Cole Garcia (u/colegarcia)

Posts

Saw a guy use a string line for a curved fence last week

I was on a job in Denver where this older fella was setting up a curved section of cedar pickets and he pulled out a string line instead of a laser. He showed me how he uses the string as a guide to keep the top rail consistent even on the arc, and it looked way cleaner than what I usually do with guesswork and eyeballing. Has anyone else tried this approach for curves, or do you stick with lasers and measuring?

3 comments

c/first-gig-pricing•

colegarcia•1d ago

That friend who offered me 'exposure' instead of cash for my first logo design

I was 22 and a buddy from college asked me to design a logo for his new food truck in Nashville. He said he'd promote me on his Instagram (he had like 300 followers) and that it would be 'great for my portfolio.' I spent 15 hours on that thing, tweaked it 4 times, and he never even posted about me. Now I tell every new freelancer I meet: get paid in dollars, not promises. Has anyone here actually had a success story from working for free upfront?

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c/baking-fails-and-wins•

colegarcia•16d ago

The day I stopped creaming butter and sugar cold

Made cookies for 10 years always wondering why they came out flat. My wife watched me one Sunday and said why are you using butter straight from the fridge. That moment hit me like a brick. Room temp butter makes the creaming process actually work and now my cookies hold their shape. Anyone else miss simple stuff like that for way too long?

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c/diy-and-reno•

colegarcia•19d ago

Folks who use spackle for everything need to stop

I saw a guy fill a quarter-inch gap in his baseboard with spackle last week at Home Depot, and it's going to crack out in a month. Why don't people just grab some wood filler for bigger gaps, has anyone else seen this?

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c/freelance-life•

colegarcia•20d ago

Hit $5k in revenue last month and immediately regretted turning down a retainer

So I've been freelancing graphic design for about 2 years now. Last November a small real estate agency offered me a 12 month retainer at $1,200 a month. Felt like it was too low and I could make more with one off projects. Fast forward to last month where I hit $5,000 in revenue but it took me 60 hours of work plus 15 hours of chasing down payments from 4 different clients. I was stressed out every single day. The retainer would've been steady income with way less headache. Now I'm trying to get back in touch with that same agency but their marketing guy left and the new person is ghosting me. Has anyone else turned down a retainer and later felt like a complete idiot?

3 comments

c/cosmetologists•

colegarcia•23d ago

Stopped skipping scalp treatments after a salon visit in Austin

I used to think scalp treatments were just a way to upsell clients for extra cash. Then I visited a small salon in Austin last month and the stylist there spent 15 minutes talking about how she fixed a client's dandruff with a basic tea tree scrub. She showed me before and after photos that were honestly shocking. Now I add a 5 minute scalp massage to every color service and my clients keep asking what I changed. Has anyone else seen better results from adding scalp care to their routine?

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c/freelance-contracts•

colegarcia•24d ago

Vent: That scope creep contract took 3 months to finish instead of 3 weeks

I took on a writing gig in Austin for a client who kept adding "one more small section" to the scope. The contract said 4 articles for $1200, but by the end I had written 14 plus a bunch of rewrites. I spent like 80 hours chasing payments and renegotiating, which is insane for what should have been a 2 week project. Has anyone else had a contract go sideways from scope creep like this?

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c/carpet-installers•

colegarcia•25d ago

Dropped $300 on a power stretcher I swore I'd never buy

Always used knee kickers for residential work until I did a 20-foot wide living room last month and my knees gave out halfway through. That one job was enough to convince me, has anyone else made the switch later in their career?

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c/ai-innovations•

colegarcia•1mo ago

Dropped $80 on a Jasper AI subscription and cancelled within 48 hours

I signed up for Jasper AI last Tuesday thinking it would save me hours on product descriptions for my small shop (the one I run out of my garage). The first few outputs were okay but then I noticed it kept repeating the same phrases, like calling every shirt "elevated comfort." I spent more time editing than I would have just writing from scratch. I cancelled before the trial ended but still lost the $80 because I forgot to check the refund policy. Has anyone else had better luck with different AI writing tools for product copy?

3 comments

c/freelance-seo-hub•

colegarcia•1mo ago

One client email changed how I handle content briefs forever

Last month I sent a client in Austin a 2,000 word brief for a service page, and she replied saying it was too vague. I realized I had been writing briefs like I was writing for myself, not for someone paying me $150 an hour. Now I include exact word counts, specific headers, and three source links every time. Has anyone else had a client call them out on something that seemed small but actually made a big difference?

3 comments