Freelancing vs creating products

[mastermind007]

Hello guys,

I'm a full-time web developer, machine learning freelancer on the side. I'm not making any money by freelancing (I'm doing it for the experience and to learn real-world application of machine learning).
I'm getting better at time management, how to talk with clients, how to start branding myself, etc. But I don't like it to be honest. it's been only a month, maybe it's too early to give up. Another good thing is that is forcing me to give up useless distractions, like youtube, etc. But every day feels dreadful. I'm thinking, maybe I'll get used to it? Do you guys had to go through such a phase too? Is this how it is going to be if I want to be rich? Or maybe I have the wrong mindset?

I'm 23, and earning roughly 2k€/month. My monthly expenses are less than 700€. So I have some cash saved up. I always liked creating products, from idea to final product. But never sold any product in my life. I've had some opportunities to pitch my ideas, but I was too afraid of failing, so I gave up on them. But I can honestly say, creating products (innovative ideas) is what I love to do the most.

I don't know what to do right now. Should I give up freelancing and start creating products on the side (lean startup: mvp, etc)? Or continue freelancing? I'm also thinking of working hard to get to work at Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft (big 4). I honestly think if I work hard enough and practice interviews (leetcode.com), create side projects, participate in contests, etc. I might pull it off.

Here's a video from John Sonmez that talks about it. What do you guys think? Is he full of shit or speaking the truth?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhXGtlwgqtk


Sorry for this post being all over the place. That's how my mind is right now, so many paths. I'm an all or nothing kind of person. So I must make a decision otherwise I become paralyzed.

 

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[Ismail941]

@Lex DeVille can tell you about it.

 

[Val Okafor]

Hello guys,

I'm a full-time web developer, machine learning freelancer on the side. I'm not making any money by freelancing (I'm doing it for the experience and to learn real-world application of machine learning).
I'm getting better at time management, how to talk with clients, how to start branding myself, etc. But I don't like it to be honest. it's been only a month, maybe it's too early to give up. Another good thing is that is forcing me to give up useless distractions, like youtube, etc. But every day feels dreadful. I'm thinking, maybe I'll get used to it? Do you guys had to go through such a phase too? Is this how it is going to be if I want to be rich? Or maybe I have the wrong mindset?

I'm 23, and earning roughly 2k€/month. My monthly expenses are less than 700€. So I have some cash saved up. I always liked creating products, from idea to final product. But never sold any product in my life. I've had some opportunities to pitch my ideas, but I was too afraid of failing, so I gave up on them. But I can honestly say, creating products (innovative ideas) is what I love to do the most.

I don't know what to do right now. Should I give up freelancing and start creating products on the side (lean startup: mvp, etc)? Or continue freelancing? I'm also thinking of working hard to get to work at Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft (big 4). I honestly think if I work hard enough and practice interviews (leetcode.com), create side projects, participate in contests, etc. I might pull it off.

Here's a video from John Sonmez that talks about it. What do you guys think? Is he full of shit or speaking the truth?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhXGtlwgqtk


Sorry for this post being all over the place. That's how my mind is right now, so many paths. I'm an all or nothing kind of person. So I must make a decision otherwise I become paralyzed.

Number one John Sonmez has lost his mind so you stop listening to him. I consumed, followed a lot of his stuff from back when I was doing .Net development. He does not do practice what he preaches, he is confused, trying to figure it out himself and lately started this Twitter rant that is deeply political and divisive that I don't want to get into it, check his Twitter feed if interested.

Back to your question, you should do both. You should continue to do Freelancing, a matter of fact, expand and double down on Freelancing, because it expands your knowledge, helps you learn faster and puts money in your pocket. Creating a digital product is hard, and takes time. It does not strike me that you have a senior-level skill set yet, so I will use Freelancing to catch up.

I have had some success with Freelancing and now I have switched gears to building my own digital product and I can tell you it's not easy.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Sorry for this post being all over the place. That's how my mind is right now, so many paths. I'm an all or nothing kind of person. So I must make a decision otherwise I become paralyzed.

Something tells me OP will never read this, but oh well. If you are really an all or nothing kind of person who has to make a decision or become paralyzed, then what are you asking us for?

That is paralysis..

Make a decision. Make that decision work for you. That's it.

It's hard to give advice about these things because most decisions can work. But no decisions can work if you don't make one and act on it.

There. Is. No. Correct. Path.

There is only the path you take and the journey you go on as a result.

 

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[mastermind007]

Number one John Sonmez has lost his mind so you stop listening to him. I consumed, followed a lot of his stuff from back when I was doing .Net development. He does not do practice what he preaches, he is confused, trying to figure it out himself and lately started this Twitter rant that is deeply political and divisive that I don't want to get into it, check his Twitter feed if interested.

Back to your question, you should do both. You should continue to do Freelancing, a matter of fact, expand and double down on Freelancing, because it expands your knowledge, helps you learn faster and puts money in your pocket. Creating a digital product is hard, and takes time. It does not strike me that you have a senior-level skill set yet, so I will use Freelancing to catch up.

I have had some success with Freelancing and now I have switched gears to building my own digital product and I can tell you it's not easy.
View attachment 29566

Before you replied, I ended up making the decision and canceling the projects I was working on. Maybe I should've slept on it before making the decision. I think If I kept on going I probably could have started charging a decent amount of money and slowly go up. Because I didn't look for the clients, all of them came to me, and they did offer money, although very low bids.. But regardless, with time I think I could've worked on my niche (chatbot development) and gained momentum.

But on the other hand, I'm young, and I have some free time. This is the time to experiment and take bold risks. I'll see a year from now if I made the right choice.

 

[mastermind007]

Something tells me OP will never read this, but oh well. If you are really an all or nothing kind of person who has to make a decision or become paralyzed, then what are you asking us for?

That is paralysis..

Make a decision. Make that decision work for you. That's it.

It's hard to give advice about these things because most decisions can work. But no decisions can work if you don't make one and act on it.

There. Is. No. Correct. Path.

There is only the path you take and the journey you go on as a result.

Funny, I couldn't handle not taking action so I ended up making the decision before anyone replied (ended up choosing the product route). Only time will tell if I made the right decision. Now, back to work, time is ticking. Gotta make shit happen, even if it ends up being absolute shit

 

[Lex DeVille]

This is the time to experiment and take bold risks

If you ain't dead then it's always time to take bold risks
Glad to see you made a choice!

 

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[xRAMx]

Number one John Sonmez has lost his mind so you stop listening to him. I consumed, followed a lot of his stuff from back when I was doing .Net development. He does not do practice what he preaches, he is confused, trying to figure it out himself and lately started this Twitter rant that is deeply political and divisive that I don't want to get into it, check his Twitter feed if interested.

Back to your question, you should do both. You should continue to do Freelancing, a matter of fact, expand and double down on Freelancing, because it expands your knowledge, helps you learn faster and puts money in your pocket. Creating a digital product is hard, and takes time. It does not strike me that you have a senior-level skill set yet, so I will use Freelancing to catch up.

I have had some success with Freelancing and now I have switched gears to building my own digital product and I can tell you it's not easy.
View attachment 29566

I don't agree with Val, John Sonmez was a beneficial factor in many aspects of my growth such as entrepreneurship, mentality, etc... While I didn't learn everything from John or agree with him on everything he is far from a lost man. A lot of his videos are gems I appreciate his work. John has achieved a lot more than many of us on this forum, of course you should take his advice it is foolish to not take it even if you do not agree with all of it.

 

[srodrigo]

Here's a video from John Sonmez that talks about it. What do you guys think? Is he full of shit or speaking the truth?
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhXGtlwgqtk

I don't like the guy itself, but what he's saying on this video makes complete sense and it's good advice. I'm unaware and uninterested about whether he's lost his mind or not, but this video is valuable. You should be able to tell if you analyse the following points he makes:

1. Freelancing sounds great on paper, and we all are tempted (I'm the first one). But it can become a job without the advantages of a job, and way more stress. Unless freelancing is focused as an intermediate step toward something that eventually detaches your time from your income, which in "Fastlane terms" means Commandment of Time.
2. If you still want to go for freelancing, build a personal brand and become an authority, so people come to you instead of you begging for work.
3. A digital product doesn't have these problems after you've put the work and it's running on auto-pilot.

Good luck.