3 numbers that actually matter

What if the breakthroughs really do come from doing less but better?

What if “discipline is remembering what you want,” as the internet tells me someone totally untraceable named David Campbell once said?

Once we remember what it is we want, sticking to the plan becomes easier. Saying no to both good but off-target opportunities becomes easier. More restraint with business and personal spending becomes easier.

This week’s newsletter comes from my dear friend Nick True at Mapped Out Money . I asked him to pinch-hit for me while I was on vacation, and Nick is going to talk about freelance finances in more detail.

All positive change truly starts with your belief in the possibility.

Here's Nick...

In 2015 I stumbled on a blogger making $20,000/month. My mind was?blown. I had been reading blogs for years, but I had no idea people were actually making money by writing and marketing on the internet.

Over the next few weeks, I consumed countless podcasts and articles about making money online and living the “laptop lifestyle.”

I was hooked.

I spun up a blog, wrote a few articles, and started pitching my services on the Pro Blogger job forums. My goal was to build a “six figure” freelance business and quit my Office Space-esque engineering job.

Spoiler alert: I didn’t have much success.

I made a rookie mistake. And it’s a mistake I see freelancers make over and over again today…

I didn’t have a deeper reason driving my goal of becoming a “six figure” freelancer.

I’m sure you’ve heard about “Starting with Why,” but I’m talking about something much more practical than simply knowing why you want to grow your freelancing income.

I wanted to have a six-figure income because it sounded cool, not because it helped me achieve something that mattered to me.

I was focused on the wrong metric, for the wrong reason.

Earlier, Austin shared a quote that “discipline is remembering what you want .” Back in 2015, I wasn’t clear on what I wanted.

Luckily, over the next two years my wife, Hanna, and I got extremely clear on what we wanted and why.

We created a vision for quitting our jobs, buying and renovating an Airstream travel trailer, and traveling full-time. We started budgeting our money furiously and saving every extra dollar towards our camper.

In the meantime, I was researching exactly how much it would cost to travel full-time. There was a lot to it! We needed to cover campground fees, tons of gas, maintenance on the truck and trailer, mobile internet plans, and of course normal expenses like groceries and eating out. The total I came up with was $4,500 / month.

Having this monthly number radically changed my freelancing business.

Instead of focusing on becoming a “six figure freelancer,” I just had to focus on taking home $4,500 each month. I was finally able to set revenue goals that meant something because they were tied to mine and Hanna’s bigger vision.

Let me explain.

• I knew I needed $4,500 / month in personal take-home income.
• I also needed to budget for $500 / month in business expenses (computer hardware, website hosting, and a few other software tools)
• From there, I divided the total ($5,000) by 0.8 to account for 20% in taxes and that gave me a revenue goal of $6,250/month.

Why was this so powerful?

Because now, all I had to do was land enough freelance work to cover $6,250/month. And there were lots of ways to get there:

• 1 client at $6,250/month
• 2 clients at $3,125/month
• 4 clients at $1,560/month
• 10 clients at $625/month

You get the idea.

It was this clarity around what I wanted and why I wanted it that gave me the discipline to hit my goals.

In December 2016,?we bought our Airstream ?and began renovations. I quit my job 8 months later to go full-time freelancing. I was only doing $2,000/month, but my wife’s income helped us pay the bills while I focused on building the business. By March 2018, I was hitting our revenue goal, my wife quit her job, and we were?free to travel as we pleased .

After about 5 years as nomads, we settled down and are renovating a soon-to-be coworking space + airbnb in Knoxville, TN. We’re still setting goals today the same way we set them back then. Each quarter we revisit and update our life vision document and set revenue targets that are aligned with where we want to go.

So what’s the morale of the story?

You must know your numbers.

I’ve personally coached hundreds of freelancers and business owners, and most of them have no idea how much money they need to make.

They set arbitrary revenue targets based on what sounds good in their head, or what they think would make them look impressive to friends and family.

AKA - they’re setting goals based on things that matter to other people, not what matters to them.

This is the whole mission behind my company Mapped Out Money. I want you to manage your money so that you can do more of what matters to you. Not more of what impresses other people.

I encourage you to spend some time this week fleshing out three specific numbers:

1. How much money do you personally need each month to live the life you want? This requires you to create a vision for your life, get clear on what truly matters to you, and set a budget.
2. How much revenue must your business make in order to pay you that number, cover the business expenses, and cover taxes?
3. How many clients do you need each month to hit your revenue target?

You should aim to be crystal clear on those three numbers. Know them like the back of your hand. Then hyper-focus on what you need to do to hit them.

As Austin said above, once we remember what it is we want, sticking to the plan becomes easier.

If you’d like to learn more about how to get clarity on those numbers and better manage your money,?check out my newsletter here .

- Nick True, Founder of Mapped Out Money

Do you need a fresh start with your freelance business?

I've got a free 6-video course called Freelance Business Blueprint that comes with worksheets.

Once you go through the exercises, you'll have fresh clarity around your freelance niche, how exactly you want to serve that audience, what you need to charge, and how to market yourself.

• Eagranie Y. had this to say about FBB: "You're saying things in a way that finally make sense to me. I really appreciate all that you do for the writing community."
• And Annie F. had a similar response: "This will give me clarity. I've never seen anything like this before."

(You can even print the worksheets if you want to go old school.)

To get the first lesson delivered to your inbox,?go to the Freelance Cake homepage and put in your name and email address .

About Austin L. Church

Hi, I'm Austin, a writer, brand consultant, and freelance coach.

I started freelancing after finishing my M.A. in Literature and getting laid off from a marketing agency. Freelancing led to mobile apps (Bright Newt), a tech startup (Closeup.fm), a children's book (Grabbling ), and a branding studio (Balernum ).?

I love teaching freelancers and consultants how to stack up specific advantages for more income, free time, and fun. My wife and I live with our wrecking balls and two cats in Knoxville, Tennessee, near the Great Smoky Mountains.

You can learn more at?FreelanceCake.com . You can also connect with me on?Twitter .