I don’t know many freelancers who wouldn’t want to make more money.
It seems so simple. Ultimately, there are only four ways to make more money in your business:
1. Get more clients or new clients
2. Increase your rates or fees
3. Sell more services to each client
Four. Get more repeat business from existing customers.
Yes, but how do you achieve those three things?
Over the next several weeks, I will write a series of articles on how to make more money in your business.
And I will do my best to give you practical and workable ideas that work. I know they work because I’ve used them and so have many of my clients over the years.
But before we start, there are important things to understand about money.
Money. It is. An. Emotional. Affair.
The money is not dollar bills in our pocket or numbers in our bank account.
No, in our minds, money is about our self-esteem, how we compare ourselves to others, how we feel about ourselves, our success, and ultimately our survival.
I have a favorite story about money that makes that very clear.
A few years ago, I worked with a husband and wife team who were executive coaches.
Thanks to our joint work, they began to attract more clients on a constant basis.
However, like many freelancers, they were charged less for their professional services.
But when I suggested that they raise their rates, they were very uncomfortable.
And when I inquired, I found out why.
It turns out that they had both been raised in relatively poor families and continually received the message that “the rich are dishonest.”
Because they believed that to be true, of course they did not want to increase their rates. That would make them, in their minds, dishonest.
And if they felt dishonest, it would be a moral failure. That wouldn’t feel good. It really felt better to earn less money!
After exploring this belief in depth, they realized that it was both emotional and illogical. It was clearly not true that all the rich were dishonest.
His belief began to transform into: “We offer an honest service that makes a difference for our clients and it is okay to charge what that service is really worth.”
This new belief felt much better than the old one.
And realizing this, they finally saw clearly that the fees they later charged were practically nothing compared to the value your customers received.
And in no time they had doubled their rates with almost no pushback from their customers.
And without anguish on your part.
So the first thing to examine if you are not making the money you want is your beliefs about money.
It sounds simple, but it is more complicated than it sounds.
Why? Because we believe in what we believe to protect ourselves from any kind of harm, even if this harm is imaginary.
My clients believed that they would become dishonest if they increased their rates. So, in their minds, not increasing their rates prevented that from happening.
What changed this belief was seeing clearly that it was essentially nonsense. They could increase their fees and still be honest people.
With this powerful insight, his belief changed forever.
And now, as a business owner, I challenge you to question your beliefs about money. First, identify those who are holding you back.
Here are some very popular ones:
Money is tight
My clients cannot pay higher fees
People will think that I’m greedy
More money will bring trouble
It feels bad making money doing what I love
Money will corrupt me
Being rich will make me arrogant
I don’t deserve a lot of money
Money leads to bad things
More money just means more taxes
Wanting more money is selfish and superficial
List yours here: ______________________
I don’t know which of these beliefs is directing you But if you are not making the money you want, one or more of these beliefs is almost certainly holding you back.
What are the fears behind the beliefs?
Ask honestly if those beliefs are true and if they serve or limit you.
Then ask how things could change without those beliefs.
After all, you may find that it is not that difficult to increase your rates.
So the first thing you need to do to earn more money is to question your beliefs about money. Unless you do that, you are unlikely to take the practical steps that will help you earn more money.
Take this honest questioning of your beliefs about money and you’ll be ready to learn a number of step-by-step approaches to making more money that I’ll cover in the weeks ahead.
Regards, Robert