The Principle of Variant Strain and Its Impact on Growth

In this episode, Austin shares the 20 Stories Exercise that helped him build a predictable flow of freelance income. He also goes over the 6 questions you need to uncover which of your current marketing strategies bring you your best, easiest money.

Then, once you know where your best income is coming from, you can put his marketing ideas into action!

What is the biggest challenge most freelancers face? Unpredictable income. And what is the main cause of unpredictable income? Not enough project leads. 

So what’s the one lever that could make many other freelance problems disappear?

A surplus of leads.

Austin's freelancing business did not always have predictable cash flow. Like many other freelancers and consultants, he was dissatisfied with his income. 

When he was busy with client work, marketing was the first thing to go. When his pipeline dried up, he’d be scrambling to find enough freelance work and get money in the bank.

Eventually, he realized that the best time for marketing is when he had no time for marketing.

The only way he would stay consistent was if he simplified his approach. Complexity gets in the way of consistency!

The need to simplify his approach to marketing led Austin to create the 20 Stories Exercise. The exercise reveals which strategies deserve a freelancer’s time and effort and which are ineffective, if not futile.

Freelancers have a bad habit of chasing every new marketing strategy on every platform, but we get better results when we do less but better:

• Focus on a handful of core strategies.
• Pick numbers to track in a scorecard.
• Stop doing what doesn’t work.
• Double down on what does.
• Improve over time.

Less but better is a marketing principle Austin drew from German industrial designer Dieter Rams.

If you struggle to stay consistent with marketing or find the whole process intimidating, this episode is for you. 

Key points

• Intro (00:00)
• The puzzling $1 bills at Starbucks (00:37)
• What does pattern-matching have to do with freelancing and marketing? (03:24)
• How does the 20 Stories Exercise work? (05:15)
• A marketing principle + 7 ideas to improve proven marketing strategies (09:23)
• Investments that promote your growth (21:41)
• What persistence and consistency can do for your freelance business (24:53)
• Build better systems and commit to doing them consistently (29:15)

Notable Quotes

“When you’re in a car moving really, really fast, the objects passing by the window become a blur. The same happens with our businesses. It’s not until we actually take a break or when we slow down that we get clarity.”

"As time passes, as I develop my business, I want to be a little less wrong…and then a little less wrong."

“Take messy, imperfect action. Realize that it’s gonna be ugly, but that’s how improvement happens over time.”

"Marketing is probably the biggest lever for your freelance business."

Resources mentioned in this episode:

1. 20 Stories Exercise
2. Justin Welsh's The LinkedIn Operating System
3. Top Podcast Picks
4. Austin’s High-Income Business Writing Podcast Appearance
5. 22 Open-Ended Consulting Questions
6. FreelanceCake.com/Coaching

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

For specific beliefs, principles, and practices you can use right away to make the freelance game more profitable and satisfying, subscribe to Freelance Cake podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!