Coaching series: Can Zach get this beginner freelancer (Maia) to a 6-figure income ($8,333/mo) within 6 months?

Follow their journey through the ups and downs and watch them grow!

Milestones from today’s episode:

• Focusing on agency growth vs creating products
• Managing multiple open client projects and staying on top of work
• Creating coaching and done-for-you services as a path to raise rates

Coaching highlights from today’s episode:

• Write SOPs for repetitive tasks that can be delegated
• “Blueprint style” client interviews for feedback on new service offering
• Use pricing tiers for client services and raising rates

Original coaching call recording date: 08/01/2023

Want to get one-on-one coaching from Zach?

The DYF Accelerator community includes weekly live 20-minute one-on-one Zoom coaching with Zach that follows the same format as you saw here.

You’ll also get access to our huge library of all past coaching calls, along with a text-based community and weekly accountability check-ins.

Click here to learn more »

AI-Generated Summary:

• 0:00 – 2:00 — Zach introduces the podcast series, focusing on freelancing success and outlines the goal of helping freelancers like Maia reach $100,000 annual income.
• 2:00 – 4:00 — Zach discusses the format of the series, likening it to the coaching sessions in the Life Accelerator community, and mentions the possibility of coaching through the community.
• 4:00 – 6:00 — Maia talks about her current workload, including design projects and one-on-one mentoring, and discusses the challenges of managing multiple projects and high-touch client interactions.
• 6:00 – 8:00 — Zach and Maia discuss the nature of her coaching projects, pondering whether to focus on improving processes or reassessing the viability of these projects.
• 8:00 – 10:00 — Zach suggests strategies to streamline Maia’s coaching services, like group sessions for lower-priced packages and weekly one-on-ones for higher-ticket coaching, addressing the need for better pricing and client segmentation.
• 10:00 – 12:00 — Maia discusses her client relationships, including a successful retainer client and another who she feels she is undercharging but enjoys working with, highlighting attachment to clients and the challenge of raising prices.
• 12:00 – 14:00 — Zach suggests differentiating service tiers for clients and incorporating ‘done for you’ services into premium packages, focusing on value delivery and potential rate increases.
• 14:00 – 16:00 — Maia agrees with Zach’s approach, sharing her success with bundling services and the idea of adding value through content creation and coaching, while avoiding tasks like community management.
• 16:00 – 18:00 — Zach discusses positioning services productively, focusing on deliverables that provide value and save time for clients, particularly in content creation.
• 18:00 – 20:00 — Maia considers the impact of providing comprehensive social media services on client workloads, aiming to reduce their involvement while maintaining quality and engagement.
• 20:00 – 22:00 — Zach suggests automating content scheduling for clients, emphasizing the importance of clear rules and effective time management for urgent changes.
• 22:00 – 24:00 — Maia confirms the client’s awareness of needing to focus on collaborations and live events. Zach stresses the importance of using freed-up time effectively.
• 24:00 – 26:00 — Zach proposes adding a coaching component to Maia’s service, ensuring clients use their saved time effectively. Maia sees this as a valuable addition to her offerings.
• 26:00 – 28:00 — Maia acknowledges the need to consolidate her service offerings, considering group coaching. Zach sees value in Maia’s approach of gradually refining services based on client feedback.
• 28:00 – 30:00 — Zach advises Maia to define her ideal service package in detail, considering the impact on clients’ businesses and lives, and to calculate the time and cost involved accurately.
• 30:00 – 32:00 — Zach advises Maia on calculating project costs and setting a target hourly rate, emphasizing the importance of pricing services based on value delivered.
• 32:00 – 34:00 — They discuss determining a no-brainer pricing strategy, considering the client’s income and value perception.
• 34:00 – 36:00 — Zach suggests Maia conduct a ‘Trojan horse’ interview to validate her service offering and advises her to audit the time spent on coaching clients.
• 36:00 – 38:00 — They discuss the importance of identifying and delegating repetitive tasks and achieving consistency in service offerings before delegating.
• 38:00 – 40:00 — Maia shares her progress and trust in her business growth, and Zach shows interest in reviewing her time tracking report for a better understanding of her workload.
• 40:00 – 42:00 — Maia discusses the time spent on various clients and tasks, highlighting that she’s not reaching her desired hourly rate.
• 42:00 – 44:00 — Zach encourages Maia to track all business-related activities to get a comprehensive view of her work hours.
• 44:00 – 46:00 — Maia realizes she needs to track her time more meticulously, especially for tasks like telegram support.
• 46:00 – 48:00 — Zach shares his own time tracking methods and categorizations, emphasizing the importance of seeing work distribution at a glance.
• 48:00 – 50:00 — Maia reflects on the importance of setting up efficient systems and processes before they become a necessity in her business. Zach reassures her that sometimes it’s okay to wait until systems are needed before setting them up.
• 50:00 – 52:00 — Zach discusses the importance of setting up systems in a business and suggests Maia switch to a more comprehensive time-tracking tool like Toggl.
• 52:00 – 54:00 — They discuss the necessity of accurately tracking time spent on various tasks, especially coaching support, to understand the actual scope of work.
• 54:00 – 56:00 — Maia plans to audit her hours and assess the effectiveness of her hourly rate, considering creating a new service offering.
• 56:00 – 58:00 — Zach suggests Maia conduct interviews to validate her new service offering and track all business-related time.
• 58:00 – 1:00:40 — They conclude with Zach setting goals for Maia, including creating a hypothetical service offering, conducting interviews, and tracking all business time.