How I Tripled My Income in 3 Months as a Freelance Digital Marketer

When I was a young school girl, I told my mum that her whole employment thing isn’t for me.She was shocked at that time and asked me how can you earn money when you grow up?

But the truth is that I’m not entitled or lazy or any other ridiculous idea that you might associate with my generation. I’m actually in love with the work I do, and I’m damn good at it. But what I’m not good at is being an employee. I’m not good at having a boss, a 9 to 5 schedule, a set salary, an office desk, a dress code, or anything else that comes along with the traditional full-time work structure. I was born to be my own boss, and at 22 years old, I proclaimed to my (concerned) mother that I would do whatever it took to make that happen.

If you’re a Millennial, this may sound familiar – and if so, keep reading.

After quitting my full-time social media marketing job after 10 months of being there, I decided to launch my own digital marketing consultancy. I had no idea what I was doing and I had no money saved – all I knew was that I was going to make this happen.

Because if I wasn’t going to make powerful, risky decisions that would change the trajectory of my career, who would? And when would I? I was 22 years old without a husband, children or a mortgage to worry about. If there was any time to take risks, it was now.

The following few months were full of ups and downs, but I kept listening, studying, engaging, and practicing. I didn’t have the confidence, but going with the old idea of “fake it till you make it”, I kept reaching out to potential clients and signing them. I kept raising my rates even when I didn’t think I “deserved” it. I kept creating content even when I didn’t see it generating any traffic. And even when the people around me were telling me that I was crazy, I kept going.

Three months after quitting, I looked back on my income as a freelancer and realized that I had tripled my income in three months.

I was making more than my boss was at my previous full-time job, and most Millennials I knew.

I had done it all on my own terms and my own time. And it was awesome.

I had been running my consultancy for about a year when other Millennials started approaching me asking how they could start their own businesses as well. It turns out that I wasn’t the only one who felt trapped, limited, discouraged and bored in their fulltime jobs.

These are the exact steps I share with my Facebook group, Millennial Go-Getters, which helped me scale my business to six figures in three months.

1. CHANGE YOUR MINDSET AND CONFIDENCE LEVEL
   I’ve coached a lot of Millennials looking to start their own businesses, and the number one mistake that they make is that they don’t actively change their mindset in the beginning.

By their mindset, I mean two things.

The first is that they continue to make decisions from an employee perspective instead of a self-employed perspective. Employees, for example, are accustomed to others making decisions for them and following a certain direction. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, have to actively take initiative, constantly be aware of their next steps and be ready to jump into new situations all the time. If you continue to treat yourself and your business as an employee, all of your work will plummet.

Be aware of the terminology that you use, too. Saying things like “my day off” or “waiting to hear back” is rooted in passivity. You are no longer a passive employee – you’re a business owner.

And as someone starting your own business, it will require you to be ON all the time and always be taking the next step yourself. But it won’t happen if you don’t consciously change your mindset.

Secondly, you have to recreate your self-confidence. As Millennials, we’re accustomed to others validating our actions and beliefs before we actually take action. We need others’ approval to make the right decisions, right? Wrong.

As self-starters, we don’t have the time, patience, or care to worry about what others think. You have to believe in yourself 100% and take actions on your next steps regardless of what others will say. Execution is key, not perfection.

Ultimately, it’s crucial to make sure that you’re in the right mindset before you move forward with your business, otherwise, it’ll be really difficult to progress and grow.

1. IDENTIFY YOUR MOST PROFITABLE SKILLS
   Once you’re past the mindset stuff, it’s time to actually dive into what your business will be. The first step when doing that is to look at what you’re naturally good at – anything else is a waste of your time.

Most Millennials have been brainwashed into believing that if you keep working at something, you’ll eventually become better at it. But guess what, guys: this is simply not true. Instead, focus on what your natural talents are and what you’re naturally better at than other people. No, not the things that you constantly work on or enjoy doing or hope to get better at in the future – look a the things that you’re better at than others and what other people value in you. These are the things that you should be fully investing in and nothing else.

And, the everything else that has to happen even if you’re no good at it? (taxes, for example.) Outsource it.

A small but hugely important tip: When looking at your strengths, don’t ask yourself, “What am I amazing at?”

Why? Because you’ll find nothing. It’s very rare to find a personal quality that’s President of the United States-worthy or celebrity status-worthy. That’s why most of us aren’t the President of the United States or celebrities, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t get paid a lot for what we’re good at. Instead, simply focus on what you’re better at than other people. That’s it.

In order to figure that out, ask yourself questions like:

What do people compliment me on?

“Wow, your apartment is so well-decorated – how do you know how to do that?”

What do people ask me about?

“Hey, I’m having trouble with my math homework and I know you’re really good at math – can you help me with this assignment?”

What experiences do I have that others value?

“Wait, you lived in Mexico as a kid and you speak fluent Spanish? Can you teach me?!”

This is a very powerful yet simple way to identify your skills and see what others value in you. Never ever, ever pursue a business idea that you have no natural ability in because it will fail. Only pursue what you’re good at and trash everything else. If you do this, you’ll be unstoppable.

1. FIND THE MEETING POINT BETWEEN SKILLS, INTERESTS, AND NEED
   Just kidding…you can’t only pursue the thing you’re good at. Because what if you hate that thing?

For example, I’m really good at selling because I’m a people person – but I hate sales. Someone else might be a total math wiz, but if they despise math, then they’re not going to enjoy having a tutoring business.

So, the goal is to find the meeting point between the thing you love and the thing you’re skilled at. That’s your sweet spot.

Something else to throw into the mix is the need for whatever you came up with. Because let’s be real – not every idea will sell.

You might love to sing Irish Catholic church hymns and you’re good at it, but if no one’s willing to buy your services and has no interest in also learning that same skill, it’s probably not a good business idea.

In order to figure out if your business idea is “sell-able”, ask yourself: Is someone else out in the world already selling it?

If the answer is yes, then there’s all the proof you need that your business idea is legit. Seriously.

You can also ask around and do your research to find out if your service is solving an issue that people are having. If your product or service solves a problem that a certain demographic has, or brings them value to them in some way, it’s going to sell. Value = sale. It’s that simple.

Do you agree?