I used to think the same thing about it not being worth it. But I realized a few things.
I target some low effort markets.
My current market right now is full of work that is cheap/low quality. The wheels are falling off, and people need competent people who can fix all of that on the first try and change the Clients current situation from things constantly breaking and constantly requiring overhead, to being more automated and stable.
I would say in the last 2 years, getting the price-point you ask for has become easier. People are super comfortable doing a time/materials model.
So, I work full time at an agency. I wake up at 5AM, spend the first 1-2 hours doing life stuff. Then spend an hour freelancing, go to work, get off work, spend another 1-2 hours doing freelancing -- then every two weeks I send out invoices that are net 30.
The result of that is I get to have full control over some production aspects instead of having the constraints defined for me. I also have a nice steady side income for savings/disposable income. I have found my work life has improved, because instead of getting upset that timelines suck, or the scope of work keeps increasing and I think I have better ideas on how those things could be applied -- I actually get to apply them to my freelance and see if they work out. Then I can propose them as tested theories to my peers and the adoption rate has been pretty good.
So the ROI is a financial one, but it's also benefiting my professional life as well. Once it's an established cadence and I have learned to reject anything that doesn't fit the low-stress model -- I don't even think about it, it's a routine and the wheels don't fall off, and I actually look forward to it.
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I used to think the same thing about it not being worth it. But I realized a few things.
I target some low effort markets.
My current market right now is full of work that is cheap/low quality. The wheels are falling off, and people need competent people who can fix all of that on the first try and change the Clients current situation from things constantly breaking and constantly requiring overhead, to being more automated and stable.
I would say in the last 2 years, getting the price-point you ask for has become easier. People are super comfortable doing a time/materials model.
So, I work full time at an agency. I wake up at 5AM, spend the first 1-2 hours doing life stuff. Then spend an hour freelancing, go to work, get off work, spend another 1-2 hours doing freelancing -- then every two weeks I send out invoices that are net 30.
The result of that is I get to have full control over some production aspects instead of having the constraints defined for me. I also have a nice steady side income for savings/disposable income. I have found my work life has improved, because instead of getting upset that timelines suck, or the scope of work keeps increasing and I think I have better ideas on how those things could be applied -- I actually get to apply them to my freelance and see if they work out. Then I can propose them as tested theories to my peers and the adoption rate has been pretty good.
So the ROI is a financial one, but it's also benefiting my professional life as well. Once it's an established cadence and I have learned to reject anything that doesn't fit the low-stress model -- I don't even think about it, it's a routine and the wheels don't fall off, and I actually look forward to it.