Freelancing

Monday Spark: When estimating for a freelance project, don’t think about your own checking account.

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writing a checkJust a short tip this week. It’s about your mindset when you sit down to write an estimate for a prospective client.

Often a freelancer will write the estimate, look at the total they want to charge, and begin to feel nervous about it.

$1,500? $3,000? $7,500?

Ouch, sounds like a lot of money. Maybe your client will say no.

OK. Now let’s reframe how you think about estimating.

Any sum of money over about $1,000 is going to feel like a lot of money to charge, but only because you are empathizing with how it would feel to pay that amount from your own family checking account.

But that’s the wrong way to think about it.

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Overcome Imposter Syndrome by sharing a message you love.

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megaphone messageLast week I wrote about how creating a unique message will differentiate you from other freelancers.

I wrote about how listing your skills simply makes you look the same as other copywriters who list the same skills, but that your message can and should be unique to you.

It’s your message that is the differentiator.

In this post I want to take this further, and look at how finding a message you really love can totally transform how you go about marketing your freelance business.

This is important, because many, if not most freelancers feel awkward when it comes to pitching their services. They have worked hard to build a solid skillset, have built a website that promotes their services, but then lose all confidence when it comes time to talk with a prospective client.

How come?

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Build a better freelance business, and love your message.

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love your messageBased on my experience as a freelancer over the last 30 years, and as a coach, I believe there are two key elements that separate freelancers who do OK from those who are hugely successful.

For a start, you need to get in the driver’s seat of your freelance business, take control and be assertive about the companies you work with, the work you do, and the fees you charge.

In other words, replace your freelancer mindset with a business-building mindset.

Second, you need to market your freelance business with absolute focus and confidence. This is where so many freelancers fail. They have too little confidence in themselves, and don’t know how to market themselves effectively.

I address both of these issues in what is essentially a combination of two of my programs – Profitable Freelancing and How to Love Marketing Your Freelance Business.

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Monday Spark: Seek out the best, and then remix [VIDEO]

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dylan creative remix

In the early stages of their careers many freelancers try to totally reinvent the wheel when it comes to building their websites or doing their next project for a client.

It doesn’t have to be that hard.

When it comes to writing and designing your own website, why not print out the home pages of the 5 best freelance websites you can find, and then make yours a remix of the best of the best?

If you are writing a sales page for a client, why not find some really good sales pages for similar products or services, take the best from them, and then remix?

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Freelancers: It’s not about what you know, it’s about the message you share.

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I coach a lot of freelancers, many of them just starting out.

More often than not they are concerned about their level of knowledge, or perceived lack thereof.

In other words, they don’t feel ready to approach prospective prospects, because they feel they need to learn more about their craft first.

“I need to learn more about SEO, and writing emails, and social media, and A/B split testing.”

No, you don’t.

Your value in the eyes of your prospects is not tied to the sum of your knowledge, it is tied to the power of the message you share and the story you tell.

Let me use myself as an example.

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Monday Spark: To get to where you want to be, you have to pass through the scary part.

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skydiving freelancerMany of us have wild and exciting dreams for our freelance businesses and companies, but don’t do what it takes to make those dreams come true.

Why not? Because taking the leap is often downright scary.

Well…you’re right. Doing something new is always scary.

A couple of weeks ago I went skydiving for the first time. It is something I have wanted to do for a while. I put off actually doing it for a few months, because as much as I wanted the experience, I found the prospect of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane downright terrifying.

But…to get to the good part, you first have to get past the scary part.

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