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 Celina Wong). 

If you feel your story would be a good fit, share why.

Hey guys,

I’m new to this community, and this is the first online course I’ve ever bought (outside of those I buy from Udemy).

But what’s different from those Udemy courses and this one is that 3 days after I bought the course and went through it, I went ahead and applied what I learned. And guess what?

Today, I just sold my first roadmapping session! 

Absolutely crazy. Plus I sold it at 5 times more than what I was supposed to charge (just by using cues I got from Socratic questioning), and I don’t even have a solid portfolio yet (still starting out).

Truly, truly amazing.

So for those who’re new here or who bought the course but never actually got up and did the work yet, I really, really, really suggest you do. What @brennandunn teaches is solid business and sales fundamentals that will get you to many places (not only in your business).

I’m honestly so happy to get this going. Hope I can get the momentum going during the roadmapping session (it’s gonna happen sometime next week). And hopefully I can close the project successfully. 

DYFR rocks!

-Reinart

PS: He did close that project successfully! Congrats Reinart!

Hi Reinart! Tell us about yourself; who are you and what do you for fun?

Hello! I’m Reinart Bacalso, a third-year college student taking up a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering. I’m absolutely in love with marketing – helping people, brands and businesses reach their ideal customers.

People are surprised when they learn that I’m a Marketing Consultant (Facebook ads), but my background lies in Engineering. Trust me, I’m surprised too. But there hasn’t been a moment that I regret the decision to jump into this industry and field. And I never will. 🙂

For fun, I play video games and basketball with friends. In my free time, I play the guitar to de-stress. As I got into college, my hobbies shifted toward reading and learning. I also enjoy spending time with my family – and I make sure to treasure every moment I get to spend with them.

What got you into freelancing? Was it what you expected?

Over a year ago, I opened up my podcast app and started looking for some business podcasts to follow. I ended up following one after the other, and in a few months, I was subscribed to over seven podcasts and more than 20 newsletters of the best and brightest minds in the space. (I didn’t find Brennan until recently though!)

Once I was introduced to the idea of running an online business, it just captivated me. The ability to build something greater than yourself – to help other people achieve their personal goals and dreams, and in the process, create a more comfortable life for me and my family. I wanted to build products. Build online courses. Build an SaaS. My dreams and my imagination were running wild. And with wild imaginations come something that I believe a lot of entrepreneurs face – overwhelm and inaction.

It took me awhile to wrap my head around all these new amazing things I was learning. But after awhile, I realized that the best way to start it all off was through freelancing. Freelancing was an avenue for me to execute what I’ve learned during the past year, and start earning for myself.

Freelancing wasn’t what I expected at all. I kind of expected the “ideal reality,” where I got to work wherever and whenever I want. And a quick tip to anyone who’s starting out – don’t expect that. You’re going to go through a rough time starting out, as you smooth out the learning curve. It will be a rocky start, filled with rejection and failure. That’s what I had to go through, and still am going through.

Thank God I found Brennan and Double Your Freelancing though!

Tell us about your hardest moment as an entrepreneur to date.

The mental transition at the start was crazy. I’m still a student, and I bet 99% of entrepreneurs know that what is required out of the school system is waaay different from what building a business requires.

In school, we’re taught to get it right on the first try. One test for one topic – fail it once, you’ll never get the same chance again. You’ll have to retake the subject in another semester. You have to follow instructions – use the wrong font and your entire paper can go up in flames.

In business it’s different. You need to be ready to fail. To ship imperfection. To sell minimum viable products that aren’t the “perfect” solution you were dreaming of. To deal with a crazy amount of uncertainty. To receive all kinds of criticism (the good and the bad) when you put something out there in the world.

This is why it took me so long to get started. Almost a year. But then I started taking smaller steps, and little by little they stacked high enough to give me the momentum to keep going.

For all those people who’re on the verge of giving up – don’t. Take it slow. Find small steps you can take toward your goal. Execute on them, and ride the momentum of action that will take you forward.

On the flip side, what’s been your biggest success so far?

My biggest success so far was when I successfully sold my very first roadmapping session. For those who don’t know what that is, enroll in Brennan’s course, go through it and let it change your entire perspective on freelancing.

I could say that it was my biggest success because of the way I’ve dealt with past prospects. I talked about myself, what I do, all the things I could do and in the end, I just ended up confusing the prospect. I never got a sale that way.

Enter, DYFR.

I took up Brennan’s free email course, and it was ABSOLUTE GOLD. It made me change my perspective on freelancing by a craaaazy amount. After that, I knew I just had to take up his full course. At that time, I didn’t exactly have the budget to take on the course. But I was so confident with the material that I bought it anyway.

And trust me, it was the best decision I made.

I instantly took in the material, read through everything and took down notes. And the next day, I took action. I messaged someone I knew that needed a service like mine, and set the initial meeting.

The night before the meeting, I was scared. I ran through the DYFR material again and again and again – scared that I’d miss something. Maybe I’d forget to bring up the financial upside? Maybe I’d end up talking about myself too much? It scared the hell out of me. I was chasing perfection, as years of the school system has taught me.

During the meeting, I just let all the feelings of fear and uncertainty go. I focused on asking the right questions. I used Brennan’s Socratic questioning methods to get to the prospect’s deepest business needs. I just let it all out.

And when the price question came up for my roadmapping session – I answered with a price that was five times more than what I planned. And there was no resistance.

The feeling of acquiring my very first customer – I believe nothing will beat that feeling for a loooong while. 🙂

What were you struggling the most with when you ran into Brennan’s course?

It was definitely my positioning.

I just didn’t understand how I could position myself against thousands of other people that do the exact same thing as I do pricing themselves so much lower than what I want to charge.

Then, DYFR happened. And as they say, the rest is history.

What are some specific strategies, tactics or pieces of advice that helped you grow?

Socratic questioning. All the way. That just blew my mind.

Brennan has other great material in the course, but since my biggest problem was positioning and effectively “Charging What I’m Worth,” the Socratic questioning module was heaven to me. Everything made so much more sense after I went through that.

For those who haven’t heard of it, it’s simple (in theory). In your initial meeting, the most important thing you have to do is uncover your prospect’s deepest pains and tie it to a dollar amount. Once you do, you’ll have a specific value to tie all of your work around, and that makes all the difference.

Second, would be the idea of having a roadmapping session. It’s a beautiful idea – to turn a prospect into a paying customer without having them spend tons on your core offer right away. The ideal “stepping stone” for any lead.

What are you most excited about for your business in 2016?

Right now, the academic year for the university I attend is starting again, so I’m not making a 110% push into my business. It’ll take a backseat for awhile, as I smash through two more years of college life.

But, on the brighter side, that roadmapping session I sold? I’ve closed a 3-month deal with the client. 🙂 Basically, DYFR paid for itself in less than two weeks! I plan to work with this client throughout the year, to continue honing my craft as I finish college. I’m excited to start my very first client project, and can’t wait to see what results I can bring for them.

Reinart is a Marketing Consultant that specializes in Facebook advertising based in Cebu, Philippines. He strongly believes in entrepreneurship, and the entrepreneur that tries to create their very own dent in the universe. He sees entrepreneurship as the best avenue for anyone to create value for the people around them, and in the process, create value for themselves.