Getting less clients because of AI? I just landed a £15k project. Here’s how I’m still getting hired:

Everyone assumes that getting clients now, you've got to dance around on social media. couldn't be more wrong. social's one way, but it's nowhere near the only way.. and honestly it doesn't suit everyone. I've been working with Ewan, a web designer, for the last 3 months. and instead of forcing him onto camera, we went all in on something completely different.. SEO and AEO. He's quite an introvert and can be shy, so this route suits him more. We're able to make him seen, the moment people actually search for a designer. he's now the top recommended designer in his region. someone googles for what he does, or even asks chatgpt to recommend someone.. and his name comes up. so he gets a steady stream of inbounds from people already looking to hire, without posting a single video. if the thought of "building a personal brand" fills you with dread.. good news. it was never the only route. sometimes the best move is just being the one who shows up when people go looking.

too common.

nobody actually wants £100k a month.. not really. I know that sounds mad coming from someone in this world, but think about what they’re actually after. nobody lies awake dreaming of a number on a dashboard. the number’s just a stand-in for the stuff underneath it. they want to not dread monday. to take a tuesday off without asking anyone. to be in decent shape, present with their kids, not permanently knackered. to feel like they’re building a life instead of renting themselves out to pay for one. the money’s a proxy for freedom. and the trap is chasing the proxy so hard you lose the actual thing it was meant to buy you. I’ve watched people hit the number and feel nothing, because they built a business that owns them to get there. that’s not winning. that’s just a nicer-looking cage. figure out the life first. then build the business that funds it. not the other way round.

Turned down 3 projects this week, all decent budgets. But just way more custom and complicated than I’d like. A few years ago I'd have taken every one and stayed up till 1am trying to make it work. Now I know a wrong fit client costs about double what they pay, in time and in how the team feels about it. Sidenote: I could also do with a few more referral partners if you’re a competent designer.

AI isn't killing design jobs, it's killing the designers who were only ever paid to do what they were told. And from my experience, a lot of those leads are warm leads.. they’ve got a task they want doing, and they’re choosing someone for it. Once you open the door of cold leads, you can show that expertise, and challenge them based on what you know.

My agency is pushing $100k/m now & I still like to take every sales call. Which is counterintuitive because I love an empty calendar BUT, I learn SO much just from talking to potential clients. I get to keep my hand on the pulse of what people are thinking, and the more I know my market, the more I know their issues. That knowledge ties into the whole marketing flow and it’s the reason so many people pick us.

There is. The worse thing you can do is outsource your thoughts or creativity. But by all means, make AI do the grunt work for you, but don’t let it make the decisions.

The overuse of AI might be the thing that drives humans and creatives to achieve things we’ve never dreamt of before.

Gm all. Get off your phone today and make the progress you’d be proud of.

Have a huge urge just to build a house like this with a bunch of land, and live my life going to antique shops, farm shops, coffee shops and just spend my days reading and painting wbu

one bit of advice I’d give freelancers is not to rely on warm leads. I've made over $1m on Upwork, but it's not a proper business. so for you, whether it’s Upwork, referrals, or a mate who knows a mate.. but if you rely on it, then you'll know how unsafe it feels. the difference is, a warm lead was already looking for someone. so all you’re doing at that point is convincing them why you instead of the three other people in the tab next to yours. you can't call it sales or marketing, becus it's just showing up in a queue and hoping you’re the nicest option. the sign of a business with an actual future is one that can take a cold lead.. someone who’s never heard of you, wasn’t looking, had no reason to care.. and warm them up youself. that’s a certain skill, and once you’ve got it, you never have to rely on these platforms or friends in order to get back to your record months again. but here’s why it matters so much.. warm leads are maybe 10% of the market. cold is the other 90. so if you’re only fishing in the warm pond, you’ve locked yourself out of nearly your entire market without realising it. one of my members, Leilani, just felt this click. (brilliant to watch her notice it) four years grinding on Upwork, and she finally landed a client in a completely different way.. a private clinic, web design, $3,800 with half paid upfront. her words: “she told me she just wanted to work with me.” that's the whole play, she built trust, educated her leads, and so when it came to it, there was no competition. comment 'cold' if you want me to send you video to learn more about this side of business.

Right now, the only way to work with me is through a high ticket investment. It means I can properly help a handful of people every single month. But the thing that’s missing is something underneath.. perhaps a group capacity. That allows me to help more people who are a little worried about spending more because they just had another slow month. We’re all hitting record months in the group rn, and need to find a way to make this more accessible for you all

slavery didn’t go anywhere, it just looks different now. nobody’s in chains. but look at how most people actually live. up at 6 to sit in traffic, 8 hours building someone else’s dream, home knackered, two days off to recover, repeat it for 40 years until you’re too old to enjoy the freedom you finally get handed back. we just dressed it up nicer, called it a salary, a job title, a little pension at the end.

9 times out of 10 any time you feel flat, it’s just a result of a bad routine. Try waking up earlier and going on walks. Only then if that doesn’t work, fly to a different country.

Sales is a transfer of enthusiasm