đŁď¸ Text-to-speech breakthrough
Jim Hamilton
June 23, 2023
Happy Friday! Welcome back to The Freelance Gig. Weâre like the Indiana Jones of freelancing, here to unearth hidden client-getting and business-building tips worth their weight in gold and then share them with you.
Discussed in todayâs issue: Meta, Twitter, online shopping, LinkedIn, and ChatGPT. Plus an unusual place to find high-quality clients, and how to get more done with a reverse to-do list.
Read time: 3 minutes and 54 seconds
Together with Write On
Read this if you want to become a better copywriter
Copywriting is the #1 high-income skill.
Whether youâre a freelancer, content creator, or business owner, becoming a better copywriter should be a top priority.
Thatâs where Write On comes in.
Each week, youâll get actionable tips on how to crush writerâs block, sell through storytelling, streamline your copywriting process with ChatGPT, and much more.
Making the Rounds
Meta announces new generative AI model for audio. The âstate of the artâ AI model is called Voicebox, and it can do text-to-speech generation, edit out background noise, fix verbal missteps, and more.
Elon throws shade at newsjackers. Replying to popular or viral tweets is a great way to gain exposure on Twitter. But recent posts from their newly-installed CTO indicate they may start to crack down on those trying to game the system.
Online shoppers lean into coupons and cashback rewards. A new report from fintech platform Wildfire Systems found 74% of respondents are more interested in online coupons and cashback rewards due to inflation.
LinkedIn is (finally) adding notification filters. If youâre active on LinkedIn, chances are your notifications are one big dumpster fire. Historically, itâs been impossible to stay on top of comments, replies, mentions, etc. But not anymore. The platform is finally adding notification filters to help you sort through your posts vs mentions. TY Jesus.
100,000+ ChatGPT account credentials leaked. Cybersecurity firm Group-IB discovered the stolen data on dark web marketplaces. 40% of the stolen credentials were from accounts in Asia-Pacific. You know what they say: one 2FA a day keeps the hackers away.
Working With Clients
Unusual Place to Find High-Quality Clients
The most common places to find freelance clients are:
Freelance platforms
Social media
Cold email
Referrals
But there's another less common place you may not know about.
So if you've turned over every rock all in the usual places...
Or if you're just looking for a new place to find high-quality prospects...
Consider joining a high-ticket biz opp program that includes a community.
Here's why:
The community aspect creates an opportunity to network with serious, business-minded people in an authentic way...
The higher price point (1k and above) means they have capital (or at least access to it)...
Plus anyone starting or running an online business may need help with copywriting, design, paid ads, sales, etc.
Now, to be clear:
We're not suggesting you jump into the first program you can find and start pitch-slapping everyone you meet in the DMs.
Find one that aligns with YOUR business goals.
Do your due diligence.
And once you're in, look for situations where you can add value to ongoing discussions, demonstrate your expertise, and legitimately help others.
If you get this right, you may find people reach out to you asking if you're available.
Otherwise, you can casually encourage your new connections to reach out if they ever need help with the service(s) you offer.
It's that simple.
Again, there's a right way and wrong way to go about this.
So act like a real human and don't abuse your access.
But paid programs and communities have the potential to be powerful acquisition channels for any savvy freelancer.
Working For Yourself
Get More Done With the Reverse To-Do List
One of productivity guru Tim Ferriss's favorite questions to ask is:
"What if I did the opposite?"
It's a great way to break out of old patterns and gain new perspectives.
So here's a 30-day experiment to try:
Swap out your traditional to-do list for a "reverse to-do list."
What's this mean?
Instead of listing out everything you need to do...
List out everything you should NOT do.
Like:
Check email
Check social media
Check ad accounts
Check payment gateways
Eat the entire bag of sour wine gums
Etc etc
If you're not careful, seemingly harmless activities like these can short-circuit your motivation and focus.
This is why a reverse to-do list can be so effective.
Just like skill development, sometimes the best approach is focusing on what not to do instead of what to do.
What's your favorite part of the newsletter? |
Tool of the Week
The Ugly Truth About Building an Audience on Social Media
Weâve officially entered the Golden Age of newsletters.
And for good reason.
If youâre growing an audience on social media, itâs important to understand youâre building a business on rented land.
One change to the algorithm can devastate your reach.
This is why itâs crucial to convert your rented audience into an owned audience.
And a newsletter is a great, low-cost way to do that.
As marketers and newsletter publishers, we know a thing or two about email service providers (ESPs).
Weâve worked with all the big ones â including ActiveCampaign, Infusionsoft, Drip, ConvertKit, and more â but weâve recently migrated to Beehiiv and have been thrilled with the results.
Itâs basically a newsletter business-in-a-box.
With a single tool, you can replace:
WordPress (or any other content management system)
Website hosting (like Siteground or HostGator)
Email service provider (like Active Campaign or ConvertKit)
Recommendation widget (like SparkLoop)
Beehiiv can do all these things and more.
Itâs got powerful analytics, an intuitive and easy-to-use editor, and great deliverability.
So if youâve ever thought about starting a newsletterâŚ
Check out Beehiiv below to learn more:
Bonus Points
đ° Money: 3 key pieces of money advice for anyone working online (link)
đ¤ Business: Use this 1000x formula to create digital leverage (link)
đ Productivity: How to win back your attention (7 steps) (link)
âď¸ Copywriting: Steal this Instagram DM strategy to double leads & sales (link)
đ Learning: Donât read books (do THIS instead) (link)
Gig Alerts:
Looking for clients? These freelance jobs were posted on Upwork in the last 24 hours:
NOTE: We only share job postings from Upwork. Weâve found it to be the most trustworthy platform with the highest-quality clients.
Furthermore, job postings must be for high-income skills like copywriting, media buying, funnel building, graphic design, remote closing, etc in order to qualify.