Never Jump Through Hoops For Freelance Clients I was reading the other day about some freelancer who had to take “aptitude tests” in order to gain a freelance client and get in their pool for working. This isn’t the only jumping through hoops exercise I’ve seen freelancers be expected to do. Send examples of your…
Hikikomori, Imposter Syndrome And How To Save The World Let’s talk about imposter syndrome, setting goals for your life and a Japanese phenomenon called Hikikomori. This is a free-form kind of piece that ties a few thoughts I’ve had recently together. I’ll start with the term Hikikomori, because it’ll be unfamiliar to a lot of…
The 600 Post Milestone I’ve meant to create a milestone post every time I hit a big number. 100, 250, 500… I’ve practically missed them all. I write and post every day, and the days merge into each other and it’s easy to lose track. Today is article 601, which is close enough. Yesterday’s article…
Yesterday I asked for my readers’ opinions on future direction of the site. I’ve had a couple of comments on that article and elsewhere since then, and one thing is pretty interesting so far: people have said they’re interested in stuff I didn’t expect. For the most part, I write about copywriting, freelancing and closely…
Sometimes people come to me and say, “Hey Jamie… can you take a look at my sales page? It’s not converting/I don’t know whether it’s good/etc.?” Sometimes, people have spent weeks working on a sales letter and they’re not sure whether they need to work on it more or simply pull the trigger. The other…
How to Automate Your Blog I saw a Reddit thread earlier. Some guy had a travel blog website and it was pretty good, by all accounts. It had some great information. The problem was that it followed the general “blog guru blueprint” model and his question was “How do I make this more four hour…
Is Being An Author Your Dream Job? I saw some kid on reddit today who wanted to be a travel writer. Now, I’ve written about why being a travel writer isn’t a particularly good goal before, but let’s summarise before we get into the meat and potatoes of this article. Why Being A Travel Writer…
Are You Afraid To Sell? Kenny T left a great comment on the site the other day: “It seems like a lot of people want to do everything but sell. They’d rather build authority, or “nurture” their audience. But giving away premium information for free doesn’t do anyone any favours. People don’t tend to value…
Most of the readers of this site are young guys. I’d guess that 90% are 18-30 and male. Now that makes perfect sense, because most people interested in entrepreneurship are young guys. Call it evolutionary impulse of sociology-based, the point is that you’re all young guys, and whilst I feel pretty old, I’m a young…
More Intangible Business Skills For Young Guys (Part Two) Following quickly on from yesterday’s topic, I’m going to write more about some of the traps that young entrepreneurs fall into. Yesterday I talked about two big things: Thinking you can do everything yourself and the need to develop emotional maturity. If not considered, both of…