I built a six-figure remote business and walked away from the 9 to 5 at age 46. Every Tuesday, I email a story, tip, or idea to help you climb down the corporate ladder and live life on your terms.
Here's the worst side hustle advice I keep seeing (and what you should do instead)
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I came across a Reddit post the other day where someone asked for advice on breaking into freelance writing. After reading the responses, I had to shake my head. I couldn’t believe how many people told the original poster they needed more formal education or writing classes before they could even begin. Some suggested professional writing courses. Others recommended going back to college for a second degree. A few pointed them toward paid online programs. And this isn’t just a freelance writing thing. “You need more education first” is one of the most common pieces of advice I see given to anyone who wants to increase their income, start a side hustle, or build a business. Courses. Certifications. Degrees. Classes. All before taking a single real step. You probably already know where I stand on this, but I’ll say it plainly: You don’t need more education. Most of you know my story, so I won’t rehash it in detail. (If you don't, check out my recent YouTube interview with Andy Hill). When I started writing, I was a bank manager. The last time I’d written anything of substance was college papers—nearly 20 years earlier. I didn’t go back to school. I didn’t take writing classes. I didn’t collect certifications to give myself permission to begin. I started writing from scratch. I learned by doing. I figured things out in public. And that’s what allowed me to scale my freelance work and eventually walk away from the 9–5. That’s still how I believe most people should approach this. Skill-based businesses aren’t built in classrooms... they’re built through practice and repetition. If writing is what you want to do, my advice is simple: write. The best way to improve your writing is to write and to publish what you write. Start a daily writing habit, but don’t keep it hidden in a Google Doc. Put your work somewhere public. Aim for the lowest-friction option possible. It could be a WordPress blog, Medium, Substack, or something similar. The platform doesn’t matter. Consistency does. Early on, your personal site becomes your resume. So be intentional. Write about the topics, industries, and problems you actually want to work in. You’re showing future clients how you think, what you know, and what you can help with. As for search engine optimization (SEO), you don’t need a course for that either. You can learn everything you need by watching YouTube videos and running your own website. Hands-on experience will teach you faster than any paid program. But (and this part is critical) do not build your entire business around SEO writing. SEO still matters, but it’s no longer enough on its own. I’ve watched many high-calibre freelance writers lose most of their income over the last few years because they struggled to diversify or pivot beyond SEO content. So broaden your horizons. I still write and edit SEO articles, but I also write weekly newsletters for clients, ghostwrite for fintech founders and CEOs (mostly on LinkedIn), create YouTube scripts for financial influencers, and write website copy and email drip campaigns. I'm using the same core skills, but applying them in different areas. core skill. A couple of other things I’ll add while we’re here. Find your tribe. Figure out where your clients already spend time online and go there. Get to know other freelancers in your niche through Reddit, Facebook groups, LinkedIn, and in-person events, such as conferences or local meetups. I attend one in-person conference each year, and that single habit has led to over $300,000 in freelance work over the past four years. By the way, if your “tribe” currently has zero members, you’re welcome to book a free 30-minute call with me. I still have some availability this month and would be happy to be the first real-life freelancer in your network 🙂 One last thing: don’t waste your energy on platforms like Upwork or Fiverr. I’ve never used a freelance platform to find work. It’s a race to the bottom. Real leverage comes from relationships, visibility, and being genuinely helpful in your niche. If you want a step-by-step version of this approach, I’ve laid it all out in my 30-Day Launch Playbook (Freelancer Edition), which you can grab here. It includes worksheets and exercises to help you launch within four weeks. That said, and I mean this, the advice I've shared above is more than enough to get started. You don’t need another degree, diploma, or course... You just need some momentum. 💛, 💡ResourcesFREE! 2-Minute Side Hustle Quiz FREE! 7-Day 9-5 Escape Roadmap Video Course 30-Day Launch Playbook — Freelancer Edition Free 30-Minute Side Hustle Clarity Call |
9-5 Escape by Colin Graves
I built a six-figure remote business and walked away from the 9 to 5 at age 46. Every Tuesday, I email a story, tip, or idea to help you climb down the corporate ladder and live life on your terms.
Yesterday afternoon, while I was working away, I started getting messages from complete strangers on LinkedIn and other social media platforms. Most of them started with something like: “Hey, I just read an article about how you turned your side hustle into a full-time business and quit your job...” At first, I had no idea why I was suddenly getting all these messages. Then I realized my 9-5 exit story had just been published by the U.S. edition of the Daily Mail and picked up by MSN as well....
When I was still at my 9-5, I felt like my time was completely controlled by someone else. Conference calls, emails, constant interruptions… by the time I got home, I felt too drained to do anything else. So I’d check out for the night and promise myself I’d start working on my side hustle tomorrow. Sound familiar? At the time, I believed that I didn’t have a choice… that my mental exhaustion was just the reality of the job. But looking back, that wasn’t entirely true. I didn’t have full...
Over the past month, I’ve confronted something that I’ve believed about myself for years... that I’m a night owl, and just not a morning person. I’ve said so many times, to myself and to other people, that it started to feel like a fixed trait. Just part of who I am. I stay up later, I get going a bit slower in the morning, and I’ve always structured my days around that. But recently I started questioning it. Not in some big, dramatic way. I just wondered what would happen if I stopped...