Mastering These Simple 3 Things Propelled Me To My First Six Figures as a Freelancer

Have you ever taken a vacation and not truly unplugged from your business?

You know what I mean. As entrepreneurs and freelancers, we will justify it by overusing the word "hustle". Or we'll toss in some phrase about "sleeping when we're dead".

Feel me?

I used to be that way. I'd bust my hump 24/7, and then when it was time for vacation, I'd be sure to pack my Mac and my charger. You know, because being able to work by the beach was a dream of freelance writers.

Am I right?

It's supposedly all in the name of creating a 6-figure business. Hitting that 7-figure mark. Make money while you sleep 24/7/365.

Numbers.

Stupid, arbitrary numbers.

Now before I go on, it's kinda important to say that I've hit all those metrics. I did the 6-figure thing. My company made well over 7-figures. And yes, we do have. Passive income that generates money while we sleep.

But it wasn't hustling, lack of sleep, or working from the beach that drove those successes.

Nope.

It was three things.

These three types of planning a freelancer or entrepreneur must not only have in their arsenal for success. But they also need to master them. Then rinse and repeat them on a daily.

There are three kinds of planning that must take place to build a successful biz or freelance empire.

It all starts with strategy

Every winning player or team had a strategy to win.

And before that strategy can come to life, we need to be honest in answering the following questions.

What is the big picture?

Why are you doing this?

How will you know when you've won?

You can think of this as planning for your future, but it's also planning for today. If you don't have a target and a clearly defined strategy designed to get you there, then you are just winging it.

And winging it is definitely not a strategy for success.

Habits and operations

Every business, whether you're a solo freelancer or a growing team, should have standard operating procedures for everything that goes on.

If you're a solopreneur or freelancer, these can be as simple as your daily winning habits.

For the budding company, these become your SOPs.

The idea is to document, in writing, a detailed process and procedure for everything you do. From the time you wake up to the time you close your laptop. Or from the time you clock in at the office to the moment you punch out for a happy hour.

Stuff happens in life and business. It's not if, but when. And when they do, the people who step in to pick up the pieces will need some guidance. That's where your operations plan comes into play.

It's all about how to do what you do in the way you want it done.

Fell me?

When the shyte hits the fan plan

Mike Tyson famously said that “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

And punched you will get. Not literally, of course. Rather, in the figurative business sense.

While having a strategy and habits are important, you gotta remember that things do not always happen according to plan. That's where contingency (or backup) planning comes in. Contingency plans are just like all the clauses in your car insurance. If you get a flat then this happens, but if you run over a stray possum, then this happens.

All these contingencies answer the question "what if" and "what now"?

As a freelancer, one of my contingencies is having a couple of backup freelancers overseas who can pick up work for me if need be. On the flip side, when I was CEO of a 600-employee firm, my backup was having a strong Vice President. That and a solid human resources leader to handle other issues.

The bottom line is to not keep your plans in your head. Write them down.

Talk about your plans with your team, your co-founder, your junior writers, and the people with whom you spend the most time. You don't need to give away trade secrets per see, but you should dang well be prepared for an emergency or monkey wrench.

Plus, a wicked cool side effect is that you never know when someone will have an idea that might improve your plan and kick it up a notch!

Planning for the big stuff makes the small stuff easier. And preparing for the small stuff makes the tiniest details run smooth.

And who doesn't like smooth?

Get it?

Got it?

Good.

Now keep kicking ass.