We’re continuing to share a different story each week of how a past student has been able to significantly grow their freelance business by applying the concepts they learned from Double Your Freelancing (check out last week’s with Max Zoghbi).
If you feel your story would be a good fit, share why.
“Brennan,
I wanted to send you a note with my gratitude.
This morning, I’m at the hospital holding my brand new daughter. She’s our second. She was also born on her older sister’s first birthday yesterday. Little stinker.
I ran down to get some breakfast, and as I was eating, I decided to check my email. I had to stop stuffing the burrito into my face and grin for a while (probably longer than those around me would’ve cared for). My first paying client had just signed up for my construction project management consulting. Whoot!
Do you know why? Before I pitched him, I exhausted your article Writing and Winning High Value Proposals. I put lots of emphasis on ROI, tried to tie some numbers against my cost, made sure I was compelling (not convincing), and stood firm on my price when he mentioned it was “a little steep.”
You know the crazy part? I just turned 21. At my current job as an landscape estimator, I make $21.50 an hour. I’m going to be working 10-15 hours total with this client over a four-week period. My price? $2,000. That’s like 10x. Again, whoot. And it’s because I was able to anchor my cost against real, deliverable, obvious VALUE.
I follow lots of influencers in your space, but I wanted to write you because your stuff was so helpful. You helped crack open the doorway to my personal freedom – the freedom to do lots less busy work (read: more time for my little girls) and to do real work that makes a dent in the world.
Thank you,
Ben”
How could we NOT share that amazing email? Congrats on the new addition to your family Ben! Let’s meet Ben formally and hear more of his story.
Benjamin Holmgren recently launched, Track Your Construction Projects, a project management consulting/software implementation for residential subcontractors.
What got you into freelancing? Was it what you expected?
‘Speed to cash’ is a term I like to use to describe why I got into this. It turns out, it’s way more fun than I was expecting, and I can certainly see myself building a business out of it.
What’s been most challenging thus far?
Deciding. Committing. Fully understanding that I’m not a victim of circumstance, and I just need to take the bull by the horns and do something.
Not waiting. Not stalling. Just doing.
Did you ever want to quit or give up? Please expand.
Every morning.
My bed is always so warm. I never get enough sleep. My wife and I have two kids that sometimes keep us up at night.
There’s always something that sounds more appealing than cold emailing. Where I actually started seeing results is when the circumstances quit mattering and the excuses were replaced with 100% commitment to my cause.
What were you struggling the most with when you ran into Charge What You’re Worth, Brennan’s free email course?
Understanding how essential a strong ROI for the customer is, and how to anchor my cost against that value to make price a triviality. Once I understood and acted on that, the sale turned out to be fun.
What are some big successes you’ve had recently?
I’m really super new at this. After sending 75 cold emails (just market research emails, not sales) and getting one reply that said, “Take me off your list,” I knew something had to change.
I started sending sales emails to my warm market instead. Wow. I had a sales meeting the same day as I sent the email, and finalized the deal a few days later.
I actually have income now. That’s impact!
What are some specific strategies, tactics or pieces of advice that helped you grow?
Only working with people who have an obvious ROI through my service has been really helpful.
Getting over the fear of talking to people I know. It’s been a really good place to start, actually. If I’m truly delivering a service with an ROI, it’s not a sleazy sale – It’s just a helpful conversation that leads to a sale.
Lastly, detaching myself from the sale has been wonderful. I don’t care whether or not I get every sale I pitch. I prefer to focus on serving the client in some way, even if my specific offering isn’t a good fit for them.
What are you most excited about for your business in 2015?
Growing it. Going from one paid client to two. Then three. Then fifty.
Making an impact in an industry I care about, and achieving personal freedom so I can spend my time with the people I love.
Ben Holmgren values personal freedom, family, abundance, grace and the ability to impact others to realize the same. He’s an extrovert, optimist, talker and non-conformist.
For monetary purposes, he helps small construction companies implement software for project management. Feel free to connect with Ben via his website.