project_log: 018

Yo.

This week's email is a little different.

I wanted to share my quarterly update with you. A transparent reflection on the past few months. I’ve always loved reading other peoples reports as they give a nice insight into whats working and what isn't. Hope this helps.

Let's start with the numbers.

Freelancing:

Revenue: $37,680 USD (local currency $65,900 NZD)
Profit: $36,823 (97% operating profit margin).

Product:

Revenue: -$100 USD (Domain purchase lol).
Profit: -$100.

Newsletter subscribers: 73 (+66 on last period. 929% growth woohoo lol)

Stoked with these numbers tbh. Living in New Zealand and working for US / UK based companies has created a nice arbitrage between earnings and living costs. Meaning my ability to save and invest has gone way up this quarter.

Wins and Milestones

Launching 1X NEO Gamma (my biggest win for the quarter)

I built and launched a new version of the 1X website this quarter. This included a new page for their flagship home humanoid, NEO Gamma. This project did some crazy page visit numbers. Something like 120,000 people visited the site in the first 24 hours. This project pushed my ability to produce high quality work in an extremely short deadline. Grateful for the opportunity.

Launching AMZ Atlas.

This was a collaboration project with DEEO Studio. Stoked on the motion design I produced on this site. Especially the interactive globe in the hero section. This project got a nice bit of attention on Twitter which pulled in a few newsletter subs.

Over-Stimulated website featured on Site inspire.

I was so confused looking at my analytics last week. Had a huge traffic spike labeled "direct". I then received a message saying that Over-Stimulated had been featured on Site Inspire. I wasn't familiar with the size of the platform. It drove a good amount of traffic and newsletter subs.

Key lessons I learned this quarter

Make hay while the sun shines

I've been fortunate enough to have a consistent stream of work this quarter. This bummed me out to start with. I thought I needed to be doing more product work. But I realised that more client work means more runway and security for my partner and I. So I've learned that when the incredible opportunities are there you take them. And you work your ass off to do your best work. Then stack away the capital for when client work slows down and product work speeds up.

Working more hours doesn't work

I was doing 6 day weeks at the start of the quarter. I thought working more hours = more output. I was wrong. I'm getting more done by resting more and being less distracted while I am working (read Deep Work if you struggle with distraction. Game changer)

Build Leverage

Naval taught me that leverage is how you build wealth. It's changed how I approach every new opportunity. I’ll now say no If theres no leverage to be gained.

Everything is about building leverage:

• Building an audience on twitter.

• Building an audience for the newsletter.

• Working on equity deals where it makes sense.

• Doing my best work for clients to build relationships.

• Building a product that can be built once and sold many times.

Looking forward to applying this knowledge to the quarter ahead.

The current challenges I'm facing

Capacity (and ability to say no)

Managing capacity has been difficult lately. I feel like I'm moving between projects with zero break in between. I'd usually have a week or so between projects to reset and prepare. This is no longer the case and it's completely my fault. I didn't say "no" to enough projects late last year and I'm now paying the price.

Lack of progress in some areas

I'm at full capacity with clients. This makes it difficult to progress in areas outside of client work. I've had to come to terms that internal projects have to come second for now. This isn't forever but it's hard to deal with in the moment.

Client pipeline overview

This is a look into the next quarter from the client side of my business.

April

• 1X Retainer. I'm working with 1X on an ongoing basis until they staff a web team.

• Launching a new website for ONBOX Creative. 95% done.

• Launching a micro site for a friends fathers business. 95% done.

• Start working on a new website for Lucky Robots. This is a cool project because it's an equity deal. I'll be getting a percentage of the company instead of a cash payment. Waiting for confirmation on the percentage. Also get to work with Kieran again which I'm stoked about.

May

• 1X Retainer.

• Website with Special Projects. I worked with Dennis from Special Projects on the 1X NEO Gamma website release. We're working on another project together in May. Waiting on more details but Dennis's work is crazy good. This'll be a sick one.

• Interior design studio site. This is a funny one. My girlfriend works for a design agency here in NZ (hndrx.co.nz). They want to bring me in for an interactive site they have starting in May. Nice little bonus having your girlfriend bring you leads lol.

June:

Unknown at this point. Likely ongoing work from existing clients.

Internal pipeline overview

What I'm going to be working on internally.

April

• Finish separating my freelance business from Over-Stimulated. This involves updating the current OS website to become my freelance portfolio. I’ll just be changing the copy and the logo. The rest of the site can remain the same. I'll be starting on a simple new site for OS. This'll house the articles I write and software I build.

• Ballpark. My first product will be live on my freelance website in April.

• Newsletter. Growing and improving.

May

• Ballpark launching to private beta.

• Newsletter.

June

• Ballpark launching to public.

• Newsletter.

This has been my highest earning quarter since I started freelancing. It's nothing compared to some of the numbers you see online but that doesn't mean I'm not proud. This is only the beginning pals.

I encourage you to write your own quarterly update. Even if you don't share it publicly. It's a nice way to track progress and remind yourself how far you've come.

That's all for this week. Keep crushing.

Thanks for reading!

Will.

P.S. No Ballpark update this week. Next week’s will include where AI lives inside of Ballpark. Stay tuned..