I, Justin Ahlmann, graduated in December of 2009 with a bachelors degree in film and started freelancing immediately after that in January of 2010. I was super stoked to finally get out into the real world and start making money with my creative abilities, but I soon learned that your creative talent wasn’t the only skill you needed; in order to succeed you need strong business skills.

After about 1-2 years of struggle I realized I was quite ill-prepared to be a smart business-minded freelancer. In film school they teach you all about the technical and theoretical stuff related to film, but they don’t teach you anything about how to book clients, market yourself, taxes, and definitely nothing to do with mental obstacles such as imposter syndrome or writers block. 

Giving up wasn’t an option for me so I thought, you know what, I’m gonna get an MBA degree so someone can teach me all those business skills. BOOM. I’ll be both creative and business smart. I checked out a nearby MBA program and they told me they expected students to have 3 or more years of work experience before applying. I was shocked by how backwards that all sounded. Learn it on your own first, and then come back to us and we’ll teach you everything? And for anyone who has ever learned any physical skills such as swimming or basketball or something, you know it’s a lot better to learn the technique correctly in the beginning so you don’t create bad habits which become increasingly tough to unlearn later on.

From that point on I’ve been improving steadily by reading books on business, studying any reputable articles I found online, subscribing to business-minded newsletters, watching trainings, tutorials, and seminars, and probably most importantly, informally interviewing any successful business people I come across. I test out what I learn and see what works for the freelancing industry.

In 2015 I reached a huge milestone in my career: I broke 6 figures. I mean, barely, but I did it. I’ll never forget the feeling that came over me upon receiving that last check on December 31 for $3K that crossed me over from 5 to 6 figures. UNREAL. And that’s when it really clicked for me. I realized that the business side of freelancing could be as fun and exciting as your craft was. You don’t have to be the most talented person in your field. If you got the right business chops, you’ll crush it. You’ll excel. Since 2015, I’ve made 6 figures every year and have exponentially grown in my business know-how. I’ve been able to get booked for TV shows, feature films, commercials, music videos, documentaries, you name it I’ve shot it. I’ve used my creative talents for companies like Adobe, Google Fiber, Genesis Motors, ESPN, Hisense, and Disney. It’s been an incredibly fun and rewarding ride annnnddddd now we’re here so I can pay it forward by teaching you everything I can in this online course. I hope you’re ready for it.