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Freelance Transformation

Freelance Transformation is a podcast all about building a freelance business that creates the lifestyle that you desire, not the other way around. If you are looking to find great clients, do your best work, earn higher rates, and enjoy getting out of bed in the morning, this podcast is for you, the freelancer, the consultant, the agency owner, the creative. Matt Inglot, your host, delivers a new episode every Monday to up your freelancing game. Past guests include Alan Weiss, Michael Port, Brennan Dunn, and other top experts. Show website: http://freelancetransformation.com
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Now displaying: 2015
Dec 28, 2015

Do you have an hourly rate? Do you provided fixed-price estimates based on one?

Jonathan Stark explains why charging based on your time is so self-defeating, and how to actually apply value-based pricing instead.

We really dissect pricing in this episode, so if you've been stuck on figuring out how to charge what you're worth, this should help.

Show notes:
http://freelancetransformation.com/episode42

Dec 21, 2015

Freelance Transformation takes a break from the usual episode format to cover four concrete things you can be doing right now to end your freelancing business year on a high note.

In keeping with the holidays being on us, this episode is short and applicable immediately.

Show notes: http://freelancetransformation.com/episode41

Dec 14, 2015

Ryan Waggoner goes deep on the mindset and habits that he's developed which have allowed him to earn over $250,000 profit year after year as a mostly solo mobile app developer.

Ryan shares the very specific market that he targets with his mobile apps, why it's critical to charge for results and not hours, and the productivity habits he's developed that allow him to get so much more done in less time.

Show notes:
http://freelancetransformation.com/episode40

Dec 6, 2015

Jeffrey Shaw is one of many photographers out there. Yet unlike most, he focused his services to a very specific market that shared the values of the work that he creates. The result? Over 30 years of being a photographer to affluent people who are happy to pay a premium price for a certain type of service.

Jeffrey shares the fascinating story of how he discovered this market, and the lengths he went to in order to understand how to actually present his services. There is a tremendous amount to be learned here for any freelancer struggling to find their niche.

Show notes:
http://freelancetransformation.com/episode39

Nov 29, 2015

Is it possible to win consulting business through Twitter? Absolutely and Mojca Marš does exactly that.

In this episode we go back to the roots of what social media is actually about, and how to use it to build authentic relationships that consistently turn into consulting clients.

You will quickly see why Mojca's approach is very different, and why it works.

Show notes at:
http://freelancetransformation.com/episode38

Nov 23, 2015

Is it possible to win consulting clients through podcast appearances? Kai Davis built his outreach consulting to six figures in revenue primarily through the 2-4 guest podcast appearances he does per month.

In this episode Kai reveals how to successfully get on other people's podcasts, and when you do, how to turn that appearance into growing your audience and ultimately into clients.

http://freelancetransformation/episode37

Nov 16, 2015

Michael Port is the best selling author of six books including Book Yourself Solid, one of the top 3 books that I recommend for consultants and freelancers. Michael shares insights on how to get out of your own way, how make sure that you actually work with the right clients, how to get past that inner struggle of being afraid to charge what you're worth, and from his new book, how to "Steal the Show", as a consultant.

Show Notes:
http://freelancetransformation.com/episode36

Nov 9, 2015

Jarrod Drysdale of Studio Fellow has used retainers to quickly build his new design business. In this episode Jarrod peels back some of the mystery surrounding what a retainer is, and isn't, and how freelancers can introduce them to their clients.

Show notes:
http://freelancetransformation.com/episode35

Nov 2, 2015

Louis Byrd takes us through the tough challenges and lessons of becoming a freelancer and ultimately starting a cross cultural branding agency. We cover concepts such as raising his rates, becoming a "doctor" instead of a "waiter", and how to be a professional that establishes boundaries with clients.

Show notes at http://freelancetransformation.com/episode34

Oct 26, 2015

What makes an effective website for a freelancer, consultant, or agency? It goes far beyond just showing off your work.

In this episode I chat with Wes McDowell from Deep End Design to discuss how he built his new website from the ground up to attract turn visitors into clients.

Show notes at http://freelancetransformation.com/episode33

Oct 18, 2015

Building and maintaining amazing client relationships is one of the golden keys to highly profitable consulting and today's episode is all about how to accomplish this.

Liston Witherill was the chief marketing officer for a $10M environmental consulting company and for the past year has run his own agency. He is one of the consultants that "get" the importance of relationships and in this interview he shares keys to how freelancers can build amazing client relationships.

Show notes:
http://freelancetransformation.com/episode32

Oct 10, 2015

Back in episode 12 Kai Davis mentioned that he arrived at his unique positioning as an "outreach consultant" thanks to help from Philip Morgan.

I now bring Philip on the show for a deep dive on positioning your consulting business, the theory behind it, and hopefully make the case that strong positioning is a powerful part of earning higher rates and not becoming a commodity.

We discuss what the heck positioning is as a freelancer or consultant, the specific dimensions that you can position yourself along, and how to transition to a narrow positioning without risking your entire business.

Show notes (with lots of positioning resources):
http://freelancetransformation.com/episode31

Oct 1, 2015

Trust is the bedrock of all client relationships. Trust is how you get your recommendations listened to. It's how a small initial engagement turns into larger ones. And it's how you know the status of your relationship, rather than finding out the hard way that someone is no longer your client.

In this episode Khuram Malik shares how he has built very trustworthy client relationships over time. Important things he did, crucial mistakes to avoid, and what strong trust-based client relationships have meant for his consulting business.

Show Notes: http://freelancetransformation.com/episode30

Sep 27, 2015

Is it actually possible to build a consulting business that can more or less function without you? And should that even be your goal?

Todd Heslin shares the remarkable story of how he transformed his consulting business to do exactly that. He shares the details of the key decisions that made this possible, how he thinks about business, and what passive income is, and isn't.

Show Notes: http://freelancetransformation.com/episode29

Sep 22, 2015

I just returned from Norfolk Virgina, host to the Double Your Freelancing Conference put on by Brennan Dunn. It was a blast, and well, you should have been there!

Being there really contrasted the very different mindsets that successful consultants have, compared to those that are still trying to reach that level. The way they think and talk, and how they approach situations, are very different.

In this recap I read between the lines of #DYFConf and highlight three successful consulting mindsets that were particularly on display.

Show notes at: http://freelancetransformation.com/episode28

DYFConf Website: http://doubleyourfreelancing.com/conf/

 

Sep 21, 2015

As the Budget Nerd, Mark Butler has found an interesting niche. Yes Mark provides bookkeeping services to freelancers, but unlike many bookkeepers, he also acts as their Chief Financial Officer, helping them to understand their financial position and to steer them on track. In this interview Mark shares the mistakes that endanger most freelancers' finances, and the keys to building stable finances instead.

This an episode for everyone who keeps finding themselves "at the intersection of busy and broke".

Show notes: http://freelancetransformation.com/episode27

Sep 14, 2015

How do you keep projects on track? Deal with constant overruns? Understand what the rest of your team is doing? Or get focus and productivity yourself?

Anders Thue Pederson wrestled with these same problems in his consultancy, leading to severe stress and ultimately not enjoying managing people. But Anders turned it out around, rebuilding his consultancy around a time management approach that he devised, Time Block.

Anders shares his own journey and mistakes, how he turned things around, and how Time Block works.

Show notes at http://freelancetransformation.com/episode26

Sep 6, 2015

Rob Kosberg shares how he went from running a multi-million dollar real estate business to building a business around helping people write, publish, and promote best selling books. And he's become very good at it.

In this episode we learn how Rob built this business, and how you could use a book to elevate your status in your niche and generate more leads than your consulting business can handle.

Show notes: http://freelancetransformation.com/episode25

Aug 31, 2015

Marc Mawhinney is a coach to other coaches and the host of the Natural Born Coaches podcast. Marc shares with us the secrets of becoming a great coach to your clients, as well as his own journey of becoming a coach and how built a successful coaching business.

Show notes: http://freelancetransformation.com/episode24

Aug 23, 2015

Steli Efti has helped over 200 venture backed startups build their sales process. In this episode he shares with us how to think about sales mentally, how to target companies that want to buy your services, why sales don't close, and what to do about it.

We have had a number of guests on Freelance Transformation share their strategies for getting leads, and we've even covered proposals in depth, but this is the first episode to really chat about that final step to pay day - closing the sale!

Show notes: http://freelancetransformation.com/episode23

Aug 17, 2015

Ross Simmonds reveals how he got to $270,000 in revenue in his first two years of consulting. He shares how to establish relationships to get the clients that you want. Creating content that attracts your desired clients. The powerful tactic of speaking at events and how on earth to become a speaker. And great tools to help you manage your client projects and communication.

Aug 6, 2015

Matt and Kornel chat about how they use contractors, employees vs contractors, remote vs local, what to look for in great people, specialists vs generalists, horror stories, and more.

Aug 3, 2015

Key Takeways from my chat with Patrick McKenzie:

The Easiest Path to Earning Higher Rates: Create an Elite Club of One

  • Find a problem that can have an amazing payoff for your client, and which you are uniquely suited to solve.
  • You shouldn't be competing with everyone who can create a Wordpress site. You should be competing at most with an elite club of several hundrend people worldwide who can be a subsitute for you.
  • For example many people can code, but relatively few people have the combination of specific software engineering and marketing skills that Patrick is able to offer.
  • You can start off undifferentiated - but look out for a differentiating skill or specialization so that you are no longer competing with everybody - the easiest way to become a member of an elite club is to start your own.

Find Clients With an Expensive Problem that You Can Help Solve

  • The natural temptation is to take your expertise and start finding ways to apply it. Patrick suggests inverting this to first looking at the "richly compensated problems in the world" then filtering down to the ones that you can "conveniently move the needle on with your expertise".

Examples:

  • Target businesses that have high margins. For examples there are lucrative challenges to solve in healthcare, financial industry, high-end services such as accountants and lawyers (a lawyer making $600/hr is less likely to be scandalized by you making $500/hr).
  • Target businesses for who their online presence is the core of their business, not just a small component.
  • Pick your favourite service (such as any number of SaaS apps), who are in the business of providing a service but not custom solutions. Call them up, let them know examples of what you've done usign their service, and get on their referral lists for consultants who aid implementation.
  • Go to agencies in the same field who specialize in services parallel to yours, and establish a relationship where they subcontract to you.
  • Pay attention to the revenue a company makes. Successful changes can have a greater impact and they are more likely to be willing to hire you at your rates in the first place.
  • Just ask: who are the people that need expensive problems solved?

How Patrick Would Rebuild a Client Base (and his rates) if He Had to Start Over Today (without his online fame and past projects)

  • Prerequisite: Start by being good at what you do. 
  • Speak in front of people who can consume your services/products.
  • To speed up getting invited as a speaker, create your own event and speak at it! Give a talk on some topic in the format "How to do x for the y industry".
  • Your speech should deliver 95% educational content and 5% pitch for your services.
  • Connect with the attendees after the event (they will want to talk to you). Find out why they attended and then schedule a coffee meeting to discuss their problems further. Turn these coffee meetings into a sales conversation. At the coffee table you are in a market of one - you are the one expert at the table and no one else has that positioning right now.
Jul 27, 2015

Jared Tendler shares how he became a mental game coach to top poker players (what a niche!). Then we try something different - Jared coaches Matt right then and there on how to think through a major life decision involving Matt's web agency and a several thousand kilometer move that he is undertaking.

Jared helps Matt dig deep into his psychology and the real issues present, and shares powerful techniques for making this decision. Techniques that you can use to make your own big tough decisions.

Show notes: http://freelancetransformation.com/episode19

Jul 20, 2015

Casey Meehan of Epic Presence shares how to find clients for higher-ticket services such as $40,000+ retainer engagements.

Including:

  • Learn how to filter out conferences and events that are likely to result in clients and how to make effective use of these opportunities instead of returning empty-handed.
  • How to use find your audience online and reach them with content marketing.
  • How to use prospecting to reach out to highly targeting people in a way that helps them.
  • The growth marketing tactics that did NOT work for Casey and why not.

Show notes at http://freelancetransformation.com/episode18

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