[Progress] Graphic Designer Going Freelance & Fastlane

[Andy Black]

Hi Nico! Sorry to hear about what went on with you... definitely something to watch out for, and I hope more people on this forum read your story and learn from it.

I think another important point is that you need to get your priorities right: money is important, but it's not the MOST important. For example, it wouldn't be worth having all the money in the world if you had to be a slave for it.

Money is valuable because it helps you achieve FREEDOM. So tying yourself to "mentors", "gurus", and the like is the opposite of freedom. You're exchanging your freedom for money, and the whole point was to get money to increase your freedom. So if you lose sight of the real purpose, then you can easily fall into traps.

I'm happy to hear that you're restarting if you want any pointers or advice at any point feel free to reach out. I own a direct response agency, and we work with many entrepreneurs online selling all kinds of products and services. I'd be happy to help you out with advice if you ever need it (not with our services because we're quite expensive and most people can't afford haha).

One piece of advice:

1. Then you shouldn't try to sell your product by relating it to ROI. Maybe there are other benefits of having great graphic design - a website that you're proud of and that represents you, etc. Maybe it will be really hard to track the ROI and see how it improves it, but we all intuitively know that better, easier to understand design that is neat and clear WILL make you look more professional and bring in more buyers. And you have the stats to back it up. So don't give up on it. You've uncovered a problem. Solve it!! Start blogging about it, educate your market, and they'll flip out their wallets like you've never thought possible before. That's where it's at nowadays - education. It's all about that.

2. Yes, the project is always finished and the client is always served, BUT... what's your referrals strategy? Every client should mean more clients. Have you thought about that? What about follow-up strategy? Keep your clients updated with news about graphic design through a newsletter. Then every once in a while you publish an article like "How A Well Designed Brochure Can Increase Your Revenue" and offer them a discount coupon for a brochure. If you build your list out the right way, these people are going to buy from you...

Remember - don't run from problems. The obstacle IS the way.

Good luck!

Great post!

Yes, often the obstacle is a stepping stone in disguise.

Good point about getting the priorities right.

 

[Bekit]

Wow. What a thread. You went through an intense experience with that guy, and I'm sure it took a lot of building back and reprocessing and healing to move on from that experience.

I completely resonated with your story because I went through something similar with a toxic, evil person back in 2012-2013. Even to this day I am still processing through some of the damage I suffered in that season.

How have things played out for you? It has been almost 5 years. What are you working on these days?

 

[Andy Black]

I completely resonated with your story because I went through something similar with a toxic, evil person back in 2012-2013. Even to this day I am still processing through some of the damage I suffered in that season.

Ah, sorry to hear that @Bekit . What do you think will help you fully process or repair the damage done?

I've just reread this thread and it gave me goosebumps. I've messaged Nico outside the forum to see how he's doing and to yell him his thread was bumped. I don't know what Nico is up to nowadays.

 

[Ika]

Thank you for your write up!
I'm wondering, what are your plans/how are you going to use your take aways after leaving fiverr?
Do you have recurring revenue from a fiverr client or have you learnt enough to approach clients outside of fiverr?

I'm interested to where this thread is heading!

~Ika