Growing From 5 Figures To 6 Figures As A Freelancer | The Secret Ingredient

Brian Hood (0:00)

This is the 6 Figure Creative Podcast, Episode 194

Welcome to the 6 Figure Creative Podcast, where our mission is to help you turn your creative passions into a stable, reliable income. If you're in audio, video, design, photography, or really any other creative field, and you just want to learn from other successful creatives, you're in the right place. Welcome back to another episode of the 6 Figure Creative Podcast. I am your host, Brian Hood, and I'm joined here, again, with my substitute co-host, Mark Eckert. Mark, how are you doing today, my buddy?

Mark Eckert (0:32)

Substitute teacher, baby, I'm back.

What's up, Brian? How are you doing?

Brian Hood (0:36)

I love that even with my substitute co-host, I can't get away from stupid cats in the background of this shot.

Mark Eckert (0:41)

Come here, kitty.

We got a cat on a window sill. I'm in a, Enoch works with me. I'm at his place because I just, I bought a house and we're renovating it, but I'm studio-less, and I feel very sad about my life because I don't have my own. I'm like coffee shop boy, and just using my friend's studios. I feel pathetic. It's terrible. I'm like, hey, bro, I'm literally hitting up people. I'm like, hey, bro, Brian wants me to play substitute teacher again. Could I use your studio?

And they're like, again? This has been my life. I'm just bouncing from place to place. It's terrible.

My wife is using our kitchen for her office, so I just have nowhere to go. I'm lost.

Brian Hood (1:22)

You're homeless right now. I remember an episode you substituted on probably like four or five substitutions ago.

You had just set up this new studio in this fancy brick apartment. I don't know what it was or how you got it or whatever. It was beautiful, but you couldn't use it because you didn't even know how to use the gear in the new place yet or something. It wasn't even set up.

Mark Eckert (1:40)

The gear wasn't set up.

Brian Hood (1:41)

You're just destined to be homeless, and that's just the way you are. That's who you are. It's who you're going to be, and then one day it'll change.

Mark Eckert (1:48)

I hope because I just bought a home, but who knows?

Brian Hood (1:52)

When does that, what's the estimated date you can move in?

Mark Eckert (1:55)

I don't want to talk about it, Brian. How about that? How about you can just, I'll just shoot you a text and I'll let you know. I moved in, visit me.

Brian Hood (2:01)

This is why you just buy new construction. That's what I'm just saying. I bought new construction, moved straight in. It's been glorious.

Mark Eckert (2:07)

I wanted a 1936 bungalow with lead paint. So that's what I wanted, bro.

We're right next to Uptown. I'm going to inhale all that. Let's help the audience, bro. How about that? Stop talking about my lead.

Brian Hood (2:19)

Let's move in today's episode. For anyone who's still with us at this point, today's episode I think is going to be a great one. Me and Mark planned out a really, really good episode today that I think is going to be relevant for any of our audience right now who is stuck in that four to five figure range, meaning you are earning not enough to be full-time, really not even enough to be a strong part-time, and you're trying to find that, I don't know what you would call it, the secret, which is, I hate that word, the secret to success. Yes, the secret to success. It doesn't really work that way, but we're going to talk about this. We have a bunch of stuff planned today, but really, the thing we're going to talk about today has been the secret, I'm going to use that word. I'm just going to double down. It's the secret, the secret. It's the secret of my success. It's the secret of Mark's success. It's what we built both of our businesses, actually all of our, we both have multiple businesses. All of our business is on the backbone of this thing.

And anyone struggling in the four to five figure range does not have this thing.

You are struggling with this thing, whether you know it or you don't know it.

And that thing, don't turn it off. I swear we're going to explain this. That thing is trust.

If you are struggling right now, you don't have enough clients to hire you, you're not getting the rates you know you deserve or the rates that I tell you deserve because you probably deserve more than you're getting paid whether you believe you do or you don't. You don't have trust with the person who's going to hire you because anytime someone is making a hiring decision for whatever service you offer, they have the same question in their head that anyone has in their head when they're looking to hire somebody. And that is, is blank the right person for me? Is Mark the right person for me?