Your FREE 12-Hour Freelance Course is READY (Plus River's Wild Results) 🎉

Writing to you from my best friend's couch in Chicago, stealing a moment between family visits

Hey there, freelance friends,

I'm coming to you from a different location this week—tucked away in my best friend Jana's guest room in Chicago, where I've been navigating plans around my dad's newest round of cancer treatments and helping my mom recover from her total knee replacement surgery. (Because apparently my family believes in doing ALL the hard things at once.)

If you're wondering how I'm managing all this while working, the answer is: FREELANCING. The flexibility to be here when my family needs me is EXACTLY why I do what I do.

Since I'm stealing WiFi and writing time between visits, this week's training is coming to you in written form instead of video. But honestly? I think you'll prefer it this way because I'm showing up with some SERIOUS gifts. 🎁

The 12-Hour Course That's Finally DONE ✅

Remember a few weeks back when I invited you to follow along as I built the 10 Days to Paid Upwork Challenge in real-time? Well, after MANY hours of recording, editing, writing companion guides, and creating resources, I'm thrilled to tell you it's now officially COMPLETE.

Not only is it done, but we now have PROOF that it actually works—and I'm talking about real results from someone with zero freelance experience who followed the system as taught.

Here's what ended up in the final version:

• 12+ hours of video training (recorded in my very unglamorous RV office)

• Written tutorials with timestamps for every single day (for my fellow readers)

• Copy-and-paste proposal and profile templates that land jobs

• AI prompts that write customized proposals in minutes

• Spreadsheets to track everything (because data = power)

• Swipe files for client communication

• Access to me in our community chat when you get stuck

• LITERALLY everything you need to go from complete beginner to landing your first client and 5-star reviews.

The entire course is 100% FREE.
No payment plans.
No upsells.
No "but wait, there's more!"

Just the complete system, available to you right NOW.

Stamps DONE on forehead ✨

Why I'm Doing Business Backwards 🙃

I know some of you are thinking, "But Erica, why would you give away what others charge hundreds or thousands for?"

Great question, I’d love to tell you. (Yes, I’m channeling my inner Elyse Myers there.) I've spent the last few years watching the online business world get more and more predatory. Desperate people spending their last dollars on courses that promise the moon but deliver... well, usually just more debt.

I've been THAT person.
I've bought those courses.
I've carried that debt.
And it nearly broke me. 💔

Meanwhile, I’m watching my parents navigate a broken healthcare and insurance system that seems designed to drain both bank accounts and hope, and I can’t help but think about HOW MANY people are in impossible situations needing extra income RIGHT NOW. #EmpathProblems

Not in six months after they've "built their audience."
Not after they've invested in another $2,000 course.
Not after they've somehow found 40 extra hours in their week.

RIGHT. NOW.

So I'm doing EVERYTHING BACKWARDS ON PURPOSE.

Instead of asking you to invest in hope, I'm asking you to invest in yourself AFTER you've already started making money.

It's an "earn as you learn" model that puts YOUR success before MY profit.

The way it works is simple:

Take the free course.
Land some clients.
Make some money.

THEN, at your option, IF you want continued support and community, invest a tiny fraction of what you've earned ($9/month) to keep on growing and earning more.

River's Journey: Proof This Actually Works 📊

I mentioned proven results, so let me share what happened when I asked my 22-year-old kiddo River to test out this 10 Days to Paid Upwork Challenge.

River works at Starbucks. He's an artist who dreams of opening a coffee shop filled with cats in some freezing city where he'll never have to drive. (I still don't understand where he got these very specific life goals, but we’re rolling with it + I support it fully.)

He had zero freelance experience.
Zero relevant skills for the jobs he'd be applying to.
Just a kid with a laptop and a mom who wouldn't stop pestering him about "you should try freelancing…."

River applied to 15 jobs total during the challenge. Not 50. Not 100. Just 15.

From those 15 proposals:

• 4 clients reached out to him

• 2 turned into paying jobs

• He earned $275 from the challenge

• He spent $9.99 on an Upwork membership

• He earned the Rising Talent badge 🏆

One client was SO happy with his work that they:

• Gave him a $50 bonus (rare, but amazing)

• Offered him ongoing work

• Left a review that would make any freelancer weep with joy

River went from making $17ish/hour at Starbucks to charging $25/hour for freelance work his FIRST WEEK, with a clear path to $40+/hour within his next few jobs if he decides to continue.

If a 22-year-old who spends most of his mental energy thinking about espresso can do this, I'm pretty sure you can too. ☕

The Support Community: For the Few Who Actually Do the Work 💪

Here's what I know after years in online education: Most people won't finish the course. Even fewer will take action. That's not pessimism—that's just data.

But for those who DO take action?
Who DO the work?
Who DO start seeing results?

I've created a support community for freelancers that's unlike anything else out there. For $9/month (less than an 18-pack of eggs), you get access to:

🏠 A private community space with chat rooms and forums (much fancier than the chat capabilities here in Substack. No hate, Substack is my fav.)
💻 24/7 LIVE co-working rooms where you can work alongside other freelancers
❓ Weekly Q&A threads where I personally answer your questions
🎯 Monthly challenges to keep you motivated
👥 An optional accountability cohort for those who need someone to help keep them on track with extra support

But Here’s the BIGGEST Reason to Join When You’re Ready 🎁

I JUST launched this community so right now it’s basically me talking to myself. (It's giving very much "new restaurant with no customers" energy and it's AWKWARD.) 😅

I need to find my founding members—my OGs—to help build the vibe, start conversations, and make it feel less like a ghost town and more like the supportive freelance family I'm envisioning.

So I'm sweetening the deal in a way that my accountant will probably never let me forget:

Every digital product I create will be FREE for founding members.

I'm talking about:

• AI Copywriting Course (planning to sell for $297)

• Proposal and Profile Template Swipe Packs ( $97)

• Complete Upwork Scaling System (easily $497+)

• Portfolio Website Templates (another $197)

• Digital Skills Courses (Showit Design, Community Management, etc.)

• EVERY single new course, tool, and resource I drop while you’re an active member in the community is yours for FREE for as long as you stay.

This is a LIMITED TIME founding member perk.

Future members will get a 50% discount on products. But YOU? You get it all FREE just for being an early believer who helps me build this thing from the ground up.

Is this probably too generous? YEP.
Will I likely lose money on early members? ABSOLUTELY.
Do I care? NOPE. (But also, maybe don’t tell my husband?)

Because here's the thing—I can't build a community alone. I need people who are willing to join when it's still quiet, who will start conversations even when it feels like the walls are echoing, and who will celebrate wins with me even when there are only 3 of us in there.

That's worth THOUSANDS in free products to me. 💯

Your Next Step (If You're Ready) 🚀

As I sit here in Jana's kitchen, stealing her WiFi and trying not to wake anyone up with my typing, I'm thinking about all of you who are exactly where I was a few years ago.

Stressed about money.
Worried about job security.
Wondering if there's something better out there.

There is. And it's not as far away as you think.

If you've been:

• Thinking about freelancing

• Following along but haven't started yet

• Waiting for the "right time"

THIS. IS. IT.

The course is complete.
The system is proven.
The support is available.

The only thing missing is YOU taking action.

You can access 10 Days to Paid RIGHT NOW.

And when you complete it (yes, COMPLETE it—not just sign up for it), you'll get your first month in the support community FREE as my way to celebrate and thank you for actually doing the work.

No payment plans that haunt your dreams.
No maxing out credit cards on hope.
Just practical skills that can start generating REAL income, in your bank account within weeks.

So that's your training for this week—a complete 12-hour course totally for free that could literally change your financial trajectory.

A Note From The Kitchen Table

As I finish writing this, I can’t help but think about how life is happening all around me—messy, imperfect, unscheduled life. And how IMPOSSIBLE this would have all felt if I were still working my old 8-5 job.

Which is exactly why we need income streams we can control.
Work we can do from anywhere.
Skills that travel with us through whatever comes next.

And if you’re thinking, “But I don’t have any skills I could offer…”

I’ve GOT you. There’s a tool and training to help you figure that out.

But honestly? You don’t even need those to do 10 Days to Paid.

And if you later decide to join the support community, I’m planning several beginner-friendly courses to help you build up digital skills you can freelance with.

I'll be back next week with our regular video training (assuming life doesn’t throw any new curveballs 🙃). Until then, I'm sending you all the determination and caffeine-fueled energy I can muster from this borrowed corner of Chicago. ☕💪

I'm thinking of all of you.
Those struggling with bills.
Those caring for family.
Those wanting MORE from life but not sure how to get it.

You have everything you need to start. Right here. Right now. For FREE.

The question is: will you?

P.S. To everyone who's sent supportive messages about my family situation—THANK YOU. Being able to drop everything and be here for my parents while still maintaining my income is exactly why I'm so passionate about teaching others to freelance. This flexibility isn't just about money. It's about being able to show up for life when life needs you to show up. 🙏