Your job security is a LIE

Check this out:

Across the full sample, 43% of businesses had temporarily closed, and nearly all of these closures were due to COVID-19. On average, the businesses reported having reduced their active employment by 39% since January. The decline was particularly sharp in the Mid-Atlantic region (which includes New York City), where 54% of firms were closed and employment was down by 47%… retail, arts and entertainment, personal services, food services, and hospitality businesses all reporting employment declines exceeding 50%.

The above isn’t from some blogger.

It’s from the National Academy of Sciences. They conducted a survey of 5,800 small businesses a few weeks into the Coronavirus lockdowns and the above is what they found. They went on to say:

The median firm with monthly expenses over $10,000 had only enough cash on hand to last roughly 2 wk. Three-quarters of respondents only had enough cash on hand to last 2 mo or less.

So much for the “security” of a 9-to-5 job.

But, here’s why this is relevant to you.

A few years back, when I decided to sell my overly lavish and totally unnecessary 2,000-sqft home, move to the Ozarks and build a modest, 800-sqft cabin in the woods… you can imagine the names I got called.

Often the worst from my own family.

“Crazy.” (Which might be slightly true :D)

“Conspiracy theorist.”

“Must be having a mid-life crisis.”

On and on. But, of course, it was none of that. I was just paying attention — and not making the mistake most people make: “That’ll never happen to me”, “Things will work out”, “We’ll find a way”.

Living in a fantasy land where the good guys always win in the end.

They don’t.

Of course, I had no idea a pandemic would be the catalyst. But, I was prepared regardless. And, in fact, those choices led to my family and I mostly avoiding the Coronavirus. The county I live in, to this day, only has 592 confirmed cases.

Compare that to where I came from which has had 209,000 confirmed cases.

Anyway, the point I’m getting at is this…

When I did all the above, I also had a bunch of people who said, “Man, I’ve thought about doing the same. I just…” insert whatever excuse they came up with. I think… the truth is they’re just worried what others will think.

They’re worried people will think they’re crazy.

Or a conspiracy theorist.

Or having a mid-life crisis.

If that’s you, all I can tell you is this… I haven’t regretted it a single day since we started down this path. And, a lot fewer people are calling me crazy now. Instead they’re asking how I did it.

You gotta stop living your life based on what other people think.

And, do what YOU think is right.

Like… NOW!

Today.

Even more imperative now than ever because I don’t think we’re done. The pandemic and lockdowns, etc… are one thing. The reaction is another. Just one example… have you seen how much money the government is handing out?

I’m not gonna go on some conservative screed…

But, do you really think that has *no* consequences?

Call me crazy (again) but I’m skeptical.

At some point, the chickens are going to come home to roost. And the thing I want you to really think about. The whole reason I even *write* to you… to implore you to consider this one single thing…

Will you be prepared?

Will the next recession catch you by surprise, with your pants down and frantically scrambling to hold things together. OR, will you not just shrug and say, “I’ll be fine”… but will you go beyond and think about how you can grow?

How YOU can be one of the winners I talked about in my last email.

Don’t let yourself be a victim of circumstance.

Now, as I mentioned in my last email, my game plan was/is simple:

1. Radically reduce debt.

2. Diversify your income.

3. Invest (stocks, crypto, commodities, etc).

4. Hedge (in case a dollar crisis actually happens).

5. Attach yourself to the winners.

Let me rap about #2 this time.

It’s one of the reasons why I’ve created over 20 online courses the last few years. I don’t rely solely on my freelance income. That’s just dumb to me. And, in fact, in 2019, I did over 70,000 just in income from my courses.

In 2020, during a global recession, I did a little over 56,000.

Just from that one revenue stream.

That made it so I didn’t even blink when one of my clients had to cut back. It’s also why I was able to recently walk away from another client, that just wasn’t a good fit, without a second thought.

I was prepared.

Now, at some point, I’m going to create a course on the method I use to ideate, create and sell my online courses (let me know if that’s something you’re interested in, btw. If there’s enough interest, I may move up the timeline).

But, until then, the best thing YOU can do?

1. Quit worrying what others will think and START preparing now.

2. Get serious about your debt and lower your overhead as low as you can.

3. Actively seek and start creating relationships with people/companies that you feel will not just survive but grow and thrive through future recessions.

That last one I can help you with now.

Because that’s what I show you how to do in my Premium Pricing For Freelancers course. Here’s some of what you’ll find inside the course:

The “Microsoft Method” for finding premium clients. You can go on Google right now and find a nearly endless list of premium clients with this method — and yet, almost no one does it. I’ll show you how.

If you’re a web developer, a red-hot service you can start offering now and immediately start charging premium prices for.

A clever way to use your competitors testimonials to sell YOUR services.

The “non-sensical” reason premium clients *want* to pay more for your services and how to package and present yours to attract these kinds of clients.

The marquee difference between a regular, ho-hum service and a premium service — this one simple criteria can turn almost any deliverable into a high-end service.

Three questions you must be able to answer in order to charge premium prices

The old-school automation software that can help you zero in on the premium clients desperate for good freelancers… that are all around you.

If you’re a writer, I’ll show you a service one of my clients recently paid $15,000 for (zero promises that you can charge the same, but it’s a great example of how to take a regular service and turn it into a premium one).

The ugly, 90s-era website where you can find a nearly endless supply of premium clients.

A simple packaging mistake that makes clients immediately overlook your services and how to re-configure what you offer to stand out and make clients pay attention to you.

Find and attaching yourself to these kinds of premium clients is the simplest way I know to ride out any “downturn”, “recession”, etc. But, of course, you have to know how to get them to hire you.

And, just an FYI… it has nothing to do with price.

Price isn’t the main concern for these kinds of clients.

But, I’ll show you what IS in the course.

In any case, you can get access to the course (including a free option) here:

Now, let me get back to stacking MREs in my underground bunker… 😉

Later,

John

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John Morris

JOHN MORRIS

I’m a 15-year veteran of freelance web development. I’ve worked with bestselling authors and average Joe’s next door. These days, I focus on helping other freelancers build their freelance business and their lifestyles.

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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.

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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!

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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).

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