In honor of our five-year anniversary, I had to write one of these again. In this article, you will see my reflection on all my experiences as a freelancer of five years. My money lessons and my passion working as a freelancer and what I especially experienced in 2024 until now.
Lastly, my conclusions about the above-mentioned.
Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion -Tony Hsieh.
The chase
Initially, freelancing was especially challenging, particularly during the COVID-19 outbreak. I was still figuring out what services to offer. Later, I gained two clients, and I’ve been working with them for four years. The skills I had gathered before freelancing—skills I once doubted were useful—turned out to be exactly what I needed.
I have been able to incorporate my love of books, my obsession with time and love for learning different computer programs to the max.
Over the years, I’ve learned to manage my finances, create editorial plans, build websites, code, and much more. But especially how to network online.
I’ve met wonderful clients who introduced me to my now-favorite software, Notion, and gave me constructive feedback on my work. Some of these clients also encouraged me to join projects I never thought I could be part of, which helped me grow significantly.
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The money
Last year through my work on Fiverr I had been requested to work on a project, but the moment I told the potential client about my pricing, they backed out and in another case just ghosted me. As much as I want to work passionately for clients, I have to point out that I have been doing this work now for 5 years.
Asking for a price that works for me is sometimes hard, but I have to be realistic about my financial goals and so should you, dear reader.
I have also met my fair share of scammers. From potential client for whom I send my information and the client was not reacting to my messages anymore and also their website suddenly was taken down. To clients who till this day still have not paid me for a project a worked on a couple of years ago. This remains a source of frustration for me.
I have learned to be more careful in chasing income and making sure I am safe regarding my finances.
The passion
From November 2023 until now, I had been on Discord again. From ad servers to gaming servers, I had joined a fun array of servers.
I had the pleasure of being the Discord moderator for a couple of servers and yes I did them for free. Some of them were very worth it. I gained a lot of experience learning how to spot scam messages, to enforce rules when needed and to make a couple of new friends. Eventually I put my focus again on my work and have stopped with moderation work.
Chasing both
From my experiences as a freelancer, I can conclude that it is great to chase your passion, but also allow yourself to get paid well every chance you get. When looking for that good payday, still be aware of the scammers who will not hesitate to hurt you to your core.
Furthermore, do not forget to start saving on the side to be able to pitch in emergency situations.
Lastly, I want to thank all the readers of the blog and my clients who have been with me every step of the way.
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