I spent 12 Months on Upwork. And made $235k. Fun fact, I rarely used the job feed. I’ve made a free video explaining how I did, like & comment ‘VID’ and I’ll send it.

What people think running a design agency is: - Sitting in Figma making nice things all day - Creative freedom and good vibes - Charging a lot for work you'd do for fun What it usually is: - Sales calls and scope conversations - Managing people, deadlines and expectations - Building systems so the work doesn't all sit on you - Fixing the thing nobody told you was broken It starts with doing the design work, then moves to designing how the work gets done (which is also incredibly fun)

group 1: great at getting clients, terrible at delivering them group 2: great at delivering, no idea how to get clients consistently find your issue and ONLY focus on fixing that

A full breakdown of creating content that resolves doubts and gets people to message.

when someone tells me upwork is slow I ask them one question when did you last update your approach? the answer is almost always "a while ago" upwork hasn't slowed down, you have

The weirdest thing about scaling past £50k months, some friendships change completely can’t talk to certain people about success because they think you’re showing off when you mention hiring.. they think you’re crazy when you talk about systems they don’t get why you’re “always thinking how to do things better”

You can’t explain to grow while things are broken. It takes 1 step back to go 2 steps forward. For some, that might mean a slight drop of income before you can grow again. For most, that’s scary enough to keep them stuck at the same level for years.

spicy take: the older, slower path of building positioning through clarity and strategy, paired with a simple lead funnel for converting, is producing more intentional and better client outcomes than these insanely over-processed automation workflows.

I just wasted 4 days in Portugal went on a stag do.. no deep work, no journaling, no cold plunges, no "optimising my morning routine from the hotel room." just beer, terrible decisions, and the best laughs I've had in months. and the business? it kept running. clients got delivered to, team handled everything, revenue didn't dip, but apparently that's not how you're supposed to do it.. there's this weird culture online where every moment has to be optimised. like you can't go on holiday without filming a "what I learned" video. can't go to the gym without it being about discipline and mindset. can't have a beer without feeling like you should be working instead. I used to feel guilty about time off. like if I wasn't at my desk I was falling behind. every hour not working was an hour someone else was getting ahead of me. took me years to realise that the whole point of building a business was so I could go on a stag do in Portugal and not think about work. I checked my phone for 20 minutes each morning with a sore head, replied to a few leads, then check in on the team, that was it. not because I'm disciplined. because the systems are built properly. the team knows what to do, the processes are documented, projects have owners. nobody needed me..came back yesterday, nothing was broken. (apart from my sleeping pattern) "The flexible in between" I strive when I feel like striving. I rest when I feel like resting. some weeks I'll work 50 hours because I'm building something and I'm in the zone. other weeks I'll play golf 3 times and reply to emails from a coffee shop. the business performs the same either way. not everything has to be a growth hack. sometimes the most productive thing you can do is disappear for a few days with your mates and come back actually wanting to work again. build something that lets you do both. that's the whole point.

you'll never hit £20k months if you're doing £20/hour tasks i tracked my time for 6 months, turned out 40% was admin.. proposals.. files back and forth. hired a VA for to handle all of it freed up 60 hours monthly to focus on sales and positioning instead of that busy work

helped a client go from £12k projects to £35k in three months the shift wasn't better work or bigger clients, it was one conversation change they used to say "i can help with that" on discovery calls now they say "i've solved this exact problem for 8 companies in your space, here's the approach that works and here's when you'll see results" positioning. what i see constantly with freelancers in The Doju: they hedge everything because they think it sounds humble, but clients hear uncertainty and uncertainty is expensive you can be brilliant at what you do but if you can't communicate it without "probably" and "hopefully" and "i think," you're going to lose to someone less talented who sounds certain

love the uk system. £9,250 a year for uni. £50k debt before you even start. then once you earn enough to actually pay it back they hit you with 40% tax 2% ni 9% student loan. 51% marginal rate. but sure the problem is you bought a coffee this morning lol

At this rate, I’m inviting Claude to be a best man at my wedding.

helped a dev close £35k last month who’s prices were at £12k before. client said “that seems high for strategy work” here’s what shifted it: the consultant stopped saying “i can probably help with that” and started saying “i’ve done this exact positioning work for 8 companies in your space, here’s the approach that works and here’s when you’ll see traction” same output but completely different confidence level what i see with most of my clients is they hedge everything because they think it sounds humble, but clients hear uncertainty and uncertainty puts them off. you can be brilliant at what you do but if you can’t communicate it without “probably” and “hopefully” and “i think,” you’re going to lose to someone less talented who sounds more certain

if you can't explain your value in one sentence, your positioning is broken ask a £3k freelancer what they do: "well i do branding, which includes logo design, color palettes, and sometimes web design depending on what the client needs, and i also..." ask a £15k consultant what they do: "i position funded startups to win their category" clear beats comprehensive every time