Three tips for new-freelancers

First, quantity is more important than quality

Take self-media, for example. You must create a sufficient number of accounts, which is a necessary process. Moreover, these accounts will hardly generate any direct economic benefits; they are just a way for beginners to practice and gain experience.

Here’s an example.

At the start of the semester, a photography professor at the University of Florida divided students into two groups.

One group was the quantity group, graded based on the number of assignments submitted; the other was the quality group, graded based on the quality of the assignments.

The quantity group received an A for 100 passable photos, a B for 90, and a C for 80.

The quality group only needed to submit one perfect photo, and the grade was based solely on that photo.

If you were a student in the photography class, which group would you choose?

At the end of the semester, the professor found that all the best photos came from the quantity group.

The quantity group had to take more photos, so the students gradually got used to accepting the imperfections of photography. Through repeated practice, they began to master photography, and eventually, from many imperfect shots, a perfect photo was born.

Think about what 100 shots mean: 100 conversations with light, 100 composition experiments, and 100 opportunities to reflect on the gap between intent and result, then make adjustments.

On the other hand, the quality group had to study theory diligently, figure out how to take a perfect photo, master the ideal composition first, and then explore the best techniques.They accumulate extensive photographic knowledge but fail to develop the intuition that comes only from repeatedly pressing the shutter button.

This is like the quality team being map experts and the quantity team being explorers. At the end of the semester, the quality team can tell you why a photo is great, while the quantity team has taken such a photo.

Second, social skills are crucial

Social skills are crucial because they bring you resources, help you build a team, and make your life happier.

Networking determines how fast you grow.

After quitting your job, you no longer have an office or partners, so the first thing you have to deal with is loneliness. That's why you need to be able to network and build your dream team.

Networking is part of learning, and it's the fastest way to learn.

Reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles, and traveling thousands of miles is not as good as having a mentor guide you! A mentor can save you from taking many detours!

When you lack technical skills, you can solve technical problems and quickly learn technical abilities through social networking.

When you lack money, you can find people with money but no projects through social networking and quickly learn about capital.

Moreover, the three most important responsibilities of a startup are finding people, finding money, and finding direction. Among these, finding people requires social networking to find partners, and finding money requires social networking to find investors. These two core points are tests of your social networking abilities.

y approach to social networking has no tricks—it’s all about knowledge. There’s nothing deliberate about it—it’s all about fate.

I believe there is another crucial factor that significantly impacts your social skills: genuine, unfiltered communication.

Please make sure to connect with a few people whom you can be completely open and honest with, without any reservations. Initially, don’t worry about what they think. Once you do this, you will unlock a mindset of authenticity and confidence.

When you frequently maintain this authentic and confident mindset, it will help you enter a flow state during social interactions, naturally attracting like-minded individuals.

Unfortunately, in the workplace, there are people who manipulate others, and everyone wears masks, making it hard to feel this mindset authentically.

This is also the charm of the “underworld.” In the underworld, there are fewer masks. Whether it's a leader, a CEO, or an investor, people often communicate on an equal footing. If you don't enjoy the conversation, you can move on. The cost of switching is much lower than in the workplace, and you'll always find someone who resonates with you.

Third, AI saves 80% of the workload

Being able to use AI to write code and debug AI prompts offers the advantage of faster iteration, allowing you to quickly develop and validate market demand. With this skill, you don’t have to be a cog in the wheel at a large company in a specific niche. Instead, you can work at a startup or an AI unicorn company as a jack-of-all-trades. Companies like Manus, Lovart, and Genspark all emphasize the importance of being versatile.

Rather than becoming increasingly specialized and reaching your growth ceiling at a large company, it is better to invest in yourself by joining a startup. After all, in the AI era, there will always be new companies going public, and if you choose the right one, you will be free.

Understanding technology To be precise, you need to have a technical mindset, a global perspective, and an understanding of the role and positioning of every language, framework, document, and function.As for how to implement and write the code, these tasks can be delegated to AI. However, you must provide precise guidance to the AI, clearly specifying the technical approach to take and the exact areas that need adjustment.

This ensures your program at least runs. Of course, errors are likely to occur afterward, at which point you need debugging skills—the ability to pinpoint issues and make corrections when the code fails.