until I started looking at best practices from other successful industries - in many cases who had spent millions (or hundreds of millions) of dollars to figure this stuff out. When you t...

Traditional proposals are a massive waste of time. You put all this time and effort into a long, fancy 10-page proposal that you THINK is going to impress your clients… When in reality, there’s a better way to close that deal. This week’s episode is for you if you rely on proposals to do the heavy lifting for you. Instead, use my 4-step “anti-proposal sales process” that lands you more clients: HI...

Let me make something clear: Referrals aren’t BAD. Just don’t rely on them as your ONLY source of leads. But a client is a client, and if people are sending them your way, you’re not gonna say no! And the best way to bring in more referrals is to deliver a “6 Star Client Experience.” If you’ve ever been to a 5-star hotel, you know it’s the little details that make it luxury: The chocolate on your...

If you’re not getting the number of leads and clients you want… It can be tempting to think that you need to DO more. No, it’s not time to update your website again. No, you don’t need a higher-converting funnel. No, you don’t need more content. No, the latest AI miracle isn’t going to save you. None of that matters if your positioning is vague and you’re saying something nobody really cares about...

If you think that running paid ads for your freelance business is a complete and total waste of time and money, with no chance of ever getting you clients… Don’t bother reading any further. I get why many freelancers believe this - especially if you’ve tried to run ads in the past and been burned with low-quality leads, high costs, and NOTHING to show for it. It can be easy to conclude that “paid...

Every superhero has an arch-nemesis (or two). Batman’s got the Joker. Spidey’s got the Green Goblin. Superman? Lex Luthor. But you? You’ve got five freelancing villains quietly sabotaging your business. There’s no maniacal laughter or evil stare. They’re not wearing capes or threatening to destroy the world with a giant-ass laser. These villains are more subtle: “Just one more YouTube video…” “I’l...