Excellent point. 🙂 We did. We also think about how far we've come, which is a great source of motivation for both me and my wife.
About delegation: I've realized I'm more of an engineer than a businessman. I can sell my services, which is a fantastic skill, but I still deeply care about shipping the absolute best software we can. Because I haven't had the budget for senior engineers, reviewing solutions and being involved in the implementation while trying to find new projects simply consumed all my time. Maybe it would be different if I was less technically conscious and had more of a "just make the client happy" mindset.
I delegated technical tasks through GitHub Projects for my employee and contractors and used Notion for a couple of months while I had a VA.
Glad you got to realize your dream! Happy for you :)
That's a good point. I haven't come across that many agency/companies that delegate most of the client work and sales process. I'm still on the lookout for those!
I'd say it depends on the size and what you're doing. If it's something simple like React development, Upwork does the lead generation, and you can do well with reusing 80% of your copies. My secret sauce: I send along the proposal a couple of blog articles that are relevant to the job. It worked well last year. For the actual work itself, that's the most important part for me because, as a contractor, your name is on the line.
I had inbound leads through my blog, but Upwork was the fastest to find a gig (I plan on reviewing my profile soon!). Last year in December, I spent some time learning how to research leads on LinkedIn. Considering how much time I spent on it, I got into a call with the company's CEO, and we signed an NDA, which is, although far from a project, a result. 🤷♂️
Upwork can be quite predictable in that sense. People are explicit about their problems and if you reach out to enough of them, you'll get a few contracts.
I'm going to try LinkedIn this year. What did you do there? Content, articles, DMs?
Thank you, Jordan! Love your stuff. Discovering your Substack and reading your articles was the boost I needed to be more consistent with my newsletter! 🤝
I believe it's great to give people a broader perspective on both worlds.
Your and other newsletters I mentioned give people insights into what life at businesses of different sizes looks like. I have a blend of both worlds because, through freelancing and contracting work, sometimes I ended up managing teams.
I like how you planned out the stages of your life, and it's great that you have the chance to build credibility at a company like Amazon. It'll work in favor of your newsletter and anything you'll do in the future!
Because I have this plan of life, I know I can't stop sharp one year and start the other from scratch.
So I'm overlapping them by doing activities that contribute to both worlds. For example, the newsletter helps me grow in the corporate industry while opening future options for other revenue streams.
Finding something that "doesn't compete with my job", but contributes to it, was key. Otherwise, I didn't dedicate time to anything else.
Sure, it's a process, and you might always continue engineering, even if your side hustle grows substantially! I don't see quitting it anytime soon because I enjoy doing it even after a decade.
But I've been considering the full-time path lately because of the upsides I discussed in the article.
The million dollar question after reading this, did you manage to realize your dream of having a home?
Also, I’m curious, how has your experience been with delegating within your company?
Excellent point. 🙂 We did. We also think about how far we've come, which is a great source of motivation for both me and my wife.
About delegation: I've realized I'm more of an engineer than a businessman. I can sell my services, which is a fantastic skill, but I still deeply care about shipping the absolute best software we can. Because I haven't had the budget for senior engineers, reviewing solutions and being involved in the implementation while trying to find new projects simply consumed all my time. Maybe it would be different if I was less technically conscious and had more of a "just make the client happy" mindset.
I delegated technical tasks through GitHub Projects for my employee and contractors and used Notion for a couple of months while I had a VA.
Glad you got to realize your dream! Happy for you :)
That's a good point. I haven't come across that many agency/companies that delegate most of the client work and sales process. I'm still on the lookout for those!
Thanks! :)
I'd say it depends on the size and what you're doing. If it's something simple like React development, Upwork does the lead generation, and you can do well with reusing 80% of your copies. My secret sauce: I send along the proposal a couple of blog articles that are relevant to the job. It worked well last year. For the actual work itself, that's the most important part for me because, as a contractor, your name is on the line.
Was Upwork your main source of lead? Or are you using something else too?
I had inbound leads through my blog, but Upwork was the fastest to find a gig (I plan on reviewing my profile soon!). Last year in December, I spent some time learning how to research leads on LinkedIn. Considering how much time I spent on it, I got into a call with the company's CEO, and we signed an NDA, which is, although far from a project, a result. 🤷♂️
Upwork can be quite predictable in that sense. People are explicit about their problems and if you reach out to enough of them, you'll get a few contracts.
I'm going to try LinkedIn this year. What did you do there? Content, articles, DMs?
Thank you for the mention, Akos! It's been a pleasure interacting with you on Substack/LI. Looking forward to more :)
Thank you, Jordan! Love your stuff. Discovering your Substack and reading your articles was the boost I needed to be more consistent with my newsletter! 🤝
Thanks for the mention, Akos!
I have only done full-time employment, but I have this idea in my mind that I want to live life in stages.
So I'm into my corporate job stage. In my 30s I want to try something else. In my 40s another new thing...
This keeps me motivated to do my best at this stage because I know I won't be here for 40 years :)
I believe it's great to give people a broader perspective on both worlds.
Your and other newsletters I mentioned give people insights into what life at businesses of different sizes looks like. I have a blend of both worlds because, through freelancing and contracting work, sometimes I ended up managing teams.
I like how you planned out the stages of your life, and it's great that you have the chance to build credibility at a company like Amazon. It'll work in favor of your newsletter and anything you'll do in the future!
Yeah absolutely.
Because I have this plan of life, I know I can't stop sharp one year and start the other from scratch.
So I'm overlapping them by doing activities that contribute to both worlds. For example, the newsletter helps me grow in the corporate industry while opening future options for other revenue streams.
Finding something that "doesn't compete with my job", but contributes to it, was key. Otherwise, I didn't dedicate time to anything else.
Sure, it's a process, and you might always continue engineering, even if your side hustle grows substantially! I don't see quitting it anytime soon because I enjoy doing it even after a decade.
But I've been considering the full-time path lately because of the upsides I discussed in the article.