I’ve been doing some resetting recently. Building the city of your dreams requires diligent daily brick stacking. But sometimes I get so focused on stacking those bricks that the original vision of the city starts to get foggy.

If a client I have decides they’re “too busy” to complete my invoice, I can see the situation two ways. I can conclude that I had lost control, see myself as the victim, and conclude I’m someone who’s not worth paying. However, a better choice would be to realize that I’m totally in control of my response to the situation! I can change my approach, call the client on the phone, and add a short signed agreement in my next gig.

Whenever someone at a party asks me what I do for work, I rarely know what to say. I do a lot of things. I work for Jeremiah Davis helping him produce videos, I run social media ads for businesses, I talk shop with freelancers and entrepreneurs in my IGTV series, I write copy and create websites. So when someone asks me what I do, I spin the wheel of options around in my brain until I land on the one they seem most interested by.

If someone with unlimited money had a problem that only you could solve, how much would you charge them to solve it?

Some days I feel great. I have energy, and an optimistic outlook. I can make decisions. Other days I feel bad. I’m kind of sluggish, I see things through a negative lens. I’m nervous about the choices I make. Do you know what the difference is between those days?

In March of 2017, I was enjoying a sunny day, waltzing through a small list of tasks. Then I got an unexpected email from a friend. CC’d on that email was a guy named Taylor, who was looking for Facebook ads for a new product launch. We sent a few emails back and forth over the next 15 minutes, then we jumped on a call. After chatting for 5 minutes, Taylor asked what I was up to and invited me to swing by the office right then. 

When I started college as a Freshman, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be there. I hadn’t declared a major, I didn’t have any specific aspirations, and I had too many interests to pick any path. People around me flaunted their majors and talked grad school goals, while I debated leaving. Slowly, school became more interesting as I got into it, and by my Junior year I was sitting in the front row of my favorite professors’ classes, taking vigorous notes.

If not having a $150 microphone is stopping you from starting a podcast, there might be something else causing you to procrastinate.  

I was riding a moped in Bali, flying past expansive rice fields, as the smells of nasi goreng from small warung restaurants filled my nose. The golden glow of sunset spread a beautiful blanket over the countryside, and my mind was being blown. But not because of anything I just described. No, on my ride I was listening to an interview with Branden Harvey, hearing him explain the difference between marketing and branding on the Building a StoryBrand Podcast. That’s what was blowing my mind.

Directly after graduating college I ran a social media management agency for a year and a half that burned me out, didn't make me much money, and made me feel like a failure. After I shifted gears away from that, I stumbled on Seth Godin's ideas about the differences between Freelancers and Entrepreneurs. I'll summarize Seth's ideas below, let you in on what happened with my business, and link more work for you to check out.

If you're looking to turn some heads, you might want to consider marketing with carrier pigeons.

It means you don't have to be 100% confident that you're completely right, that your ducks are in a row, or that you're saying the right thing. This theory is especially applicable when you're pitching new clients. It's more important to keep sending emails and to keep moving communication along, because the longer you wait, the less chance you have for the project to be approved. 

I became very interested about how that happened. I had been tweeting some HILARIOUS stuff for years (in my mind anyway) but nothing ever came close to this point. So I started wondering if there would be a way for Twitter to show me a map of the lifecycle of this tweet.

If you're looking to work with your favorite brands on a freelance basis, then you're going to have to pony up and pitch them. But what does that process look like? I break it down into 4 easy steps here.  

Bullet Version

• What I like about Donald Miller's Building a StoryBrand

• A 2-Minute outline of the book that you can use today

• More valuable related resources

You want to make money. You want people to follow you. You want to have something you made go viral.

But when you open up Facebook's Ads Manager and stare at the endless objectives, audience possibilities, placements, and media options... you really have no clue what you want.

Charity: Water is very close to my heart because they do amazing work. This year, I want to try and raise $240, which will bring 6 people clean and safe drinking water for the rest of their lives so they can start businesses, make art, get educations, spend holidays with friends, and fall in love.