Die With Zero Is a Trap for Most Freelancers
Bill Perkins wrote Die With Zero for hedge fund managers with predictable income. Then everyone else read it. Here's why the framework breaks for irregular-income workers - and what to use instead.
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Business & Entrepreneurship
A focused shelf of PickyFox posts on business & entrepreneurship.
Spending Money on Happiness Without Lifestyle Inflation
Dunn and Norton's five Happy Money rules sound obvious. They are. Almost no freelancer actually applies them. Here's how to spend on happiness without your overhead quietly eating your raise.
Best Budgeting Apps for Irregular Income
Most budgeting apps assume a steady paycheck. Here are the ones that actually survive irregular income, from someone who's lived the lumpy months.
Freelance Discovery Call Questions That Filter
The right freelance discovery call questions do two jobs: they scope the work and they screen out the clients who'll wreck your month. Here's the short list to ask.
How to Get Clients to Pay on Time (I Learned Late)
I let a client owe me for three months because chasing felt rude. Here's what that taught me about how to get clients to pay on time, the unglamorous way.
How to Find Freelance Clients Without Job Boards
Job boards are a race to the bottom with strangers. Here's how to find freelance clients without them, using the channels that bring better work at better rates.
Why Bureaucracy Is Eating Your Freelance Business
Vendor portals, 40-page NDAs, procurement gauntlets, three-tier invoice systems. None of it makes anyone safer. It just makes you cheaper. A rant.
A Freelance Client Onboarding Process That Works
The first week sets the tone for the whole project. Here's a freelance client onboarding process that prevents the misunderstandings that wreck jobs later.
Should Freelancers Niche Down? It's Complicated
Should freelancers niche down? The advice is louder than it is honest. A look at what niching actually buys you, what it costs, and the version that works.
How to Set Up a Freelance Retainer Clients Renew
A freelance retainer is the closest thing solo work has to a salary, if you build it right. Here's how to set one up that clients actually keep renewing.
How Often Should You Change Your Mind? (More Than You Do)
Adam Grant's rethinking framework is most often discussed by people who don't actually use it. Here's what changing your mind well looks like when you do work for a living.
Freelance Pricing Models: Which One Actually Fits
Hourly, project, value, retainer: the four freelance pricing models, what each one rewards, and how to tell which fits the work in front of you right now.