We live in a world where a person who has a camera, takes photos and uploads them online, is a photographer.
If he makes a portfolio website, has a Facebook page with a profile photo in which he’s taking a picture of something (or himself in the mirror with his camera in his hands), and has shared his contact details so that people can use his services and buy his photos, he can call himself a professional.
And whether he makes any income or not matters only to him. To all of us, he’s just a professional photographer, an artist, a self-employed individual, someone who works whenever he wants doing what he loves, with an online business, even an entrepreneur.
People with a regular job often mock independent creatives like that (only when they’re not famous, of course, and make no money out of it. When they start getting hired, though, and make enough to be location independent, these same people want to know their ‘secret’.)
My point is that with the countless possibilities (mainly the Internet) of the modern world, we can be whoever we want to be.
Here are some other examples:
- Upload something on Etsy.com and – Voala! – you’re into e-commerce.
- Write something, post it, and you can call yourself both a writer and a blogger.
- Start traveling and keep an online journal of it, and you become a travel writer, a digital nomad.
And if you’re really dedicated to whatever your thing is, are constantly practicing, trying to reach others and connect with influencers and potential clients, promote yourself and have a strong belief, you can make a career out of it.
Take me for example.
Some time ago I created a portfolio site where I label myself as a blogger, an indie author and a freelance writer.
To those who know me in real life and have no idea that I spend a lot of my time writing, editing, blogging, socializing, brainstorming, reading, researching and looking for writing jobs, it will sound absolutely ridiculous.
But here are the facts: I have a blog that’s 5 years old, has 2000 articles, is being read and followed, has views and shares; helps me earn $5,000 a month, I post almost daily, and write for other blogs too. All that makes me a blogger.
I wrote some eBooks, edited and formatted them, self-published and started selling them. Which makes me an indie author.
I write for other people too. I have profiles in sites for freelancers, I submit proposals for jobs in my niche, work with clients and get paid for it (not nearly as often as I’d like, though, but we all start somewhere).
That automatically makes me a freelance writer. And I’ve got a service to offer.
I created a free course sharing my journey to making more than $4,000/month blogging. It all began with freelancing and you can use this course to follow the steps I took to become a freelancer with no experience and earn my first income online.
Enroll in Make Your First Money Online Freelancing for free.
The conclusion, then, is that in today’s world you can be whoever you want to be.
Start looking for ways to change your habits and think of easier and quicker ways to do stuff, and you become a life hacker. That makes you an interesting person and you already have material to write about and share.
You improve your life, gain experience, learn from your mistakes, and share all that with others, and after some time you become an authority for those who haven’t reached that level. Your tips and strategies, and basically everything you have to say becomes valuable and people are willing to pay for it.
But how far you get exploring all these possibilities is up to you.
It all starts with a passion that is followed, with an idea that is developed and put into action, a dream that is being chased, and your work put out there for others.
What separates you from the ideal lifestyle are the excuses you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it, and the possibilities you don’t dare to take.
What about you? Do you think we can be whoever we want to be these days?