3 ways to show up.

We can show up in 3 ways as an independent professional: as a freelancer, a creative, and an entrepreneur.

The Freelancer: A freelancer gets paid when they show up, when they do the work. They have to be there give the talk, to sing, to act, to design, to write.

Tom Hanks has to show up and act in the movie, he can't send his team instead. Same goes for the coder who gets paid more because they want her to write the code. Or the designer who gets paid not only for the design but also so that the client can brag about hiring her.

Freelancers do better when they create the conditions for getting better clients. And getting better clients require us to start acting as if and creating the work that better clients want.

Getting more bad clients is a trap. It creates a dead end that leads to burnout.

The Creative: As a creative (or artist), you are building your audience, and a good point to go for is to earn your 1000 true fans (as Kevin Kelly wrote).

You can start with 10, and work on growing it to 100, and then, those 100 would lead you to 1000.

What you need to do in order to earn those 1000 true fans is to start creating work as if you already have your fans in waiting.

Bob Dylan had to make the songs first before the audiences would show up for Bob Dylan.

The Entrepreneur: And the third is being the entrepreneur. Creating products, experiences, events where the smallest viable audience would show up and pay because you solve their problem. They don't need you to show up. They just want the product.

You don't expect the Uber CEO to show up when you book the cab. You just want it to drop you where you need to go.

Over time, all three of these identities, the freelancer, the creative and the entrepreneur, dance with each other. But, it helps when we see them as distinct journeys with clear intentions.

The stuff the creative creates for her fans can help her build a business, and by building her 1000 true fans, she starts getting better clients, and better clients help her connect with even more true fans.

PS. Consider joining us at purple.space as we work together to create projects that help us get to where we seek to go as creatives.

It includes access to Seth Godin's Freelancer Workshop, Creative's Workshop and Bootstrapper's Workshop that teaches us to show up professionally in all three areas.