Blog Archives

Sep 19 2017

Can you subcontract your way to a profitable freelance living?

Here’s a common misconception; by subcontracting you limit your earning potential as your price is limited by what the client can pay at the top of the chain, with your rate the one that’s squeezed to accommodate.

What if I told you that I (both as a freelancer and from growing into 14 employee web agency Tone) am often able to bill more for my work as a subcontractor as I could as a direct supplier to the client.

Side note: When you’re a subcontractor the business side of freelancing is even more important. Here are the six traits you need to sharpen up to make that happen.

A client is a client

A crucial differentiation you need to make (and a realism you should get comfortable with) is that a client is a client.  You do the work.  You get paid.  Does it matter if they pass that work on?

The economics are the same:

  1. Receive a brief or instruction and have a good process for onboarding
  2. Agree a cost (for the project ideally – ideally not an hourly rate) and deliver a proposal
  3. Deliver on time and overdeliver where you can
  4. Enjoy the journey and open yourself up for more work or referrals

Another way to look at subcontracting is that you deliver your work into a management team (the subcontracting party), who pass that onto the real decision makers (the client).   If you were dealing with a large business who had a similar sort of structure it would be no different.

So it’s your job (and your job only) to ensure the client enjoys the experience, is delighted with the output and wants to work with you again.  Those points remain whether direct or subcontracting.

You still need to be selective

Here’s a sure fire way to fail; targeting other freelancers or very small agencies who are fighting the same battles you are.  Rather than work you’ll get platitudes, “I’ll let you know-s” and an expectation to return the favour if something does work out.

Who is the next tier up from you?

There is always somebody bigger and doing more, always somebody who was in your position 5 years ago and chances are they need help with overflow from time to time.

At Tone our largest subcontracted agreement is fast approaching $400,000 (around £280,000 to date) which is only possible the subcontracting design agency is much larger than we are (14 employees vs thousands).

Using it as a platform we’ve been able to replicate this model with 4 or 5 other large-scale agencies with similar results.  Key takeaways:

  1. You still need to qualify and narrow your audience.  It’s even more crucial when finding subcontracting partners to narrow the pool.
  2. You’ll O-N-L-Y get repeat work by delivering well; subcontractor clients need a partner not a laborer.
  3. Your justification on price needs to be extra sharp, so that your partner can pass on this argument to their client and win the deal for you by proxy.
  4. It’s down to you to build long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with these clients.

Keep them coming back

Do you manage projects well with the long-term partnership in mind or are you glad to see the back of clients once they’re complete? How much long-term client focus do you have?

It’s possible to build enough goodwill, enough recurring client revenue that you never have to find another client again. How much emphasis are you putting on improving that skill?  This is crucial for the business side of freelancing. 

Side benefits

Let me know in the comments if you’d like to see me talk more about subcontracting.

What I’ll leave you with is the point that you never know where the relationship might lead; the same agency passed a client directly to us who will be spend upwards of $25,000 this month.

Now tell me you can’t profitably work as a subcontractor :)

Read more
Jun 27 2017

What do clients really (really) want?

If women are from Venus and men are from Mars, where the hell did ‘The client’ come from? From strange silences to broken promises; mis-steps to breakdowns it can be a minefield.

In this post I wanted to open up a fundamental area for you to understand and action; how to communicate effectively with clients who are at different levels of understanding and sophistication to you.

There’s a great quote attributed to Henry Ford which goes something like this.

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”


Henry Ford

Think back to recent conversations you’ve had with clients. You’ll have those who are certain of their pain, are well-researched and have pretty much diagnosed the solution before getting to you.

The other end of the spectrum are those who feel the same pain but who are either early on in their information gathering or who need convincing that your service is anything to do what that pain.

Aiming your wordage (on your website, in your marketing, in your proposal and pitch) at both of those ‘worldviews’ at the same time is a mistake and will result in no one party really connecting with what you have to say.

The more sophisticated client might feel you’re dumbing it down, the beginner may drown in buzzwords and jargon.

So what do clients really want? As with the Henry Ford example they’ll certainly not be able to clearly tell you themselves, so how do we find it out and give it to them without asking?

Note: This is a key trait of successful freelancers; and forms a key part of Freelancelift Pro video modules and is built into a complete workbook with scripts and templates.

In this post we’ll lay it out, to ensure you can strike a balance in everything you do and say to maximize your chances of getting the gig.

The one common denominator

One thing it’s vital to understand is that although all clients are different – with distinct experience and opinions – they share one common denominator… P-a-i-n.

Put simply, pain comes before any action.

You’re not being chosen because you can design, write, market, code… You’re being hired because the client has a business problem (or pain). Your service (in their mind and yours) should be the solution to that problem.

Taking an example of a doctor’s surgery. Do you enter the room knowing you need Ethopeptin ABC2000 or do you explain your symptoms first, for this (totally made up) remedy to be prescribed later?

Staying with that analogy, who would you trust more?

Doctor A
Listens to your symptoms and it’s triggers, explains what is likely happening in a language you can understand, walks you from this pain to explaining the benefit of the solution with a only a passing mention of the chemical compounds.

Doctor B
Makes assumptions as to your issue, goes heavy on the technical aspects and heads straight for the cabinet offering you a choice between prescription remedies you know nothing about.

My guess is you’re trusting the former.

Businesses have pain receptors, too. In most cases, it is this pain that creates the environment for research and action.

Indeed, a nagging pain is generally a signal that something deeper is wrong.

The mistake most freelancers make is to ignore the fact that opportunities to make a sale and win a client are only made possible by a business pain.

Three client buying stages

So with that said, how do your clients go to market for your service and how can you ensure you understand (at any point) what they’re really hoping to see and hear?

Pain > Research > Action

Pain
This is the starting point. Something isn’t achieved, a goal is not met and it hurts. It may be something critical to their livelihood, it may be a fairly minor pain but in any case it’s felt.

Research
At this stage the client will take it upon themselves to try and understand what just happened. During this process – and depending on the voices they listen to – the client will either be well prepared for figuring out the solution or be more confused.

Action
In either case, a client makes the decision that something has to change, that there is a need fix the pain they’ve just experienced, and one way or another they determine that they probably need a designer, or writer, or translator, or coder.

So off they go to source it

The single biggest mistake I see is freelancers positioning their entire message around the action phase, forgetting that there has been a journey of pain and subsequent research.

This leads them to put together an argument like this:

“You’re looking for a writer? Great I write 100 words per minute and can have it back in 3 days”

… when they should really be saying this:

“I guess you’re realizing now that not hiring a qualified copywriter was a mistake, maybe the interaction on your site isn’t what it needs to be. I’d like to show you how to fix that.”

Or they say stuff like this:

“I’m a full stack developer based in [location] helping with rails, building web apps in HTML5 and CSS3”

… instead of telling the story like this:

“How robust is your site? Maybe you’re find the slow speed and shaky structure is hurting your business, or maybe your current developer is now unresponsive. It’s probably why you ended up here.”

Here’s the thing; when your wordage (on your website, in your marketing, in your proposal and pitch) focuses on clearly explaining the pain and a logical solution you begin to resonate clients at any end of the spectrum.

Some questions to ask

The objective of the Pro Modules on this topic are to understand what clients want, so that you can reposition your message to give it to them.

If a client lands with your site, sees your marketing or receives a proposal and is immediately hit with a vague headline, buzzwords and descriptions of the software you’re great at using (which they’ve never heard of), it’s a fundamentally different experience to the one they’ll get if you meet them in a coffee shop.

In that informal setting, you’d cater your language to suit their experience level and simplify your message so that it resonated with them and their issues.

So get into the mindset of your client with a few simple questions:

  1. What drives them to do what they do, what do they care about?
  2. What positive qualities do they carry and how is their pain stopping them from exhibiting that?
  3. How clear is their vision? Do they need to borrow from your imagination & expertise?
  4. What is their financial outlook, is this a big outlay for them?
  5. In real terms, what do they expect working with you to deliver?

By answering these five simple questions, you can begin to build a picture of who the client really is, and what their sensitivities really are.

Bonus – A checklist of things your client really wants

In Module 8 of Freelancelift Pro we have video lessons on building rapport with clients and maximizing desire and the video lessons follow the ‘Subconscious Checklist’ among other resources; what follows is a summarised version of that for you to measure yourself up against and finally understand ‘what clients really want’.

(You can join the FREE course for a full overview of the Business Side of Freelancing too.)

Read more
Jun 09 2017

Stop trying to automate every task in your freelance business

It’s the ultimate dream for most; build a (design/dev/writing) business that can grow to not need you. The whiff of passive income, the tempting allure of well oiled automated processes and the Zen-like harmony of a four-hour workweek.

If you can almost taste the Piña Colada and feel that gentle sea breeze I’m here to bring you back down to earth… stop trying to automate everything!

Which software do you use for X?

It’s one of the most common questions I’m asked and something that hits hot topic status in the Slack community whenever it’s raised.

What do you use for creating videos, what about time tracking, your thoughts on [insert new design app here], project management etc?

You’ll notice that I have precisely zero blogs, videos or ebooks comparing software features because I fundamentally believe it will just give you another reason to engage in ‘empty work’, or procrastination.

Spending 5 hours aimlessly registering for 14 day trials and poking around new software interfaces doesn’t help when the problem is the lack of a process, not a lack of a system to manage that process.

Your time has value, which is why you’re looking for a system or software or magic bullet to make the clock work harder, not you.

My view is that your intentions are good you may just be looking in the wrong place. (Side note: Mismanagement of time was number 5 of my list of failures first time around as a freelancer so believe me when I say I do understand why you’re looking!)

Software won’t help when the process beneath is broken

I’m a big believer in efficiency, process and solid business fundamentals. Hell, it’s why I named my book ‘Stop Thinking Like a Freelancer’. I’m also a strong advocate for beating procrastination and getting stuff done, quickly.

But if you take one thing from this post make it this – software won’t help if you don’t already have a system to do what you’re trying to do.

Photoshop was a killer app because it helped automate a lot of processes that were either manual (non-digital) or took lots of time to do digitally.

Freshbooks flourished because it is speedier and more intuitive than the spreadsheet users were working with before.

Basecamp took off like a rocket, as it streamlined email conversations already happening into a task level system.

Mailchimp managed email addresses better than an Outlook and allowed users to bulk send rather than via a workaround BCC hack.

There was already a process in place to carry out these tasks.

It wasn’t scalable, it took time and in some cases was painful but it was there, and it worked.

The ‘job to be done’ had been solved, the fundamentals were understood; these systems stepped in and made the process 10x more efficient and 100x more scalable.

Too often I find that I’m being asked for software recommendations for tasks haven’t been tried and tested manually yet.

Example: What software do you use for cold emailing potential clients?

A short time ago I put together a 6,000+ word, complete guide to finding freelance clients using cold email and this methodology is a key part of my recommendations for getting more attention as a freelancer (marketing and getting attention is Module 7 of Freelancelift Pro).

Yet nowhere did I recommend how to actually do this at scale.

“What software do you use for finding email addresses in bulk”

“Where do you find large lists of leads you want to reach out to”

“What platform do you use to actually do the sends?”

All valid questions, but only questions I will entertain when you’ve tried it and gotten results the manual way.

Without that, the software becomes quicksand, you get too focused on understanding every feature of the platform and allow your mind to wander about the possibility of scaling this system to email 1,000 people a day on your behalf.

All the while you’re sinking…. sinking… sinking.

Busy work gets you setup on the system but your energy to actually put the system to work fades. Roll up your sleeves, understand the fundamentals and do things that don’t scale to begin with.

In doing so you’ll learn the fundamentals of what you’re trying to achieve first, get good at it then look to find how you systemize it, go faster, do better now it’s second nature. Wax on, wax off.

I’ll leave you with a passage from a classic business mind, Paul Graham from the epic piece ‘Do things that don’t scale’:

“Actually startups take off because the founders make them take off. There may be a handful that just grew by themselves, but usually it takes some sort of push to get them going.

A good metaphor would be the cranks that car engines had before they got electric starters. Once the engine was going, it would keep going, but there was a separate and laborious process to get it going…

… the unscalable things you have to do to get started are not merely a necessary evil, but change the company permanently for the better.”

So focus on the fundamentals, understand the core freelance business principles for whatever you are trying to achieve. Get good at them, do things the long way at first.

Then use software, systems and scale your marketing, accounting or project management to maximise your time and earn more from your work in less time.

Maybe you’ll get that Piña Colada after all :)

Read more
May 19 2016

Ditching bad apple clients for good and using positioning to your advantage

My field is web design. Specifically I’ve grown a $1.5m web agency from a laptop and a shared desk in a co-working space. Does this mean I haven’t had my fair share of bad apple clients?

Do we at the agency feel the pain of the ‘squeaky wheel’ project any less?

In my book – which charts this journey – I talk a lot about ‘positioning’.  You’ll be forgiven for glazing over and fading out as soon as you hear that word.

It conjures memories of half-baked advice from 80s business coaches who live too much in the hypothetical world of ideal scenarios and have limited ‘feet to the fire’ experience as a service provider trudging through the world of solo business.

Truth is you use positioning every day. The way you dress positions you, your personality and how you behave in unfamiliar situations gives a sense of who you are, heck even the car you drive gives off a message.

We’re taught not to judge a book by its cover. While this is noble and true in the context of real world relationships; you won’t be extended the same courtesy in business.

Clients will barely even see the cover, instead zipping down the library isle only taking a closer look at the few book ends which catch their eye.

Put simply; when money is changing hands these impressions really, really matter.

Perception

To define positioning then; it comprises of the actions and touchpoints you use to positively influence a client’s perception of you as a service provider.

If that is too wordy, it can be simplified as ‘The way you handle yourself, everywhere a client sees you’.

Your objective is to find better clients, each paying more per project than you’re currently used to. A price is not just a price; it’s a reflection of the perceived value of what you do.

So perception matters.

Your objective is to repel bad apple clients while simultaneously attracting those who hold the keys to your dream projects.

If you’re finding yourself with a succession of ‘bad apple’ clients you probably have a problem with positioning, unfortunately it is attracting the wrong type of client. With a strong message (in your website copy, proposals and everywhere you are online) which repels the ‘I need it quick and cheap’ client
you build a perception of professionalism.

Do you put yourself out there as unique, delivering a solution to the client’s problem or are you ‘just another’ freelancer providing XYZ service?

Perception matters.

The good news is that these two objectives go hand in hand. You’ll need to ensure your perception is the best it can be and you’ll be in a much stronger position as a result.

So how is your perception made up, and how can you positively influence it?

perception-diagram

Your messaging

In module five of Freelancelift Pro I lay out a path (along with an exhaustive workbook) to getting better at positioning, setting yourself apart from the thousands of other freelancers that a client could choose. I’m sad to say that in my experience, this one area is completely overlooked by 90% of freelancers.

You have an opportunity to tell a story about the impact you can make to the lives of your dream client. Don’t squander it. It’s more than just a headline or website copy – it’s a concerted effort across every inch of your brand to build a frame around you and your service and to ensure every paragraph makes the likelihood of a sale greater.

 

Brand touchpoints

A brand is not ‘a logo’, nor is it even strictly ‘design’. A brand is an experience, a feeling, a sense and a vibration that oozes out of every interaction (however fleeting) between your business and a prospective client. Tangible mechanisms like a logo, a name, design, website content, proposal documents and others, are the vehicles that create that intangible experience.

It’s vital that every touchpoint works in your favour. Each one must tell your story, attract the interest of dream clients, and communicate efficiently with current clients.

 

Relevant experience

Understanding what motivates your dream client enables you to organize and showcase your experiences more effectively. Your work is as good as your work can be, and this post will not change that.

What it will do, though, is help you to present your experience and past work in such a way that it gives your dream client the assurances they need, and you the best possible chance of achieving a perceived value that supports the financial objectives you’re looking to achieve.

 

Nobody said it was easy

It’s not easy to change the perception a client has of you, overnight. So make small changes first with some free resources; define a narrower pool of clients…. Get better at the way you describe you service … convert more clients by improving your proposals… or building your own presence by moving away from Upwork, Fiverr and other freelancer exchanges.

A key point to take away from this post is that things don’t change doing the same thing you always did. You’ll need direction, accountability and focus to make it happen.

I place positioning as the first block in my ‘6 key traits of successful freelancers’ for good reason, it’s a really high leverage way to find better clients, earn more per project and enjoy your craft.

Over to you.

Read more
May 13 2016

What you should really do when your lose your mojo as a freelancer

It happens to the best of us. One day you’ll wake up and think… What am I actually doing? I have no clients, my last project fell flat and the thought of a stable salary is actually quite comforting right now.

Some snap out of it, most wallow in it and others give in. Your mojo; that fire of ambition that started you down this path in the first place is fading… fast.

You don’t always need to be failing either to feel that pain.

You may have clients; they just happen to be demanding sociopaths.

You may have cash coming in; just not enough spare for a vacation or to jump the ‘lifestyle ladder’.

Your skills may be developing; but you have this feeling you’ll never be in ‘his’ or ‘her’ league.

What am I actually doing?

Whether you find yourself lost on a plateau, caught in a temporary trough or staring into a 1,000 ft black hole there clearly is a problem. Take some comfort in the fact it’s normal, but don’t use it as an excuse.

In his book ‘The Dip’ Seth Godin describes this moment beautifully:

“The Dip is the long stretch between beginner’s luck and real accomplishment. The Dip is the set of artificial screens set up to keep people like you out.”

“Extraordinary benefits accrue to the tiny minority of people who are able to push just a tiny bit longer than most.”

Did you think that Superstar Freelancer Mary always had it this way? Has In-demand Dribbble Artist John always had a 6 month dream client wait list?

Fortunately for you, the answer is no.

Procrastination

I know my strengths; I’m a strategy guy with the various skills needed to execute them. Big picture, well-thought-out plans with the practitioner abilities and drive needed to make those plans happen.

It helped me get to where I am today. But I still get that feeling and I still procrastinate.

My version of procrastination is over-planning, over-big-picturing’ and waiting for the right moment rather than jumping on the ’Now moment’.

I wish I could be more Richard Branson… ‘Screw it, let’s do it’.

I’m more “Screw it, let’s do it – but I just need to confirm that the conversion rate and average order value would make it viable as a zzzz ….” (You get the picture).

You’ll often find in your life that this feeling you often have – let’s just call it ‘Me-No-Mojo’ for now – is a cover for procrastination. So it’s up to you to make adjustments to compensate for it.

For most of us then, the question really isn’t ‘What am I doing?’….

It’s actually more like this:

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing, or what the next steps are to get better clients, more cash, better skills. I’m a bit stuck. Universe… help?”

3---focus I truly believe that this feeling is linked to procrastination, a lack of direction and the absence of a plan which leaves you feeling aimless. Especially true if you’re already busy with client work.

It’s the reason I dedicated a whole module (module two) of Freelancelift Pro to procrastination and why I talk at length about focus, as a key success trait.

Everybody procrastinates, here’s proof

In 2008 a group of cognitive psychologists held one of the most exhaustive studies known into procrastination, the results were very revealing and give us key insights into the ratlionalization techniques we all enlist to justify why a given task wasn’t completed.

Your ‘task’ in this instance is to put into place the actions that’ll take you down from the plateau, out from the trough or allow you to side step the black hole.

The study found also that while on the surface some delays may feel appropriate, we’re really just showcasing procrastination behavior under a different guise.

According to Tuckman, Abry, and Smith, there are 15 key reasons for procrastination:

1. Not knowing what needs to be done – “I didn’t know I was supposed to do that.”

2. Not knowing how to do something – “I don’t know how to do it.”

3. Not wanting to do something – “I really don’t want to do this.”

4. Not caring if it gets done or not – “It won’t make a difference whether I do this or not.”

5. Not caring when something gets done – “It really doesn’t make any difference if I put this off.”

6. Not feeling in the mood to do it – “I need to be in the mood. I’m not.”

7. Lacking the initiative to change or get started – “But I’ve always done it this way and it’s hard to change.”

8. Being in the habit of waiting until the last minute – “I know I can pull this out at the last minute.”

9. Believing that you work better under pressure – “I work better under pressure.”

10. Feeling stuck and unable to get to the next step – “I just can’t seem to get started.”

11. Forgetting – “I just forgot.”

12. Blaming sickness or poor health – “I couldn’t do it; I was sick.”

13. Waiting for the right moment – “I’m just waiting for the best time to do it.”

14. Needing time to think about the task – “I need time to think this through.”

15. Delaying one task in favor of working on another – “This other opportunity will never come again, so I can’t pass it up.”

I found the results fascinating, and I’m sure right now you can point to several of these reasons you’ve used today, or this week. This information though equips us with perspective.

If you know what to look for, and can identify procrastination ‘in progress’ you start to enter the right mindset for overcoming it.

Pushing through with positive action, looking at where you are right now objectively. Focusing on what really matters to change things. To get better clients, to generate more revenue, to sharpen your abilities.

What is the biggest step you could take right now; this very second, that would make even a small improvement?

Change things

Now is your chance to change things. I often link this sense of ‘Me-No-Mojo’ with a position I call ‘Maintenance Mode’. Most will find themselves there at some stage.

One of the most highlighted passages in the Kindle version of my book ‘Stop Thinking Like a Freelancer’ explains this phenomenon well:

“If you can’t immediately point to a specific action you took this week that furthered and evolved your business then you’ll probably find you’re in Maintenance Mode with your freelance career.

Stuck on a plateau, static financially yet furiously spinning the hamster wheel. Unclear on the most effective ‘to do’ action to tackle next.”

Even if you are doing okay though, and you are beyond Maintenance Mode could things be more efficient in the way you run the business? Could you procrastinate less? Could you get things done more quickly or build systems for subcontractors to help carry the load?

Positive Change

Consider this the start of a positive change in this area, it’s impractical to look for a full and final solution right now, you’ll only tie yourself in knots.

Instead consider this as just another step in your evolution. Remember, ‘getting better’ never ends, you just make real impact more consistently.

So you should consider this as another weapon in your arsenal. A resource to keep to one side whenever you feel distracted, stuck on a plateau or unclear on the next best steps to take. Like everything on Freelancelift it’s not a ‘one-hit’ resource, keep coming back to the content as you develop and you’ll get more out of it each time.

If you enjoyed these ideas you’ll probably like this previous post ‘The business side of freelancing and the 6 traits of those who succeed’

Read more
Nov 02 2015

The business side of freelancing and the 6 traits of those who succeed

At some point in the past you’ve likely been an employee of someone else’s business. You had a skill that served them and felt you could take that skill elsewhere, to serve yourself.

That was the plan at least.

You left that 9-5 incarceration for a reason but somewhere along the way you lost sight of it. That fire of ambition flickering inside all of us has the potential to fade into the darkness of day-to-day work.

Clients get in the way, life gets in the way, the days weeks and years slip through our fingers like a waterfall of lacklustre performances.

You slip into employee mode, allowing clients to be the boss and put up with this ‘day job’ swallowing you whole. If you’re lucky you might just earn as much as you did when you were an employee; those without such luck will give up.

Another way

I believe that with just a small amount of direction, accountability and focus we all have it within us to make real change. To find better clients, work better and earn more to support the lives we want to live; in the process working more ‘ON’ our business than ‘IN’ it.

That’s why I’m sitting here writing you this post, and why I’ve poured the last two years of my life into Freelancelift.

So which traits do the people who do make it have that most do not?

Put simply, they understand the business side of freelancing. They work deliberately, purposefully and with the understanding that it’s no longer somebody else’s job to do marketing, no longer somebody else’s role to bring in sales, or account management or quality control.

A mission

I’ve made it my mission over the past two years to build the biggest, most in-depth resource on the business side of freelancing.  I’ve learned from the numerous community success stories that there are 6 main traits demonstrated by that nouveau-successful army.

Moreover, I now have a set of peers who have equalled or improved upon my own successes whom I’ve studied to bring you the traits that make them tick, recording several of those conversations for the podcast.

You left the 9-5 herd for a reason, consider how you might rekindle that ‘fire of ambition’; the thing that started you down this track in the first place. Here are 6 key traits you can improve upon to get you there.

1. Positioning

They understand ‘positioning’ and use it to their advantage

Are you clear on what clients are really looking for? Do you know what to say at the right time? Do you find yourself over-complicating discussions with clients or do you speak in a language they can understand? Do clients tell you how much your messaging (on your site, on email, in proposals) resonated with them?

Do you put yourself out there as unique, delivering a solution to the client’s problem or are you ‘just another’ freelancer providing XYZ service?

If you’re finding yourself with a succession of ‘bad apple’ clients you probably have a problem with positioning, unfortunately it is attracting the wrong type of client.  With a strong message (in your website copy, proposals and everywhere you are online) which repels the ‘I need it quick and cheap’ client you build a perception of professionalism.

Perception is vitally important and the successful freelancers, consultants and solo businesses know that. How could you improve yours?

2. Value

They provide value in the wider community to peers and potential clients

Are you known in your field, or is the limit of your ‘fame’ a website and social media profiles? Are you active in your community of peers, do you seek to provide value with new ideas on social media, Q&A forums, communities?

On your site do you have a blog or insights a potential client could find? How much value do you provide to prospective clients and peers before they pay you? We’re not talking about giving your work away either, just being visible and known to an audience.

When going to market for a freelancer, consultant or small agency; businesses at the smarter end of the spectrum (the ones you really want to do business with) will do their own research as to expertise level, your credibility and your past work. This is particularly true in the design & development fields with Dribbble and StackOverflow replacing a more traditional resumé.

That is to say if you have a particularly strong online voice and are regarded as an expert in your field you’ll have yourself a competitive advantage (with all the fee benefits that brings, nudge nudge) over your peers.

Further Reading: Check out the free book ‘Why Nobody Knows Your Name’

3. Focus

They know what they want, focusing on what’s important to get it

As one-or-two person businesses we’re spinning lots of plates just to survive the month or week. Do you suffer from the ‘squeaky wheel’ syndrome or are you crystal clear on what’s important, stopping immediately everything that doesn’t contribute to your goals.

Do you tend to procrastinate or do you have a clear breakdown of exactly what you’ll do today, tomorrow, this week and stick to it vigorously?

Consider this; every time you procrastinate or fail to ‘get around to’ fixing the business side of what you do you are sacrificing your own long term progress.

If you’re in to concentric circles, here’s another one which explains how stuff really gets done:

4. Pricing

Understands value and prices their services optimally for every opportunity

A price is not just a price. It’s a reflection of the value your service provides. Do you find yourself sticking to a similar ballpark each proposal because that’s ‘what worked last time’? Or do you price the absolute maximum for each client situation? Are you great at negotiating or do you cave in when a client shows any sign of wanting it for less cost.

Are you comfortable with the price you charge, or do you feel it could be improved? Do you cascade a strong argument right through your proposal document or are you guilty of overcomplicating?

Further Reading: Check out the free book ‘Hourly Rates Don’t Matter’

5. Desire

Closes the sale efficiently by building desire

When clients go cold, or silent, do you know what to do? Are you good at building desire in clients so that they’re begging you for a proposal or do you send it too early, only for them to judge you on price alone.

Do you find clients take months to agree to work with you (and pay) or do you generally get the clients to commit, pay and start quickly?

The successful among your peers know what it takes to build desire in what they’re offering, to put together a proposal which is too irresistible for a client to turn down. Do you?

6. Longevity

Grows long-term partnerships

How many clients have you had stick around for longer than a year, two years, more? Do you find that you continually have to go and find new clients after projects are complete, or could you survive on ongoing work alone?

Do you manage projects well with the long-term partnership in mind or are you glad to see the back of clients once they’re complete? How much long-term client focus do you have?

It’s possible to build enough goodwill, enough recurring client revenue that you never have to find another client again. How much emphasis are you putting on improving that skill?

It’s your responsibility, nobody else’s

Unfortunately, when you decided to work for yourself you signed a contract to work under the most erratic, busiest and complicated boss you could ever encounter. Without accountability (tough love from a mentor and peers), without direction (from someone who has been there before, to show you the route) and without focus (guided periods of concentration to get it done) you’ll find yourself in a constant battle with your own skillset.

The technician vs the business owner; you’ll need to be both.

Brush up on those 6 key traits and you’ll be getting closer to your goals with every day that passes.

Improve just 1% each day and in a few months you’ll be twice the person you are today.

I’ll be cheering you on.

Read more
Sep 11 2015

Raise your rate by 20% for an existing client, in less than 150 words

You know the type, that client we all love to… well… accommodate. They pay on time (mostly), are kinda bearable to work with and keep you going with regular work which helps in the lean times.

You genuinely find their business interesting and you all get along. That is, until your mind turns the rate they’re currently paying for your work.

It’s significantly less than you would otherwise quote for new clients and you’ve tried from time-to-time request a little more, only to find you mutually agree to bill the same as last time following a little resistance.

I speak to designers, writers, marketers, coders on a daily basis, almost all of whom should bill more. I could write a book on pricing more based on the value of your freelance service (oh, wait, I already did) but that’s not not the purpose of this post.

Instead, I wanted to tackle the issue of raising your rate by 15-25% on a client you already have.

How to approach it, what you should consider and ultimately what you should say. It started with this question from a Freelancelift Pro member in our private Slack community:

From: Martin Christiansen

How would you go about raising the rate for an old time client. He’s been on a cheap rate for far too long and he knows that.

We’ve done work for continuously for several years. He’s a tough bargain but obviously likes what we deliver. What would you suggest?

 

I really love this kind of interaction with the community; it’s precisely what it’s there for so naturally I wanted to add my thoughts. The first thing to understand is that everybody else raises their price, what makes your product any different?

From bread and butter to utilities; everything costs significantly more now than it did 10 years ago.

Still, you have to approach it sensitively.

Nobody likes paying 20% more for 0% extra

In any exchange of ‘outcome for money’, the customer will need to understand what’s in it for them. In a ‘new client’ pitch, you’d obviously lay this out fully but it’s a mistake to leave it out for existing ones.

In 90% of circumstances a client will gladly pay more, it’s just they know they can get away with staying the same as they always have; there’s no real incentive to pay any more. The value proposition is missing.

If you bring something new to the table however, or anchor the raised price to more of the ‘beyond the call of duty’ tasks they’ve gotten value from in the past you’ll be demonstrating that there’s something else in it for them.

It’ll not only soften the financial blow for the client but get them excited at the prospect of the new arrangement.

Use weaponized reasonableness

Have you ever been ‘Grandfathered in’ to something? It feels great, and brings a sense of connection to whatever it is you’re buying.

Although we’ll be increasing the rate (rather than keep it the same) you can demonstrate reasonableness by not hiking your rate immediately. In the spirit of partnership, you’ll show you care about the adjustments the client will need to make their side and give them a clear path to the uplift.

Perception is key, even for existing clients

Whether you recognize it or not, pricing perception is almost always value-led.

The price you are comfortable paying for something is directly related to the value you feel you’ll get from it. If everyone bought on price alone without appreciation of value, we’d all drive a Datsun.

Every touchpoint you have with a client influences their perception of the value you bring to the table, so even with existing clients this perception will influence the response you’ll get when you do ask for a raise, so it pays to get it right.

Can you affect these elements to ensure your perception is where it needs to be, before the ‘ask’?

Sensitive, long-term focused and firm

Everything you say to a client should be framed with a long-term focus. You want to retain them as a client, and build a mutually beneficial partnership. Partners take the time to understand clients deeply, invest themselves in the client message and establish an expertise that isn’t easily pigeonholed.

So we’ll lay all of this out when it comes to ‘the ask’. All of this really comes down to tact. What you’re saying is not going to change, how you say it most definitely will; and it’ll be the difference between a happy client paying 20% more, and an ex-client you’ll never work with again.

Not that we’re telling a client to go to hell, but this Churchill quote is fairly apt at this point:

Sir-Winston-Leonard-Spencer-Churchill-9248186-1-402-300x300

“Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip.”
– Winston Churchill

Wrapping all of that into 150 words

With the appropriate context laid out, here’s the simple, yet effective 150-word email which brings all of these points together into a firm, fair and compelling request:

Client,

Obviously we’ve worked together for some time and I’d hope you’ve seen the relationship evolve and improve as time has gone on. With more efficiency and sharper abilities comes a need to shift to a rate that works for me and my family; and which also allows me to spend more time with clients like you.

I wanted to give you fair warning that I’m rolling out new processes on [date 2 months away] and you’ll see an instant uplift in communication and quality. This coincides with in an increase in your rate, but it’ll be staggered out so you have time to adjust. Any additional work in [current month] won’t change, next month will be [X more] and [month after] will be [X more] until we get to the new service level & rate of X [2 months away].

I wanted to ensure you were clear on this and didn’t get a cold, overnight ‘hike’ in price. I’m in it for the long term and would look forward to this deeper service set. Are you comfortable continuing on that basis?

The Result?

I put together the 150-email above for Martin, who took on board the template layout and context; putting it into action immediately. Within 6 hours he had his response, and found himself waking up to 15% more income:

From: Martin Christiansen

I wrote him an email last night, the client responded well and said that they just appreciated our work.

We’re working on a retainer agreement, which the rate also will be used for, so we’ll probably bargain a bit back and forth for some time but he thinks a 15% is fair – my goal is 20% before we sign the final retainer agreement. But I’m already happy with the 15% raise.

Bargaining is not what I do best, but it feels good to have started the dialogue with the client.

 

This is not an anomaly, fluke or chance happening. Just simple steps to justify value in any situation to maximize your revenue and get paid what you deserve. Please take the template, context and adapt it to your needs then let me know how your clients respond.

Read more
Jul 17 2015

How to amaze your clients, be remarkable and ensure a flood of referrals

The subject line was ominous “Your vehicle health check”. It certainly wasn’t expected; I’d only dropped the car off a few hours ago for it’s ‘1 year old’ service.

Moving into the email was more of the same alien-yet-intriguing territory.

From: Farnell Land Rover
Subject: Your vehicle health check [Range Rover Sport 3.0 SDV6]

I hit the link in the email and was greeted with a video of ‘my’ technician telling me that the ‘Year 1 Service’ was clear, the vehicle had a clean bill of health.

With TV-like purpose, I was watching my own vehicle sailing through its inspection. From checking the tyre pressures, to pointing out the cleanliness of the engine and confirming the depth of the oil after the change, the video was meticulous.

The Land Rover strapline in the top left of that email is ‘Above & Beyond’ and that commitment to excellence was certainly evident here. Sure, this is an expensive car and sure, maintenance costs are eye watering but still, I was engrossed.

I had just had a remarkable experience.

A ‘vehicle maintenance’ experience I’ve never had before. So then what?

Well, I proceeded to tell everyone who’d listen about the video, about my remarkable experience. Did they listen? Maybe not (Mrs V certainly didn’t share my enthusiasm) but the point is, I shouted about this particular dealership and will never go anywhere else for a service, indeed it’ll make me think twice about moving away from the Range Rover brand altogether.

Yes Liam, but I’m not a car technician

I know, neither am I but the parallels here should be clear to you. The workshop within the dealership is a service business. Swapping skills (prowess with a spanner) for money.

They have as much need as anybody else to be different, to be truly remarkable.

In his seminal book ‘Purple Cow’, Seth Godin explains this point beautifully:

When my family and I were driving through France a few years ago, we were enchanted by the hundreds of storybook cows grazing on picturesque pastures right next to the highway. For dozens of kilometers, we all gazed out the window, marveling about how beautiful everything was.

Then, within twenty minutes, we started ignoring the cows. The new cows were just like the old cows, and what once was amazing was now common. Worse than common. It was boring.

Cows, after you’ve seen them for a while, are boring. They may be perfect cows, attractive cows, cows with great personalities, cows lit by beautiful light, but they’re still boring.

A Purple Cow, though. Now that would be interesting. (For a while.)

The essence of the Purple Cow is that it must be remarkable. In fact, if “remarkable” started with a P, I could probably dispense with the cow subterfuge, but what can you do?

This book is about the why, the what, and the how of remarkable.

Seth Godin – ‘Purple Cow’

Make each touchpoint count

Whenever you make a connection with a client (current or prospective) make it count.   If you’re a designer, when was the last time you recorded a short video walking the client through the design choices you’ve made?

From social media interactions, to email dialogue and post-project support do what you can to be remarkable. In the course ‘How to build longer-term freelance clients’ this was a principle I underscored.

It breaks down to one truism… Why keep hunting for new clients when you can turn the clients you already have into long-term partners?

You probably have 3 or 4 emails from clients that you’ve not replied to. Why not reply in a way they might not otherwise expect? Break their norm, exceed their expectations. Amaze them.

To go back to the analogy, common “cows” just don’t cut it any more; you need to inspire a perception of difference around your service, you need to establish yourself as the mutually beneficial partner and no-brainer option.   You need to go Purple.

A path to guide every client relationship

You can download an extended version of ‘The Path’ with extended explanation and in-depth ideas by clicking below but in summary here are the phases you should ensure each client relationship follows.

Download ‘The Path’ which breaks down in more detail the specific stages a project should go through to ensure a great relationship and an experience the client will want to shout about. Click here to download the worksheet.

Step Zero – Discovery

A true partner invests themselves in the client’s business. If you take the time to truly understand your prospect’s space and current situation, you’ll have the inside track on what makes them tick, what an average customer is worth and how your work will make an impact.

This information ensures you speak their language, and that you can justify your ultimate price and the beneficial outcome the client can expect.

Step One – Define clear deliverables

A ‘problem client’ is normally a victim of an ill-prepared set of deliverables. For the most part, ‘the customer is always right’ doesn’t work for service businesses so it’s your responsibility to ensure deliverables are clear and that you don’t meander into to grey areas.

Having to do twice the amount of work isn’t good for you, nor the experience of your clients.

Step Two – Onboarding

‘Onboarding’ can best be described as:

“Gradually introducing a client into a specific relationship or situation via a set of induction actions.”

You can inspire collaboration and a sense of partnership by bringing a client round to your way of thinking, ensuring they’re fully clear on the way you work and align themselves to it.

Step Three – Keep them in the loop, ensure clarity

Going back to the original example, I left my vehicle with the dealership at 09:30. At around 14:00 I received the email above, then at 15:00 I got a call to let me know everything was clear and that my vehicle was going into a valet clean (another surprise).   Then at 16:00 I got a call to confirm that my vehicle was ready for collection.

At 13:00 the next day I got a final call just to ensure everything was okay and that I had a great experience.

Four touchpoints, each with a purpose… each ensuring clarity.

I’m not suggesting you reach out to your clients four times in 24 hours, but we’re talking about a commitment to good communication throughout the lifecycle of the project.

Download ‘The Path’ which breaks down in more detail the specific stages a project should go through to ensure a great relationship and an experience the client will want to shout about. Click here to download the worksheet.

Step Four – Over-deliver, but clearly state when you do it

As a species we become accustomed to new experiences very quickly. You only have to go on vacation for longer than a couple of weeks to almost settle in as if it were your home.

If you consistently over deliver your clients will see this as the new normal. In most cases this isn’t a problem, but what about that time you deliver ‘as expected’? You’re now underperforming against this ‘new normal’ precedent.

The valet deep clean was an unannounced ‘bonus’ yet it was clearly stated that they were doing this. It ensures that next time around I won’t ‘just expect’ that this will be the case again, indeed I’ll be grateful every time it happens.

Step Five – Grow together and enable more spend

This is where all your hard work pays off. By ensuring that your client is overwhelmed by ‘feel-good’ you can assure a sense of momentum.   When you have a good experience, you’re almost too eager to do it all over again.

As a partner, you should already be doing what you can to maximize the lifetime value of each of your clients by looking towards the long term and by investing in the relationship.

This was my first experience with this particular Range Rover dealership, I bought this vehicle from a different one in the area.   You can bet that when the new dealership emails me opportunities and offers in the future I’ll be much more likely to spend my hard-earned with them.

By establishing yourself as a partner and embedding yourself within a client’s strategy you’ll have opportunities for ongoing revenue by assisting clients in other areas loosely related to your own.

In Closing: Amaze your clients

In doing all of this, you can ensure that you are remarkable, that clients are bouncing away from your service telling everyone they know about you.

Maybe they’ll even write about that service experience to an audience of 7,000+ freelancers, who knows ;)

Download ‘The Path’ which breaks down in more detail the specific stages a project should go through to ensure a great relationship and an experience the client will want to shout about. Click here to download the worksheet.

Read more
Jun 29 2015

Understanding what makes a client reject (or not reply to) your proposal

There are far too many reasons a client won’t buy your service.  It’s vital to understand that for every reason a client should buy, there are probably 10 reasons they’ll find to convince themselves they should not.

Indeed, in the majority of cases they’ll have a hard time explicitly stating the reason(s) they aren’t choosing you as a provider, reverting to a lazy stock response of “the timing isn’t great – but I’ll keep you in mind”.

If this sounds familiar then you’re a victim of the ‘Subconscious Checklist’… but before I unload another unsolicited buzzword on you let me provide some context.

Define; Desire

Have you ever wanted something so much that almost nothing stood in your way? The dream car that took some intensive justification to your significant other. The house that started 50% over your budget but that you somehow scraped the funds to buy. Those shoes or that item of clothing you blew a weeks salary on only to wear twice?

With all of these purchases the momentum of desire was unstoppable and the sale was inevitable…

I’ll repeat that…

… the momentum of desire was unstoppable and the sale was inevitable.

Have you also noticed that for the most part, it is you who convinces yourself to stretch to these purchases? Like a secret agent of the vendor nestling into your subconscious, convincing you that you NEED this item, reshaping the proposition every which way until it fits with your ‘let’s do this’ reflex.  

Sure, in some high-pressure sales situations a good salesperson can be the deciding factor but when we’re making big decisions and have time to ponder, desire wins out.

Imagine how powerful it would be if you could bottle up that sense of desire and sprinkle it all over your proposals?

Shooting too early

It’s an opinion of mine (backed by practical tests in my own business as well as the freelance businesses I coach) that we send proposals a little too early… before the client really has had chance to desire what it is you’re going to propose.

This is akin to launching into marriage proposals on the first date and will produce the same results you might be used to… a low proposal-to-win ratio.

I’ve developed an entire course to overcome this, designed to help Pro members build rapport with prospective clients, establish (and leverage) desire then transition them into buying territory.  

I wanted to bring some of the highlight points out into the open though, to help you get some results-in-advance if you haven’t made the leap into Pro yet.

So with the appropriate context established, let’s go back to that new buzzword you didn’t ask for:

The ‘Subconscious Checklist’

When making a decision to buy your service, the client will try and reconcile your offer against a number of key decision factors, something I call the ‘Subconscious Checklist’.    This is a set of positive statements; the majority of which must be true in the client’s mind before they’ll even consider buying.

This is driven by the same subconscious triggers that motivate us to buy anything.  Your objective (before you raise the proposal) is to ensure your would-be client can ‘check off’ as many of these points as possible.

As you can see, these are key arguments a client will be having with themselves as well as the others they will need to justify this purchase to.

So how do you influence their opinion on these points?

First, it’s important to understand that it’s your responsibility to provide the answers your prospective client is looking for.

Catching up for a ‘chemistry meet’ via Skype? Overwhelm your client with how much knowledge you have about their business and the specific issues they’re struggling with.

Sending an email to follow-up on a previous enquiry? Remind the client of the beneficial outcome they can expect from this project, and why they sought your assistance in the first place.

Interacting with the client on social? Why not drop the client a link to a relevant case study to give them subconscious assurances and comfort that you’re already providing results for people like them.

Hopefully you can see where this is going, you should make it your mission to pre-emptively respond to the questions they’re not yet asking.

A ‘Pre-Sale Slalom’

I call this the ‘Pre-sale Slalom’ (sorry, more unsolicited nomenclature to learn). A deliberate, ordered series of touchpoints, communications and epiphanies for the prospect to experience. When combined, these experiences start to build the momentum of desire that’ll make the sale inevitable. By working your way down the ‘Pre-Sale Slalom’ before your proposal is raised, you’ll minimize the chances of a client rejecting, or not replying to your proposal.

In the course and the book that goes with it I break these out into guideline communication exchanges you should have with a client before taking the dialogue into proposal / buying territory.

Download the worksheet which breaks down the ‘Pre-Sale Slalom, to help you build rapport and maximize desire in your prospective clients before you get to the proposal stage. Click here to download the worksheet.

 
Your objective before you hit send on that proposal is to ensure you’re 100% confident that most (if not all) of the ‘Subconscious checklist’ items are addressed in order that your proposal acceptance is no longer just ‘possible’, it’s ‘probable’.

In closing, we’re all looking the best ‘voodoo magic strategies’ for pricing, how to justify value well and how to package that into an offer the client can’t refuse.

But the fact is, when it comes to salesmanship we’re all often slightly too keen to go for the jugular; the killer pitch or in-depth proposal that’ll blow the client away. Without desire though all of that effort will be in vein and the client will likely go cold and unresponsive when they receive your pitch.

Download the worksheet and refer back to the subconscious checklist to give yourself the best possible chance of winning the gig. I’ll be cheering you on.

Download the worksheet which breaks down the ‘Pre-Sale Slalom, to help you build rapport and maximize desire in your prospective clients before you get to the proposal stage. Click here to download the worksheet.

Read more
Feb 17 2015

The ultimate guide to NOT working on Elance, oDesk, Upwork and Fiverr

When it comes to finding and winning clients as a freelancer, there isn’t much I haven’t tried; I graduated the school of hard knocks with several scars and the odd badge of merit. So when it comes to giving advice to freelancers who were maybe where I was 8 years ago, I speak from a position of experience.

The type of hair-pull-face-palm-head-in-sand experience you can only get from a good few years trying (failing and winning) to get something to work.

My stance on Elance (and freelancer exchanges as a whole) has been largely unchallenged to date, not least because it’s a topic I don’t talk about very often. One of the key differentiators I live by is my point blank refusal to get embroiled in the small stuff and be a part of the over-cooked (or worse still reheated) ideas and opinions you’ll get from a lot of freelancer advice sites. You can find plenty of places to get ’10 weird tips’ on the font size you should use in your proposals or which keywords to choose for your oDesk profile.

Freelancelift isn’t one of those places.

As always, this should not be taken as elitist, inflammatory or ignorant. Quite the opposite, I have experienced the ups and downs (and downs, and more downs) of freelancing so I believe I have a duty to tell you everything I know if I believe there is a better way. In doing so I give you the opportunity to NOT make the same mistakes I did.

Here’s an excerpt from my book; in this chapter we’re talking about building attention and interest in you and your freelance service, it pretty much sums up my take:

We live in a noisy world.  Whether it’s the irresistibly tactile Facebook notification icon or the audible blip of your email client, everybody wants a piece of your attention.

The same is true for your prospective client.  Their time is limited and ability to pay attention severely exhausted. This is compounded by the fact that there have never been so many easy ways to seek answers for the pains and problems they have (that your service would ultimately remedy).

This makes for a cloudy online environment and your dream client has developed self-preserving defences, which guard against advertising, information overload and general interruptions.

Most freelancers see this ‘noise’ as a barrier, “how the hell is anybody going to find me among this herd?”  More often than not, this pushes them into channels like Elance or oDesk.  “Well this should be more productive, people are actually looking for freelancers on here, right?”

This is flawed logic.  We feel some comfort in the fact that potential clients are being attracted to this honeypot every day.  We sense that at least we have a chance of making a sale here without actually understanding what type of sale we might make and more importantly, to whom.

You’re voluntarily blending yourself into the herd, and in doing so procrastinating, putting out fires short term while holding off doing the longer term activities that will land you your dream client down the line.  By treading water in freelancer exchanges you’re willfully attracting bad apples.

My first time around as a freelancer I played the same mind games with myself, “hey this guy has earned like $900k this past 12 months on Elance I must be able to at least get a slice of that?”

What I neglected to inform my naive former self was that this was in fact a 60-person web development house based in India whose average project fee was $200.

Do you really want to take on 20 projects a month just to meet your financial goals?

I thought not.

So how do we multiply our exposure, build attention and look at this cloudy online environment as a help rather than hindrance?

Excerpt from ‘Stop Thinking Like a Freelancer’
Phase II – Multiply your exposure & build your platform

I am acutely aware however that this is my own personal opinion, based on my own personal experiences and I’m always happy to be challenged, or air another point of view. So I was delighted to receive a really awesome email yesterday from Carol Hampshire, top 5 among 200,000 graphic designers on Elance, currently doing great and generating over $10k a month in revenue.

I could have replied politely, then quietly swept this ‘inconvenient opposite experience’ gently under the rug. But I didn’t, here it is:

From: Carol Hampshire
Subject: I’m a top bracket freelancer on Elance!

Hi Liam,

I have just watched your video (5 reasons top bracket freelancers aren’t on Elance) and although I do agree with the points you made, it looks like I am one of the exceptions.

I am a top bracket freelancer on Elance (in the design & multimedia category) and attract similar top bracket clients, therefore eliminating the bad apples and all that goes with the normal exchange sites.

I am able to pick and chose which projects I want to work on, projects that bring me creative license and fulfillment as well as high financial reward.

My income in November last year on Elance was in excess of $11,000.00 – not bad going for an “Elance” freelancer.

In fact many of my clients would tell me I am by far the most expensive, but they still award the project to me.

So I must be doing something very right and have a good strategy in place for this success.

The rewards from being on Elance have been wonderful, I own two properties in South Africa and relocated to a wonderful beautiful seaside holiday town. So yeah – living the dream and all that…

I have been able to successfully explain the value of the service a client would get working with me in a proposal and I can back this up with hundreds of testimonials on Elance.

I am ready to double my income in the coming months with even more innovative strategies that might not include Elance in my future, but its been a fantastic platform for my business.

Did I have to work my ass off and take on some shady clients on Elance to get to this position- YES!!

But having said that, this is a normal process for every designer to go through before they have finally reached a top bracket and learn valuable lessons the hard way.

Its a pity that you do not have the strategies to create an empowering video showing your tribe how to succeed on exchange sites instead of knocking a potential way for them to thrive professionally, creatively & financially as I have done.

All the best from South Africa!

Carol

 

You can probably imagine me receiving this email and cracking a smile, it really was a slam dunk of an email correspondence… I’m so happy to have smart freelancers, from all over the world consuming the ideas I’m putting out and feeling comfortable enough to question what they’re being told.

Question everything

So I was inspired, to at least give a fair debate as to the potential benefits of Elance and oDesk and work a little harder to assert my ultimate opinion that freelancer exchanges are not the right place for you if you’re looking to make the breakthrough into top bracket ($5-$10k+ per project) freelancing.

So let’s start with the positives. Here is where Elance, oDesk and the like can bring benefit to your freelance business:

  • Low barrier to entry
    One of the key drawbacks in my opinion has always been the ‘great normalizer’ effect of an identical profile page for every freelancer. But what this also provides new freelancers is a low barrier to entry, which doesn’t require the build of a web presence of their own.
  • Genuine access to revenue opportunities
    It is beyond question that there are hundreds of jobs awarded to freelancers every single day. The combined potential of all of this ‘ready to spend’ revenue is huge. Far more than one person could ever wish to receive.
  • Some great client opportunities.
    I use Elance, a lot of my peers in the entrepreneurship space use Elance, I even use Fiverr sometimes and if someone does a great job for me then there is the opportunity for that to continue outside of the confines of a freelancer exchange.

For a new freelancer, these benefits are really attractive. From there is a whole abundance of drawbacks, but I’m not going to highlight those directly. To do so would take me into the realm of the freelancer advice I push back so strongly against.

Instead, I want to argue my point in a different way… giving you the big picture reasoning behind choosing to (and advising other growing freelancers to) cut freelancer exchanges out of my growth strategy entirely.

How great clients are born

My philosophy on freelancing is that ultimately, great clients should come to you. You should have built enough exposure and be doing enough great work to ensure you’re never without new client opportunities.

Here is the eventual flow I teach freelancers to achieve:

1) Define a specialist client market & reflect that in a website of your own
2) Put in the work to be known in this space and demand attention
3) Spark non-sales relationships with no brainer ways to get in touch
4) Transition to a more commercial conversation
5) Put together great proposals which look awesome and justify value well
6) Make the initial sale then build a longer-term, mutually beneficial partnership to reduce reliance on continually winning new business.

Having a client acquisition flow like this is the key to developing project fees of $5k, $10k and more.

Here is where freelancer exchanges work against this methodology:

We’re all ‘identicalancers’

On freelancer exchanges there isn’t a whole lot of room to develop a central presence which is tailored to your style and message. Instead, we’re offered an identical profile to everybody else and are strictly forbidden from providing links to external locations which may do a better job of giving the client a picture of us as a person, not just a faceless service provider.

No control over client market

I strongly advocate developing a vision for a dream client. In doing so, I’m proposing finding a smaller sub-set of an audience to double down on. The benefits to this approach are numerous, it’s much easier to become visible, demand attention and make the sale with a smaller pool of prospective clients.

This is impossible to achieve on freelancer exchanges, the platforms are configured to encourage a mass market environment.

A lack of ‘discovery’ opportunities

One of the key traits of the effortlessly successful freelancer is their ability to really immerse themselves in the client’s vision. To work diligently and develop a collaborative solution with this end goal in mind.

This is more difficult on freelancer platforms, as the prospective client tends to be prodded into developing quite a rigid brief. Moreover, the bidding process is heavily focused on quoting a price, up front or as early as possible. This leaves little room deep discussions around vision and the ultimate client goals.

A restrictive platform

It’s vital to their future revenue opportunities that platforms like Elance, oDesk and Fiverr keep all dialogue inside of channels they can monitor. This means that relationships cannot be taken outside of the system, for fear of losing the project commission.

Of course, these rules are often circumvented but the platform is policed vigorously with these guiding principles and the deterrent of a closed account can make life uncomfortable when aiming to speak freely, providing external links for review, recommending dialogue over email or looping a client into your project management system.

Inability to start a non-sales relationship

An important element, when developing a long-term, commercially viable partnership is an informal start to the relationship. I advocate developing a website which speaks to a prospective client worldview and maps out the beneficial outcome before offering a no-brainer opportunity to start an informal, non-sales relationship.

This might take the shape of a short book, cheat sheet or sample service that the prospect would engage with prior to making full contact. This type of interaction and prospect nurturing is impossible on platforms only set up to manage time & resources.

No opportunity to demonstrate flair with a proposal

One of the game changers at Tone (the agency I now head up, built from freelancer roots) has been our decision to develop highly impactful proposal and pitch materials. It has seen our success rate almost double, and from speaking to clients it’s one of the influential reasons we were chosen.

It is possible to attach documentation to support your bid on platforms like Elance, but it isn’t the norm. Moreover, this is a time-consuming process and when you’re proposal 14 of 85 it becomes harder to justify the time investment.

So for most, settling for a simple text based proposal often becomes the status quo, reducing the ability to show flair in your approach and separate yourself from others.

A project mentality (rather than a partnership one)

Finally, freelancer exchanges are fundamentally built to serve a ‘labourer’ mentality. A project is outlined, a bid is placed, a project is complete, job done.

This goes against my general recommendations, which are to put in the work early in a relationship to build trust, develop a longer-term plan and work together collaboratively long-term.

In Summary

In summary then, it’s prudent to point out here that I have no real vendetta against freelancer platforms. They do the job of ‘introducing work to workers’ well. The types of people I teach though want to be more than ‘workers’ or ‘laborers’.

They have a fire of ambition, strive to exercise creative flexibility and create professional freedom.

I feel that freelancer platforms are not calibrated to deal with the growing service provider looking to build a platform in a space and benefit from long-term relationships.

So my advice is to use freelancer exchanges as a stepping stone, a thoroughfare. As soon as you can, build your own voice, demand your own attention and own your own future.

I’m building a small, unique army of service providers and together we’re knocking down big goals, on a monthly basis in Freelancelift Pro. It’d be great for you to become one of them.

Liam

—

I’d love to hear your comments, do you rely on freelancer exchanges? Or have you recently outgrown platforms like this? Looking forward to hearing from you.

Read more