This is a quick follow up from my Macro / Micro Goal Assessment. I think I went a bit overboard with the “make money freelancing online” challenge. I may have taken on too much work. Nevertheless, I enjoy the fact that I’m making over 10k/month net in a third world country.
Moreover, most people aren’t even able to get a freelancing contract. So I don’t “have to” to do these contracts, I get to do them. “The only reason a warrior is alive is to fight, and the only reason a warrior fights is to win.” In any event, here’s my plan for knocking out these challenges.
> 8 Hours Into Paid Work x 7 days a Week (56 hours a week).
I have no offspring, no partner, no hobbies, no vices (drugs/alcohol).(Medium I use just to organize my thoughts haphazardly whenever I have time, as you see I’m not a commercial writer trying to gain fame here).
The key to time management is not some magical method on how to organize your priorities. It’s cutting out all the BS that drags you down. Social Media, YouTube, hobbies, friends, family, whatever. I have a Cold Turkey blocker on my computer, my cellphones go in a timelock, my family can’t reach me for 2 weeks at a time. Does this suck? Kinda. But my life circumstances are a bit different then yours. I decided that I want this money. I mean, really want it.
If you can’t get yourself to sacrifice, then perhaps you don’t really want this money. For example, I want to learn how to “play the flute.” If I can snap my fingers and magically learn how to play the flute, I’m going to do so. However, I’m not going to take time out of my day to learn how to play the flute.
If you really wanted money, like I do, you wouldn’t be able to stop until you had it. You’d wake up the next day, wanting to make things happen. If above sounds like “suck” to you, perhaps our priorities are a bit different and I hope you understand. I’ve been through a bit of a financial turmoil in my life and I’m finally starting to bounce the fxxx back.
> 2 Hours Into Long Term Work
This is to roll over a new skill or business into the 8 hours of long term work.
Today I finished up 90%+ of my proofreading duties for “Dive Into Design Patterns.” I am starting a 1.1 million word translation contract for Alconost(/Udacity/Databricks)(worth about $77,000). Since I live in a third world country, and since my monthly expenses amount to approximately $700–1200/month, finishing this contact within 6 months should be a nice bit of change.
THE CHART
To explain this chart a bit, the top row describes the activity I will dedicate 8 hours towards daily until completion and the bottom row describes the activity I will dedicate 2 hours a day towards a day.
Today, I entered phase 2. I raised my UpWork hourly rate from $35 to $50. People can take it or leave it.
I may lose the bet I made with my colleague “Dalia” but I’d rather make $400/day net doing the most profitable thing I can do.
Here are some explanations of the items on the chart:
- Design Patterns Book: I am finishing up a Contract being the principal translator/proofreader for the book “Dive into Design Patterns” by Alexander Shvets, which is about Programming Design Patterns in OOP and Software Architecture.
- Alconost: This is to translate the 1.1 million words for Alconost which is a localization company. The pay is approximately $0.07+/word and I’ve taken on translating programming and computer science related work.
- WTF Site: I’m writing a laravel tutorial while I develop my WTF (Woo The Freelancer) site. The site will feature yours truly as a specialized technical translator in the Korean/English language. I had a Pakistani lady identify 500+ sites like Alconost. After development, I will use a tool called Lemlist to e-mail each lead (at $0.09/word). I’ll roll over some of the profits from Alconost into SEO, link building and free traffic strategies (Quora, Reddit, etc).
- LMM: (LegalModeMarketing): Is a long term business idea I had. Digital marketing and web development for attorneys only. This business will require some investment, time, recruitment of excellent talent and startup capital.
Please note that I’m using the lean-hedge model in all of these endeavors. The lean hedge model states that we start a long-term cash-eating business by having a “cash flow” business (or a job/freelance gig) cancelling out those expenses, so we never get into debt or risk bankruptcy.
For example, when a business starts up, this is what happens:
It continues to lose money until it becomes profitable at some point. This is too risky for me. I’m putting in a cash flow business (or freelance gig / job) to offset those expenses.
In Phase 2, Alconost is the cash flow business (covering all expenses + plenty of money saved) and I’m not investing a dime into WTF Laravel Development because, well, I’m a Laravel Developer.
While I develop that site, I’m also developing a Medium tutorial article which I’ll convert to a YouTube video or Amazon $9.99 programming book perhaps. Like the Native Americans, we waste no parts of the deer we hunted.
I’ve also invested in a $1245 paralegal course from Blackstone.edu
I’ve worked as a paralegal before, I figured I may as well get certified by NALS (National Association for Legal Support Professionals). I’ve done loads of paralegal work before, currently have an on-call contract open at UpWork for writing asylum briefs. Getting certified will help me qualify myself to do attorney marketing AND roll over from f/t technical translator/web dev to full time paralegal, which is a higher paying niche.
Conclusion
The shortest path from point A to point B is a straight line. While I’d like to skip all these steps and just become Elon Musk, unfortunately I’m very realistic and I know I must suffer and get these contracts done, 7 days a week, 10 hours a day, until they’re just done.
LMM (LegalModeMarketing) can scale. Meaning, if I get 50 clients paying $2,000/month, that’s a million dollars a year. However, it has a startup cost. So I’m using my laravel site (WooTheFreelancer agency + Alconost + UpWork) to hedge against said expense.
The folks at AirBnB did not quit their full time jobs to work on AirBnB until the business was well beyond profitable. Not everyone wants to bet it all on red like Elon Musk, and I’d rather work more hours to push towards the “scalable business” without risking homelessness or whatever (or even experiencing a dip in capital).
Questions? My telegram: legalmodemarketing
