I don’t know you neither do I know your family background.

 

But if you have an elder sibling and you are a Nigerian.

 

Then you must have been in a position where you have to share things with your sibling. 

 

Maybe when you are eating and you are asked to share meat or fish or anything in between.

 

And even if you don’t have siblings and you are an only child…

 

If you come from an average Nigerian family like mine…

 

You must have definitely shared something with your parent.

 

And did you notice that as a younger person, you tend to just take anything you are given without complaints?

 

Sometimes you grumble, but you still take it because you have no choice.

 

And there’s always a statement Yoruba people say that goes thus:

 

“Elder people are bound to cheat the younger ones”

 

Even though I feel that proverb or saying is very shitty.

 

But this is a Yoruba land and we tend to listen to their philosophies.

 

And that’s not even where I am going to nor coming from.

 

You see that attitude of just taking what we are given is called settling for less.

 

And you might deny it, but it’s the real truth.

 

This attitude makes you settle for less.

 

You see, I tell people that all our attitudes are mostly inculcated into us subconsciously from kids.

 

Yes.

 

You won’t notice but it’s the fact.

 

Don’t collect money from strangers, this is something almost all Nigerian parents will tell you.

 

But what this means as an elder is to never be able to sell whatever we sell shamelessly. 

 

Don’t forget people buying it from us are strangers, so we find it hard to collect money from them.

 

And like I said earlier, you can decide not to believe or deny it.

 

But check your childhood memories and check your behaviour now.

 

Give me the response.

 

And going back to the big idea of this letter.

 

Like I showed you earlier, we have been subconsciously told to always settle for less.

 

And that’s why a freelancer will see a job on Upwork for $100 and jump on it.

 

But if he positions himself well on other platforms, he can get the same job for $1000 and more.

 

But Nigerians and earning in dollars sha.

 

If you want to earn in dollars, why not earn very well in dollars?

 

And as if that isn’t enough, this $100 job will be far stressful than the $1000 job.

 

Or haven’t you heard that people with low fee tends to stress you more?

 

It’s that simple.

 

And see, I get it.

 

I know it’s not easy to drop this settling for less attitude.

 

It’s not your fault. 

 

But if you can’t stop it now, it’s your fault.

 

And that’s why I will be revealing 2 ways you can stop this attitude.

 

Because if you continue like this, you will only be earning in dollars but not real dollars.

 

Because what’s $100 (57k) when you can earn $1000 (570k) for the same job?

 

Exactly. 

 

So here goes:

 

1. This might sound like motivational speaker rubbish but it’s what has worked for me.

 

I was not even consistent with it but it worked wonders.

 

And this is affirmation. 

 

Yes.

 

Affirm that you won’t settle for less.

 

Affirm that you will get better-paying jobs.

 

Affirm that you are the best out there.

 

Affirm that you will make crazy-ass money.

 

Affirm everything you want.

 

And like I said, this is not compulsory you take it.

 

But take this from someone that doesn’t have a religion. 

 

Affirmation works.

 

2. Go to where your goal won’t look too big. 

 

Leave the wrong environment and scale-up.

 

And no, I am not talking about the physical environment. 

 

I am talking about your online environment. 

 

If you are in a group or mentorship where $500 per month is big money…

 

Then you need to scale up and find a better group that will challenge you.

 

See, I don’t mince words neither do I care.

 

I only say the truth every time.

 

$500 is just N285k.

 

Now imagine you buy foodstuffs, send money home, etc.

 

How much is left?

 

It’s not a big money and don’t let people make you see it as one.

 

In my copy kat group, we are now on a $3000 per month movement. 

 

And even that’s a small amount of money.

 

So please, get out of that environment and challenge yourself more.

 

And wait.

 

That doesn’t mean you should not celebrate your small wins.

 

Celebrate but never settle for less.

 

I hope you get that?

 

Good.

 

3. This is like a bonus but you should take it.

 

Always be ready to walk away from a deal.

 

Yes.

 

I will use myself as an example.

 

I tell all my clients that I hate working with Nigerian clients because they can’t afford me.

 

And that’s the truth.

 

Because they always stress me which I don’t tolerate BTW.

 

But the main gist is that I already preframed them that I am expensive with that statement. 

 

It’s ego and I am here bouncing on their ego.

 

It’s copywriting. 

 

What I mean is, you also can’t afford me…

 

So they do everything within their power to work with me.

 

And I always negotiate a darn good deal.

 

One paid $600 with a 10% profit royalty deal for 3 months on a sales copy that I will write only once (under 5 days)

 

If you are a copywriter, you will know that’s huge especially coming from a Nigerian client. 

 

And that’s because I didn’t settle for less.

 

Yes, he tried to drag my price down from $1000 to $500 that I charge for a sales copy.

 

But I didn’t allow that and proposed him a deal instead.

 

And he took it.

 

Assuming I had settle for the $500 he proposed initially…

 

I would have taken $500 for something I took $600 plus 10% profit royalty for.

 

So you see why I said you should never settle for less.

 

You should be ready to walk away from deals that don’t worth it 

 

And yeah, I know you are really impatient now.

 

And you really want to know how I get high paying clients.

 

But what’s the fun in revealing that now when we have the whole forever to each other?

 

Wahala for person wey no get patience that unsubscribes o.

 

Meanwhile, all these things I am telling you are really important to have a successful freelance business. 

 

They are the fundamentals that you shouldn’t play with it.

 

So listen and listen good.

 

Never settle for less in deals.

 

Charge what you are worth and be proud of it.

 

And be ready to walk away from deals that don’t favour you.

 

To your success,

 

Dolapo Hamzat.