Image by Terry Bain via Flickr
A few years ago, my sister’s house had a big problem with its foundation. A crack was forming right down the middle of their living room, which caused their tile floor to crack with it.
At first, their insurance company offered to replace their tile floor. But my sister insisted that the problem was more severe than it appeared. So she hired a specialist who confirmed that if the foundation wasn’t addressed, the problem would continue.
The specialist was right. They fixed the foundation and the problem was solved.
If you’re a freelancer or solo professional and your business has taken a beating in the last year or two, you may be in a similar situation. You certainly can work harder to make improvements in key areas of your business — things such as your marketing, work habits, pricing, and so forth.
But the impact of these changes will be short-lived if there’s a deeper problem you’re not addressing.
Intrigued by this idea, I recently set out to interview dozens of freelancers who had faced such a conundrum in the last few years. Their businesses had dried up. They could no longer command respectable fees for their work. And the marketing efforts that had once worked were no longer effective.
Yet they were still able to turn their businesses around.
When I studied what they did to get out of a bad situation, I realized that they creatively employed one of more of these 11 strategies: Click to continue reading »
If you’re a freelancer working online (and I hope you ARE leveraging the web to grow your business), it’s almost too easy to slap up a new offer without thoroughly considering how it brings value to the vendor-client relationship. If you’re in marketing or copywriting, you might even face situations where the client wants your help promoting an offer that feels a bit … thin.
Yet there’s a fine line between being thorough with new offerings and finding excuses reasons to keep sitting on a great idea. So I’ve created an easy-to-remember acronym that will help you decide whether or not your next offer is ready for the limelight. Click to continue reading »
Here’s an income-boosting strategy my dentist taught me.
When I visit his office for my twice-yearly appointment, his dental assistant typically spends about a half-hour scraping and cleaning my teeth. Lots of fun! Then my dentist comes in and does the checkup, which takes about 10 minutes.
After one of these appointments, while signing the insurance form at the front desk, I noticed how the fees were broken down:
$45 for the half-hour cleaning. $105 for the 10-minute checkup.
My dentist obviously knew where he added the most value and made the most money. He focused on the checkups and hired other people to do the rest.
As a freelance professional, you need to think the same way.
Figure out where you add the most value on the project work you do and then hire a virtual assistant or even another freelancer to handle the other aspects of the job. If you do, your income per hour will go up. Click to continue reading »
Let me ask you a question: why are you here? I don’t mean why are here on this earth. I mean, why are you here on this blog, reading these articles?
I’m assuming it’s got something to do with the fact that you’re either curious about becoming a freelancer or solo professional or, you’re curious about how to make improvements in some area of your current business.
But, why, specifically are you interested in that?
Why don’t you just go out and get a job?
I’m serious. For most of us, that is precisely what we have been taught, conditioned and trained to do. That’s why the vast majority of us do just that. (Although… the scales are rapidly tipping as more and more people find themselves exploring the freelance life either by force or by intent.)
But back to you. I want to ask you one more time… WHY are you so diligent, persistent, curious or smitten about the idea of working for yourself?
The reason I keep asking is not because I’m nosy, or because it’s important for me to know. The reason is because it’s important for YOU to know.
So back to the question: Why are you here? Click to continue reading »
Courtesy ProgressOhio on Flickr
Next to BP, Wal-Mart is probably one of the most vilified corporations today.
The world’s largest retailer has been widely criticized for putting local merchants out of business, running suppliers to the ground and employing questionable labor practices.
Which is why I was shocked when I saw Gary Hirshberg, the founder and CEO of Stonyfield Farms—a producer of organic yogurt—in the documentary “Food, Inc.” talking about how he’s now selling his product to Wal-Mart.
What??!!
Why would a well-known environmental activist and leader in the organic movement agree to sell his product to what so many perceive to be the world’s most evil corporation?
I couldn’t believe it. But then he finally explained his reasoning. And I had to marvel at his genius.
Quite simply, Hirshberg sees Wal-Mart as a great vehicle to furthering organic farming. He explained that by selling to the world’s largest retailer, he’ll be able to move a TON more product. And for every cup of organic yogurt Wal-Mart sells, that’s one LESS cup of yogurt sold that was produced through traditional methods.
Essentially, Hirshberg is using Wal-Mart to help replace traditionally produced products with organic products made using sustainable agricultural practices.
Here’s a guy who’s committed to helping the environment and actually has the means to do this in a large scale. And in a very creative way.
Whether you agree with any of this or not (and whether you question his motives), there’s a lesson here for all freelancers, consultants and solopreneurs: There will be times when we have to use unpopular methods to reach an important business goal. Click to continue reading »
Well… that’s it people. I think it’s pretty much case closed now.
Economists, academics, thought leaders, bestselling authors… it seems just about everyone has weighed in on the topic of the new economy and the fact that self-employed professionals are taking center stage.
But this month, freelancing or “working independently” or being a “solopreneur” (no one has quite settled on the catch-all phrase to describe us yet) was officially ordained as the way of the future by the mainest of mainstream media…
It’s right there in black and white, on page 42 of the July issue of O Magazine…
Click to continue reading »
Courtesy Remara on Flickr
You’re on deadline, and the project just isn’t coming together. You fuss, polish, tinker, and do just about everything you can to make it gel, but despite your best efforts, you just can’t seem to make any meaningful headway.
So you stop. You quit for a day and get a good night’s sleep.
Next morning, the thing comes together beautifully, seemingly without a hitch.
Why is that?
Some months ago, I interviewed a sleep scientist for an article in a science magazine. The doctor’s words came back to me as I read a section in Chapter 9 of The Wealthy Freelancer, entitled “Take Time To Incubate.” It’s the part of the book where Steve, Pete, and Ed point out that time away from a project—sleeping on it—often works wonders.
It does, and here’s why.
Our brains are compulsive digital recorders. They collect information about every single experience we have. You meet a client over coffee to hash out details for an upcoming report. While your conscious mind deals with the business at hand, your unconscious mind slavishly records everything around you: Your client’s body language. The light levels in the coffee shop where you meet. The music on the loudspeaker. The weather. Every freaking thing.
This is a wondrous ability, but you don’t need to remember everything. You just need to remember the important stuff. Click to continue reading »
Courtesy chb1848 on Flickr
“We’d like to offer you a $5,000 a month retainer for one project a month, plus a few hours of consulting time. Will that work for you?”
The comment was music to my ears. I had been working on this client for the past 4 months. And now, finally, here was the offer… and it was a good one. I knew that one project would only cost me about 10 hours, or about $500 an hour. At the time, that was good money for me and I was ecstatic.
I say good money, but I should actually say “outrageous” money. It was way more per hour than I’d ever made in my life.
So, on the outside it was all joy and rejoicing.
But, on the inside, the mental demons of doubt, fear, and unworthiness began at once to go to work.
Over the past 5 years, as I’ve spoken with, coached, and presented to thousands of freelancers, I’ve come to realize that I’m not alone in harboring a few pesky mental demons.
These little terrors are masters at self-sabotage. Let me show you what I mean…
Within a month, I took that super-sweet contract of $5,000 a month and botched the first project. The company was even patient with me, giving me very detailed feedback so I could get it just right. But my internal system just couldn’t handle that kind of dollar to hour ratio. I had to get rid of it.
So, I did. And I did it in a way that I could blame them… at least at first. But the truth was, I was at fault not theirs. It was my mental demons sabotaging my own success.
The most common mental demons I find sabotaging freelancers are named fear, doubt, and lack of self-worth. Have you seen them hanging about your place as well?
The biggest question is not do you have them (of course you do…) but how do you defeat them so you can land big clients, make great money, and do it all in 30 hours or less each week so you have time to enjoy all that income?
I have three very specific actions for you… Click to continue reading »
One of the most frustrating aspects of being a freelancer is how clueless everyone else seems to be about the world in which we live and work.
They don’t understand the pressures we face. They can’t imagine not having a boss to report to. Or the fact that working from home doesn’t mean we’re sitting on the couch eating Ho Hos and watching Oprah.
And NO ONE (including most personal finance authors and publications) seems to be able to fully grasp how hard it is to manage your finances when your income is variable.
When clients flake out and their payment is late. When you have to fund your retirement. When you have to set money aside to pay for your taxes every quarter. When you have to find and buy your own health insurance.
The topic of money played a big role in our book The Wealthy Freelancer. But our money discussions centered on how to boost your income for every hour you worked in your business. That way you could earn the same or more in less time, freeing up precious hours to do all the other things you want to do in life.
Where we left off was how to manage your cash flow. We knew that this was a much bigger topic — one that required a comprehensive discussion. So we spent half a chapter covering some of the basics while urging you to consult other sources for more specialized information.
Well…that’s where The Money Book for Freelancers, Part-Timers, and the Self-Employed comes in. This new book — written by Joseph D’Agnese and Denise Kiernan, two very successful freelancers — is an absolute must-read for any independent worker out there. Click to continue reading »
In my last article I talked about how freelancers, in an effort to save money, often fall prey to those all-in-one el-cheapo DIY Website solution packages. These sites often end up costing more in the long run.
“But,” you may be asking, “just what am I supposed to do? I’m one person, I just started my business, and I don’t have a lot of money.”
Developing a terrific Website that gets business in the door doesn’t have to cost a lot – you just need to know your options. Click to continue reading »
