Hi, I’m Ryan Waggoner, and I train freelancers to be unstoppable. If you want to know more about what that means, read this.
Now, I don’t know what your situation is or what led you to this site. But generally a common theme in people who find my writing useful is being either a freelancer or interested in freelancing, and wanting to better understand the “business side” of freelancing and consulting.
Maybe you’re working a job you don’t love and you keep thinking that there must be something more to life. You’re tired of working for someone else’s bottom line and not having control over your schedule, your location, and the creative work you do.
Maybe you’ve thought about striking out on your own, maybe you’ve even tried it, but something is holding you back. It could be doubt, fear, lack of support of friends and family. Maybe the people around you don’t really get why you’d quit a good job to “freelance”, and think you’re going to fail.
Maybe you’re already a freelancer and it isn’t going as well as you thought. Maybe you’re having trouble finding good clients who will pay a fair rate. Or getting them to pay on time.
Maybe you feel stuck working too many hours for too little money with clients and projects you don’t love, but you can’t afford to walk away because you don’t have the financial margin.
Or maybe things are going OK but you don’t really know why. You don’t have systems or processes in place to run your business, and you have a nagging feeling that it’s all luck and could come crashing down tomorrow.
Or maybe you’re just lonely, and no one in your life really understands what you do or the emotional journey you’re on.
If any of the above sounds familiar, I want to tell you something.
You’re not alone, and you can do this.
I’ve been freelancing since 2007 and I had some dark days in the first few years before I got the hang of this. That’s why I started writing about freelancing in the first place. I got really tired of watching friends and family and others struggle the way I had when I started out. It became obvious there weren’t nearly enough resources out there to teach freelancers and solo consultants how to build a great career.
So now I train freelancers to be unstoppable. I don’t teach them their craft, but I teach them to respect themselves as professionals, demonstrate their value to the world, and charge accordingly. I want to ensure no freelancer has to take a job or client or project out of desperation.
I’m on a mission to train 1 million freelancers, consultants, and solopreneurs to build healthy, satisfying, and sustainable businesses that earn at least $100,000 / year in profit.
In other words, to be unstoppable.
Now, before I tell you how I do that and what the next steps are, I should probably introduce myself:
Who is Ryan?
I’m a software engineer who has been a full-time freelancer since 2007. My first few years of freelance were really tough, I racked up a huge amount of debt and came very close to total failure. But I managed to figure it out, and for years I’ve consistently earned at least $250,000 from consulting clients.
In 2015 I launched Everleads, which curates the best freelance jobs for developers and designers and delivers them daily via email. This method was how I got most of my leads during my early years of being a freelancer, and I’ve taught it to many others who have found great success with it.
In 2016 I started working on a course for freelancers called Freelance250k, and now hundreds of students have taken it. I’ve got several new courses and products in the works to launch in 2019.
I’m incredibly proud and humbled that tens of thousands of freelancers have subscribed to my newsletter, followed me on social media, and purchased my products. It gives me incredible joy to have the privilege of teaching others the lessons I’ve learned on my own journey.
I live in NYC with my wife Alexis and our daughter Junia.
If you really want to know more about my story, read my about page.
My core beliefs about freelancing
These are the principles that I keep coming back to. These beliefs drive all of my decisions about what to write and teach.
- First, freelancing is a legitimate career. I’ve been doing this full-time since 2007, and I know many others who have been doing it for much longer. And contrary to what some people would have you believe, it’s possible to make a great living as a freelancer, have health insurance, keep a sane schedule, and take plenty of time off.
- Freelancers are entrepreneurs. You’re not a weird kind of flexible employee. You’re running a business. Success at freelancing means learning business skills, and your business skills are just as important as your craft.
- You are responsible. Being a successful freelancer requires being intentional, because no one will tell you what’s important, what you need to do to succeed, how to get a raise or a promotion (because those don’t exist for us), or that you’re slacking. You will own your successes and your failures.
- Learning to freelance well can be hard and isolating. There are surprisingly few good resources about how to do this well. And unlike working with a company, you don’t really have any kind of support system unless you create one. But fear not, that’s why I started writing and teaching this stuff!
- The future is freelance. Tens of millions of professionals in the United States alone are already part-time or full-time freelancers, and it’s growing rapidly. Current projections are that the majority of workers will be freelancers by 2027. That’s not very far away, and a lot of people are woefully unprepared for this shift.
Next steps: help me help you
Here are the things I recommend you do right now to get the most value out of everything I offer to freelancers:
Newsletter
Every week, I send out thoughtful articles on how to be a better freelancer. I talk about finding clients, setting prices, dealing with conflicts about projects, when to walk away from a client, and much more.
This is the absolute best way to get maximum value out of everything I do.
And don’t worry, I will never share any of your info and you can unsubscribe with a single click from any email I send you.
Connect with me
You should follow me on Instagram and Twitter, where I share stuff from my daily life, as well as ideas and tips on freelancing, entrepreneurship, habits, goals, travel, and much more.
Articles
You can also check out the articles on this website, many of which include extra content and bonuses for subscribers. I try to publish several new articles per week, which are mentioned on the newsletter and on social media.
Products
95% of what I teach I give away for free. I write lots of articles for the site, send out newsletter emails every week, host free webinars and Q&A sessions, and more.
I also release free products like My First $1 Million from Freelance, a free ebook I wrote about the lessons I learned over the course of earning my first $1 million
I also sell a few products, including my flagship course on building an unstoppable freelance business: Freelance250k.
Finally, I’m the founder of Everleads, which curates the best freelance jobs for developers and designers.
Coaching
If you need more hands-on guidance in applying the lessons I teach to your business, you may be able to hire me for 1-on-1 coaching. We’ll have regular video calls where we dive deep into your business and craft a personalized plan of attack that I’ll keep you accountable on. It’s the very best way to get results. You can read more about the coaching program and apply here.
Stay up to date
Finally, I’m always rolling out new things, so the best way to keep up with everything I do and ensure you’re always getting the latest and greatest and the best value is to subscribe right now.
What you can expect from me
Unlike some other “experts” you might stumble across, I do things a little differently here.
First, I’ll give you honesty and transparency about myself and my business. I don’t have all the answers, I still make mistakes, I’m learning as I go, just like you.
Second, no fluff. I’ll give you actionable tools and tactics to grow your business, not just pie-in-the-sky theories or tired platitudes.
Third, 95% of all the info I put out is free, but not 100%. I do sell several products and services for freelancers, and I stand 100% behind everything I sell. You can always count on fast and friendly customer support from me and my team, as well as a fair refund policy.
Fourth, you can expect a supportive and welcoming attitude, from me to my staff to the other students and members of this community. Being a freelancer is inherently isolating, and we work hard to make sure that no one feels unwelcome in our community.
Finally, you can expect me to give you the tools, but you can’t expect me to make them work for you. You’ll have to do the hard work yourself, and trust me, it will be hard. Building a successful freelance or consulting business is basically the furthest thing from get-rich-quick that I can imagine. But with what I teach you, it’ll be a lot less hard and a lot more rewarding.
Get a little deeper
If you really want to get to know me better, I’m flattered. I have a few options for you beyond the newsletter:
- The now page will keep you up to date on what I’m focused on at the moment, and the about page will give you a little history on who I am and how I got here.
- You should follow me on Instagram and Twitter, where I share stuff from my daily life, as well as ideas and tips on freelancing, entrepreneurship, habits, goals, travel, and much more.
- You can read my blog posts, which are usually a lot more informal and “behind the scenes” about my business and my life than the rest of this site.
- You’re always welcome to contact me! I don’t respond as quickly as I’d like, but I almost always respond. Please be patient with me.
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