Author: James Cross

Just because you're making money doesn't mean you're thriving as a freelancer.

And if you're NOT making money? You're definitely not thriving.

Here's what a thriving freelance business actually looks like: stable income, financial runway so you can take a hit without panicking, no constant fires to put out, and you actually enjoy what you do.

Sound like your business right now?

Yeah. Didn't think so.

The second you started taking money for your skills, 12 critical roles appeared out of thin air in your business:

Fulfillment, sales, marketing, operations, accounting, project management, IT/tech, legal, client relationships, creative direction, management… and CEO.

In a big corporation, each of those has a department head, managers, and entire teams.

As a freelancer? That's all you, baby.

And if your business isn't where you want it to be, you're failing at exercising one (or more) of these muscles.

So how do you fix this?

That’s what this episode is all about.

You’ll discover:

• The “treat it like the gym” framework for consistently working on the hard stuff you've been avoiding for months (or years)
• How to identify which muscle is your biggest bottleneck right now and start strengthening it one hour at a time
• Why emotions make you a great creative but a terrible business owner (and what to do about it)…

Can you make this work?

Wrong question.

The right question is: How can I make this work?

“Can I” is for dabblers. “How can I” is for people who actually succeed.

So pick your mountain. Set your gym time. And start climbing one hour at a time.

You know that massive to-do list in your head?

All those things you're “supposed” to do as a freelancer?

New website. Social media content calendar. Cold outreach. Warm outreach. Lead magnets. Funnels. Pricing revamp. Recurring revenue package. Portfolio update.

It's overwhelming as hell.

And oh by the way, 99% of that list doesn't matter right now.

Because your income isn't capped by all those things.

It's capped by ONE thing.

One bottleneck.

This is something called the Theory of Constraints, and it's the simplest framework I've ever seen for giving yourself a raise as a freelancer.

Your business has exactly ONE constraint holding you back right now.

Maybe it's time (you're booked solid but can't take on more clients).

Maybe it's lead generation (nobody knows you exist).

Maybe it's sales (you get inquiries but can't close them).

Maybe it's your average client value (everyone's worth $1,000 when they should be worth $5,000).

Maybe it's fulfillment (clients leave unhappy and never refer you).

Once you identify that ONE constraint and fix it, you get a raise.

Sometimes a massive one, like 20%, 30%, even 50%+ in a year.

Then a new constraint pops up. You fix that one.

Yay, you just got another raise!

It's literally whack-a-mole with your income, except every time you whack one you make more money.

In this episode, I walk you through:

• The exact framework for identifying YOUR constraint
• The five core functions every freelancer needs to master (in order)
• The most common bottleneck for six-figure earners
• The “Hormozi Holy Trio” that holds most freelancers back
• How fixing one simple number can give yourself a 4x raise

This is one of those episodes where if you actually apply what's in it, you'll look back in 6-12 months and realize it changed everything.

You can spend years building a wildly successful six-figure (or multi-six-figure) freelance business…

Only to watch it crumble to dust.

Not because you sucked at your craft.

Not because you weren't talented enough.

But because you didn't defend yourself properly against a handful of silent killers.

One of these silent killers once cost me five weeks of work I had to make up for free.

(Could've been prevented. Wasn't. Sucked.)

So in this week's episode, I'm breaking down the five hidden dangers that can wipe out a six-figure freelance business (and more importantly, exactly how to defend yourself against each one).

Here's what we're tackling:

• How to prevent burnout (you know, when you basically hate your clients and want to burn down your entire business) and recognize the warning signs before that happens.
• The “give-a-mouse-a-cookie” problem that sucks away your profit (and one simple phrase that stops it).
• The simple systems that keep you safe from the tax man (no, you can’t outsmart the system. Don’t try).
• Legal essentials that protect your business (rare, but when they strike, they can wipe you out completely. Here’s how to stay out of the danger zone).
• And the #1 completely preventable “silent killer” – payment issues.

You've worked too hard to build your business to let it get taken down by something completely avoidable.

Let's make sure that doesn't happen.

Most freelancers think: “The more work I show, the more clients I'll attract.”

But if you have a level 10 skillset working with level 5 clients…

Your portfolio is gonna look level 6 at best.

And it’s hard to level up your clients if your portfolio doesn’t match.

Is your portfolio all over the place?

Not showcasing work at the level you want to attract clients?

This week’s podcast episode will fix that.

You’ll learn:

• How to beef up your portfolio if it’s still light or you’re just starting out
• How to curate and uplevel your current portfolio to attract higher level clients
• The secret ingredient that instantly makes your work look 10x more impressive

“Raise your gosh darn rates.”

I literally have a podcast episode with this title.

But that advice is not for everyone because raising your prices isn’t always the answer.

Every freelancer has a “Goldilocks sweet spot” for their pricing.

The perfect balance of rates that keep you booked, profitable, and sane.

Charge too much? You've got the “luxury mirage”… premium prices, but an empty calendar.

Charge too little? Welcome to the “bargain bin trap”… a packed calendar full of soul-sucking projects where you resent your clients and can barely keep your head above water.

This week’s episode is all about finding that pricing sweet spot that keeps you booked with better clients.

I’ll give you…

• 4 steps.
• and 3 important metrics.

I break it all down on Episode #386: The Goldilocks Pricing Rule for Freelancers (Not Too High, Not Too Low)

The vast majority of freelancers want one thing: more clients.

But what if that’s not your biggest problem?

What if you’re booked solid…

And now the “good problem to have” is that you can’t ever take a vacation because your income is tied to the hours you work?

It’s a dollars-for-hours trap.

No work = no money.

Vacation? You're not making money.

Get sick? Not making money.

In the hospital? Not making money.

Your income is handcuffed to the hours you work.

And there's a ceiling. A theoretical maximum. You can inch it up by raising your rates, but eventually… that's it.

That's your max.

Some people are cool with that.

If you’d like a future where you’re making great money NOT trading dollars for hours…

Where you “outgrow” freelancing and transition your expertise into something more scalable…

This episode is for you.

• Should I start an agency?
• Sell software/products?
• Or – should I start teaching what I know and build a coaching business?

In this episode, I talk about the pros and cons of each, and why I think creating a scalable coaching offer is the way to go (spoiler alert: it’s the one I’ve gone all in on, which is why you’re reading this).

We all get the same 24 hours in a day.

So why can some people get more done in that 24 hours than others?

It’s not ALWAYS about doing more.

In many cases it’s about doing the RIGHT things consistently (at the right time of day).

My day starts at 5:30 AM with 15 minutes of reading and straight to the gym for a workout.

It’s a non-negotiable for me, whether I feel like it or not.

So my advice for you:

Set aside “power hours” to work ON your business every day – as a non-negotiable.

Just like going to the gym, it’s a “business booty bootcamp” that directly adds junk to your trunk (aka revenue to your bank account) when you do it consistently.

(Oh, and DO NOT check emails first thing in the morning. Ever.)

This week’s episode is all about how to know WHAT to work on and how to prioritize it so you can actually have the business and the life that you want.

Things like:

• Micro-routines that help you knock out the important stuff quickly
• How I structure my day based on my energy levels, and my best “hacks” for creative focus
• The “hate-charity” trick that helps me accomplish my goals
• The 3 biggest issues that keep you from prioritizing (even when you want to)

If you've ever thought to yourself, “I need more clients, please God, rain them down out of the sky” – I'm probably gonna piss you off today.

Hopefully in a good way.

Some numbers I found interesting and concerning:

68% of freelancers rely on passive methods to get clients.

58% said client acquisition was their number one challenge.

🤨 Hmmmm…I wonder why that is?

Now, when I say “passive methods” I mean things like word of mouth and referrals, networking, and social media.

If you’re waiting and hoping for a potential client to reach out to you…

EVEN if you’re on the freelance marketplaces or showing up to networking events…

You still have a passive client acquisition system.

And it sucks @$$ for several reasons…

First: For every freelancer that's out there, there hundreds (or thousands) of clients that need your services who never hire anyone (or hire the wrong person) simply because they didn't know you exist.

Second: By ****waiting around for clients to find you magically, not only are you hurting yourself and your bank account, you're hurting those potential clients you could have helped (if they just knew you existed).

The solution? Convert passive methods to active ones.

This week’s episode is all about how to do that including:

• How to amp up your referral flow
• A better way to do direct outreach
• Why “freelance marketplaces” are kinda a scam
• The ONE active strategy that works better than anything else

The average freelancer is often absolutely clueless when it comes to running a business.

And I can only say this because I did some of the dumbest possible things for the first five years that I was a freelancer.

Until I started looking at best practices from other successful industries – in many cases who had spent millions (or hundreds of millions) of dollars to figure this stuff out.

When you take what’s already working in other industries and adapt it to your freelance business…

You can charge higher prices, have more predictability, higher close rates, more finished projects without tearing your hair out from the stress.

What lessons exactly?

That’s what this week’s episode is all about:

8 Business Secrets Freelancers Can Steal From Multi-Billion Dollar Industries

If you’re currently:

• Doing most of your work as one-off projects
• Providing a whole bunch of different services and packages
• Relying on referrals and warm leads to get clients

This episode could change your entire business for the better.