How to find and learn a profitable skill

And why did I record this particular video three times? Because I own a PC, apparently. No, but seriously, it just kept freezing up on me. It wasn’t really all that dramatic 😆.

In all seriousness, you need to go watch this video right now. It took me about 5-6 years before I felt ready to step out on my own, and even then, I was definitely not ready to take the leap (I did anyway; you should listen to my podcast from Lions of Liberty on exactly why I did it).

Oh, and by the way, make sure to get on every podcast you can when people start inviting you on. This one was particularly special to me because I’ve listened to Lions of Liberty since 2015. Give it a listen, and give them a follow.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, telling you exactly what to do to rake in some green.

If you've been kicking around the idea of freelancing but you don’t really know what to do, you are not alone. I got lucky and more or less fell into writing, but that was in 2015/2016; luck doesn’t cut it anymore.

The competition is stiff out there, at least for a while. So, let’s say that luck isn’t on your side. Where do you even start? I would go straight to Upwork and see what is trending:

Then, I’d find a promising skill and go to LinkedIn Learning (there are TONS of free ways to access LI Learning, don’t worry), start a learning path, and learn enough to be marketable. Then, I’d create a highly optimized profile on Upwork and start bidding.

But all my friends say that Upwork sucks

Your friends are probably doing it wrong. Do they take a cut? Yes, they do. Because they provide a service. And speaking from experience, Upwork is hands down the best freelancing service on the market, and it isn’t close.

My man Jacob has been optimizing his profile and is crushing it. Many such cases. This is not a post all about Upwork (although I did write a book about it, which you should totally buy). I am not an affiliate of Upwork or anything like that. But there is just no faster or safer way to go from zero-to-1 as a freelancer than Upwork.

In review

Okay, so here are the steps in order:

1. Search Upwork to see what’s hot. This means there is a high demand that is likely not being filled. Pick JUST ONE. You need to focus like a laser on learning this skill.

2. Get a free LinkedIn Learning account. Your public library probably offers it, but there are lots of other ways as well.

3. Learn that skill as fast as you possibly can. Money loves speed.

4. Create an optimized Upwork profile and start bidding on jobs.

5. I didn’t talk about this earlier, but build a network of peers and friends in this space. You’ll find that they are a great source of referrals. Twitter and LinkedIn are your ultimate sources for this.

6. Make tons of money 🤑🤑🤑