We all know how important communication is during the sales process, but for a lot of freelancers knowing how and when to followup is often a mystery. After you first meet someone, when should you first contact them? How long should you wait before you followup with someone you’ve sent an invoice to? When and how should you pester…
Let’s get real and talk about the one prerequisite needed prior to any discussion around setting your rates, writing proposals, or up-selling retainers and productized consulting. Finding clients. For many new freelancers (and even seasoned freelancers) who don’t have a strong referral base or a system for acquiring leads, this is one of the most…
A lot of freelancers — hell, just about every freelancer I’ve talked to — want to eventually create and sell their own products. But this is easier said than done. Usually something stands in the way: the immediacy of consulting revenue, lack of an idea, or the fear that they’ll build something and it’ll never sell.
When I first started freelancing, I was focused on all the wrong things. And these are things you’ve heard me talk about extensively over the last few years, and especially since kicking off this latest series. My focus was exclusively on what I thought I was good at… in my case, writing web software. But…
I want to talk about engagements today. Specifically, I want to talk about what our role as a high-value consultant is when working on client projects, and what makes the details of high-value engagements different from the typical, run-of-the-mill freelancing gig. One of the questions I’m asked the most is, “What’s the difference between a freelancer…
I recently sat down (literally!) with my friend Steli Efti, the founder of Close.io. For about an hour we talked about how freelancers and consultants can create more referrals for their business. Steli is a master of sales — you won’t want to miss this episode! Mentioned this episode: Steli on Twitter Close.io The B2B Referral…
Whenever I tell people about how I stopped caring about what other people were charging, and am now charging my clients 10x what I was charging just a few years ago, I’m almost always asked the same question: “How do you find clients who will pay that?” The right response really should be, “What are…
This summer I’ve written a lot of proposals. When I was running my agency, this was pretty much my job — I had to bring in six-figures of project revenue each month or it was out of business (or dramatically downsizing). So I was a machine when it came to pumping these things out. But these…
In this article, I will attempt to answer the #1 question I get: where do I find high-value clients? By “high-value client”, I mean somebody who hires you as a consultant in the best sense of the word. These are clients that value your input and expertise, and regard you as much more than just…
Today I want to focus on helping you win more proposals. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: if there’s one part of your sales funnel that you should optimize, it’s how you write and deliver proposals. How much time do you spend finding prospective clients, qualifying them, meeting about their project, and…