Your stocks will lose money, and that’s okay.

When we first invest, we subconsciously expect our investments to climb, churning out healthy gains year after year. After all, the average annual return of the S&P 500 is a hair over 10%.

But that figure can be misleading if you’re unfamiliar with investing and the stock market. The S&P 500 has only had annual returns between 8% and 12% six times since 1926.

In reality, stock prices are much more volatile.

From January 1928 to December 2017, the S&P 500 (which was the S&P 90 up until 1957) was positive 53% of the time on a daily basis. In other words, the odds of having a positive return on any given day were roughly that of a coin flip. …

There are three potential outcomes when you send a pitch, and two of them are bad.

1. Acceptance
2. Rejection
3. No response

You could argue radio silence is just another form of rejection, and I wouldn’t disagree with you. But there’s still a difference: one is immediate and the other is prolonged. So, is it better to be outright rejected or ignored?

Rejection is the lesser of the two evils — in my experience at least.

Speaking from experience

If I asked ten other freelance writers to evaluate my marketing strategy, I’d estimate that nine (or maybe even all ten) would call it unorthodox.

Why? Because I rarely cold pitch my services to random companies or submit post ideas to publications (outside of Medium). Most of my freelance work comes from inbound requests and referrals. It’s a slow-growth strategy, but it’s less taxing. …

I paid $180.15 in PayPal fees in 2020. Or, to put that another way, PayPal held onto $180.15 of my client payments before depositing the rest into my account.

Does $180 break the bank? No.

Should I justify the amount because I’m receiving a service? Probably.

But payment processing is still a service that can add up over time. As my business grows, so will my processing fees if I keep using PayPal.

I don’t know about you, but I’d like to retain as much of my income as possible. …

It’s not a secret — an enticing headline not only draws more clicks but also expands your reach. Headlines attract crowds like a carnival barker drums up business. You can channel your inner Hemmingway and produce transcendent prose, but it won’t matter if your headline sucks.

Your proverbial “carnival barker” needs to be loud, confident, and eye-catching.

I’m not the master of headlines. I’ve had some true duds during my time on Medium. But, I’ve had occasional success, and I’d like to analyze those headlines to see if anything can be gleaned.

So, here are my seven highest-earning headlines and my thoughts as to why they succeeded. …

Even if you’re a casual investor, you’ve probably heard of forex. It’s a fancy finance portmanteau that sounds sophisticated — but is it worth your time?

For the casual, set-it-and-forget-it investor, probably not. For more active investors that enjoy economics, it could be.

Regardless, it’s at least worth understanding. And to help you develop that understanding, let’s walk through the basics of forex.

What is forex?

Forex stands for foreign currency exchange. In other words, it’s taking one currency (like the U.S. dollar) and trading it for another (like the Mexican peso). Some of the world’s most traded currencies are:

1. U.S. Dollar (USD)
2. European Euro…

I asked myself a variation of this question about two weeks ago.

“How many hours a day do I work?”

Even though I’ve been freelance writing for a little over three years now, I didn’t know the exact answer to this question because I’ve been making a dire mistake.

I haven’t been tracking my time.

Of course, I tracked time when I worked on writing assignments that paid hourly rates. But, otherwise, I hadn’t tracked any other work activities — which is bad for business and productivity.

So, I started tracking my time a couple of weeks ago.

Better late than never, I suppose. …

The average American has three or four subscriptions to streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Apple TV+, and Disney+. But we can afford to because, compared to cable, these services cost much less, ranging between $4.99 and $13.99 a month.

These subscriptions don’t seem that expensive, but that’s intentional.

Quick, without doing any mental math, which one sounds more appealing?

Seven payments of $14 or a one-time payment of $98?

The idea of pulling $98 of our wallets is much harder to get behind. Even though seven installments of $14 equals $98, people are still drawn to the smaller dollar figure. …

People make a big deal over the “buy low, sell high” investing mentality. I’m one of them.

It’s straightforward, conventional wisdom. Buy something for a low price, sell it for a higher price, and collect a profit.

But is it worth rethinking and rewording this concept to “buy low, buy high, sell higher”?

I think so, especially if you have a long-term investment strategy. In other words, if you plan to hold your investments for more than five to seven years, don’t worry about investing at the perfect price point — just invest. …