At its core, affiliate marketing is a simple idea: a business rewards you for sending them a new customer. It’s a performance-based model that has become a cornerstone of the modern . But long before the internet, this concept existed in a much simpler form.
Your salary isn't the whole story when it comes to your career's potential. To really get ahead, you need to know how to look at a potential employer, figure out what you’re worth, and negotiate the best possible compensation package. And in a market that can change on a dime, it’s just as crucial to know how to protect yourself financially if you find yourself out of a job.
My first investment wasn’t in the stock market. It was in myself. In the world of finance, they call it “human capital”—the value you bring to a company through your skills, knowledge, and experience. Long before I knew the official term, I understood a simpler truth: being a valuable employee was how you made money, and money seemed to be the key to a happy life.
A few years ago at a conference, a speaker asked the audience, “What is your first memory of money?” I drew a blank. The question is important because our earliest experiences with money form deep-seated beliefs, or “money scripts,” that guide our financial lives without us even realizing it.
You've already put in so much work, but this is just the start. Now you have to become a master juggler, a full-fledged freelancer. I think of it as spinning multiple plates while wearing several different hats all at once. The plates represent all the different projects you’re working on, and the hats are the various roles you have to step into, beyond just being the expert at your craft.
Closing your first deal as a freelancer is a huge milestone. Take a moment to celebrate that win. But before you dive into the work, it's smart to pause and make sure your work environment is actually set up to help you succeed. This is a crucial step when from home.
You've done the hard part—you’ve defined your service, set your prices, and are ready to go. Now comes the step that trips a lot of people up when : finding paying customers. It feels intimidating, but the truth is, the foundation for your client list is probably already sitting in your pocket.
How you feel about your work and its place in your life is a huge deal. Before you can build a freelance career that’s both rewarding and exciting, you have to do the internal work of understanding yourself—your boundaries, your needs, and your motivations. When you first , this self-reflection is the most critical step.
To really get what freelancing is about, it helps to see how it stacks up against a traditional job. The single biggest difference? Accountability. As an employee, you answer to your boss. As a freelancer, you answer to yourself. It’s a simple distinction that changes everything about how you work, get paid, and plan your life.