When I stop my full-time job and began freelancing 5 years in the past, I figured it was only a stop-gap till I landed my subsequent advertising job. I had by no means fancied myself a business proprietor and didn’t assume I might command a freelance revenue that rivaled a full-time wage.
But as time handed and I saved procrastinating my “actual job” search, I began taking freelancing as a everlasting profession transfer extra significantly. I’d at all times valued independence and had come away burnt out from my final job, so the flexibleness and autonomy that freelance writing gave me was interesting. Coming from a content material advertising background, I knew I had the talents to ship worth to shoppers, but when I was going to do that long-term, I wanted to begin making more cash.
In January of 2021, I determined to go full-tilt into constructing my business. I made a objective to double my freelance revenue from 2020, going from ~$40,000 to $80,000. I thought that was an bold goal and assumed it might take me months to land new high-paying shoppers. Instead, inside about six weeks of promoting myself, I had extra work than I might deal with.
And by the summer season, I was billing $10,000 a month or extra.
How to construct a $10,000/month freelance business
While it would seem that I achieved my targets nearly in a single day on paper, that success was constructed on a basis that was years within the making. I’ve been within the content material advertising business since 2013 and had a strong portfolio when I determined to scale.
As a outcome, I had the coaching, abilities, and expertise wanted as well as to a beneficial business community. This basis, mixed with exhausting work and good luck, set me up to succeed when I then utilized strategic steps to develop my business.
That being stated, ramping up to $10,000 months is extra doable than you may assume—even for newer freelancers. Whether you’re ranging from the bottom up or have been freelancing for some time, the steps you’ll be able to take to develop your business will look fairly related. Here’s what labored for me.
Raise your charges
Drop low-paying shoppers
Book common, long-term shoppers
Specialize
Set value- and project-based pricing
Change your mindset
Market your self
1. Raise your charges
Raising your charges may be one of many extra intimidating issues to do as a freelancer. But keep in mind: charge will increase are normal business apply. And to ensure that you to function your business sustainably, your charges can’t stay static.
This can also be the quickest means to carry in additional revenue. If your charges keep the identical, the one means to usher in more cash is to tackle extra initiatives. But this will drive burnout and cap your earnings fairly rapidly—notably in case your charges are decrease to start with.
When I determined to scale my business this previous 12 months, I was billing on common between $2,500 and $4,000 monthly. I had two predominant anchor shoppers plus a handful of different shoppers I labored with much less frequently. One anchor shopper has been with me since 2018, however I hadn’t raised my charges with them in a pair years. I approached them when our annual contract was arising for renewal and easily quoted my up to date charge:
Hi Client,
As we mentioned briefly final month, I’d like to replace the speed on this new contract. My new charge could be $XXX/article. I do need to be cognizant of your funds, so if there’s any concern, let’s talk about. I’ve actually loved working collectively the previous few years and look ahead to our continued partnership.
Thank you,
Brittney
From there, we negotiated a brand new undertaking cadence from 4 articles a month to two so as to accommodate my new charge and their funds. Initially, this represented a drop in whole revenue from that shopper. However, reducing my assignments in half whereas getting paid extra per piece really created extra revenue potential for me as a result of it opened up my availability to tackle higher-paying initiatives from new shoppers.
This leads me to the following tip.
2. Drop low-paying shoppers as you exchange them with new, higher-paying shoppers
It’s okay to outgrow shoppers. As you increase your charges, some shoppers gained’t give you the option (or prepared) to pay. Eventually, you’ll want to make room for higher-paying shoppers by dropping your lowest-paying shoppers so you’ll be able to concentrate on the work that pays essentially the most.
So far, I haven’t had to formally drop any shoppers totally, however I have adjusted the quantity of labor I’ll settle for from my lower-paying shoppers—and I ensure to quote greater normal charges for brand spanking new shoppers that I onboard.
3. Book common, long-term shoppers
I by no means take one-off initiatives. Instead, I concentrate on constructing long-term relationships with shoppers for ongoing work. This is as a result of long-term or retainer shoppers present constant revenue that lets me present higher worth.
It takes time to onboard a shopper and get to know their business and technique, so it’s inefficient to do this again and again for short-term gigs. Plus, by working with shoppers on an ongoing foundation, I can ship higher worth (and cost greater charges in consequence) as a result of I have a deeper understanding of their business and content material wants.
Fortunately, this has been one of many best methods for me to comply with as most potential shoppers I’ve discovered are considering long-term relationships with freelancers as nicely. This is smart, as a result of simply because it takes time to onboard a brand new shopper, it takes time for shoppers to discover and onboard new freelancers. It’s of their greatest curiosity to put money into a freelancer they will belief and depend on repeatedly—as an alternative of discovering a brand new author each time they’ve a undertaking.
4. Specialize
If you’re a freelancer, you’ve most likely heard that it’s vital to “area of interest down.” And there’s good purpose this recommendation is so prevalent—it really works.
While it’s potential to make nice cash as a generalist, specializing builds your worth and fame—and helps you market your business extra successfully.
When you specialize, you develop experience in these areas over time. This permits you to dive deeper into the business (or service) and thus ship higher worth to your shoppers. It additionally helps you construct a fame because the go-to supplier for that business. All of this makes it simpler to market your business to your perfect shoppers, land these shoppers, and cost extra in your work.
If you haven’t already specialised, take a while to really feel out the best match for you and your business. Don’t be afraid to initially settle for work from quite a lot of shoppers and industries as a result of that may allow you to establish what areas you want greatest and are most expert in.
For instance, after writing as a generalist for a few years, I naturally started to gravitate towards a couple of choose niches. Now, I focus on (and market myself) as a long-form content material author for B2B SaaS, know-how, and the way forward for work. As a outcome, my perfect shoppers usually come to me now as a result of I confirmed up of their search outcomes or was referred by one other shopper or colleague.
You can at all times tackle initiatives exterior your area of interest in the event that they’re enjoyable, fascinating, or fulfill different targets. But if you specialize, you’ll be able to present extra worth and enhance your charges accordingly.
5. Set value-based pricing by the undertaking
A key technique for constructing my business has been quoting value-based undertaking charges relatively than per-word or per-hour charges. There are a few causes for this.
First, charges shouldn’t solely be about how a lot time you place in (i.e., hours labored) however what the deliverable itself is value to your shoppers. For occasion, if I write an eBook that brings in certified leads that convert for my shopper, that’s probably tens of 1000’s of {dollars} of worth from one piece of content material. So when assessing how to cost for a undertaking, I at all times have in mind the worth of the content material to the shopper.
Second, effectivity comes with experience (particularly for those who’re working with shoppers long-term). If you’re charging hourly, the quicker you produce, the much less cash you make. Project charges imply you don’t get penalized for getting higher at your job.
Finally, I discover that undertaking pricing is less complicated for shoppers to approve psychologically. For occasion, quoting $150/hr will give plenty of individuals sticker shock. But quote a weblog submit at $500, and the dialog is reframed across the worth of the content material, not your value as an individual. And it makes it simpler for everybody to plan undertaking budgets and keep away from nickel and diming over hours or phrase depend.
6. Change your mindset from an worker to a business proprietor
Mindset may sound woo-woo, nevertheless it’s such an vital a part of rising a sustainable freelance business. Remember: A one-person freelance business remains to be a business.
So don’t ask for raises. Don’t ask permission for day off. You’re not an worker, and your shoppers aren’t your boss. Changing your mindset isn’t at all times straightforward to do, nevertheless it’s made a giant distinction in the best way I conduct business.
Shifting my mindset helps me take the emotion out of contract negotiations and stand agency on choices which are greatest for me (and my business). It additionally helps me place myself because the professional advisor within the relationship, which provides worth for my shoppers and helps me command greater charges.
7. Keep advertising your self
Consistent advertising is important for rising your freelance business and constructing a pipeline of certified prospects and, finally, a robust referral engine. Especially if you’re first beginning out, shoppers usually gained’t come to you. You’ll want to go discover them. And meaning advertising and prospecting.
This isn’t a one-time train. Set apart time every week or no less than every month to community and outreach.
Use LinkedIn to discover potential shoppers to chilly e mail. LinkedIn has been among the best instruments I’ve used for locating shoppers. I seek for corporations in my goal industries, filtering by issues like dimension and funding to discover prospects which are seemingly to be a great match. Another technique I use is to search job listings on LinkedIn or different job boards for full-time staff in content material advertising. Then I attain out to the hiring supervisor to ask if they may use a freelancer to help the workforce throughout the hiring and onboarding course of. This is an effective way to discover shoppers which have a right away want which you could assist with.
Follow up with previous shoppers. Never underestimate the ability of the follow-up. Reach out to previous shoppers to see if they’ve any work they need assistance with. Even in the event that they don’t have a right away want, touching base frequently retains you top-of-mind for after they do have initiatives.
Talk to buddies. When you’re new to the business, it could actually really feel overwhelming to discover an “in.” But you’d be stunned how useful your present community of buddies may be—even when none of them are in your goal business themselves. Post on social media that you simply’re in business and discuss to buddies about what you’re doing. Even in case your quick buddies don’t rent you, they could know somebody in your business who wants assist. And referrals are among the best methods to land a shopper.
Join skilled teams. I’ve landed a number of shoppers from skilled author teams on Facebook. The key to getting essentially the most out of those teams is to take part and add worth. Keep in thoughts that not all teams are equally as beneficial. I initially joined round half a dozen writing teams when I first began freelancing. But as I adopted them, I rapidly homed in on those that have been the best match for me primarily based on the main target of the neighborhood, the extent of exercise, and the worth individuals shared. Groups that had quite a lot of spam or that posted low-paying gigs have been rapidly weeded out.
Attend networking occasions and business conferences. Networking occasions and business conferences are an effective way to construct out your community over time. While they are often intimidating for those who’ve by no means been to one or are an introvert like me, networking at these occasions helps you construct beneficial skilled relationships. These are sometimes an extended recreation. The work isn’t achieved when the occasion ends. You then want to preserve these connections you made and, when potential, take part in future occasions. Often you’ll run into the identical individuals annually, additional strengthening these relationships.
Wherever you’re ranging from, with the best constructing blocks and consistency, you’ll be able to develop your business comparatively quick. Within weeks, I had extra work than I might deal with. And inside a couple of months, I had hit (and exceeded) the once-elusive $10,000 month.
Once you get the momentum going, you’ll be stunned how rapidly you’ll ebook up. Then you’ll have to be taught to say no. But that’s a subject for one more day.
This article by Brittney Thompson was first revealed on the Zapier weblog. Find the unique submit right here.
https://thenextweb.com/information/how-i-scaled-freelance-business-10000-month
