đŸ§” Desktop Threading

Author

Jim Hamilton
August 23, 2024

Happy Friday! This is the Freelance Gig, where we share news, tools, tips, and tricks to help grow your freelance business.

Welcome to the 189 subscribers who’ve joined us since the last edition.

Mentioned in today’s email: Threads, Medium, Anthropic, LinkedIn, and Thailand. Plus 19 actionable ways to find your first freelance client, and a 5-minute trick to hack your sleep. 

Read time: 3 minutes and 42 seconds

Together with Momentous

Confession:

One of the best parts about being a freelancer is there’s no one watching over your shoulder. 

Coincidentally, it’s also one of the worst parts about being a freelancer 😂

Because time is money.

So the more time you waste watching Netflix or scrolling social media, the more money you’re actually costing yourself.

That’s why focus is the name of the game if you want to make more money as a freelancer.

Enter Brain Drive from Momentous:

It’s a potent combination of four focus-boosting ingredients designed to help you buffer stress, think more clearly, and get stuff done.

Each ingredient is meticulously sourced from trusted suppliers and made in NSF-certified facilities in the USA with no additives or fillers. Plus they’re delivered in research-backed dosages to help you get the best results.

If Superman had a supplement stack, we’re pretty sure Brain Drive would be part of it.

Which is why many of our favorite podcasters including Tim Ferriss, Andrew Huberman, Chris Williamson and many more all trust Momentous.

So if you’re looking to crush your next client project in your record time


Without getting distracted by Netflix or social media


Then tap below to learn more:

P.S:

For a limited time, Momentous is offering our newsletter subscribers (that’s you!) 15% off your entire order. 

The discount code is automatically applied when you hit the link above.

But just in case, all you have to do is use code THEFREELANCEGIG at checkout.

Working With Clients

19 Actionable Ways to Find Your First Freelance Client

Finding your first client is arguably the biggest challenge you’ll ever face in your freelance career.

Especially if you’ve got no experience or track record.

So


If you’re new to the game and looking for advice on how to land client numero uno


Check out this article from our friends at Hustle Startup:

Making the Rounds

POLL: How did you find your first freelance client?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Working For Yourself

5-Minute Trick to Hack Your Sleep

Even if you’re not an early riser


Optimizing your sleep is essential to performing at your best.

So what’s the #1 best evidence-based way to hack your circadian rhythm for quality shut-eye?

We’ll give you a hint


It’s not sleep masks, white noise machines, or keeping your bedroom cool


(although all of the above do help)

Instead, it’s viewing sunlight.

Specifically, within 30-60 minutes of getting up in the morning.

After hearing about it from our favorite health expert, Dr. Andrew Huberman


We’ve been experimenting with this over the last six months


And we’ve found it’s had a huge impact — especially if you wake up in the middle of the night and have to fall back asleep.

Plus you’ve only gotta do it for 3-5 minutes.

So if your sleep game could do with a step up


Then click here to check out all of Dr. Huberman’s actionable recommendations to improve your sleep:

AI Prompts For Freelancers

Prompt of the Week: The Referral Request

This AI prompt is designed to help you generate a referral request you can send to clients and other industry contacts.

Here is the prompt:

Write a referral request for a freelance [TYPE OF SERVICE] that I can send to clients and industry contacts. The message should be professional yet friendly, briefly mentioning the type of services offered, the kind of clients who would benefit, and encouraging them to refer anyone they know who might be interested. The tone should be casual and conversational, with no sales pressure. It should be concise and make it easy for them to forward the message.

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Tool of the Week

Stop Copy-Pasting & Use Simple Shortcodes Instead

TextExpander eliminates wasted time on repetitive tasks.

This trusty time-saver lets you set up shortcodes for just about anything you can think of


So you can auto-populate a chunk of text, big or small, in just a few keystrokes.

  • Emails

  • Templates

  • Connection requests

  • Outreach messages

  • Etc etc

It may not sound like a game-changer


But once you start using it, you’ll realize how much time you just got back.

Give it a go at the link below:

Bonus Points

đŸïž Travel: 7 reasons why Cyprus is a new hotspot for Digital Nomads (link)

📈 Growth: How to build a personal brand in the age of AI (link)

đŸ’Œ Work: A nation of workaholics fixated on working less (link)