'I Feel Invisible: How Do I Get Good-Paying Clients???'

The real pigeonhole, my dear, isn’t in doing something so freaky it’s memorable: the real pigeonhole is when you aren’t brave enough to make any decisions at all. ͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­ Forwarded this email? [Subscribe here]() for more ['I Feel Invisible: How Do I Get Good-Paying Clients???']( The real pigeonhole, my dear, isn’t in doing something so freaky it’s memorable: the real pigeonhole is when you aren’t brave enough to make any decisions at all. [Ash Ambirge]( Mar 1 ∙ Preview   [READ IN APP](   I’m Ash, and I’m a writer, traveler & nomad, and this is my weekly advice column, Money for Wanderlusters. Here we talk about how to fund an international lifestyle, with three goals: 1) Travel, live & work from your dream country; (2) Earn $250,000+ remotely; (3) And work 50% less. (I also really love talking about pizza, YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.) --------------------------------------------------------------- There’s a squishy, sneaky, slutty little epidemic I’ve noticed lately, and it has nothing to do with asking AI to make a magical potato. (Though if this was on a menu literally anywhere, I woud purchase.) What I’ve noticed is a lot of begging. Begging, it turns out, seems to be how well-meaning humans on the internet are attempting to sell their work. Please become a paid subscriber so I can feed my kids! Here are forty thousand things I’m including here in the hopes you will buy this shiiiiiit. I reallllllly don’t want to have to go back to work, so could you please donate to the cause? Some people even resort to threats. If you don’t buy, I’m going to shut this thing down! I swear I will! DO NOT TEST ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And even really weird pushy stuff: I don’t know if I’ll EVER offer this again, so you’d better buy it right now, or else I’m removing you from my goddamn email list, you ungrateful piece of internet swine. The rise of platforms like Substack have only exacerbated the matter, as writers, who are not marketers, try everything in their power to get someone, literally freakin’ anyone, to subscribe. AS IT WERE, there are advantages to having been prolifically online for as long as you’ve been menstruating (besides some sweet reverse curvature of the neck): not only do you know how to write on the internet. You know how to sell on it. My peers and I grew up learning how to become our own brand. And, when you become your own brand, there are a few things that naturally happen: - You view your work through the lens of that brand - You view your value in the marketplace through the lens of that brand - And you understand that brands are worth money 💰 No one cares if you’re a photographer. There are lots of photographers. How does one choose? But, if you’re a photographer who exclusively photographs Airbnbs, now you’ve got a signature. A calling card. Something definitive about you, that makes you memorable, and gives you instant cachet, and serves as a mark of mastery: if all you do is photograph Airbnbs, you are an Airbnb expert. No questions asked. As such, if an Airbnb host were looking for someone to come out and photograph their space and take killer images in the hopes that it’ll help their property sell, they’ve got two options: - Hire the random photographer who does weddings, newborns, family photos, and sunset landscapes, all caked together onto one website - Or, hire the photographer who specializes in Airbnb Which one would you hire? And, which one would you be willing to pay a premium for? That’s the difference between being a photographer, and being a brand. The photographer must put forth a grueling effort to get the business, get the client, and get his asking price, often losing out to competitors who were merely cheaper. That’s what happens when the only thing different about you is your price. On the other hand, the brand has a waitlist of clients at all times, can command above market rates, and has authority in the minds of buyers, thereby erasing typical objections found in business, like mere price. People don’t care about price when you are the ONLY. And that, right there, is the key to creating a magnetic brand: what’s your ONLY factor??? I know, I know: that’s a lot of pressure. And you’re also worried you’ll pigeonhole yourself into a place you don’t wanna be in. But that second thing you can stop worrying about: all businesses are living, breathing entities that are always morphing and transforming. You aren’t worried about what you’ll want to do five years from now: right now, you’re just worried about how you can make a name for yourself today. Once you have that name? You can take it anywhere. But until then, you must find ways to stand out from the crowd. The key is in creating a brand, not a business. Go ahead, I dare you to be the copywriter who writes funny newsletters, the illustrator that draws gardens, the accountant that makes taxes easy, the interior designer who only does apartments. Take the risk! Do something SPECIAL. Be THE ONE. Be extraordinary. The real pigeonhole, my dear, isn’t in doing something so freaky it’s memorable: the real pigeonhole is when you aren’t brave enough to make any decisions at all. Here is a fun-filled list of things you can ask yourself when it comes to creating your brand, your exclamation mark, your hot little strange, weird, ballsy & spectacular calling card for the world: ... Subscribe to The Middle Finger Project to read the rest. Become a paying subscriber of The Middle Finger Project to get access to this post and other subscriber-only content. [Upgrade to paid]( A subscription gets you: Access to All Posts Access to Archives Access to Comments   [Like]( [Comment]( [Restack](   © 2024 Ash Ambirge 177 Huntington Ave Ste 1703, PMB 64502 Boston, Massachusetts 02115 [Unsubscribe]() [Get the app]( writing]()