🚀 Threads hits 100m users in 5 days

Author

Jim Hamilton
July 14, 2023

Happy Friday! Welcome back to The Freelance Gig. We’re here to help defuse the challenges in your freelance business faster than Ethan Hunt does a ticking time-bomb.

Here’s what we’re discussing in today’s newsletter: Threads, Twitter, Upwork, and ChatGPT. Plus the importance of understanding seasons in your freelance business, and the power of productive procrastination.

Read time: 3 minutes and 56 seconds

Together with Nathan Barry

How to write a moneymaking book without a big following

Most people don’t think of “author” when they think of a high-paying profession.

But Nathan Barry, founder of ConvertKit, is here to show you how you can actually get paid very well from your writing.

You just need to know how to package, market, and sell it.

Making the Rounds

  • TLDR: Threads hit 100m users in just 5 days, dethroning ChatGPT as the fastest-growing app in history.

  • Why it matters: Other Twitter clones like Bluesky and Mastodon have struggled to get traction. But Threads only needs ~25% of Instagram users to make the leap in order to match Twitter’s user base of 237m. And Zuck has said they haven’t even started promoting Threads aggressively yet.

  • TLDR: Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince posted a chart showing Twitter’s web traffic has dropped by 5% since the launch of Threads. Twitter has also blocked users from tweeting links to Threads.

  • Why it matters: The drop in traffic is no surprise, as frustrated Twitter users were likely among the first to sign up for Threads. The link block follows a similar move Twitter made after Substack launched their Notes feature. This feels like Elon and Co. grasping at straws while Threads positions itself as the heir to text-based social media.

  • TLDR: Upwork is launching a new AI Services hub to promote AI-related talent and work. They’re also offering a free 30-day trial of generative AI tool Jasper to all users. And integrating ChatGPT to help talent and clients get better results from the platform.

  • Why it matters: The demand for AI jobs is exploding, and Upwork is looking to capitalize on it. Investing time to learn how to use tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney will likely pay off big for freelancers.

  • TLDR: The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether ChatGPT has “harmed individuals by publishing false information about them.”

  • Why it matters: One of the big pitfalls with ChatGPT and other large language models right now is accuracy. Scrutiny from the FTC could force OpenAI and others to pump the brakes on new iterations until the accuracy problem can be solved.

Working With Clients

Understanding Seasons in Your Freelance Business

Looking at your freelancing business in “seasons” is a helpful lens to make better decisions.

And just like summer and winter…

What you do on a day-to-day basis should reflect the season you’re in.

For example…

If you’re just starting out, then your goal should be to say “yes” to everything.

New clients? Yes.
New project? Yes.
New platforms? Yes.
New skills to learn? Hell yes.

Even if it’s outside your comfort zone, say yes and figure out how to do it as you go along.

That’s the fastest way to gain valuable experience and cultivate unique perspectives.

But on the flipside…

If you’re several years into your career with an established track record…

Chances are, you’ve got more opportunities coming your way than you can handle.

So it’s time to start saying “no” (on account of all those meetings, et cetera ;) and focus on YOUR priorities.

Whether that’s building your personal brand…

Creating a digital product…

Or starting an agency and scaling up.

Bottom line is:

Get clear on what season you’re in within your freelance business.

Then make sure your decisions and day-to-day actions are aligned with that.

Working For Yourself

The Power of Productive Procrastination

Maintaining focus can be a b*tch sometimes.

But marathon deep work sessions and binaural beats aren’t the only way to get stuff done.

Introducing “productive procrastination:”

Instead of forcing yourself to work on the same thing for a set amount of time, try shifting gears as soon as your focus starts to dwindle.

The hypothesis behind it is simple…

Once you start to lose momentum, your ability to produce meaningful work is limited.

So you’re better off switching tasks and coming back to the original one later.

Tool of the Week

No More Forgetting to Press ‘Record’ on Client Calls

New AI tools are a dime a dozen these days.

But one we’ve been thrilled with is a meeting assistant called Fireflies.

With Fireflies, you can:

  • Record a video of the meeting

  • Get a highly-accurate and searchable text transcript

  • Plus generate a concise meeting summary to share with others

Once you sign up, all you have to do is invite Fireflies into the meeting and it takes care of the rest.

No need to press record.

So if you’re looking to make life easier for yourself and clients…

Bonus Points

🤓 Creativity: This content strategy blueprint built an audience of 16 million fans (link)

💰 Business: 42 life lessons from a 7-figure solopreneur (link)

📈 Productivity: 9 evening habits for the best morning routine (link)

▶️ YouTube: Why MrBeast will be worth $100 billion (link)

🎯 Positioning: Don’t niche down on these 3 things. Here’s why (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. We’ve 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.