Huh!? Didn’t we just spend the entire chapter on developing the mindset of a wealthy freelancer? Yes, but the truth is that wealthy freelancers actually see themselves as more than freelancers. They see themselves as entrepreneurs, business owners, and businessmen and businesswomen. All this means is that they view their freelance practice as a full-fledged business, complete with all the functional areas of a business. What are these functional areas?

Each of these functional areas topics is quite broad, but they’re easy to understand, and they’ll be explained in full detail throughout the remainder of this book. For now, let’s just take a quick look at short descriptions of each area.

(Don’t worry—viewing your freelance practice as a business is not as daunting as it sounds! To become a wealthy freelancer, you need to know how each of these functional areas work, but you don’t need any sort of business background in order to understand any one of them. We promise!)

Sales is what you do to earn money. It involves reaching out to, and having conversations with, prospects and customers. Secret 2 shows you how to pursue and close sales.

Marketing is how you make yourself known to prospects who want to hire you. Secret 4 explains the most effective marketing tactics used by wealthy freelancers today and gives you a proven tool for determining your own marketing efforts.

Operations are the actions you go through each day to support your craft. This includes the systems you have in place that enable you to perform your craft more easily, including scheduling your time, writing quotes for clients, and managing workf low that you outsource to staff or, more likely, assistants. Throughout the secrets, we outline proven systems in detail so you can put them in place right now.

Human Resources is the department responsible for training and developing employee skills. Secret 1 tells you precisely when you should invest in developing your skills. And what about other HR issues like office hours, vacation time, and maintaining work/life balance? You’ll see how wealthy freelancers manage all of these things in Secret 10.

Customer Service means ensuring you’re treating your customers well. How can you “go the extra mile” for customers and reap the rewards? It’s all explained in Secret 5. How do you deal with clients who don’t like your work? You’ll find instructions for handling this delicate situation in the appendix.

Production is the factory floor. Think of your freelance business as a factory with a “capacity of one.” Wait … isn’t this a rather demeaning way to look at things? To take all your creative, inspirational freelance work and say that it came out of a factory? Not really. Even the most beautifully crafted and artistic products in the world (think of Rolls Royce cars, diamond rings, and fine wines) leverage production efficiencies. Improving your productivity lets you create in a more efficient and stress-free environment, which actually increases the quality of your output and the enjoyment you derive from practicing your craft (whether your craft is illustrating, graphic design, photography, or something else). Secret 9 is all about productivity.

Finance and Accounting involve money. Wealthy freelancers do not work for free, and money plays an important role in the life of a wealthy freelancer. Secret 12 shows you how to lay a solid financial foundation that supports your wealthy lifestyle.

Wealthy freelancers know their business is in a constant state of change. Research and Development is about embracing change in your business and using it to your advantage. Research involves looking for and finding new ways to enhance your business, and Development is bringing those enhancements to life. If this sounds exciting to you, it is! In Secrets 8 and 11, you’ll see what R&D can look like for freelancers.