A tale of two freelancer scenarios.
The "most people" scenario
You usually have 1-3 project requests per month. You REALLY need to land these projects. Each "no" from a potential client means you might be in financial trouble. So you quote a price you think they will say yes to.
The "200k freelancer" scenario
You have 10-20 project requests per month. You only need 10-20% say yes. And if they say yes to a higher price, you will need fewer YES's. So you quote projects what you'd like to get paid rather than what you think they would say yes to.
Sounds great, but HOW?
2 ways to get more project requests AND the right kind of NO
Networking – Networking is the engine that brings in more work. Connect with peers, cold email studios, connect with the guy who walks his dog at the same time as you every day and winds up sitting next to you outside of a Starbucks two days in a row and turns out you both love Frenchies, used to play baseball and you both work for yourselves. So you swap info and share helpful links with each other.
Networking is just connecting on common interests and goals with people.Collect NO's – What if I was your Creative Coach and I told you that your mission for the month was to collect 10 NO's. You need to get 10 potential clients to say no to you. There are three things going on here...
Collecting intentional NO's means you are getting out of your comfort zone.
It also means that you will likely get a few YES's that are higher paying work.
And to get the NO's, you have to get creative in how you find clients to pitch to. No more sitting back, waiting for them to come to you.
And yes, collecting NO’s works. My friend, Daniel, went from doing $200 art commissions to getting his first $1,000 commission!
To be transparent, I don't usually have 20 project requests per month. It's probably more in the 5-10 range. But it does happen.
If you've never had a project-request goal, consider this a challenge and see how it changes things for you.
If you found this valuable, consider…
Sharing this with a friend or on Twitter or LinkedIn
Signing up below to get a new freelance tip to make more money every Sunday
