⛔ TikTok sues to avoid getting banned

Author

Jim Hamilton
May 10, 2024

In partnership with


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

Welcome to the 173 subscribers who’ve joined us since the last edition.

Mentioned in today’s email: TikTok, freelance marketplaces, Reddit, OpenAI, Apple, and creators. Plus 3 pricing tips for new freelancers, and the hidden benefit of becoming a freelancer.

Read time: 3 minutes and 21 seconds

Together with Monday

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From startups to industry giants, monday.com has transformed how teams work. Why not let your team be the next success story?

Working With Clients

3 Pricing Tips For New Freelancers

TIP #1: Charge by deliverable (not by the hour)

If you’re a new freelancer, you may be tempted to start off charging by the hour.

But charging by the hour incentivizes you to work slower.

Instead, charge clients per:

- email
- image
- video
- landing page
- sales page
- etc

This way, there are no unexpected surprises for them if the job takes longer…

And you get rewarded if you can get it done quicker.

TIP #2: Ask for a 50% deposit.

Asking for a deposit helps weed out low-quality clients.

So if they’re not willing to pay you a portion of your fee up front, proceed with caution.

But if the idea of asking for money up front makes your palms sweaty, you could always reduce the amount to 25%.

One final caveat: 

If it’s a small project (like under $100-$200), just ask for the full amount up front instead.

TIP #3: Get approval on pre-work

Since you’re asking for a deposit, you want to make sure your first draft isn’t way off base so the client doesn’t feel like they’ve paid you for nothing.

The best way to do this is get pre-work approved.

In the case of copy, this could be an outline.

In the case of an image or video, this could be a creative brief

In the case of an ad campaign, this could be a campaign mockup.

Regardless of what your service is, getting the greenlight on pre-work will save you time and make clients happier.

Making the Rounds

POLL: Have you ever done any work on Fiverr?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Working For Yourself

The Hidden Benefit of Becoming a Freelancer

One of the hidden benefits freelancing:

Learning transferable skills.

You see, once you become a copywriter, media buyer, graphic designer, etc etc…

You’re not limited to a single niche.

Instead, you can take your talents all across on the internet if you want.

In fact, this is often the best way to get paid more.

If you’re looking to learn how to transfer your skills to new niches so you can escape your comfort zone and get paid more…

Check out this article from our friends at The Freelance Informer:

AI Prompts For Freelancers

Prompt of the Week: Onboarding Email

This AI prompt is designed to help you create a fill-in-the-blanks onboarding email template.

Here is the prompt:

Create a fill-in-the-blanks onboarding email template for a freelance [TYPE OF SERVICE]. The template should include placeholders for the client's name, type of service, project overview, goals and objectives, primary contact information, critical deadlines, preferred communication methods, and update frequency. It should start with a welcoming message, request the necessary information for project initiation, provide a brief description of the next steps, and conclude with a sign-off from the freelancer including their name, title, contact information, and website if applicable. The tone should be casual and conversational.

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Tool of the Week

How to Become an Idea Machine

When it comes to generating ideas, your mind is like a pipeline.

You have to make space if you want it to keep flowing.

How do you do that?

By writing all your ideas down as soon as they come to you.

Now pen and paper is one option, of course.

But we prefer Evernote.

Here’s why:

  • It syncs automatically across all devices so you can access your notes anytime, anywhere

  • You can easily copy-paste text, images, and audio

  • Tags and search make organizing and finding your notes easy as pie

  • Plus the Chrome extension lets you clip web pages, making it great for building your swipe file

If you’re looking to uplevel your ideation skills, we highly recommend you give it a try.

Bonus Points

✍️ Copywriting: Why copywriting is 10% creativity & 90% clarity (link)

🤓 Learning: 9 free courses from top universities to get you paid (link)

🫡 Hiring: 8 rare traits of high-performers (link)

🤝 Clients: New way to get clients demand (link)