An essential part of is figuring out how to talk about it. This isn't just about what you sell; it's about who you are. The values you hold are just as much a part of your product as your actual skills. You are the brand.
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.
The first time I met Mila, her tiny six-month-old fingers were wrapped firmly around Adela Seally’s cheek. Seally, Mila’s nanny, just smiled and let the baby cling to her. It was clear from that moment that their bond was special. For the better part of six years, Seally has been an integral part of this family in New Rochelle, New York, first caring for Mila’s older sister, Ava, and now Mila herself.
An early mentor of mine used to say, “You can shear a sheep for a lifetime, but you can only skin it once.” This idea has been the foundation of nearly every business I’ve built, from fitness and software to what I do now.
The idea of love feels timeless. While the English word is only about 800 years old, the concept itself is woven into the history of nearly every culture, from the ancient Greeks to the Persians. It’s a cornerstone of every major religion and seems to have been with us since the dawn of civilization. Love is the force that brings us together, giving us strength in hard times and rallying us toward something bigger than ourselves. It’s the classic theme in stories passed down through generations: good versus evil, love versus hate. Maybe these ideas resonate so deeply because we all feel those opposing forces within ourselves.
Let’s be honest for a second. When it comes to your email list, are you acting like a good friend or that one annoying cousin? You know the one—they only show up at the family reunion to pitch you on a pyramid scheme or ask for a job.
It can all start with a simple conversation. I was walking to dinner with Josh Turner at an affiliate mastermind when he turned to me and said, “I’d like to buy your company.” He’d heard I was thinking about selling, and something about his directness felt right. Our companies were mirror images—his focused on LinkedIn, mine on Facebook. We shared the same values about taking care of our teams and clients, and our visions for a healthy work-life balance were perfectly aligned. He was ready to make a move, and frankly, so was I.
On social media, the main goal is to connect with your audience in a way that feels native to each platform. When you get it right, you’ll see engagement from customers climb, and you can leverage those relationships to expand your reach far beyond what you could achieve alone.
I've often heard from small business owners and people running a side hustle, "If I could just get people to try my product, I know they'd stick around for life." If that sounds familiar, you're not alone. But what if you could get that "try-before-you-buy" effect without actually giving away your core product for free?