Category: Uncategorized

Most freelancers REFUSE to learn this

This is probably the hardest thing to convince freelancers of: ​​​​​​It’s such a mindset shift. I think most freelancers, understandably, are a bit desperate when they start out. Hell, I was. I was trying to leave a 9-to-5 I hated. I was looking for something to just “work” and help me escape. And, I’d have begged clients if I had to. So, I get it. And, frankly, early on… You probably should work with clients who don’t pay well… And, are awful to work with. You just need experience… any experience almost. But, if you really wanna make the next

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John Morris October 16, 2018

Is freelancing worth it?

I guess I’m just an a-hole. My problem was always the other people I worked with. In particular, my boss. I just couldn’t work for someone I knew I was clearly smarter than and have to swallow my pride and run with all their dumb ideas. Like I said… a-hole. So, I’ve always known I had to be my own boss. I’d go insane otherwise. But, I always believed this naive notion that if I worked hard, did good work and did right by people, things would work out. My employers would see that and I’d be rewarded for it.

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John Morris October 12, 2018

NEW course: Beginner’s Guide to Freelance

Just posted a new course. It’s called the Beginner’s Guide to Freelance and it’s teaching you everything I’ve learned from 10+ years of freelancing to help you get started, grow and be your own boss. Here’s what you’ll learn in the course: How to figure out what services to offer How to make money AND do what you love How to find people WILLING to hire you How to sell your services without having to become some sales genius or slime ball How to build your freelance business as a sustainable business you can sell or hand to your kids and grandkids

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John Morris October 11, 2018

What pisses me off about developers

This s!@#: “I really feel blessed now that I have stumbled on to you. I say you and not your YouTube channel or your patreon site. I have been in freelancing for many years. I cannot make a living doing what I do now, I don’t really have the passion for it that I had over 20 years ago, and felt a bit burned out on life in general. Not a good place for a father and husband to be.I contacted another much respected programmer over a year ago about my passion for coding but he is an employee and has

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John Morris September 8, 2018

The cut-throat developers coming for you

Let’s talk competition. This follows on from my post from yesterday, but there are two big trends, in my mind, that are ramping up the competition you’re going to face as a developer. And, it’s only gonna get worse. First, is this the flip-side of what we talked about yesterday. All the new technologies. All the new languages. All the new frameworks. By the time you get one thing figured out, there’s three more new ones to learn. When you’re in this industry, it can be overwhelming, frustrating and a little bit scary. That’s one way to look at it.

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John Morris August 3, 2018

The Biggest Mistakes Freelancers Make (Part 1)

Let me tell you about Ted (name changed to protect the guilty) Ted decided he wanted to be a freelance developer over 5 years ago. And, Ted did what most developers do… he went about figuring out what he needed to learn, taking a bunch of courses and getting good at web development. And, he did get good. He could crank out websites. Build professional level applications. He learned all the languages. Everything you’d need to do in order to do web development for a living. YET, five years later, he still had not got a single paid client. Not

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John Morris July 1, 2018

What Freelance Services You Should Offer and How Much You Should Charge

I see a lot of freelancers get tripped up at this stage. Thing is, the info is out there… it’s just a matter of finding it. Even something as obscure as “formatting kindle ebook” services… the data is there. So, in this video, I’m going to show you how to find it so you can figure out exactly what services to offer AND what you should charge for those services.

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John Morris May 1, 2018

How to get more IT jobs by erecting a big, beautiful wall around potential clients

Like the best wall… With the best words… It’ll be yuuuuu– Anyway… I just finished recording Episode 3 of my “Get Paid to Code” series for Patreon (which, btw, I’ll be releasing on June 3rd exclusively for Patreon supporters) and in it I show you how to find the best clients and best jobs on Upwork… then exactly what to say in your bid to get hired for those jobs… And, I couldn’t help but feel a bit like ol’ Don Juan Trumpey. Because, as a freelancer, you should have “immigration” standards. You shouldn’t just work with any old client.

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John Morris May 30, 2017

I just slaughtered this guy’s Upwork profile

Got this comment on YouTube: “But do you think this is a good profile? I don’t want to bump my profile here just like that, but if you could check, perhaps you could use me as an example 😀 But this is what you mean following your advice, right?” I took a look and… Sigh. Sometimes, I hate being the bad guy… But, no. Not even close. But, I feel like it’s my job to be ruthlessly honest so you can get better, because me filling you full of hot air and telling you it’s great (when it’s not) won’t

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John Morris May 26, 2017

This is the end

Yeah, yeah… I know some of you will hate this. And, hit dislike faster than an SJW crying “I’m offended!” But, today, is going to be another straight-up pitch… but an important one. Because, today, is the last full day of the Udemy 10-buq deal I’ve been telling you about. So, if you’re wanting to get in on it, this is your last chance before it’s gone for good. Now, before you go running off to your therapist… To “talk out” the horror of being sold on something… I just want you to think about something. Now, you’re, of course,

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John Morris May 25, 2017

Prevent SQL injection attacks with prepared statements

Bit of a hot topic lately in my inbox. Here’s what an old, vulnerable query might look like: $expected_data = 1; $query = “SELECT * FROM users where id=$expected_data”; $result = $mysqli->query($query); The problem here is we’re injecting user-submitted data directly into our SQL statement without any sort of escaping or validation. So, a hacker could enter something like this in our form: 1; DROP TABLE users; Changing our full query to: SELECT * FROM users where id=1; DROP TABLE users; Which, as you can probably see, will execute the SELECT statement but then drop our users table. No bueno.

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John Morris January 29, 2017

The one JavaScript framework I WOULD use

It’s this simple. Include it in your project like this: < script src=”https://unpkg.com/vue/dist/vue.js” > Then, write your HTML like this: < span class=”app” >{{ message }}< /span > And, your Javascript like so: var app = new Vue({ el: ‘#app’, data: { message: ‘Hello Vue!’ } }) That will output “Hello World” to your browser. Seems simple enough, but here’s where it gets fun. Now, open up your console and type: app.message=”What’s up?” And, hit enter. See, how your text now changes to “What’s Up?”. And, how easy it was to do? That’s what VueJS can help you do. And,

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John Morris January 16, 2017

Why Can’t I Get Work at Upwork But Others Can?

It boils down to how freelance sites work. They are designed to surface the best freelancers on their platforms. That doesn’t meant you’re not good if you’re struggling to get any traction. It means if you’re new to Upwork you’re at a big disadvantage. But, it’s also not hopeless. With the strategy I’m about to show you, you can quickly gain momentum and rise to the top where getting work is a whole lot easier. Think of this like an “Upwork Fast-Start Guide”. The benefit of following this formula is you virtually eliminate the advantage veteran Upwork developers have so you can:

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John Morris August 4, 2015

How Important Are the oDesk Skills Tests?

Do the oDesk skills tests really matter when you consider the answers are available everywhere on the web? Thing is, the upside of getting high scores on these tests is very limited; however, the downside of NOT having them is enormous. Here’s what I mean: Do the Tests Matter? They matter in the sense that if they’re not there clients will wonder why. Imagine a client looking at 10 different freelancer profiles. Nine of them have a PHP test with a score in the top 1% and one of them doesn’t have it at all. That will stick out to

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John Morris April 22, 2015

How to Eradicate Annoying Scope Creep

How do you eliminate scope creep without coming across rude? I find a lot of web developers deal with this and are terrified to set boundaries with their clients. But, you can do it in a way that will actually make your clients like you MORE… not hate you forever. Here’s how: Tips for Eradicating Scope Creep I find a lot of web developers, especially newer ones, are terrified of setting boundaries with their clients because they believe no matter how they do it they’ll come across rude. Your client will get pissed, fire you and tell everyone they know what

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John Morris April 20, 2015

What Makes a Great Web Developer?

What makes a web developer great? I think most people think about this the wrong way and get too focused on technical skills. Here’s my reasoning: What Most Web Developers Get Wrong The standard advice is that a great web developer is defined by how technically skilled he is. Ask most seasoned developers this question and you’ll get responses like: “Deep knowledge of HTML and CSS” “Excellent debugger” “Knows PHP like the back of his hand” And, so on. But, to me, those things aren’t what make a great web developer. Certainly, your technical skill is important… but that is

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John Morris April 17, 2015

How to Learn HTML, CSS and jQuery Fast

What’s the fastest way to learn HTML, CSS and jQuery? This video gives you some simple instructions for self-learning, in general… AND a step-by-step resource list for learning HTML, CSS and jQuery specifically: Tips for Learning ANYTHING Faster First, a few tips for self-learning, in general, to speed up the process: 1. Build REAL Things If you just take courses or tutorials and don’t build anything with them, you’ll lose a lot of what you’re learning, you’ll have to go back and re-learn things and it’ll take you longer. When you build real applications as you learn… the learning sticks,

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John Morris April 16, 2015

STOP Pointing Out All Your Flaws!

If you’re selling yourself this way to potential clients or employers… THIS is why you’re having problems. Watch this clip, then check the full episode on YouTube. STOP Pointing Out All Your Flaws If you're selling yourself this way to potential clients or employers… THIS is why you're having problems. Watch this clip, then check out the whole episode in the comments. #freelance #webdesign #webdev Posted by John Morris on Wednesday, April 15, 2015 Watch the full episode on YouTube

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John Morris April 15, 2015

What Elance and oDesk Won’t Tell You About Freelancing on Their Sites

Have you experienced this too? I know the company line, but this seems to be more of the reality they don’t want to talk about. Watch this video then check out the whole episode on YouTube. What Elance and oDesk Won't Tell You About Freelancing on Thei… Have you experienced this too? I know the company line, but this seems to be more of the reality they don't want to talk about. Link to the whole episode in the comments: Posted by John Morris on Monday, April 13, 2015 Watch the full episode on YouTube

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John Morris April 14, 2015

Do You Have the Geek Gene?

Do you have the “geek gene”? Find out in this video, then check out the full episode for my step-by-step process for becoming a front-end web developer. Do you have the geek gene? Do you have the "geek gene"? Find out in this video, then check out the full episode for my step-by-step process for becoming a front-end web developer. I'll link it up in the comments. Posted by John Morris on Friday, April 10, 2015 Watch the full episode on YouTube

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John Morris April 10, 2015

What Makes Elance Clients Say Yes – This Week on JohnMorrisOnline.com

Lots going on on JMO.com this week. Here’s a recap: A lot of web designer asking the wrong question about getting clients on sites like Elance and in general. There’s 3 reasons why clients say no. You need to overcome all 3 reasons to get the YES. Too many people interpret “do what you love” advice the wrong way… and it kills them. Get 65% off almost any Udemy course with this coupon code.

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John Morris February 27, 2015

7 Steps to Get New Web Design Clients on Autopilot

When I first got into the online business/internet marketing space (way back in 2004) one of the ideas I saw thrown around a lot was this notion of getting business on “autopilot”. I always thought it was a little silly. It sounded like straight up hype to me. I mean how is it possible to get traffic, leads and sales on “autopilot”… the same numbers week after week without a lot of input on your part? Didn’t seem possible. And, for a lot of years I simply wrote it off as hype and didn’t think much more about it. Then,

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John Morris January 9, 2015

WARNING: Are You Ruining Your Career by Following This Common Piece of Freelancing Advice?

When I first entered the web design world, I felt like a fish out of water. For a long time, I felt like I really didn’t belong. Admittedly, my background is probably a bit atypical. I wasn’t born a “geek”. I grew up in a military and sports-oriented family. My first job ever was working construction for my dad. I was a star football player in high school. And, I had a fairly extensive background in sales my first few years in the workforce. I certainly wasn’t in the Mark Zuckerberg mold of learning to code from age 7. I

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John Morris January 9, 2015

Most Web Designers Don’t Do This… But It’s How I Get 99% of My Freelance Jobs

Most freelancers and web designers immediately roll their eyes when I say the word, “branding”. Mostly because they’re thinking of big brand branding done by companies like Coke or McDonalds… that’s “not meant to actually make sales”. Yet, “branding” is how I get 99% of my clients. In fact, you’re here reading this right now because of the “branding” I do. So, if you can put aside all the mis-information you’ve probably heard about the word “branding”… Check out the video below and let me show you the #1 thing I do get more freelance IT jobs:

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John Morris July 31, 2014

Plugins, Platforms, and My Plan for World Domination

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about WishList Member and its future. Specifically, how the web as a whole is evolving and what role WLM will play in that web. Looking into my magic “crystal ball”, I’m seeing some exciting things ahead if we take the right approach and develop the right mindset for the changes that are occurring with the greater internet. Of course, none of this makes sense unless you know my Secret Plan for World Domination (add in ominous tone). I don’t mind sharing it, because while it’s simple to understand… it’s pretty damn difficult to implement.

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John Morris August 9, 2012

How to Destroy Your Business Legacy… And Why You Shouldn’t

Ethics in business today suck. Entrepreneurs are too focused on profit as the ultimate goal. Profit is NOT the ultimate goal. Business Is a Game In baseball, a power hitter is often measured by how many homeruns he hits. As fans, we idolize and adore good hitters. But, hitting homeruns isn’t his ultimate goal. It’s a means to an end. The end is winning games… and winning enough games to be called a champion. Often times, his legacy depends on whether or not he won a championship… regardless of how many homeruns he hits. And, if he cheats to win,

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John Morris June 28, 2012

Who else wants to build a thriving freelance business?

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Success Stories

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Tim Covello

Tim Covello

75 SEO and website clients now. My income went from sub zero to over 6K just last month. Tracking 10K for next month. Seriously, you changed my life.

Michael Phoenix

Michael Phoenix

By the way, just hit 95K for the year. I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve taught me. You’ve changed my life. Thank you!

Stephanie Korski

Stephanie Korski

I started this 3 days ago, following John’s suggestions, and I gained the Upwork Rising Talent badge in less than 2 days. I have a call with my first potential client tomorrow. Thanks, John!

Jithin Veedu

Jithin Veedu

John is the man! I followed his steps and I am flooded with interviews in a week. I got into two Talent clouds. The very next day, I got an invitation from the talent specialists from Upwork and a lot more. I wanna shout out, he is the best in this. Thanks John for helping me out!

Divyendra Singh Jadoun

Divyendra Singh Jadoun

After viewing John’s course, I made an Upwork account and it got approved the same day. Amazingly, I got my first job the very same day, I couldn’t believe it, I thought maybe I got it by coincidence. Anyways I completed the job and received my first earnings. Then, after two days, I got another job and within a week I got 3 jobs and completed them successfully. All the things he says seem to be minute but have a very great impact on your freelancing career.

Sarah Mui

Sarah Mui

I’ve been in an existential crisis for the last week about what the heck I’m doing as a business owner. Even though I’ve been a business for about a year, I’m constantly trying to think of how to prune and refine services. This was very personable and enjoyable to watch. Usually, business courses like this are dry and hard to get through…. repeating the same things over and over again. This was a breath of fresh air. THANK YOU.

Waqas Abdul Majeed

Waqas Abdul Majeed

I’ve definitely learnt so much in 2.5 hours than I’d learn watching different videos online on Youtube and reading tons of articles on the web. John has a natural way of teaching, where he is passionately diving in the topics and he makes it very easy to grasp — someone who wants you to really start running your business well by learning about the right tools and implement them in your online business. I will definitely share with many of the people I know who have been struggling for so long, I did find my answers and I’m sure will do too.

Scott Plude

Scott Plude

I have been following John Morris for several years now. His instruction ranges from beginner to advanced, to CEO-level guidance. I have referred friends and clients to John, and have encouraged my own daughter to pay attention to what he says. All of his teachings create wealth for me (and happiness for my clients!) I can’t speak highly enough about John, his name is well known in my home.

Sukh Plaha

John is a fantastic and patient tutor, who is not just able to share knowledge and communicate it very effectively – but able to support one in applying it. However, I believe that John has a very rare ability to go further than just imparting knowledge and showing one how to apply it. He is able to innately provoke one’s curiosity when explaining and demonstrating concepts, to the extent that one can explore and unravel their own learning journey. Thanks very much John!

Mohamed Misrab

Misrab Mohamed

John has been the most important person in my freelance career ever since I started. Without him, I would have taken 10 or 20 years more to reach the position I am at now (Level 2 seller on Fiverr and Top Rated on Upwork).

Who else wants to build a thriving freelance business?

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