5 Shopper Collaboration Suggestions for Rising Your Price as a Freelancer

By Danielle Greason

When you’ve taken the leap and secured your very first shopper as a freelancer, you’ve reached a major milestone. From there on in, you know with certainty that this ‘working on-line factor’ is definitely going to repay for you.

So the place to subsequent from there? 

Once I discuss to individuals which are simply getting began working as a freelancer with their first one or two purchasers, probably the most widespread questions on their thoughts is: “How do I get the next hourly price for this work I’ve began doing?” 

The objective is to have the ability to get your earnings as much as the extent you want it to be at, as quick as you presumably can, so that you could make the total swap to your new earnings supply and maintain this new work-at-home life-style for the long run.

In case you’re already effectively established as a freelancer, then your goal for rising your hourly price could also be to cut back your general variety of work hours to fit your life-style, or maybe, to comfortably afford the next funds for residing bills and luxuries. 

The sensational factor about freelancing is that you just’re in full management of your perceived worth, and, due to this fact, the quantity a shopper is keen and excited to pay you. It’s in no way like the company world the place you’ll want to wait in line to your annual overview and pay rise, or construct up your assortment of credentials. 

So what does affect your price as a freelancer then? Largely, it comes all the way down to the standard of your shopper collaboration and workflow practices – collaboration that saves the shopper time and mind energy. Not solely can they now hand over the work to you to get it off their very own plate, however they will additionally reduce the non-public time they should spend money on delegation, collaboration and overview.

The collaboration practices we’re about to cowl now are so extremely efficient in permitting you improve your hourly price as a freelancer as a result of:

“Folks aren’t paying to your time. They’re paying for theirs.” 

I simply love that quote by freelancing and digital groups consultants Chris Lema. As an extension of that reality, I’d add: 

If two freelancers are equal in ability degree and work high quality, then the one who can save the shopper probably the most time within the means of delivering that service could have the capability to command the very best price.

Okay, so let’s get particular right here with 5 ideas for placing this into motion together with your present or soon-to-be purchasers:

1. At all times construction your emails in such a means that the shopper can reply succinctly.

Everytime you’re writing an e-mail to a shopper, whether or not it’s to request extra particulars or to ask for his or her affirmation of accomplished work, get into the behavior of contemplating how simple and quick it is going to be to your shopper to reply. May they reply in a phrase or two? May they kind a reply on their iPhone while out and about going about their enterprise or household life?

If not, pause for a second to brainstorm how you might tweak the e-mail barely.

• May the wording of your request be extra direct?
• May you embody a screenshot hyperlink of your accomplished revisions in order that the shopper doesn’t should log into an internet site to view them?
• May you ship one separate e-mail with the only excessive precedence merchandise, as a substitute of mixing it with different decrease precedence updates that make it troublesome for the shopper to answer to only that one merchandise straight away.

It might sound like a convoluted course of, however actually, it’s extra of a basic mindset that you just’re working from, all the time on the again of your thoughts. It turns into a behavior and also you’ll do that with out even enthusiastic about it. Particularly when you perceive how a lot it impacts the worth of your work within the eyes of the shopper.

2. Make good use of on-line instruments to avoid wasting the shopper time.

Constructing now on that first step of creating your shopper emails simple to reply to, let’s contemplate how one can leverage on-line instruments to make this strategy much more efficient. Right here’re my high three suggestions:

• A venture administration house. Relying on the purchasers you intend to work with, the venture administration system could also be arrange by the shopper, or by your self. In both case, make good use of it by preserving targeted activity particular dialogue threads that follow only one element of the work at a time.
• Google Docs. One of many best methods to ask a shopper to for enter, overview or affirmation is to collaborate on drafts utilizing the Google Doc commenting function. Spotlight the part of textual content or picture you wish to ask about, proper click on and choose Remark. Gone are the times of beginning an e-mail with: “Within the first sentence of the third paragraph down…”Your shopper could take a while to get acquainted with responding to their incoming Google Docs notifications, however the readability of collaboration is effectively value slightly shopper schooling time up entrance.
• Display seize software program. Utilizing a free device like Jing you possibly can take immediate screenshots, add arrows and annotations, and paste the hyperlink straight into your shopper correspondence.

When utilized in mixture, these three instruments can help you make the method of collaboration together with your shopper as easy and clear as attainable. And you understand what meaning proper? Your escalating fame will can help you command greater charges!

3. Proceed to set clear expectations for turnaround occasions.

While you begin out working with a model new shopper, the dialog will doubtless cowl how lengthy the preliminary duties are anticipated to take. As the connection progresses and the shopper requests assist for brand new tasks, it may be simple to overlook the significance of assuring the shopper that their work has been scheduled and to count on it on a sure date or time.

Bear in mind, even when the shopper is aware of you and trusts you, the worth they understand within the work isn’t just in regards to the high quality normal of the tip consequence, but additionally how sure they really feel that you just’ll meet the timelines they’re working in direction of.

In case you’re providing that certainty by all the time advising and delivering on anticipated turnaround occasions, then the shopper testimonials and referrals you’ll generate, consequently, could have a large affect in your backside line. While you improve your price in response to that worth you’re offering, new potential purchasers will fortunately pay it in alternate for a similar expertise.

4. Put minor activity revisions on the head of the queue.

With no good venture administration system in place, busy freelancers can typically fall into the entice of utilizing the inbox as a to-do record. A venture administration system lets you maintain duties scheduled in precedence order, and to see at a look when any updates or revision requests have been obtained out of your shopper.

So for instance, let’s say that the e-newsletter you formatted and scheduled yesterday has been reviewed by the shopper and wishes a brand new part added to it. Hop in and get that dealt with straight away in order that the shopper can relaxation simple and never be left questioning in case you’ll get to it in time.

So that you can have a excessive perceived worth, make certain the shopper actually will get that sense that you’ve acquired their again. To do that, set clear expectations on preliminary turnaround occasions after which transfer minor revisions to the entrance of your work queue to get them squared away.

5. Take note of the small print so the shopper doesn’t should.

While you’re offering administrative, advertising, technical or artistic providers to a shopper, there’s plenty of variables at play.

• What dimension ought to the picture be?
• The place ought to or not it’s situated?
• What number of hyperlinks do we’d like?
• What heading types are usually used on this shopper’s web site?
• Does this have to be proofread beforehand?

And the record goes on…

Sure, your expertise degree and documented processes positive do cut back the brainpower required to quickly make these micro selections on behalf of your purchasers. But when your shopper doesn’t have documented processes or hasn’t delegated with all the small print you want, you then’ve acquired considered one of two decisions:

a) You possibly can comply with them up element by element to get the job achieved.