Blog Archives

Sep 30 2014

How to offset your freelance earnings – with Nathan Barry [Q&A]

I was joined on the latest Freelancelift Q&A session by Nathan Barry. Web designer turned teacher, of everything from app UI design (with the excellent App Design Handbook) to self-publishing books & guides (with the equally awesome Authority book).

Nathan has a lot to say in all areas of freelancing but particularly in this session I wanted to dive deep with him on something he’s really passionate about, building a secondary income stream to flatten out the freelancing peaks and troughs.

Create profitable side projects to overcome the income roller coaster

We spent a lot of time in this area, it’s something I believe in, as does Nathan. I built Handiwork to help freelancers get off the income roller coaster and it’s already helped several freelancers make enough on the side to support their living costs.

We talked about Nathan’s journey to where he is today (over $300k in sales this year alone!) and his tips for getting started.

It stands to reason that you have expertise in your field (Nathan was already designing apps which had good early success) so the real takeaway here is to build value in your field by giving away this knowledge.

Teaching is the best form of marketing

Top bracket freelancers have long understood that crafting a great reputation is almost as important as delivering a great service.

A reputation and strong online presence helps you to justify a higher freelance rate and respect among your peers will extend your horizons for referral opportunities.

Emulate chefs

A great example of this is the TV chef.

They appear on various channels and shows, ‘lifting the lid’ (pun intended) on their recipes, tricks and their entire methodology, yet it doesn’t stop their restaurants being successful, in fact it significantly enhances their popularity.

By giving away your unique recipes and broadcasting a message of authority in your space, you’ll be able to build a platform (on your blog, social or via an email to a list) from which you can spread your message and establish yourself as a stand-out freelancer.

Email is best for building an audience

Nathan had some great thoughts around how to broadcast this message and it was interesting to dig into some of the stats which back up his assertion that email is a better promotional communication platform than social or other channels.

You should be doing what you can to build a list and provide value consistently, even as a freelancer.

Make a goal per day, take smaller steps

Something we’re all a little guilty of is taking on too much. Be that learning objectives, financial goals or attempting to rework your entire freelance business strategy around client work.

Nathan built an app – Commit to help him build good habits, one step at a time, such as writing 1,000 words a day.

Putting this into practice for your freelance business, rather than overhauling your entire site – why not just commit to rebuilding the portfolio/showcase section for now?

It’s much easier to slot in a couple hours work between clients to make smaller wins in your business, rather than never achieve the goal at all if the task looms too large.

You can find more about Nathan at nathanbarry.com

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Sep 27 2014

How to win a $50k client project without ever meeting face to face

What really separates a sole freelancer from a brand or lofty agency? Is there really that much difference, especially online? This is a question I’m often asked.

An agency (or freelancer with the backing of a team) is justified and empowered bill more, but why is that? Whether you’re a designer, writer, marketer or coder you probably manage most of your communication online – including finding and onboarding new clients – so what are the ingredients that make a client want to buy from you at such project costs without having ever met in person?

I thought up the outline for this post on the plane, somewhere over South East Asia 5 or 6 weeks ago. Gazing through the window (above!), tapping key points into my iPhone notes whilst sampling my way through the in-flight beverage range. My destination was a kick-off workshop with my colleague Anthony and a new International client for my agency, Tone.

The interesting thing about this project (and why you should pay attention) is that the deal was concluded entirely online, across different timezones utilising only:

  • Email
  • Skype
  • InDesign / PDF
  • Echosign

… and guess what, we were awarded the gig at a final figure of $50,500. Not only this, the client is/was delighted throughout the process and we’ve made a great start to the project meaning we’re really happy too.

To loop back then to my main point here, the client had never met us in person and so really had no idea of our size, they had not been bowled over by the schmooze associated with creative agency stuff. We’d not given them a proposal utilising only interpretive dance, nor took them out and got them so drunk they’d forgotten they signed the contract. There were no gifts, no grand tour of our brand new quirky premises.

So when you strip back all of those layers it’s a little more even, so what really is the difference between you as a freelance service provider and a brand able to justify a $50k web build quote?

Can you give this impression while still being a one/two person freelance business? I believe you can, its all about the perception aura around you and your brand, coupled with impactful framing around the problems you’re really solving.

I wanted to break down the key ingredients for you, tell you in plain English why I believe the client made this call and how you can make it work for you. For some of you, at this point in your journey you’d be happy with $50k as a total figure for an entire year.

Invest time and energy in a proposal

We spend a lot of time on our proposals. It’s something that we feel really separates us from run-of-the-mill service providers. They’re designed to be the pinnacle of our capabilities in terms of:

Language
If you have a brief from a client, the worst thing you can do is parrot back to them what they’re looking for. What we do instead is look between the lines for really what the underlying issue is and speak to that sensitivity (which often the client doesn’t even realise they have). For example:

“About 40% of our visitors now come from mobile devices, but they don’t convert well – so we need a quote for better landing page copy.”

Could be re-framed and pitched as:

“There is an issue with mobile traffic converting, we believe there is a real opportunity to improve conversions, generating more inbound enquiries by building the site with mobile in mind, via a custom responsive experience for mobile & tablet devices”

This type of language works as it:

  • First agitates the surface problem by repeating
  • Pivots into optimism with “real opportunity to”
  • Spells out the upside “generating more inbound enquiries”
  • Provides an element of intrigue and positions you as an authority by mentioning something which was explicitly requested “custom responsive experience”

Design
Remember, in most cases you are not alone in pitching for this work. Our proposals are highly customized to the prospect. Lots of imagery break up text. Great use of fonts and an almost ‘magazine’ type experience.

Nowadays, there is absolutely no excuse for poor design or boring, Word doc proposals. There are numerous InDesign templates which give you the layout for you to drop in the content (like here) or using a platform like Bidsketch you can take most of the design out of the equation and still end up with a great proposal. (Bonus for Freelancelift readers – 3 months free with Bidsketch)

Where possible, we’ll even have the proposals physically printed and sent out to the client ahead of deadline. It ends up costing us around $30 but for that ‘front-of-mind’ impact its invaluable.

For more on creating freelancer proposals that convert you can check out my short book Hourly Rates Don’t Matter.

Have relevant, credible work (with referees)

This will come with time of course, but you should have great work in your portfolio to call upon with happy clients to boot, who will vouch in the case of being asked. The new client did reach out to one of the referees we put forward and thankfully they gave us a glowing review. Moreover this client was in a similar space and had a strong name.

If you feel that’s too far away from you right now think again, there are ways to hack your way to a higher level of client then I have a video on being the specialist, even when you’re not.

Spell out the upside

Remember, you are not being hired because you can design/write/code, you’re being hired because the client has a business problem to overcome and your design/writing/coding is the means to that end.

Does your client really care if it takes you 10 hours or 1000 hours to achieve that goal? This is not the information they’re looking for – so why include it?

This was a topic of discussion on a recent Freelancelift Q&A with Brennan Dunn who sums it up perfectly, to “focus on the goal instead of the deliverable, make yourself an investment rather than an expense”.

Have multiple voices

If you’re a single freelancer this is difficult, but one of the separating factors between the sole operator and an agency is the comfort factor a client feels from a depth of team. More people (in a clients eyes) = better ideas, security, double-checking of work, cover for absences, less likelihood of disappearance etc.

We’re a 9 person outfit so that depth is genuine but if as a freelancer you can acquire a remote team, or team up with other freelancers (in the case of Cycle Studios thousands of miles away from one another yet still putting forward one cohesive brand)

Don’t lie about it, or create yourself numerous email personas as you’ll tie yourself in knots. Just consider how you might genuinely provide that depth, remembering if you’re doing business online you don’t need to be sat right next to one another.

Be available

The phrase ‘start as you mean to go on’ sounds like it was almost designed for early-stage internet relationships. If you are always available for Skype calls, clarification emails and for providing additional information to your proposal quickly and with a smile; you are instantly elevating the impression you leave with the prospect.

You’re professional, serious and are proving that you really want their work. Too many times freelancers are unavailable, uncontactable or don’t do that extra 20% to make sure they really win the job. Remember, if you aren’t doing that 20% extra someone else is.

Be the go-to resource

We positioned ourselves such that no question was outside of our realm. Strategy ideas (outside of web)? No problem. CRM recommendations? No problem. WordPress demo? No problem.

In line with the above, you should make it so easy for clients to bounce ideas off you (yes, even before you win the work) that you become the de facto choice for the job. After all, you’re an informational resource now not just a designer/writer/marketer/coder.

Caveat: You should only invest your time in this pre-sales activity if there genuinely is an opportunity on the table. A mark of a good freelancer is that they’re able to quickly tell the difference between good clients and bad. That’s why you won’t find top bracket freelancers on Elance.

Be a brand

The final point here, and something you can work to your advantage even as a freelancer again comes back to comfort. When you move into a higher price bracket it’ll soon become apparent that your client roster will more resemble businesses than individuals, so you should be prepared to follow-suit. If you are dealing with businesses already then just know that the decision maker at the other side of the desk would much prefer to report into their superiors that “We have [brandname] on the job” rather than “yeah we have John Smith, Freelancer to help us out”.

In some cases, you’ll find it difficult to make it through that first stage without a discernible brand which echoes your key messaging.

Please do yourself a favour though and lay off the [colour][animal][randomfruit] format. It’s tired, cheap and actually does more harm than good. That includes you Blue PigApple Creative.

Summary

I have a few posts upcoming which will start to give you a little more context on how to really make the step up, to win more projects and earn more per client. All without the default freelancer so-so advice. Whether your aspirations are to stay as a one-person business or to scale to meet any eventual demand you’ll be able to pick up ideas and methods you can put into practice right away.

So I’m interested to know, what techniques have you found to be effective when concluding freelance deals online and how have they affected the rate you can command?

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Aug 02 2014

Are you taking yourself seriously enough? 5 things to remember when working for free

I was compelled to put this post together by great comment I received today on a prior post.

“Great article, Liam. Particularly the example letter. I noticed that you (knowingly?) used specific language there when referring to you free service. I think I too often come across as a perpetual volunteer instead of a freelancer doing a favour. Off hand, do you have or know of any additional other resources that could help me better communicate that I’m usually doing this for pay?”

– Sam W

I’ve bolded the key points here and I really like the way Sam describes this “perpetual volunteer” mentality.

The scenario is all too common; you’re starting out and looking to build a portfolio of prior work, referees and case studies. In doing so, you are working for little or no income. Then comes the tough bit, making the leap from “perpetual volunteer” to what I call ‘worthy professional’.

It’s a topic I cover in my book aptly titled ‘Stop thinking like a freelancer’ as well as in my free book download ‘Hourly Rates Don’t matter’

To demonstrate my take on this I’ll start with a story.

Will work for love

In a previous life I was a musician and between 2007-2009 was very active in the entertainment space. This culminated in me heading up a record label making global releases, a well received podcast, a club night and live performances of my own. It was a great period and the exposure took me to perform all over the world including Sydney, Stockholm, Moscow, Ibiza and throughout the UK.

On paper this all looks great but if you’ve ever been close to the music industry you’ll know that at the lower levels there is almost no revenue to be had; in the lower tiers it’s all about love and passion for the craft. Due to this being the ‘norm’ a dangerous trend perpetuates the music industry – working for free.

It’s more often framed as ‘working for exposure’ but whichever way you cook it, exposure doesn’t pay your bills.

Making the step up into ‘worthy professional’ status in the entertainment space proved almost impossible for me so I gave it all up, to focus more on building out my freelance design-for-the-music-industry business (Brandshank) which eventually grew to the 10 person web agency (Tone) it is today.

I made the step up in the freelance space (where I’d failed in music) because I’d figured out one crucial thing:

If someone hires you for [insert your freelance skill here] they aren’t doing it specifically to acquire your skill; they’re doing it to solve a problem they have.

When you realize this it should change your whole perspective. Even as someone working for free, you should build value into your pitch and use framing to explain the outcome specifically.

When you’re working from a position of ‘value provision’ rather than ‘skill provision’ it makes it easier to make the transition from ‘perpetual volunteer’ to ‘worthy professional’.

Here are five things you should remember mind when building your profile:

1. Even if you’re working for free, continually circle back to the impact / value this work should have (and has had).

2. Always be clear about the value of long-term relationships in your project dialogue (your client will quickly make the mental leap between a long-term relationship with you eventually involving remuneration).

3. Achieve the maximum amount of leverage from showcasing this free work – don’t waste it.

4. Don’t lose sight of the purpose of working for free, always consider it your stepping stone; not a ‘new normal’.

5. Above all else; be selective with who you work with in this phase and provide real, tangible value you can shout about for years to come.

Hope that helps, I’m interested to get your experiences on making the transition from ‘perpetual volunteer’ to ‘worthy professional’.

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Mar 17 2014

How I write ebooks, and why you should steal my process (free structure guide)

I’m often asked how I find the time to create relatively in-depth short books, which I generally give away for free on Freelancelift. I consider myself to be relatively adept at sitting down and being able to produce something of value quickly, however I used to struggle with ‘blank page syndrome’.

So I wanted to give you the quick scoop on my process; how I create my ebooks for Freelancelift and Ownerd now I’ve got the whole process down to about 7 hours and the structure guide (to download) and process I follow.

What’s the point?

Before I let you in on the process I just wanted to touch upon the motivation for putting out valuable content in the first place.

I’ve spoken at length about the problem with ‘freelancing as usual’ and the moves you can make to counteract the constraints. Creating a side project which delivers a modest level of byline income ($1,500+ monthly) is one of the best ways to break the day-to-day instability of freelancing.

Within Handiwork I teach freelancers how to get off the income roller coaster by developing products from their freelance expertise. Indeed, I surveyed 533 freelancers of which 94% stated they planned to try to develop a product in the next 6 months, and most had at least tried to create an ebook to start that process (will share the specifics of that survey in another posts as the results were fascinating).

So creating an ebook is the easiest first step towards creating provide a profitable side project (even if you give it away for free initially to build your audience) and its why I wanted to share my process so you can start down this path for yourself.

Procrastination heaven

Firing open an empty doc is procrastination heaven. The job before you is so overfacing you literally invent distractions to pull you away from actually getting on with the job in hand.

As a freelance designer I was struggling to justify the time I spent staring at a blank Word doc so I needed to do something about it. I created a system for building products which I’ve refined over the last two years (which is now pretty much everything inside Handiwork) but one of the most helpful bits I can share with you was the templated structure guides I created for a book, ebook and video training.

Focusing on ebook in particular, I’ve managed to get the whole process down to about 7 hours from start to finish. This time is broken out into two or three sessions and I get a neatly designed, legible 4,000-6,000 word PDF at the end of the process.

These ebooks have been met with comments like this:

Those hopefully show you that I’m not skimping on the meat, or sacrificing quality on the alter of time its just that I have a system that provides me a process and focus so I wanted to share it with you.

The structure template

It starts with the template, here is my boilerplate you can download for creating your own ebook.

You’ll find the structure guide itself relatively self-explanatory and you should use it as a prompter to guide you through how to start the ebook, how many chapters it should contain and how you close it out.

Weaponised productivity

Sometimes the content just flows well, but if I’m struggling for inspiration I have a secret weapon. Using the structure guide as my compass I pull out my iPad (or iPhone if I’m on the move) and use Mindnode app to create a mindmap of the topic in such a way that it supports my ideas flow (rather than trying too hard to format it as a readable piece). I get something like this:

Mindmap in hand I hit record on my iPhone in Skyrecorder (although Voicenotes is fine) and just start speaking aloud, reading through each node thinking of examples and clear explanations as I go.

It’s a strange thing – if you met someone in real life in your space who asked ‘Hey what’s your rough process for XYZ’ you’d not stand there silent (real-world writers block), you’d at least come up with an answer to avoid that social awkwardness. So in this stage I’m just going through my normal parlance and letting the words flow as if I were explaining it in person.

I normally ramble on for 20-30 minutes and then just wrap up that first session – sending the recording to Lainie my transcriber.

A couple of days later I receive 4,000-5,000 words back, neatly formatted and structured with headlines but still needing some editing to read well as a book.

Editing

Now that I have the bulk of copy its really easy to cut away, improve and edit in such a way that is much more productive than starting from blank. Even if I often end up rewriting the whole thing I at least have content I can utilize to make my job 10x easier.

Design

I am a designer by trade, so I custom created my ebook design and I find it a simple job to drop in the content but if those abilities are not within your wheelhouse you could emulate with a $6 template like this and reliable freelancer on hand (expect to pay $50-60 for ebook layout for 4,000-6,000 words).

Where it all starts

It all starts with the structure guide though and a reliable, repeatable flow for creating a product which will turn into real income to help steady the freelance ship. This is what I teach at Handiwork; a video training platform backed with a complete book. We launch on 1st April 2014 and you can start from $49 if you’d like to learn how to create products of your own.

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Feb 25 2014

The truth about hourly rates

When it comes to freelancer pricing I tend to remain largely passive. In my opinion you either take pride in your work, or you don’t. You either understand your work has value, or you don’t.

The simple fact is, if you take pride in everything you do and believe that you truly are an asset to your clients you will never have a problem pitching a fair price, as you already instinctively understand the value of what you provide.

Not as clear cut

However; of late I’ve fielded too many questions from awesome freelancers who are struggling with pricing, this tells me it isn’t as clear cut as I’d previously thought. As it turns out I was wrong, it is quite possible to be great at what you do while consistently being undervalued and underpaid.

The truth is, when it comes to pricing it is YOU who controls the perceived value of what you do. When this perceived value impacts your pricing structure it is YOU therefore who controls whether this year will be another ‘just okay’ year for you.

So I felt I had a duty to do something, pricing isn’t all that complex you know.

Value provision not service provision


“Price is what you pay, value is what you get”
Warren Buffet

If the wealthiest man in the world talks pricing strategies, you listen.

Consider every other purchase you make in life. Those kicks you have an eye on; do you care whether they took 10 hours to manufacture or 100? Of course not. Do you care if they make you feel better, walk taller, stand out? Of course.

Are you buying on price alone? Nope.

So why doesn’t this rationale extend to service-led businesses? Why does the downtrodden freelancer get the short straw, hooked into a cost-plus model which lauds the importance of time-spent instead of mutual value provisioned.

I needed to put together a guide

I figured I’d put together a post on the topic. This post morphed into a two-part series, which grew into a full ebook which I’m happy to give you, for free – so I can help ‘doing okay’ freelancers make the most of value-led pricing too.

So although it’s only a concise one it’s a solid walkthrough of a value-led pricing approach for freelancers.

In it, I’ve attempted to reposition your mindset on pricing and laid out a ten section pitch structure that will leave your prospects in a state of shockcitement (literally just made that word up don’t read too much into it).

The link is below – it’s free and will put you on the path to stacking the odds in your favour, not that of your clients.

Download this free book ‘Hourly Rates Don’t Matter’ Here

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Jan 19 2015

263 Time management & productivity tips to help you better manage your time

So yes, I’ve finally succumbed to the junk food of blogging – creating a compilation list, but this content deserves it – I’ve compiled 10 of the best reference points for making headway with time management

Yes this could be construed as lazy but I prefer to call it “an exercise in curation” on the best tips out there; so for each I’ve given you some takeaways and key points to take into consideration.  We’re talking time management after all so I’d only be contributing to your overwhelm if I gave you 263 tips of my own right?

 
101 Productivity tips by Productive Superdad

Some real effort went into this one.  Standing at over 10,000 words it’s a beast and ironically will kill your productivity if you spend a few hours digesting it but boy is it thorough and would be a good strategic investment of your time.

Key takeaways

Number 68 aligns with my way of thinking – it’s vital to create workflows and processes as it’ll enable you to establish what is non-essential work that you can devolve responsibility of.

 
10 Time Management Tips that Work by Entrepreneur

A collaboration post from Jon Mathews, Don Debolt and Deb Percival this introduces the concept of “real time” vs “clock time” which essentially asserts that to be better at time management you need to first understand what time actually is.   Nice read.

Key takeaways:

Scheduling time for interruptions, in a similar way to planning productivity bursts is a great way to manage time and balance revenue making activity with non-revenue yet essential activities.

 
50 Productivity Tips for Entrepreneurs by Sujan Patel

Always enjoy what Sujan has to say, this chunky set of tips is really worth bookmarking to keep you as productive as ever. As the founder of one of the top internet marketing agencies is San Francisco, California, he speaks from a position of authority.

Key takeaways:

His 21st tip on starting with easiest items first is actually something I advocate. It really makes sense to generate a feeling of momentum which wouldn’t otherwise achievable starting with something overly demanding – in addition “Start every day with a list of your Top 3 “To Do” items” is very much worth a mention!

 
17 Productivity Tips by Robin Sharma

We live in an environment littered with distraction, this is a theme running through this list from Robin Sharma.

Key takeaways:

I could just copy and paste the list into here but I’ll plump for Work in 90 minute cycles as the takeaway for you on this one, there are surveys about surveys about this topic.  It just works, so do it!

 
10 Productivity Tips by 99U (Insights on Making Ideas Happen by Behance)

The perennially beautiful Behance with their ten cents on their ten laws of productivity, via sub-brand 99U, this is more aimed at you if you’re in web but applicable to all businesses if interpreted appropriately.

Key takeaways:

Number 9 – Practice saying “NO” is a lovely counter-intuitive concept.  I really like the idea of viewing creative energy as a finite resource and this explanation nails it.

 
9 Productivity Tips to Maximize Life by Power Partnership Program

PPP stands by a mission to empower lives and effectively run with time towards greater accomplishments and I think Bryan hit the nail on the head with this list.

Key takeaways:

The 6th tip – Focus on How You Are Going to Get There – is about building the bridge between your goals and your decisions and that vision mapping is something we insist small business owners pay attention to, not only to improve productivity but to achieve more of what you visualise.

 
15 Effective Productivity Tips for Bloggers by BloggingTipsToday

It is difficult to maintain maximum efficiency when it comes to to creating quality and high-value blog content.  Writers, be they freelancer or full-time are prone to writers block so these tips are useful to breaking out and taking ownership of your time.

Key takeaways:

Number 12 – Don’t write and edit at the same time – is a nice concept, not something I’ve previously implemented but it’ll definitely help you not second guess yourself.

It’s a similar idea to dictating your post from a mindmap – which I advocate here as you just go ahead then make it flow in the editing phase (or when I receive the transcription in the case of dictation)

 
10 Productivity Tips by Business News Daily

More focused on providing advice to improving productivity if you’re already in employment this list however I’ve included as some points are quite well made.

Key takeaways:

In line with pre-planning days to ensure maximum productivity, the second tip of Get a head-start on tomorrow by preparing before you leave the office today has a solid foundation.

 
15 Productivity Tips from several experts by Psychology Today

Probably the smartest crowd to crowd-source tips from here in this list from Alice Boyes on Psychology Today.   I think it gives us an additional dimension here to work from

Key takeaways:

The Pomodoro Technique tip by Dr Heidi Reeder is one sure-fire way to battle through the unavoidable activities. I like the idea of “I can do anything for 25 minutes” and approaching what I’d term “essential / non-revenue” activities such as email processing.

 
11 Productivity Tips from Super-Productive People by Fast Company

Any list so bold as to recommend you dispose of your to-do lists is worth a shout!  Erin Schulte has compiled interview quote bits into a post which flows really nicely.

Key takeaways:

I’m always keen to understand new productivity technologies and the ‘OHIO’ (Only handle it once) should be something you test rolling into your daily work to see how it jives with your email processing.  It kinda contradicts inbox zero as even that allows you to “Defer” an email til later but the idea behind it is very much sound, worth testing.

 
5 Productivity and Management Tips by Harvard Business Review

Multitasking has been shown to quickly sap energy levels, Harvard Business Review collated tips from HBR to address that amongst other nuggets.

Key takeaways:

I’ve always wanted to run trials of building nap times into daily activity for my team.  We’ve managed to accommodate a table tennis table but not sleeping quarters just yet but I’m certainly interested in the uplift in productivity this could result in.263 Time Management & Productivity Tips

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Feb 25 2014

Focus on the problem you’re solving, not the service you’re providing [Q&A]

Brennan Dunn was my guest on this Q&A session. Brennan is the author of the hugely successful ‘How to Double Your Freelancing Rate’ Book. So in this 18 minute all-action session I wanted to dig into the methodology behind that and take a look at building products, another aspect of business growth Brennan is an advocate of.

You can find Brennan at brennandunn.com and on the excellent Planscope Blog.

Most paths are not planned

We opened with that statement, which at the time we kind of glossed over but I thought I ought to mention this; business is rarely planned out 5 years in advance. We’ve all made New Years resolutions that are floundering by February and business growth is no different. I advocate planning quarterly in advance. Which 3 things will make the biggest impact in your business over that period. If you can attain those ‘mini-victories’ it’ll do wonders for your momentum. Anyway, I digress – back to the highlights.

Clients hire you to solve a problem, not provide a skill

If you could take one statement from this Q&A session and frame it on your wall it should be this. Your prospective don’t hire you to write, design or develop, they hire you to solve a problem within their business. Does your client really care if it takes you 10 hours or 1000 hours to achieve that goal?

This thinking is at the heart of my latest playbook Hourly Rates Don’t Matter. In that book I’ve aimed to lay out in a concise 40 page guide how to switch your mindset from hourly rate (cost-plus) billing to a value-led approach and I’ve put together a 10 section proposal structure template.

Brennnan sums this up perfectly when he goes on to say “focus on the goal instead of the deliverable, make yourself an investment rather than an expense”.

Build products, start small

As a firm advocate of building products (books, workshops, communities, software) Brennan of course recommends this approach as an ideal medium for breaking away from the hourly rate paradigm. I enjoyed what he had to say about starting points, reflecting that ideally he wouldn’t have started with a SAAS product. This is something I recommend too; start small, focus on the problem and provide value. Brennan went on to underscore the benefit of rolling in this same ‘value first’ mindset into building products:

“Just solve the problem. the more you can align the positioning of your product / service to the outcome the client wants the better chance you have of making the sale. The risk factor is much lower for the client taking on the investment.”

You want an audience? Teach!

If you are looking to build an audience and improve your online reputation there are no shortcuts; almost everyone you respect within your space will be providing value at some level, and be teaching what they know. Brennan had some interesting comments on that:

“If you want to be the A list online freelancer, be the go-to expert blog…. Teach people, host your own events, deliver them value, make them an advocate”

On that note we’ll wrap up, hope you enjoyed this session. If you learned something from this, please share. Most advice for freelancers sucks, together we can help change that. You can find Brennan at You can find Brennan at brennandunn.com and on the excellent Planscope Blog.

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Feb 17 2014

What Corbett Barr’s journey to 6 figures can teach you (even as a freelancer)

A short while ago, I interviewed Corbett Barr of the awesome Fizzle on developing your “Me Project”. The interview was a roaring success and it highlighted some key moves you can make in content, audience development and productising your expertise.

Corbett Barr is a thought leader when it comes to building audiences and making a living from them by providing value which can later be monetised. I stumbled back across a dusty old ebook (figuratively, of course) from a few years ago that hit the mark then as it does today and it compelled me to write about it.

In this short book 18 Months, 2 Blogs, Six Figures Corbett charts his journey from wandering blogger to six figure business owner. Although he has since gone on to found Fizzle and is probably beyond 7 figures I still think it is a great reference point if you’re looking to get a transparent, authentic take on setting out building an online voice with a view to monetizing it as a secondary (or even primary) income stream.

Here’s 6 lessons Corbett Barr’s book can teach you (download link at the bottom)

1. You are working for your lifestyle, not to pay bills

The majority of that 6 figure income was created on the beaches of Mexico. While it seems those trips to Mexico are more measured these days the same is still true. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the day-to-day we forget to take an objective look at why the hell we’re doing this anyway. Are we doing it for money? Why? What does that money provide for you? If you keep asking yourself questions of that ilk you’ll soon find the real reason you do this:

To provide a better life and outlook for you and those around you. If you’re too caught up in the battle that is owning your own tiny business then you should regularly loop back to that, why you’re doing this.

2. You need to know where you’re going

Corbett takes an analytical view to setting targets with data but this could be applied to key lifestyle milestones too. If you don’t know what success looks like how will you know when you’ve reached it? In my short book ‘A Blueprint for your next big move’ I walk through the process of creating a vision for your business.

It’ll help you make better growth decisions long-term.

3. The “you must be an expert” mentality is bullshit

Corbett Barr calls bullshit on having to be renowned as a world-class expert to sell anything. He theorises that for his customers, they don’t need to hear the words of an expert, they just need to get what they came for, which in his case, was information on the basics of affiliate marketing.

This is true of all industries. You don’t have to be Matt Cutts to get people to listen to your theories on SEO. You don’t have to be Richard Branson to grab the attention of audiences on how to build a brand – simply, your content and products must deliver what your customers want immediately.

In Barr’s case, 6 – 12 months of experience in affiliate marketing was enough for him to develop a course which people wanted to join.

4. Diversify your income streams

One of the biggest tips I give to freelancers failing to make a sustainable income is to diversify their income streams.

Splitting services and products up, and offering them as separate entities, or developing a few new services or products all together, is a great way to attract more customers and sales on a byline income basis.

Corbett Barr took this to a different level. He created two blogs as opposed to one – each blog attracted different viewers, and therefore, his impact was doubled. It’s important for you as a freelancer to create a secondary income stream, in the book Getting off the Income Roller Coaster we look at productising your freelance expertise as an option for achieving this.

5. Size doesn’t matter

In the book there is a story of a dinner with four fellow bloggers. Each makes a living from their platform, but one of those bloggers earns much more than the other three, the one thing that is different for them all is audience size. Some make it work on smaller audiences, others have to battle to get larger ones.

Providing value to prospective audiences is one thing they all have in common and the same is true for freelance businesses. If you’re building a reputation in your space you’ll rise above your competition and be able to bill on value provided, not time spent.

6. Be Different

Even as a freelancer you have a differentiating factor – why don’t you define it? If you can build a message that echoes what you stand for and ensures you’re ‘unique, different and unforgettable’ then you have a powerful tool for converting otherwise passive prospects into clients.

He notes that the reason 99% of blogs never get off the ground isn’t because the author hasn’t got the skills to promote it, nor that they haven’t figured out the latest whizzbang Twitter strategy, but because blogger doesn’t write anything that’s worth reading.

If you’re focusing on the minutiae of detail of ‘being better at email’ and ‘working out your cost-plus hourly rate’ then you’re way too close. Look objectively at your business and figure out how you can generate a secondary income to flatten the peaks and troughs, build a solid value proposition, demand attention in your space and bill on value provided not time spent.

These are the high-leverage moves you should really care about as these will have the long-term benefits that only a stable freelance life can provide.

Download Corbett’s book here for free

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Feb 15 2014

Do the portfolio hustle. Capture attention, muscle out competitors and get better clients

Your portfolio is everything. How are you supposed to win any clients without proving what you can do? Your portfolio will determine the perception your potential customers have of you. It can be the make or break factor with regard to winning those lucrative projects.

The trouble is, if you’re just starting out or haven’t yet got a roster to write home about you don’t have to much value in your portfolio. Bummer, right?

The result is lots of scrapping to find clients and a healthy dose of disappointment.

Does this sound like you? If so, I have a few ideas and the first idea is to work for free.

Yep, free.

Take on Free Work to Build your Portfolio

Every day, hundreds of your wannabe compatriots decide to take up freelancing work within your space. You are competing against all of these people and as such, you need to situate yourself in such a way that you stand out from the crowd. You cannot do so without a good portfolio, a portfolio which is filled with clients who have strong brand recognition at that.

One of the core factors I talk about on Freelancelift is finding better clients by being more specific about who you’re actually serving.

When I launched Brandshank for example, I did so targeting specifically the music industry. The obvious goal was to hit the lofty heights of a with with Universal or Virgin Records.

Winning these types of customer isn’t easy though. You need a track record.

So, I began to map out a route. In any industry there is a pyramid of excellence. If your ideal customer is at the very top then they need to be sure you’ve performed at a level sufficient to making the step up to the top spots.

By strategically working for free, only with clients you feel can help raise your own profile you can build up your portfolio and gain this track record, the path up the pyramid. Although you won’t be getting paid for the work per se, those few days you spend delivering a top notch service to those clients could mean you’re in the driving seat to land the top bracket of paying customers in the future – customers who are going to invest in you and help you to grow your business.

So where do you start?

Your Hitlist

You need to figure out who your customers really are and narrow down who you want to work for. This way you can ensure that your portfolio features customers who are targeted to that vision, and that your portfolio is going to attract customers who value you.

I recommend building a criteria for your ideal A List client. Take this as an example:

– Client must have credibility in their area of expertise.
– The brand must be recognisable and established.
– The brand must be connected and relevant to my vision.

Side note: I put together a playbook for pinning down your vision and finally figuring out who your ideal customer is. Get it for free, here.

Creating a specific list of A List clients is rather simple – you should have a go right now. Once you have established who your ideal client is, you can begin to draw up that path to the top of the pyramid.

Get started

Get clear on who you’re really serving and start plotting a map of credible ‘stepping stone’ clients you can reach out to, offer your services for free on a new marketing campaign they are starting. If you know that a brand is building a new website, offer to assist with some consultancy as to the UI flow or if their site could be better, point out how and indicate you could help for free.

Enough to enable you to take credibility for the project. It only takes a few free projects for big brands to make your freelance portfolio stand out from the crowd. By having recognisable logo’s on your work you will have the building blocks to create a business that is considered a thought leader.

Forget for a second that you’re working for free here but don’t let your other client obligations slip, consider this a promotional activity. Speed of execution is not the deciding factor here, a solid, well thought out approach is. Quality matters, so keep your current clients happy while going down this route.

The backwards sales pitch

Here is where it gets interesting, you want to present what you’ve completed in such a way that it appears a no-brainer for your prospect to use in some way.

Any salesmen reading, look away… now.

“You’re providing the solution first, working backwards from there to agree a fee of zero”

 

Wow, all that work for nothing? Well not quite, more on that later.

You should approach your prospect in a mature, sensitive way that matches their personal preferences. This normally manifests itself as email but more recently Facebook or Dribbble for designers has worked well. Here’s a backwards sales pitch you can swipe right now (via email)

Subject: An idea/feedback for [prospect-name] [your-skill] enhancement/improvement

An idea for Ownerd web design

Feedback on Ownerd content and improvements

Ideas for Ownerd site functionality enhancements

Dissected: There is no mention of an offer here, you’re providing ideas/feedback for enhancement which tends to get both thumbs up as an indirect sales approach (especially when there is no “sale” to be made after this.)

The subject is the most important element here, but within the body content you should address:

– A particular pain point this prospect might have (Tip: Think beating out competitors)

– That this is in no way a pitch, only a contribution from a fan with ideas

– That a reply is optional, you’d be just pleased they consumed it aka ‘an easy out’
This is killer, arguing against the primary purpose of your contact is a surefire way to ensure you do get a response.
– Cover that for now this is between you and them, but that you would like to add it to your portfolio / social channels if they chose not to take the idea on.

Here’s a quick example:

Hey Liam,

Love what you’re doing on Ownerd, just wanted to touch base and give you some feedback on a point you raised in a recent post by you on the speed of your list growth.

I have tons of experience in designing for conversion [content writing for conversion, plugin development etc] and just put some thought into a quick design change [big content idea, dev improvement idea] which I thought I’d share.

This approach has no ulterior motive just wanted to return the favour of you providing your expertise to me, by at least giving you something that I’ve learned from my 5 years’ experience in design.

I also note that you’re in a bit of a head-to-head battle with YourCompetitor.com and this is something they’re just not doing either.

Anyway, appreciate your time in getting this far, I’ve compiled the ideas here:

::Link::

If I don’t hear back from you that’s cool, appreciate you’re busy. For now I’ve kept this work between me and you and you have my permission to use it, with no cost. But just let me know that you’ve done that so I can jump for joy on my social channels.

Alternatively I can chat through with you how this might pan out if you wanted me to develop on this idea a little further.

My Skype is XYZ or hit reply.

Speak Soon!

 

Liam

Pushing your portfolio

It isn’t just the content of your portfolio that matters (although, this next step is rather pointless without a quality roster of clients).Also vital to the success of your portfolio is how accessible it is for your potential customers.

What you need to ask yourself is this – where are your potential customers looking for your services?

There are lots of great online platforms for freelancer portfolios, and platforms which are proven to attract big brands. Platforms such Dribbble, Forrst and Behance are typical examples, and these are ideal for any freelancer who works in graphic or website design. To a lesser extent, they can also be used by non-creative freelancers, including consultants, search engine experts and copywriters.

The best place to showcase your work is on your very own website, however. With your own site you are not confined to a limited amount of projects or by the size of your portfolio. You will also have free reign over how visual your portfolio is and you can customise the website to direct potential customers to your stand out projects.

Set up accounts on all of the major social media networks, and get the word out there about your portfolio. With a bit of luck, you may be picked up by thought leaders and potential customers.

Ultimately, your portfolio marketing activities should be designed to give your free work a maximum amount of leverage, and the best opportunity to reach your ideal customer. You can set this strategy alight by defining your hitlist.

The Bottom Line

1 piece of free work that takes you a couple of days to complete could result in around 5,000 visits and over 500,000 re-marketing impressions if managed correctly. By offering your services for free you can build your portfolio and gain credibility and ultimately bowl over that A List client.

This is just one of the many ideas I have for business growth, which I cover over at Freelancelift, which exists to provide actionable growth ideas for the ‘doing okay’ freelancer. An arsenal of posts, videos, playbooks and actionable content for freelance designers, writers and marketers to break through your earnings ceiling.

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Feb 04 2014

10 things Las Vegas can teach you about being a better freelancer

I just returned from a week in Vegas (was attending a conference but did manage to fit in some leisure time!) the place is awe inspiring. Nestled beneath the neon lights and obvious distractions though are some sound business principles you can roll into your own freelance business, today.


In this post I’ll focus on the main moneymakers of Sin City and extrapolate some key business models, breaking it down to work for you. Ultimately someone has to pay for the lavish dancing fountains, ever-expanding skyline pieces and five star suites so whether you agree with their methods it should be obvious that when it comes to business growth and revenue generation the hotels, casinos and resorts that make up Las Vegas have it nailed.

1. Diversify the way you make a living

Accommodation revenue itself only provides a fraction of the income of a Vegas hotel. Shows, bars, merchandising, restaurants and of course the obligatory casino provide the lions share of income. Even if this model itself is unique and inapplicable to service businesses consider the diversification and protection this multi-channel approach offers.

Your primary product (your time) should be supplemented by a secondary income stream. This will make freelancing much more stable and ensure you’re able to rely on growth as an outcome. I put together a book on this exact topic which you can grab via the link below, but essentially you should look to productize your expertise to benefit from the protection and stability a secondary income can provide.

Click here to grab the free book ‘Getting off the Income Roller Coaster’

2. Good freelancers learn how to say no

The same can be said for the big business world of multi billion dollar Las Vegas resorts. Bowing to customer pressure isn’t something vegas resorts do well. Instead they put together a clear argument for a compromise.

Las Vegas is famed for its ability to offer ‘comps’ (perks and complimentary items for big spenders) and a hotel or casino owner will go out of their way to bow to every request of a high net worth guest but this service only follows a series of (literally) ‘cards on table’ talks where it is agreed what the guest will gamble or bring to the venue.

A great freelancer understands that service provision should offer a mutual benefit. You are solving a problem, or improving a situation and in return you are fairly compensated. You should look to ensure the playing field is level and be brave enough to say NO if the odds are not stacked in your favour (last gambling pun, promise).

3. Segmentation works (for finding better clients)

For all it’s faults the Vegas model of segmenting high rollers from average gamers it should teach you something about segmentation and focus, making it really clear who you want to work with and building a business that supports their needs and solves their specific problems.

In your case you’ll be segmenting by specialising in on a certain industry to reduce the noise of your competition – in Vegas’ case that means building high limit areas of casinos and specialising in on so called ‘whales’ by offering unlimited complimentary items through their stay, for you a well crafted brand message will help you attract the right type of clients. This is a topic I went into my free ebook ‘A blueprint for your next big move’ which you can grab below:

Click here to grab the free book on specialising in on your customer

4. Get focused on what you want

Sure, your job is to work for your clients but ultimately that alone isn’t why you’re in business.

You have personal aspirations and burning desires for success. You should make these really clear, build a strategy for your success and work towards it, sense-checking key decisions and client opportunities against those goals, asking yourself:

“Is [decision outcome] a contribution or distraction to those ambitions for you and your business?”

Ultimately Las Vegas is driven by profit generation and returning dividends to shareholders but those same principles ring true. A costly extra to the new Aria Hotel development for example was a free monorail from the bottom to the top of the strip. That decision was taken with balanced assessments as to whether this investment would be recouped.

5. Bill on value and build your frame

Does it matter that in Vegas you can buy the same $2 bottled beer from a 7-11 for $10 in one of their michelin star restaurants? Seemingly not, I’d bet the restaurant sells more each day. Framing is everything.

Translating that to your freelance pitch, rather than making your proposal all about the economics and minutiae of hourly rate X number of hours to get the job done you should lead with the value you’re bringing to the table.

What’s the upside? What will this upside mean to their business? How will their life be different, what additional revenue will this make them? Then what is this difference worth?

By wrapping your service in a clear value statement you’ll make it much easier to close the sale. Tweet this

6. Don’t work harder, work more efficiently

In Vegas, casinos in particular tick along like an efficient, well-oiled machine. Hundreds of staff members scurry around making as good an experience for guests as possible.

Just because you are a freelancer solopreneur doesn’t mean you can’t leverage the best parts of working as a team by:

– Understanding the processes at play in your business
– Tracking where your time is being distracted
– Outsourcing mechanical elements of your role

Within the playbooks section I’ve put together a book with some clear insight for getting more productive, things I learned from 10 time failures to maximize freelance productivity you can grab that on the link below:

Download ‘Taking back control of your time’ ebook

7. Map out your winning strategy

Whether you agree with gambling or not – few things are more certain than the fact that the house always wins. Over the long run casinos will have a 10-20% edge over their customers/players. This is their margin, their win strategy.

Do you have your win strategy defined? With their edge assured a casino can plan ahead, make moves to reinvest and build their business strategically.

You should consider where you want to be in the short / medium / long term and what success will look like. If you don’t know what success looks like how will you know when you’ve reached it?

8. Build your reputation and raise your online voice

When it comes to building a reputation vegas hotels & resorts have it nailed. You can piggy back on this by covering the fundamentals and building an online voice by leverage the techniques I talk about in this post.

To summarise that post though, you first need to provide real value in your space. This can be on your own site or in other locations your target audience exists. By providing value and backing that up with true engagements you can build relationships which you can use to your advantage in the long term.

9. Leverage strategic partnerships with your peers

Hotels work together to ensure a perfect experience for their customers. By collaborating rather than competing they can ensure an even spread of income. To extrapolate this for freelancers, you should be ready to provide assistance to peers in your area. Being helpful and producing great solutions to problems your industry compatriots might be struggling with will help you develop a position of authority and an eventual advantage when it comes to proving your viability as a service provider.

10. Remove distractions

As a freelancer you get paid to finish projects. Every phone vibration or inbox ping distracts you from finishing that project more efficiently.

In Las Vegas there are famously no clocks or external light in casinos and the drinks come to you, for free if you’re gaming. What this is doing of course is cleverly (perhaps borderline immorally) removing distractions from playing. If you can do virtually everything from where you’re sat and you lose track of time, who wins?

Taking this concept and applying it to yourself though (phone on silent, flipped over, email management only in bursts, social media scheduled) you can ensure you have maximum attention on what you’re trying to do – and your concentration is never broken.

I’m already planning my next trip out to Vegas. It isn’t for everyone but boy it was fun, the ten points above also tell me that I probably picked up a few things too!

Liam

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