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 how her upbringing and academic background provided very little preparation for the freelance world where negotiation is often necessary. When teachin...
Jan 26, 2024•48 min•Ep. 14
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 highlights the motivations, challenges, mistakes, and questions at each stage, as well as the key breakthroughs and financial goals. Are you a Lifesty...
Jan 12, 2024•21 min•Ep. 13
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, Austin L. Church discusses the moonlighter and hustler phases of freelancing, shining a light on the motivations, challenges, mistakes, and questions at e...
Dec 29, 2023•16 min•Ep. 12
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 the right time, and push the unimportant stuff to the periphery. So how can freelancers and consultants get clarity, reduce complexity, and build momen...
Dec 15, 2023•17 min•Ep. 11
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 while, you already have insight into your clients’ pains and wants. You’re already fixing their problems. But do you have juicy offers that set you apart...
Sep 29, 2022•13 min•Ep. 10
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 the surgeon to save her life. Surgeons, pilots, architects, engineers, and accountants—all of their customers buy the same thing: outcomes, not hours....
Sep 09, 2022•12 min•Ep. 9
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 for freelancers to do their best work and harness their creativity to score freelance projects. In this episode, Austin shares his 7-step freakout pro...
Aug 04, 2022•13 min•Ep. 8
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, like gravity. Art and commerce don’t mix. They’re fundamentally at odds. You’d better love what you do because passion don’t pay, pal. This mentality...
Jul 22, 2022•11 min•Ep. 7
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 specialized in content marketing for tech founders and SaaS companies. Specialization simplified his marketing. When you study freelancers or consultan...
Jul 08, 2022•30 min•Ep. 6
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 action! What is the biggest challenge most freelancers face? Unpredictable income. And what is the main cause of unpredictable income? Not enough project ...
Jun 15, 2022•32 min•Ep. 5
"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 getting a good deal. He wasn’t confident in that rate though and would have agreed to less. With only $486 to his name, he was desperate for a paying freela...
May 26, 2022•15 min•Ep. 4
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 forget why you got into this in the first place. One of Austin’s coaching clients experienced a record month, and said "It nearly killed me." Can you rela...
May 12, 2022•14 min•Ep. 3
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 certain aspects of his business just weren’t working. He had just stumbled on Brennan Dunn's The Double Your Freelancing Podcast, and Brennan shared ...
Apr 28, 2022•19 min•Ep. 2
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 the 80/20 rule, is at play in every business. 20% of your effort produces 80% of your results. The trick is finding those points of leverage. A good pla...
Mar 11, 2022•16 min•Ep. 1
