Nick Usborne, Author at Courses and Coaching for Freelancers

101 Topic ideas for your money-making website.

As some of you already know, in addition to my regular work I make a second, passive income with some hobby sites.

My largest hobby site, CoffeeDetective.com, has made me over $250,000 in passive income over the last 7 years. Not bad for a site I work on in the evening and at weekends.

I have also written a program, based on my own experiences, so that other people can do the same.

I have spoken and corresponded with hundreds of people who have taken the program, and many have told me the part of the process they found the hardest was coming up with a topic idea.

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Monday Spark: If you haven’t found your true talent yet, dig deeper.

by Nick Usborne

In the video below Sir Ken Robinson is talking mainly about education. That’s his thing.

For decades Sir Ken Robinson has challenged the way we’re educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.

He applies a similar way of thinking to business, looking for ways to foster more creative thinking within companies.

There is much in what he says that also applies to us, as freelancers.

First, watch the video.

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How working with a coach can double your freelance income, and more.

by Nick Usborne

As freelancers we can get stuck in a rut.

We find a way to make a reasonable income, and then we stick with it.

But the longer we stick with it, the deeper the rut becomes, and the harder it is to break out into new and better directions.

In fact, we soon lose sight of the fact that there are other possibilities beyond the rim of the rut.

After a while we begin to lose heart. Yes, we are making a living. Yes, we have a routine that seems to work OK. But… wasn’t there a time when we thought we were capable of much more?

It’s at this point that we need the intervention of a coach.

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Monday Spark: Taking small risks makes you FEEL GOOD.

by Nick Usborne

As freelancers we tend to be risk-averse. We feel that our future is scary enough as it is, without taking any unnecessary risks.

But…we are also entrepreneurs, building a small business from the ground up. And one of the hallmarks of successful entrepreneurs is that they do take risks.

I’m not talking about crazy risks that could lead to the loss of everything. I’m thinking more about the kinds of risks Seth Godin refers to in his book, Poke the Box
.

He makes the point that doing nothing, starting nothing and risking nothing leads ultimately to stagnation and collapse. You need to challenge the status quo from time to time. You need to poke the box. (You know “the box” – it’s that thing you are meant to think outside of.)

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If your sales copy doesn’t flow smoothly, rewrite it. Or fail.

by Nick Usborne

A couple of weeks ago a young copywriter sent me a sales page he had written. He wanted to know if I thought it was any good.

I must have been having a very slow day, because I don’t usually have time to answer all the emails I receive, let alone look at attachments.

And I kind of dread reading “newbie copy”, because I know I’ll find lots of things that aren’t working quite right, and also know I won’t have time to write back with a full and comprehensive critique.

Anyway, on this particular day I did read the entire sales page.

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