Where do I even start?

Okay, okay, I didn’t make that up. But that tired old Asian proverb still holds up to the tests of time pretty well. I have a few pieces of advice that will probably help you along the way, though.

1. Figure out what you have to offer (and learn a skill if you don’t have one)

Writing is a great all-around skill to learn, and you can make bank with it. But it is not for everyone, and not everyone should learn it. If you hate writing, you are not going to flip a switch and start liking it when rent is due.

There are a million skills out there that you can leverage and plenty of free ways to learn them. YouTube is the obvious answer, but also things like LinkedIn Learning. My local library offers free access to LinkedIn Learning, and you also get it included with LinkedIn Premium (which you can get for free if you are a veteran).

The point is that you need to find something you like to do and then get good at it. But you don’t have to be great at it to make money; start out being decent, and get better. As you get better, you will also earn more.

2. Make your first buck online

Everything is conjecture until you actually make money on the internet. By this, I mean money that was solely procured through a digital interface. No job, no physical transaction. You need to make that first buck on the internet.

And it’s fine if you only land a tiny gig with your first online money. In fact, it’s probably important that you do, because you need to understand that the riches of WiFi money are out there, but they are not for the novice.

Yeah, I know that is anti-guru advice. But those big WiFi riches aren’t for everyone. They are for those who have experience. Who have done many thousands of repetitions of their respective disciplines (if you are a writer, make that millions upon millions of words)?

But you aren’t going to find a $10k per month retainer client after you’ve been in the game for 6 months. I am extremely skeptical of anyone who makes a claim like this. They are probably lying.

3. Use Upwork

Yes, I am an Upwork fan boi. And I am fan because if I hadn’t accidentally found Upwork in late 2015, I would not be doing what I do today. There would be no email list with you on it, there would be no freelance writing. I would still probably be doing what I did, working in airport operations somewhere. Not that it was a bad gig; I still miss it sometimes.

Look, Upwork gets a bad rap all the time, and there is definitely room for improvement, but it is by far the fastest way to start making internet money. And you can’t argue that it isn’t internet money.

Yes, they take a cut, and that sucks. But it is straightforward and reliable. I have earned over $70,000 on the platform, and I can guarantee it is a legitimate service. Don’t get black pilled on Reddit about Upwork. Go set up a free account, optimize your profile (there are about a million good examples out there), and start bidding.

What I love about Upwork is that if you have hourly contracts, you withdraw weekly and can build your budget around predictable weekly withdrawals. Also, Upwork seriously mitigates the risk to you, the freelancer, by holding the money in escrow. You know the money is there, and you can enter into arbitration if the client tries to rip you off.

Really, it is the best place to get started.

Since I do talk about Upwork, and I def still think it is a viable platform for getting started, grab my book.

Talk to y’all tomorrow. Until then, keep it between the ditches.

-John