Everybody in the room was bawling.

Not gonna lie… I was choked up a bit myself. It sounds stupid, but my wife was watching American Idol. It’s such a surreal thing to watch. Everybody social distanced and wearing masks.

Judges unable to hug or get close to the singers.

No shots of them all crowded backstage.

It was a stark reminder of just how much everything has changed. It wasn’t that long ago that Coronavirus hit… but if feels like three lifetimes ago. Anyway, this dude comes on and start singing.

And honestly, it wasn’t great.

At first, I was like “no way”.

But, as he sang, you could feel the emotion in his voice. He was holding back tears the entire time. His voice cracked a few times from being overwhelmed emotionally. Before you knew it…

Katy Perry’s crying.

Lionel Richie’s get choked up.

My wife starts tearing up.

I’m like, “Damn y’all… I’m trying ABC and chill over here!” I may have got a little dust in my eyes… ahem. Anyway, they start talking to this guy and he’s bawling his eyes out as he tells his story. I’ll let you watch it for yourself.

It’s one of those moments where you stop and reflect.

Man, what a helluva a time, huh?

We’ve been through a helluva lot.

Anyway, lemme get to you…

It reminded me that we’re just at the start of this whole thing. I think the consequences and ramifications will stretch out over the next 5-10 years… in ways none of us can imagine right now.

But, a few I think I can.

And, some good and some bad.

Take this from Freelancer’s Fast 50 report, for example:

“Freelance job postings rose 41% to 605,000 in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.”

Good news!

But, then there’s this:

“59 million U.S. workers performed freelance work in the past 12 months, an increase of 2 million people year over year.”

2 million more people to compete with.

Not such good news.

Then, there’s this:

“California Assembly Bill 5 would kill 158,000 jobs from Uber, has already killed 200 jobs from Vox and could result in another 900,000 layoffs in the state.”

A law, that may be well-intended, but is leading to massive layoffs in California… and a version of which could make it’s way to YOUR state, country, province, etc.

Very not good.

And this:

“But currently, 28 percent of freelancers, or about 10 percent of the U.S. labor force, have had to stop freelancing as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.”

Freelancers being forced to stop as a result of the pandemic.

Double… very not good.

I could go on and on with this… the point is what I said. The ramifications will stretch out before us for years in ways we can’t even begin to understand right now. That’s the reality of the future we’re facing.

Call me negative.

I think I just see it clearly.

Whatever the case… I know of only two true safe havens. Two skills, that when you possess them, give you the ability to navigate whatever may come your way.

1. Execution. The ability to deliver. Talent, skill, competence, value… whatever word you want to use… it’s the ability to show up and perform for your clients. Make no mistake… nothing else matters unless you can do that. It’s also not enough.

2. Acquisition. The ability to deliver doesn’t matter one single iota if you never actually get hired. On top of being a top notch performer, you also need to be a client acquisition specialist.

If you can do those two things…

It doesn’t matter if you’re running around in a loin cloth, scratching your messaging onto a stone tablet… you can survive whatever may come your way. In fact, in my (correct) opinion, those are the ONLY ways to survive.

Anyway, I’ll assume you have the delivery thing down.

Most freelancers struggle with the acquisition side.

And, there’s lots of things you can do… like get clients on Upwork like I teach in my R2 Protocol course or use content marketing like I teach in my AM2 Protocol course or using cold acquisition via email like I’m going to teach in the course I’m releasing in April. They’re all valid methods.

But, that’s all secondary to crafting your offer.

To putting out a service package that immediately grabs attention.

And, lets you charge significantly more than your competitors.

That’s the “non-secret” of the most successful freelancers on the planet. The thing that when you say it, everybody goes: “Yeah, yeah… I know that”. But, hardly any actually DO it.

They just throw some stuff out there and hope it sticks.

Or worse, they just copy their competitors…

And, wonder why they don’t stand out.

The difference between the freelancers who win and the freelancers who lose amid all the turmoil and change we’ll see over the next decade… is whether you actually DO all the boring, but fundamental, groundwork that leads to success.

It’s really that simple.

Anyway, I can lead a horse to water…

If you want to learn how to craft an offer that grabs attention AND lets you charge premium prices for you work, then check out my Premium Pricing For Freelancers course here:

Whether it’s my course or someone else’s, I’m convinced that the fundamentals found inside will be the difference between those who survive and those who wind up back at a 9-to-5 they can’t stand… in the coming years.

But, of course, I’m extremely biased, so…

Do with that what you will.

Later,

John