No, not writing a book and putting your link in it… Or anything boring and obvious like that. It’s a tactic I started using to bring in high quality leads — potential clients that are primed to buy, pre-sold on you and have muney to spend. The best kind of leads… And the best kind of clients. High information clients who hire you with both eyes open… so, they know exactly who you are, what they’re getting into and want to work with YOU, specifically. Which, of course, means… There’s rarely any haggling on price. They almost always take your

A lot of people use Blockbuster as an example. Rightfully so… their fall from grace is a poignant reminder that anyone can crash and burn no matter how great things are going now. But, there’s a part of that story almost no one talks about… That I think is the most important lesson. A lot of people dig into the why… And the how. Which is all important. But, also kinda obvious. They were arrogant, slow-moving and made some bad business investments — and they got burnt. Yeah, no kidding. But, this other part of the story is the thing

Recently got this comment from one Scotty P on my Ascension Matrix course: === I have NEVER been a fan of stealing your content but I think at some point I might encourage my 12 year old daughter to sit down with headphones and listen to this. Your ideas are amazing. I will certainly sign my daughter up. === Ooh, talk dirty to me, Scotty! Haha. Mind you… Ol’ Scotty P is a seasoned vet. And I mean *well* seasoned. In fact, Scotty P. is so old, his Social Security Number is 1. He’s so old when HE was in

It’s one of the things I hate about Facebook. A bunch of know-it-all losers trolling the site taking a dump on anyone actually out making something of themselves. Facebook ads are especially rancid. It’s like all the losers collect in one place to spew their snark. But, there’s one particular kind of product. Every time, it pops up in my feed… You can bet the comments are a cess pool… without fail. But little do these purple-haired grape swallowers know… the people selling those products are earning hundreds, probably thousands per hour selling them. I estimate I earn about 5,000/hour

My first unit in the Army. My platoon sergeant. Still, to this day, the best leader I’ve ever had. He had this knack for pulling the absolute max out of every soldier in his unit. And making his subordinates love him for it. To us, he was kind of a god. Truth be told, it was a bit cultish. Haha. But he was highly effective at getting his troops to perform. Not surprising that he made 1SG faster than all his peers. Faster than almost anyone ever does. I eventually got pulled out of that unit and sent to Iraq

It’s the 4th of July here in the States… And far be it for me to take a dump on someone’s holiday, but I do find that holidays tend to be great opportunities for dramatic change in people’s lives. Many of the defining moments in my life centered around holidays. We tend to be reflective. Take stock of where we’re at in life. And become acutely aware when things ain’t how we’d like. It’s fitting that “Independence Day” is the holiday that’s come up while I’m also in the middle of launching my Ascension Matrix course. I’d like to say

It’s this frantic scene in the Hitman’s Bodyguard. Ryan Reynolds, who’s been assigned to protect Jackson, is being chased by a group of thugs trying to kill him. There’s a fight scene in the back of a restaurant — where one dude gets faceplanted into a hot grill. Then, they wind up in a hardware store. There’s an ax. A nail gun. And eventually, a chain that Reynolds uses to finish the fight — quite gruesomely I might add. So, there he is… completely out of breath, just fought off 4-5 would-be assassins… and Jackson comes flying up in their

This your 2-day warning, skippy. The Ascension Matrix course comes down from Skillshare in just a little over 2 days from now: June 30th, 2021. After that, the only way to get it will be to hand me some cold, hard cash. So, if you want it now while it’s essentially free. In the words of a great philosopher: “Tick tock muthaf***a!” This is especially true because this course is over 4 hours long. It’s not enough to simply join up to the Skillshare trial. You have to actually watch the course. Once it comes down, you won’t even be

If you have the IQ of a salamander… This probably won’t make much sense. People hear something and they suddenly think it applies to every single instance, everywhere, always — no matter what… context and nuance be damned! If you have half a brain… You realize how dumb that is. Enter my thoughts on “niches”. Was chatting with my little brother about this the other day and how I probably look like a hypocrite to the lizard-heads. Because one of the first things I teach freelancers is to pick a niche. Yet, in my latest course, the Ascension Matrix… I

Not to mention his real-life counterpart, Kevin “windowless van” Spacey This one ain’t for the faint of heart, toots. Frank Underwood or Kevin “Windowless Van” Spacey… (Who’s actually the bigger villain here?) Would probably even blush at some of this stuff. So, if you count yourself among the koombaya crowd who thinks freelancing (and business) is all lollipops and sunshine, “we’re all in this together” and “the client is always right” bubble gum nonsense… May just want to close this one up. Because, the truth is, power dynamics are real. And he-she who has the power calls the shots. Case

Was rapping with a student of mine about this. Many moons ago, when I worked at the window factory… we had this guy come in. Old, grizzly manufacturing vet. And the company I worked for at the time was paying, I found out later, 5,000/hour for this guy — and he was there for three hours. So, a swanky 15K for just 3 hours of work. That’s some serious leverage. Still time for money… But, at that rate, it almost doesn’t matter. Anyway, the guy didn’t DO anything while he was there. That was the weird thing. And the company

Sometimes the best jobs are the biggest killers. Case in point… A couple decades ago now (yeah, yeah… oooold! You shush! :D)… I landed maybe the best job I ever had. I started working for this company called CPI — which… the company was literally named after the CEO (slaps forehead). These dudes and their big egos… And small… ahem… sense of self-awareness. Anyway, the job was an easy 6-figures if you were any good at all — which I was. It was sales which was/is kinda my thang. And, it was selling to customers who already had the service…

Let’s start by agreeing that Nazis are bad. Okay? No need to send me your pearl-clutching emails that I’m somehow condoning Nazism or some other childish s***. I firmly disavows all Nazis… mkay? Still, I remember studying them in school. Specifically, the war tactics they used. Which, for the time, were revolutionary. We even studied them when I was in the military. When a previously downtrodden nation suddenly rises up and takes over an entire continent that quickly… you might want to pay attention. Anyway, that’s where I discovered a unique tactic for wow-ing new clients. Turning them into zealots…

Was having this conversation with a client of mine. I was explaining to them why they needed to expand their product line. My most profitable product… the one that’s responsible for a good 40-50% of what I earn — has paid for my house, my truck… All kinds of gadgets. Kid’s birthdays and Christmases. Making my wife still love me… 😀 This one product… I’ve tracked it and, for several years now, it’s consistently been my biggest money-maker. But, I made it 6-7 years ago. I’ve made a few updates to it over the years, but nothing major. I’ve probably

It started happening a few years ago. I’d hit a wall with my life, my business — everything really. I’d been freelancing for so long it had lost all its novelty. It wasn’t “fresh” and “exciting” to me anymore. And procrastination hit me HARD. Most days… I’d be lucky to do anything before noon. A lot of times, I’d just check out for the entire day. Watching Netflix and eating junk food. I ballooned up to over 300 pounds — and not “good” weight. I drank too much and kinda just lived in a haze. It was like I was

He deserves every bit of it, too. I always think of my little brother. He’s been a kind of guinea pig for me over the years. Today, I was recording another lesson for the Ascension Matrix course and the topic (I won’t spill the beans on it just yet) was exactly what he does now. With clients like Amazon, Google, Nike, Office Depot, etc. Truthfully, on this, he’s far beyond me. It’s his thing. Anyway, we have an office together so he could hear the entire recording. When I got done he said, “Quite the diatribe there!” And, of course,

I’m sure you noticed. 🙂 I didn’t show up in your inbox the last 4-5 days like usual. Hell, you’re probably in full-on withdrawal mode at this point! Johnny, Johnny! Wherefore art though, Johnny!? Haha. Well, my wife and I decided to take an impromptu mini-vacation. We woke up in the morning and decided just to go. I told my clients I’d be out for the next 4-5 days… And off we went. Now, this is the point where the usual cadre of Instagram “influencers” would rap on endlessly about #freelancelife and this is the freedom freelancing affords them… blah,

My brother and I were talking about this on the way to the gym yesterday. We obviously both grew up in the same house — except it wasn’t a house at all. It was a mobile home — not a nice one. Rusted out, leaky roof, bitter cold in the winter because the walls were paper thin — and infested with rats. Of course, my parents were broke. So, we couldn’t afford to do anything about the rats. We just dealt with it. Fun times. One time (at band camp)… our water got shut off because my parents couldn’t afford

This is beyond tin foil hat. You’re gonna think I had one too many funky mushrooms… haha. But, my next course — for some of you — will be the single most important one I’ve ever created. It’s the next “evolution” of being a freelancer. And can give you so much clarity about your next 30 years… You might start to feel like you’re trippin’ a bit. The course is called: “The Ascension Matrix”. Which already sounds a bit whacky. But, it has been my own personal focus for the past 5-10 years. I talk a lot about freelancing. I

I got this question other day: “To that point, I feel like I’m at a stalemate when it comes to my freelance business. Again, I can kind of get stuff done on Upwork but it’s just not enough. Does your new course cover this kind of thing?” And, it got me thinking about the “state of things” in our freelance world. I know I’m the grumpy old man hrmph-ing in the corner, but I can’t help but roll my eyes at all the so-called “experts” out there that plaster things like “300K earned on Upwork” all over their social media.