August is usually a slow month, at least in Italy. Most people go on holiday and many of my clients do as well.

Unsurprisingly, it’s not the same in the rest of the world, so most of my freelancing was not affected by this slowdown. I kept working on Upwork, closed a contract that I already started in July and started a new one at higher rates. Overall, I am finding it not so difficult to increase my rates so I will keep doing it on new contracts. The only resistance I see is from Italian clients, which makes me think of avoiding the local market altogether, even if it is easier for me to have connections and find opportunities. It doesn’t sound right. There is a lot of demand for Data professionals, and there is not enough supply, but every company I talk to has a problem paying the market rate and they try to negotiate me down.

I think this month’s numbers will be very healthy, I have spent quite some time freelancing and it should show.

Great month. I thought August would be slow, but a combination of factors made it my best month. I got new clients, increased my rates a little bit and worked more overall. However, finding new work on Upwork is a bit of a struggle and I don’t think it makes sense to go on there now that I have a few long-term clients. It makes more sense to develop trust with those clients and lay the foundations for more long-term work.

Regarding other projects, I think I let too much of my time be taken by freelancing this month. I should be more disciplined and leave some hours in my week to pursue and grow my side projects. My long-term plan is not to rely on freelancing, which should just be a way to sustain myself and my family while I build a business on the side.