In the age of hustle culture, everyone wants to get-rich-quick and make money the fastest way possible.
With a sea of influencers and gurus on each and every social media platform posting nothing but success, it's rightfully-so that people might get frustrated when they don't instantly succeed.
People don't understand what is really going on behind the scenes.
One of the biggest misconceptions I see in the online entrepreneurial space is how easy they make it seem.
Whether you choose dropshipping, Amazon FBA, Social Media Marketing Agency (SMMA), freelancing, you'll find a multitude of tutorials and advice for each of these niches.
The most common business model that I see this misconception in is the agency business model.
Many content creators (without naming names) act as if you'll instantly get a client as soon as you reach out to your first business.
(Obviously, this is usually far from the truth).
However, these are always paid clients that each creator mentions.
And of course, that's our end goal when we're starting out - to make money.
What you need to understand and what they do not mention is that there is a way to easily get clients.
You might just have to work for free, (just in the beginning).
Let's dive deeper into the benefits of unpaid work.
One benefit of working for free is that it might actually land you a client.
Everything in the world of business is a value exchange. When you're working for free, those you work with may feel obligated to contract you for paid work in the future. Also, your free work is an opportunity to prove your skills to potential future clients.
Businesses establishing trust in your skills is an absolute necessity - remember you have no reputation at this point.
Try this, head to your favorite business and offer some of your skills for free.
(They'll almost always say yes).
Great, you've landed your first client.
Remember, we're taking a different approach here. Even clients that aren't paying you still count.
Now it's time to build your portfolio.
It may seem unfulfilling, unrewarding, and even grueling, but it helps more than most people imagine.
This will be your "trust-factor" to send to businesses during your cold outreach.
Now that you've landed your first clients, take a day or two to build a nice website of the work you've done for local businesses.
When potential clients see quality work done on your behalf for businesses they shop at, this is when they begin to trust you.
No one wants to work for free, I get it.
Trust me though, it works.
This is how I landed my first real web-design client.
After eating at a local well-known sushi spot, I offered the owner free graphic design services and my quality work and his trust in me led to the future sale his current website.
This began to snowball, and eventually I had a portfolio of work I had done all around town to send with my initial pitch - landing me even more paid clients.
The mind is your body right?
We workout our bodies to get stronger, (many times without seeing results).
If you're into fitness, you know that the days that feel like they yield no progress are necessary to succeed.
Working for free in the beginning is just like this.
It's not fun, you don't see immediate results, and it almost feels pointless.
You shouldn't expect to see results after just one day of working out, so why should you with this?
Treat your mind as you would your body - give it a good workout and eventually the knowledge compounds.
Just as with consistent physical exercise, consistent mind exercise will make everything will *click* and soon enough your business will also be in shape.
Keep this in mind if you find yourself struggling and thinking "why can't I get any clients?"
Don't treat yourself as a "business" just yet.
This is part of your journey for financial freedom, so remember this is still your hustle in your free time.
Make it a smaller, easily reachable goal.
As soon as you can, reach out to that local business and get that first client.
It doesn't matter if its free - you're still learning.
Thank you for reading this week's Beam. I'll see you next week,
Nickolai