In this episode, Austin L. Church talks to journalist, freelance writer, and coach Wudan Yan about the art of negotiation. The driving force behind The Writers' Co-op, Wudan tells the story of her transition from journalism to freelance narrative writing and sheds light on the two different cultures with their sets of norms. Wudan goes on to share …

In this continuation of “The 4 Stages of Freelancing,” Austin L. Church explores the last two stages: Lifestyler and Diversifier. After they’ve navigated through the Moonlighter and Hustler phases, freelancers reach a level of maturity where challenges become more complex. Meanwhile, opportunities for growth and personal fulfillment expand. Austin …

You’ve surely heard of the corporate ladder, but what are the career progressions for freelancers? Those of us who sell creativity in some form usually freelance part-time at the start, and those who stick with it eventually think, “Hey, why shouldn’t I be one of those people who make money while they sleep?” In this episode of Freelance Cake, Aust…

In this episode, Austin explores the root problem freelancers face and the constant battle to ignore distractions in the midst of an overwhelming number of to-dos: marketing, client projects, website updates… No wonder many freelancers are burned out! The truth is, we don’t really want to get more done. No, we want to focus on the right things at t…

What if you could charge four times what you do now by making small changes to your freelance packaging? The freelancers who win consistently aren't always the most skilled or the hardest working. They’re the ones who focus on finding the right advantages, or “levers.” Packaging is one of those levers. If you've been in the freelance game for a whi…

Hourly is by far the most popular freelance pricing model, and freelancers often get asked, "What do you charge?” Or, “What’s your hourly rate?” But when you think about it, time is never what clients want to buy. Read that again. Time isn’t really what clients want to buy. A patient getting heart surgery doesn’t want the surgeon’s time. She wants …

One month, you're swamped with freelance work. The next, your project pipeline is dry. You try all the tactics you can think of. You cast your marketing net far and wide. You come up empty-handed. Meanwhile, those bills keep coming. It's no surprise that a lot of freelancers develop money anxieties! Irregular income and anxiety makes it difficult f…

Can you be successful at art and business? Can you sell your work without compromising your artistic integrity? We’re all familiar with the identity of the starving artist. The assumption that artists and freelance creatives must forego financial stability to preserve their creative integrity usually goes unchallenged. It’s taken as a fact of life,…

To niche or not to niche, that is the question. Many freelancers have the "jack of all trades" mentality. To survive in the freelance business, we take on a variety of projects in a variety of industries. That's what Austin did for 6 years. As a generalist, he made freelancing harder on himself. After adopting more of an abundance mindset, Austin s…

In this episode, Austin shares the 20 Stories Exercise that helped him build a predictable flow of freelance income. He also goes over the 6 questions you need to uncover which of your current marketing strategies bring you your best, easiest money. Then, once you know where your best income is coming from, you can put his marketing ideas into acti…

"What do you charge?" A potential client named Andrew asked Austin that question when he first started freelancing. Austin had just been laid off from his job at a marketing agency, and he chose $40 per hour as his rate because his agency had billed out his time at $85 an hour. If he charged half, then maybe clients would feel like they were gettin…

Freelancing is hard work. There are so many moving parts in your freelance business: project management, marketing strategies, setting your freelance rates, you name it. With all those priorities flying around, all that noise and motion, it’s easy to get off track. It’s easy to keep saying yes to crazy clients and boring projects. It’s easy to forg…

Are you getting paid to uncover pains and problems your clients don't know they have? If not, you're probably in the same situation as Austin was: juggling multiple ventures, meeting with clients, and helping them get clarity around their problems (but not getting paid for that). Discovering that his family was back in debt made Austin realize that…

Freelancing isn’t easy, but many of us make it harder than it has to be. Working harder often doesn’t… work. Spending more time on the wrong things won’t produce better results. The way to break out of the freelance hustle is to ask what six-figure freelancers do differently. For starters, they remember that the Pareto Principle, better known as th…