đ« Illegal monopoly

Happy Friday! This is the Freelance Gig, where we share news, tools, tips, and tricks to help grow your freelance business.
Welcome to the 155 subscribers whoâve joined us since the last edition.
Mentioned in todayâs email: Google, TikTok, Elon Musk and X, Automattic, and Instagram. Plus why raising your rates isnât as easy as it sounds, and the ultimate beginnerâs guide to a sore neck, chronic eye strain, and tension headaches.
Read time: 4 minutes and 55 seconds

Together with Momentous
đ€Ż Meet Alpha GPC: Scientifically proven to cross the suit-blood-brain barrier to enhance your memory & focus
Need a quick âpick-me-upâ before your next client call?
Now you can skip the 5-Hour Energy and double espressoâŠ
And just take Alpha GPC instead.
Itâs a special compound that was discovered by researchers in the 1960s, who realized taking Alpha GPC was a powerful way to enhance cognitive function because it could cross the blood-brain barrier, unlike many other natural & synthetic compounds.
Today, itâs used by people all over the world to treat cognitive disorders like Alzheimerâs. As well as by athletes in jiu jitsu, powerlifting, track and field, and many other sports to enhance memory & focus.
Plus, weâve also found itâs a great way for freelancers to counteract the dreaded 2 PM slump đȘ
Especially when you get yours from Momentous.
All of their ingredients are meticulously sourced from trusted suppliers and made in NSF-certified facilities in the USA with no additives or fillers. Plus theyâre delivered in research-backed dosages to help you get the best results.
In fact, many of our go-to health and science experts such as Tim Ferriss, Andrew Huberman and Chris Williamson choose Momentous when it comes to supplements.
So if youâve got a big pitch, meeting, or client call to prepare forâŠ
And you want to be firing on all cylindersâŠ
Then tap here to learn more:
P.S:
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The discount code is automatically applied when you hit the link above.
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Working With Clients
âRaise Your Ratesâ They Said⊠âItâll Be Easyâ They SaidâŠ

âRaise your rates.â
Sounds easy enough in theoryâŠ
But in practice, itâs a little trickier than it looks.
You might be wondering:
Whenâs the best time to raise my rates?
How much should I raise your rates?
Do I raise rates for everyone - or just new clients?
How do I justify it (aside from just wanting to get paid more)?
These are only a few of the questions freelancers are forced to figure out if they want to successfully raise their rates.
So, hereâs our adviceâŠ
(+) Raise your rates as demand for your services increases (or once your client roster is full)
(+) Aim to increase prices by 10-20%
(+) Start by raising your rates just for new clients - but make sure to let existing clients know theyâre being grandfathered in at their current rate
(+) If raising rates on existing clients, explain that your new rate structure will allow you to spend more time and energy on their account - but also be prepared for them to leave
As a freelancer, youâre more likely to undercharge than overchargeâŠ
But that doesnât mean you should arbitrarily increase your rates by 5X either.
Focus on the value and ROI youâre delivering for your clients.
Use that as a barometer to gauge what you should be charging.
Making the Rounds

Judge rules Google has an illegal monopoly on search
TikTok parent ByteDance launches new text-to-video AI tool
Elon Muskâs X sues ad industry group over alleged advertising âboycottâ
Meta removes detailed targeting exclusions from ad campaigns
Automattic launches AI writing tool for WordPress blogs
Instagram is making views the primary metric for content
POLL: Have you ever raised your rates with an existing client? |
Working For Yourself
The Ultimate Beginnerâs Guide to a Sore Neck, Chronic Eye Strain, and Tension Headaches

Forget âtext neckâ â thatâs old newsâŠ
Thereâs an even better way to crumple your posture and lock in a lifetime of upper body stiffness, aches, and painsâŠ
And thatâs working on a teeny tiny laptop screen.
Now, if youâre traveling, thatâs one thing.
But if your home or office set up includes working on a 11 or 13 inch screenâŠ
Consider upgrading to a bigger monitor.
Bonus points if you grab a monitor arm so it can actually sit at eye level.
The reasons why are simple:
Squinting causes your eyes to tire quicklyâŠ
And craning your neck to look down or get closer to the screen can lead to stiffness and sorenessâŠ
Both of which can lead to tension headaches.
If youâd like to learn more about just how much the vision system affects our mind and body, listen to this eye-opening podcast with neurobiologist Dr. Andrew Huberman.
(sorry, couldnât resist đ)
AI Prompts For Freelancers
Prompt of the Week: The Creative Director
This AI prompt is designed to help you generate high-performing ad creatives for Facebook and Instagram.
Here is the prompt:
You're a world class creative director with expertise in creating eye-catching ad images for Facebook and Instagram. These images must be designed to grab attention immediately and generate high clickthrough rates. They always have bright colors with high contrast and include a visual of the target customer with their eyes clearly visible and/or staring directly into the camera. The images can display the target customer in either their 'Before' state (showing them struggling with the problems) or the 'After' state (showing them after my product has solved their problems).
Here is my product: [DESCRIBE YOUR PRODUCT].
Here is my target customer: [DESCRIBE YOUR TARGET CUSTOMER].
Now give me 10 different ideas for ad images I can test on Facebook and Instagram. Remember, these must be irresistible to the target customer. There should be NO text visible anywhere on the image. This is very important. Be vivid, creative and emotional.
NOTE: Unfortunately, ChatGPT canât share conversations with images yet. But hereâs an image we generated after using the prompt above:
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Tool of the Week
Canât find the info you need? Put Perplexityâs AI search engine on the case

AI is upending the world of search.
Google recently started rolling out AI-generated summaries at the top of its search results to decidedly mixed reactions.
But when it comes to using AI to get answers fast, weâve got a new secret weapon:
Perplexity.
Itâs an AI research assistant that integrates the three of the biggest large language models (Claude-3, GPT-4o and LLaMa 3) into a single search engine.
And weâve found it better than using ChatGPT or old fashioned Googling.
So if youâre looking to embrace the new world of searchâŠ
Tap below to try Perplexity out for free:
Bonus Points
đ€ Sales: How to sell better than 99% of people (link)
â Hiring: The cities where 20-somethings are still getting hired (link)
đ§Č Clients: How to get high-quality clients (link)
What'd you think of today's edition? |