If you want to grow your freelance income or start working with better-paying clients… there are two ways to do that.
You can take the Nike approach and just do it.
You start going after a completely new level of client. You raise your fees overnight. You upgrade your standards and you plow right through your fears.
Some folks do this — often because they have no choice.
Maybe they’re in a dire situation. They have bills to pay and little left in the bank. And they realize that the only way out is to put themselves out there like they never have before.
I’ve seen amazing things happen to people when they have no choice. When they’re forced to dig deep and rise to the occasion.
They make movies from these stories. It’s inspiring.
But there’s another way to get there…
It’s not as dramatic. But it’s just as effective. Maybe even more so.
It’s all about pushing yourself one small step at a time. Just enough to create incremental improvement.
Once that level of improvement becomes your new normal, you push yourself a bit more. And you rinse and repeat… month after month… quarter after quarter.
For instance, say you’ve been charging $500 for X. That’s your comfort zone, and you can’t imagine charging, say, $800 for that… even though Suzie tells you that’s what she’s getting from her clients.
But what if you quoted $550 to the next prospect who inquired about X?
Yes, that’s $50 more. And it’s a bit outside your comfort zone. But you won’t break out in hives like you would if you suddenly quoted Suzie’s prices.
If you’re already getting $500, there’s a good chance your next prospect will be willing to pay $550.
Once they do, $550 will quickly become your new normal. And once that happens, it’s time to quote your next prospect $600… or even $650.
You get my drift.
You don’t need to be a hero to become extremely successful in this business. What I just described is exactly how I went from landing my first paid project (a $200 gig) to $5,000-per-month client retainers.
And it’s precisely how I teach my coaching clients to grow. Why? Because it’s a reliable and sensible approach. It works like crazy, regardless of what level you want to achieve.
Look… if you have to make rent next week and have just $2 in your checking account, there’s no time for incremental improvement. You need to make something happen NOW.
You have to go the Nike route.
But if you’re just trying to improve your business and grow your income… creating an ever-rising “new normal” for yourself is the answer.
