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Today I celebrate my exit from being a freelancer/Indie Hacker.

Okay, the headline might be a little misleading, but not completely wrong. I've been a freelance copywriter for the better part of 4 years (almost 5 now), writing copy for;

  • FMCG companies
  • The porn industry
  • Tech companies
  • Financial sector
  • Real Estate
  • Startups
  • Digital agencies

Now officially done with this crap.

Why?

There is usually a big debate over what the meaning of the word "Indie Hacker" means. Some may say it's creating your own business online and working for yourself full-time, others say it means making money from the internet, either full-time or part-time. I agree with the latter definition of the term, as my own Indie Hacking endeavors have always been part-time.

I originally became a freelancer because I didn't want to work permanently for the same company, and I liked the idea of being a remote contractor, working on my own terms, and setting my own price for the work that I did. This gave me a sense of control over my professional career.

Then...

I started to enjoy it less and less. It became a chore for me. Copywriting, the art form that I spent so much time trying to perfect became insufferable for me to handle after I realized that the whole marketing industry is just toxic and incredibly predatory.

Picture this. We meticulously engineer landing pages based on psychological triggers, like vanity and urgency to get people to convert. For me, that got old very fast, and the whole growth hacking mentality kinda made me a bit sick to the stomach after a while.

Sure, I understand that as a "for-profit business", you need need to make revenue. That's the very basis of capitalism.

I joked around with a friend a while ago, that if I wasn't in marketing I would have deleted things like Facebook and Instagram years ago. Now I can fully appreciate that sentiment.

Now what?

A complete 360 career change actually excited me, and for the longest time, IT has always been an interest of mine, so I thought, why not networking and cybersecurity. So after dropping all of my 5 long-term clients last week, I'll be going back to school for a few months.

My Indie Hacking journey began almost a year ago with me starting my own newsletter, and it's definitely something that I'm still going to carry on with, but as for that freelance/nomad lifestyle. I'm done, and I take pleasure in turning my back on it.

  1. 3

    I'm happy for you, being able to do what you love is the most important thing for well-being.

    I hope you will love your new career!

    I more or less did the opposite. I worked in IT for 15 years, got fed up, and now I do product marketing consulting and loving it! I do a lot of copywriting (led by my strategies) but I only work for companies that really care about customers.

    1. 2

      That's great! I'm glad that you found an industry you love!

      Don't get me wrong, I've worked with some amazing people in the past, like the Miss Universe Organization, but I've also worked with conglomerates that treated customers as numbers due to their sheer volume and found that my profession had a direct affect on the already growing problem of consumerism. I just couldn't be a part of that anymore.

  2. 2

    good for you!! everything in life has seasons. :P

    1. 2

      Thanks John! Appreciate it. Time for a new season 🤘🏻

  3. 2

    It became a chore for me.

    This is the best reason to quit something. Good job that you recognized it! 👍

    Hope you'll enjoy school!

    1. 2

      Thank you! looking forward to a change of scenery!

  4. 1

    Wow !
    That's super brave and courageous !
    Best of luck !

  5. 1

    Congratulations on taking this big step!

  6. 1

    Nice! The best we can do: trying to find the path where we really thrive.

    I agree, there is a lot of bad marketing out there. But there is also a lot of helpful stuff on the Internet, and most of the time we don't call it "marketing". We don't even see it; what's negative is always more visible.

    To me, being Indie Hacker is living in your own term, that's all. I would never thrive with manipulative or pushy marketing, so it's not my personal definition of Indie Hacker.

  7. 1

    Sounds like the right move if you don't enjoy it anymore.
    Good luck 🤙

  8. 1

    I can relate to this. I have been in digital marketing as an independent consultant for 7+ years including web dev, front end dev, growth hacking, data analytics, you name it and I am getting sick of it. If I would go back to college (miind you, I'm already 31) I would pick a master in Artificial Intelligence so I can focus more on building stuff.

  9. 1

    I always fear the day when something that I love doing becomes a chore.

    I hope you like your new career and direction

  10. 1

    Good luck with your next chapter and well done for recognising the situation and doing something about it.

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