In January of 2021, I decided to go full-tilt into building mybusiness.
I thought that was an ambitious target and assumed it would take me months to land new high-paying clients.
Instead, within about six weeks of marketing myself, I had more work than I could handle.
And by the summer, I was billing $10,000 a month or more.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
Ive been in the content marketing industry since 2013 and had a solid portfolio when I decided to scale.
Heres what worked for me.
Raise your rates
Raising your rates can be one of the more intimidating things to do as a freelancer.
But remember: rate increases are standard business practice.
And in order for you to operate your business sustainably, your rates cant remain static.
This is also the fastest way to bring in more income.
But this can drive burnout and cap your earnings pretty quicklyparticularly if your rates are lower to begin with.
I had two main anchor clients plus a handful of other clients I worked with less regularly.
My new rate would be $XXX/article.
I do want to be cognizant of your budget, so if theres any concern, lets discuss.
Ive really enjoyed working together the past few years and look forward to our continued partnership.
Initially, this represented a drop in total income from that client.
This leads me to the next tip.
Drop low-paying clients as you replace them with new, higher-paying clients
Its ok to outgrow clients.
As you raise your rates, some clients wont be able (or willing) to pay.
Book regular, long-term clients
I never take one-off projects.
Instead, I focus on building long-term relationships with clients for ongoing work.
This is because long-term or retainer clients provide consistent income that lets me provide better value.
Specialize
If youre a freelancer, youve probably heard that its important to niche down.
And theres good reason this advice is so prevalentit works.
When you specialize, you develop expertise in those areas over time.
It also helps you build a reputation as the go-to provider for that industry.
But when you specialize, you’re able to provide more value and increase your rates accordingly.
There are a couple of reasons for this.
Second, efficiency comes with expertise (especially if youre working with clients long-term).
If youre charging hourly, the faster you produce, the less money you make.
Project rates mean you dont get penalized for getting better at your job.
Finally, I find that project pricing is easier for clients to approve psychologically.
For instance, quoting $150/hr will give lots of people sticker shock.
Remember: A one-person freelance business is still a business.
So dont ask for raises.
Dont ask permission for time off.
Youre not an employee, and your clients arent your boss.
Especially when youre first starting out, clients typically wont come to you.
Youll need to go find them.
And that means marketing and prospecting.
This isnt a one-time exercise.
Set aside time each week or at least each month to web link and outreach.
Use LinkedIn to find potential clients to cold email.
LinkedIn has been one of the best tools Ive used for finding clients.
When youre new to the industry, it can feel overwhelming to find an in.
Post on social media that youre in business and talk to friends about what youre doing.
Even if your immediate friends dont hire you, they may know someone in your industry who needs help.
And referrals are one of the best ways to land a client.
Ive landed multiple clients from professional writer groups on Facebook.
The key togetting the most out of these groupsis to participate and add value.
Keep in mind that not all groups are equally as valuable.
I initially joined around half a dozen writing groups when I first started freelancing.
Groups that had a lot of spam or that posted low-paying gigs were quickly weeded out.
These are often a long game.
The work isnt done when the event ends.
You then need to maintain those connections you made and, when possible, participate in future events.
Often youll run into the same people each year, further strengthening those relationships.
Within weeks, I had more work than I could handle.
And within a few months, I had hit (and exceeded) the once-elusive $10,000 month.
Once you get the momentum going, youll be surprised how quickly youll book up.
Then youll have to learn to say no.
But thats a topic for another day.
This article by Brittney Thompson was first published on the Zapier blog.
Find the original posthere.
