#155: How to Diversify Your Income—and Protect Against Uncertain Times, with Michelle Jackson

Today’s guest is Michelle Jackson of Denver, Colorado. Michelle is a freelance content creator. She has been blogging, writing and talking about personal finance for the past decade—although she will tell us in today’s episode how she’s pivoting her business away from that. 

But, I’ve been following Michelle on Twitter for a while and learning from what she has to say about earning and managing money as a freelancer. So, I invited her to come on the show to talk about how we can prepare ourselves for uncertain times.

Many people are nervous right now about the economy, inflation and clients cutting back on work, so I hope this conversation will help you brainstorm potential new ventures ways to diversify your income. 

Michelle’s website, The Brand Building Lab is where, in her own words, she gets to “geek out about all things online entrepreneurship while uplifting voices of color and allies who are doing the work … but may not get on center stage for whatever reason.”

In this episode, Michelle talks about:

• Navigating uncertainty in the economy
• How freelancers underestimate the number of clients they need to sustain their business
• Why you always need systems to be bringing in new clients
• Relying too much on one client for your income
• Asking yourself: Who has the power in your business? 
• The importance of setting boundaries
• Understand how your clients make money and what the value is of your work versus what they are paying you
• Be intentional about the work you’re doing
• Why and how to diversify your income
• How to scale your expertise
• “Passive income isn’t passive until it’s passive”—it takes a long time to build up
• Getting comfortable with taking measured risks
• Apply for grants to support a project you want to pursue 

Biz Bites: Be clear about your priorities each quarter; batch work; diversify your income; prioritize you. 

Resources:

• Michelle’s website: BrandBuildinglab.com
• Michelle on Twitter
• Podcasters Getting Paid newsletter
• Michelle Is Money Hungry podcast
• Kaitlyn Arford’s freelance opportunities newsletter
• Grants for Creators
• Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group. 

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