I’m a member of Lynn Terry’s Elite Forum at Self-Starters Weekly Tips, where we learn all about making a living on the Internet (so don’t be surprised if I up and quit this freelancing thing; that means I’m making oodles of money in my sleep through the power of the Internet).
Anyway, Lynn is an awesome mentor and friend and one of the things she does to get us off our butts and into action is to post a monthly challenge. For example, in October last year, the challenge was to publish a blog post and get it to rank in the top 3 of Google for its target keyword. I participated in that challenge and very nearly succeeded, with my page getting to Number 13 after a couple of days with almost no promotion. This month, the challenge is to organize our physical and virtual work spaces. (Not participating in that one)
So anyway, I thought it would be great for us, savvy freelancers, to have our monthly challenge too. Each challenge is designed to help us either make more money or get more productive or have more fun – you know, all the stuff we’re all dreaming of having.
Are you ready? Our January challenge is…
Raise Your Rates
This is one of the New Year’s resolutions I encouraged you to make. Increasing your fees is the one thing you can do to make more money, almost instantly.
If you have doubts and fear all your clients will abandon you and nobody will ever hire you again, then start small. Raise your fee by 10%. Or how about an insignificant 5%? Really, that can’t be too much, can it? Your clients will barely notice.
And then six months from now, we’ll do it all over again.
I’ve just increased my fees considerably beginning January 1st. Of course, I also did a total repackaging of my services, which you can read about here. I even gave my copywriting and online marketing approach a brand.
See, the point is not only to be more expensive but to actually become more valuable.
Are you up for the challenge? Tell us all about it below.
PS: I am an affiliate of Lynn Terry’s Elite Forum, so if you click this link and join within 90 days without clearing your web browser’s cache first, I will earn a commission for as long as you’re a member.
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I like the idea of coming up with challenges. I’ve actually recently discovered that my rates were too low as is so I’ve already taken this step. Raising your rates makes your work seem more valuable to potential clients anyways.
Chris´s last blog ..Blogger’s Payback Review
Good for you, Chris!
You’re so right. We have this subconscious thing where we judge the value of a product/service by its cost. So most of the time, if something is inexpensive, we think “Oh then it musn’t be any good.”
On the other hand, it’s also possible to be too expensive and out of reach to most prospects. The key is finding the perfect price point for our particular target market.
I think the idea of a monthly challenge is a really good one.
I’m kind of cheating by participating in this one since I’ve already raised my rates =)
Like you mention, raising rates is all about finding the right balance. I also like to think of it as your rates set the amount of work you do. If you have really cheap rates, every man and his dog will want you to work for them. If you’re really expensive, you might not get any work. It’s all about finding that sweet spot where you’re making the most money for the right amount of work.
Luke´s last blog ..Growing by turning down work
Keep up the good work, Luke!