I've been freelancing for 3 years now, on the back-end of a 10-year agency stint. (Note - I'm a marketing/growth hacking guy.) Here's what I've learned: - You

I've been freelancing for 3 years now, on the back-end of a 10-year agency stint. (Note - I'm a marketing/growth hacking guy.) Here's what I've learned: - You gotta love the hustle. Not "be able to" hustle. LOVE the hustle. Otherwise you're set up for misery, and we don't freelance to be unhappy - you can do that in a cubicle farm. What do I mean by hustle? Self promotion, client follow-up, content creation, book keeping, socializing, skill development, and so on. - Your core skills don't matter. There are a million out there like you. I've seen many many great developers, engineers, and designers fail at the freelance game simply b/c they didn't appreciate how much sales is involved. - On that note, find a way to stand out. We don't freelance to fit in with the industry standards. This is your chance to be you and find clients who appreciate that. My first website had "Kick Ass" as the first thing you see. I've since progressed to using the "F" word a bit more. I can get away with it. And furthermore, I don't want to work for someone who sees a curse word or nontraditional self-branding and gets uppity about it. Not for me. - Money. Learn to manage it. Learn to let go of the anxiety. Learn the difference between taking a less-than-desirable job to put food on the table and selling your happiness out of fear. This turned into a bit of "Freelance Starter Kit". Sorry. But, if you can mentally own the areas I described above, you can do it. Learn as you go, pivot, move and shake. Good luck, Dave -