By Rabbi Issamar Ginzberg
Why have I asked a rabbi to guest on my freelance-writer blog? Well, he’s not just a rabbi — Rabbi Ginzberg is also a noted business-marketing expert. Every time I talk to him, I come away with a great idea that helps me start earning more right away. So I wanted him to share a few tips with you. Here they are:
1) Charge more
So you think this makes no sense? That it is not possible? Here’s a trick that will immediately increase your income: Say you are now charging $300 for a small freelance project. You know you are worth more, and the client might know that as well. However, the client cannot pay you more right now because they don’t have it.
Here is what you do:
You think to yourself, “What is the absolute minimum I could do this for?” Say the answer is $150. Instead, you switch to charging them via PayPal for $150 now, $150 in 30 days, and the final $150 30 days after that.
You’ve raised your prices, given the client less immediate out-of-pocket expense, and given yourself a cushion of sorts in case you can’t work or want to take off later on and still have an income that month.
It IS possible that the client will stop the payments and you can lose the money you have not yet received that way. That’s why I say to make sure you get the minimum you’d do it for upfront.
2) Upsell
Simply think, “What other services can I offer this customer?” They know me for my writing, but do they know that I can also transcribe music into notes? Do they know that I also can translate between Spanish and English?
3) Raise your perceived value
It’s not at all hard now for you to put out an eBook. Your reservoir of knowledge can be tapped to write an information product that will help your Google results, show that you can “ship” a finished product, and also give you an expanded skill set. By the time you finish putting together your first eBook, you will have gained insight and connections with people that can do the parts you can’t, such as graphic design.
Another benefit to this is that you now have a product which you can give away to others, which includes links back to you and your site. This allows the sharing of the file to help widen your sphere of influence, as more people hear about you and see your plug for your services in your eBook.
4) Stop wasting time looking for the magic pill
Stop wasting so much time on the social networking sites, the “how to” ebooks and the forums looking for the magic wand. YOU ARE NOW HOLDING THE MAGIC WAND. FEEL EMPOWERED.
You know enough. You see articles written that you know everything written in them about that topic, and more. You just need to decide that 2011 has started, I’m fed up, and I’m going to take action right now and move my business forward.
5) Set goals you control
If you decide to call 50 targeted leads a day, then you have set a goal you can control. If you say, “I will make a sale today,” that is a goal you have no control over and is asking for failure.
Remember what they teach life insurance agents: The goal of the call is to get an appointment. If the appointment doesn’t work out, that is NOT a function of the call. This means that no matter what the outcome of the appointment is, whether or not you sell anything, the call has done its job by getting you a meeting.
Start tracking your successes at each step of the process. See which steps you are good at and which ones you aren’t. Once you know this information, you can start focusing on those portions of the call.
If you can set up meetings easily, stop trying so hard to set up meetings and focus on why the meetings aren’t leading to business! There is nothing wrong with calling a declined prospect and asking them not for their business but for their honest candid feedback for why you didn’t get the job.
This will go a long way in helping you and may very well lead to future business for you. People are impressed with that kind of spunk!
6) Seek PWM
I learned this from Harlan Kilstein, who heard it from expert copywriting genius Gary Halbert himself.
If you sell a product, say an organizer for coupons… sure, you’ll make a few sales, but not that many, and not for a high dollar amount. Why?
The people who clip coupons are people who are not looking to spend more money! They are frugal.
This also means they are probably at the lower end of the financial spectrum. When you want clients, you want People With Money…lots of it…so you can deliver quality and get a top price. You don’t want to compete on price, because there is always someone out there that can do it for less.
Cater toward potential clients that have money. Say, transcription — for attorneys, not college students.
Of course you should give to charity…but learn to separate the two. Work for money and give charity to those organizations or individuals that you feel worthwhile in supporting. Does the CEO of the charity work for free? Why should you?
Good luck!
Rabbi Issamar Ginzberg is an award winning business consultant who has built his successful career and reputation on knowing how to create winning strategies that are stunningly simple to implement. Learn more about him at www.issamar.com.
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Illustration: stock.xchng – raja4u
