Freelance Writers: How To Earn 6 Figures By Keeping A To Do List
I’m a prolific list keeper. I think this started in college when I was working two jobs and taking 18 credits (six classes) at the same time. One of the first things I do when I log on in the morning is check my list. It’s nothing fancy (I’m not into gadgets). A simple MS Word file divided into two columns.
Four Marketing Tasks on My To-Do List that Lead to Cash
There are four things I try to do every day. Namely:
(1) Send the newsletter to new subscribers;
(2) Make 3 marketing contacts (this number can fluctuate depending on business);
(3) Do a blog post (Mon-Thurs); and
(4) Do some writing on new ebooks I’m trying to get out. I’ve fallen behind on this, but that’s a topic for another article. I always list these four duties on my calendar. Whether I always finish them is irrelevant.
Following is WHY Keeping a To-Do List Can Make You 6 Figures in One Year
In 2006, when I completed the one marathon I’ve run, I trained for almost a year. I read a book on it, printed out a training calendar and tried to meet the mileage goals on it. Some days I exceeded what was on the chart; other days I didn’t even come close. The point is though, I could look at it at any given time and see how much work I had to do to get where I wanted to be.
Lists are Dreams on Paper
Lists are nothing but dreams on paper. When you write a list, what you’re really writing down is everything you’d like to accomplish. Those accomplishments come from an idea you have in your head. The dream goes something like this, “If I could organize my day to achieve my dream, this is what it would look like; this is what I need to do.”
If you’ve ever kept a list for any period of time, look back over it. If you had done everything on it – consistently – where would you be today? This is what I mean when I say lists are dreams on paper.
Following is HOW to Make 6 Figures in One Year by Keeping a To-Do List
Now, this is the fun part. Because I’m a freelance writer, I’ll use my career as an example. I have an income goal for this year. I take that number and divide it by number of working days. Let’s use $100,000 as an example. If I wanted to achieve that, I would divide it by 240. Why 240? 20 working days a month times 12 months a year equals 240. $100,000 / 240 days = $417/day (approximately).
And, this is why I keep a running total of my daily take, as listed in my calendar. If I know that I need to make $417 dollars every working day, then I can stay on top of my marketing.
Keeping a List Makes Marketing Easy, Fun and Most of All, Profitable
I slice and dice numbers a few ways. For example, $100,000/year is $8,333/month. With my current roster of 20-30 clients, how much does each one of them need to spend with me per month to reach that goal?
If they’re not reaching that goal, how many more do I need to bring on to reach that mark? Or, should I push my ebooks more? The point is, once you have a goal in mind, all you have to do is figure out how you’re going to get there. This is what taking charge of your career and pushing it to the next level is all about.
Why Working Without a List Can Lead to Failure
When you work without a goal in mind, you’re really just driving without a destination. You’re letting your career come to you, instead of going out and defining it. For example, I know I don’t want to have to write for a living the rest of my life.
At some point, I want passive income – enough of it to be able to write as little as possible. And, while I make good money doing what I do, I’m striving to get to the next level. For me, true financial freedom means not making enough to pay my bills, but making enough to spend large chunks of my time doing what I want to do (travel).
This means making concrete goals and putting together a concrete plan to get there. And, that’s all a list is – dreams (goals) on paper.
Do you have a list? Do you stick to it? Talk back.
