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
