Knowing where both parties stand, what to expect (and when), and communicating this clearly adds to a harmonious freelancer-client dynamic and builds trust so both client and freelancer can flourish and prosper.

Communication, communication, communication

Did we mention communication?

It’s vital to communicate regularly and clearly with clients. This doesn’t mean you need to contact them every day, but that you keep communication channels open and know when and how to contact them.

For example, do you have several communication channels and contacts depending on the specifics of the project? You might communicate via Slack for short status updates or queries and via email for longer updates and issues, or you may even use a project management tool to communicate and track hours.

Likewise, you may have weekly strategy meetings or ad hoc status ones.

Either way, knowing how and when you make contact will make it easier for both parties and will go a long way to managing client expectations as to when and how a project will be completed.

Keeping communication channels open also means you can effectively deal with issues that crop up that could have a bearing on the success or otherwise of a project.

Get clarity early on

Another essential ‘c’ word is clarity.

It’s important that you are clear on everything that is required from you (and your client) from the get-go.

If you are unsure of anything, ask before the project commences, as it might be too late down the line and may even contribute to scope creep. Also, if the client has to repeat the information they laid out in the project brief, it can be time-consuming, costly, not to mention unprofessional and potentially annoying!

It’s advisable not to start any project unless you know exactly what you are doing and what is expected of you.

Be clear on turnaround times and budget, especially if you charge extra for discrete services. It’s important to be transparent here as nobody likes to be surprised with additional unexpected costs.

These are all points that can be nicely ironed out in your client onboarding process and included in your written client agreement.

Be clear on payment terms and conditions

There are several things to consider when it comes to your payment terms and conditions, managing client expectations, and getting paid on time.

Your client should know how much you charge and when payment is due, but it’s a good idea to set up and schedule payment dates in advance and even send out reminders when payment is due.

You may also want to consider if you’ll apply late payment fees. If so, ensure this is clear by including a statement to this effect on your invoice (and including it in your contract).

Likewise, will you apply fast-track fees (for when the client wants an urgent turnaround) or a kill/cancellation fee (should the client cancel the project at any time before completion)? Again, these are all things that should be laid out in writing in advance, along with how you will be paid.

This is where quality invoice software can help.

Invoice Ninja is a leading free invoice software specifically developed for freelancers and small businesses like yours.

It supports multiple payment options, making it easier for clients to make payments, and integrates with a range of payment gateways, enabling you to invoice clients and receive payments with a single click. It offers a user-friendly interface for creating and sending professional-looking and custom-branded invoices as well as email automated payment reminders. You simply set up the frequency, and your clients will get reminders when it’s time for them to pay.

Another great feature is the branded client-side portal where your customers can view their invoice history, payments and quotes.

Try it for free here.

Add a little extra

It doesn’t take much to add that little extra to a project and exceed client expectations – completing a project early or adding an extra special touch can go a long way to fostering good client relations (and winning more business).

If you’re working as a freelancer in coordination with an in-house team, do all you can to be a part of the team rather than just be seen as outside help. This way, you can be up to date with everything going on and, where possible, do things that will enhance results – even if it’s just suggesting good ideas – always be helping.

For example, if you are invited to a team social event, see it as an excellent opportunity to network and bond with the team. Depending on the circumstances – you could consider not charging for your time – not everything needs a price tag. Gaining clients’ trust and providing excellent service to good clients who appreciate it is invaluable and will pay you back many times over.

In this scenario, a little goes a long way.

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We hope this post provided you with some helpful food for thought. If you think someone else might benefit – please share. Thank you!

Therefore, it makes sense to automate as many tedious admin tasks and business processes as possible, giving you more time to serve your clients and work on your business (as well as in it).

Here are 5 admin tasks to consider automating to save you time (and money).

Appointment/Meeting Setting

Nobody wants to play email ping-pong, where you are constantly going back and forth with potential clients, trying to figure out a mutually suitable time to meet. This takes up time and can lead to mistakes, especially if you and the client are in different time zones.

A link to your online calendar can save you (and your prospective client) a lot of hassle. You can add a link to your website, social media bios, or email address. Schedulers such as Calendly can also integrate with online meeting apps such as Zoom and Google Meet, making the process even more streamlined.

The benefits of an online scheduler are that clients can easily see when you are available and arrange a meeting at the click of a button. You can also block out times when you are unavailable or just open up one day a week for client calls.

Or you can simply send out an invite to meeting attendees from your Google calendar. Either way, the key is to automate it to make it as seamless as possible to get on a call or set up a meeting.

Social Media Scheduling

To generate a regular stream of leads and attract your ideal clients as a freelancer, for best results, you need to find a way to continuously market and promote your services.

Nowadays, one of the most common (and free) ways to do this is with a strong social media presence. Naturally, you are not going to have time to be on all the various social media platforms 24/7, and that’s where social media scheduling tools come in extremely handy.

Not only can they schedule your posts in advance, but you can create them all in the scheduler instead of switching between social media platforms. This puts all your social media content on auto-pilot, giving you more time to spend on your business.

Most schedulers can also provide helpful analytics so you can see how well your social media campaigns are doing.

There are plenty of apps and tools to choose from online. Examples include tools such as Hootsuite, Vista Social, Spout Social, Buffer and many more. Just search for one that meets your needs, budget and personal preference.

Onboarding New Clients

They say first impressions count.

So, having a seamless client-friendly onboarding process for new clients will make you look professional, trustworthy, and easy to do business with.

Good communication is vital when onboarding new clients. A slick, automated onboarding process will also save you time.

Onboarding processes can range from pre-discovery call questionnaires, pre-populating standard proposals, automatically connecting client details to your CRM or having a welcome email sequence in place going through your ways of working and requirements, and even follow-up emails to ensure you have all the documents (such as a written agreement) and requirements in place before you commence the client project.

It’s a good idea to go through your current onboarding process, see what is a repeatable action (i.e. something you go through with all your clients) and automate it as much as possible.

Task/Project Management

When working solo, getting tasks completed (and on time) is up to you. There’s no one internal who will give you a heads-up. So it makes sense to have some task reminder or project management system in place where you can add your to-do list and, for project management, even allow clients access.

Having everything in one place and a daily reminder will go a long way to making your business run smoothly. There are lots of apps online that offer some or all of these features.

Examples include but are not limited to, Trello, TikTik, Todoist, Asana, Basecamp and Monday.com.

You’ll likely need to track your time when working on some freelance projects.

Invoice Ninja, a leading free invoicing software for small business invoicing, online payments, tracking expenses and billable tasks, has a task time tracking system in place that allows you to accurately record every second spent on each individual task and quickly transfer timed data to the relevant client invoice.

When you’re done with a task or series of tasks within a project, you can simply click and send your work time to an invoice with one click!

We’ve even got a nifty Google Chrome extension to help.

Quick, simple, and easy!

Invoicing Clients

Finally, when it comes to billing your clients, good invoice software with professionally designed and branded templates is a must-have for any freelancer or small business who wants to come across as professional and trustworthy.

Not only can it save you from having to cobble the invoices together yourself (which, unless you are a design pro, can be cumbersome), but it can also save you from making errors and help you get paid on time. With a range of payment gateways, you can send (and get your invoices paid) at the click of a button.

With Invoice Ninja’s recurring invoices and auto-billing option, you can save time by automatically billing long-term regular clients. Another excellent time-saving feature is the ability to track inventory levels, which automatically updates your product inventory and reminds you when it’s time to re-stock up.

View more time-saving automation features here.

Or try it for free at the link here.

If you know of anyone else who might benefit from this post, please share it.

For a freelancer, scope creep can cause major problems. You could end up doing more work than agreed or planned and, in a worst-case scenario, not getting properly paid for it.

Here are 5 ways to avoid scope creep in a freelancer project.

Agree on the project deliverables at the beginning

At the early stages of the proposed project, before work even commences, it’s helpful to ask the client lots of questions so you can include all the relevant project deliverables in your freelancer proposal.

Consider creating a checklist of project questions to ask at the beginning of every project so you fully understand, and both parties agree to, what’s expected. These include project details such as the duration and who is responsible for what, when and how.

As an aside, it’s worth including a buffer in your price proposal to take into account minimal scope creep.

Once your proposal is agreed upon at the very beginning of the freelancer-client relationship, you can then further nail this down by putting in place a written agreement/freelancer contract.

Some suggestions as to what to include in your freelance contract can be found in our article here. You can, if you wish, include the project details in a separate statement of work, but just ensure you refer to it in the contract. The point is always to have something in writing so you can refer to it throughout the project’s duration.

A rock-solid starting point from the get-go will help mitigate scope creep.

Include a revision policy

If your work allows for revisions, consider including your revision policy in your written agreement.

For example, you could cover up to two free revisions and then charge for the rest or say you will provide an estimate once you’ve gone over the two free revisions.

It may be that you don’t allow for revisions, but the key is to have it in writing and ensure both parties are clear about it.

Endless revisions can impact a project and take up a lot of your time.

Be clear about project meetings

Some projects include weekly or regular meetings.

If so, as well as being clear on the purpose of the meetings at the outset (e.g. ideation, strategy, project status, etc.), you should ensure you are being compensated for your time. A ten-minute client call to ‘pick your brain’ might turn into an hour’s strategy call that could introduce new time-consuming elements to the project.

Always consider if a) a meeting is necessary (could it be an email instead) and b) if you really need to be an attendee. You should be able to excuse yourself from a group meeting if your presence there is unnecessary.

All these details need to be covered in the initial written agreement.

Review the nature of the work

If you are experiencing scope creep, it could be because the nature of the work has changed. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing and can open up more opportunities.

For example, you may have started out providing one particular service, which has morphed into another valuable service or add-on for your client. Once more, ensure any add-ons (and appropriate increases to your project fees) are recorded in writing.

To cover this eventuality, especially at the start of a long-term client relationship, you could consider offering a three-month trial period and increasing the contract period as you go. Each time you agree on a new project duration, you could add or take away services (and bill accordingly).

It’s worth noting that for some freelancer relationships, especially sales and marketing performance-related projects, it could take up to twelve months to show results.

When asked to perform an additional task, a helpful attitude will go a long way to enhancing your freelancer-client relationship. If it’s a skill within your wheelhouse, confirm that you can do that task, but it will have an impact on the current budget and/or agreed time frames.

Otherwise, consider referring the work to another freelancer.

And, of course, if need be, make use of the magic word and learn to say “No” to add-ons that will have a significant impact and/or you would find challenging to achieve.

Track time spent on the project

Keeping track of your time spent on a project means you can easily identify areas or project specifics that take up most of your time. You can also accurately invoice your client for time spent on the project if you charge by the hour.

Always add details of the work you’ve performed on your invoice – even if you are giving a discount.

At Invoice Ninja, our tasks and project features allow you to create projects and tasks and track time spent on billable work. You can accurately record every second spent on each individual task and quickly transfer timed data to the relevant invoice.

When you’re done with a task or series of tasks within a project, simply click and send your work time to an invoice with just 1-click!

We have also created our own Kanban boards, which can be used to plan, update, analyze and maximize the efficiency of your workflows.

Try it for free here.

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Successfully avoiding project scope creep is largely about maintaining good and open business communications with your client and raising issues and potentially mutually beneficial arrangements as and when they arise.

Whether you’re a life coach, an online fitness coach, a business coach or a career coach, the results you help your clients achieve really matter.

But how do you ensure you get your ‘life-changing’ coaching fees paid on time?

Here are 4 areas to consider:

Make expectations clear from the start

The price you can command for your coaching will depend on several factors. These include, but are not limited to, your experience, the outcome you promise, the results you deliver, and the value of the transformation to your client.

All these aspects should be clear from the start to avoid any confusion and ensure you attract the right fit clients with the right budget. This will be conveyed in your marketing message and positioning.

For example, are you offering high-ticket one-on-one transformations or more budget-friendly group coaching or membership options?

Getting client expectations clear from the start will go a long way to ensuring clients know exactly what to expect (and, just as crucially, when and how to pay).

Put it in writing

Having a written agreement in place to manage expectations on both sides is key.

It not only details the deliverables but acts as a handy reference document to refer to if there are any queries during the coaching program and can also mitigate ‘project creep’.

The written agreement will also outline your payment terms and dates. For example, do you require a full or partial deposit upfront, will you be paid weekly or monthly, or some combination of all of these, depending on the results?

In this document, you should also clearly state your policy for late payment and refunds. You should also consider adding HOW you want to be paid – i.e. by what method. You don’t want to discover down the line that the methods you offer for payment aren’t achievable or accessible for your client.

Getting each party to agree to the terms of the contract at the very beginning should iron out any potential issues later on down the line.

Make the whole process easy and frictionless

From the first client touch point to onboarding to payment – the whole process should be as easy and frictionless for your new client as possible.

This will involve having robust systems and processes in place so your client can enjoy an effortless and smooth experience.

Hiccups in your processes at the beginning may signal to the client that the rest of their experience with you might be troublesome or at least inconsistent, so make sure these ‘first impression’ client touch points are as smooth and streamlined as possible.

Making it easy for them to pay you is a vital defense against late (or non) payment.

Invoice Ninja, a leading free invoice software specifically developed for freelancers and small businesses like you, offers a user-friendly interface for creating and sending professional-looking and custom-branded invoices.

It also supports multiple payment options, making it easier for clients to make payments. It integrates with a range of payment gateways, enabling you to invoice clients and receive payments with a single click.

What’s more, Invoice Ninja has a partial payment feature that can convert a deposit invoice into a regular one once the client has paid the deposit. After your client pays the partial payment (deposit), the invoice will automatically update itself with the balance due and set a new final invoice due date.

These are all features that make you easier to deal with and enable you to get paid fast.

Try it for free here.

Consider different payment options

While some clients will have no problem paying you and will pay upfront via whatever method you stipulate, offering your clients a range of payment options and methods can help with swifter payment. It will also help capture clients who might not have been able to otherwise work with you.

For example, if you offer a transformational coaching package over a set period, you could accept instalments. Putting in place an automated email reminder system to email clients before the invoice is due will also assist with this arrangement.

Alternatively, you could sell your services in blocks of time or per session. This could help with client budgeting.

You may also consider charging a late payment fee. Adding a note to the invoice (and having it in your written agreement) can help avoid late payments.

Finally, you can also consider a positive incentive, for example, adding a reward for early payment (such as an extra bonus from you or an early-bird discount).

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We hope you found this helpful. If you know anyone else who might benefit, please share.

Of course, there are many reasons why clients might pay late, but here are some of the most common ones and what you can do about them.

1. They mislaid the original invoice.

It’s not unusual for paperwork to go astray or for a client to genuinely forget to pay an invoice – mistakes happen. Furthermore, it’s for you to remind your client when an invoice, for whatever reason, hasn’t been paid.

What you can do

Good invoice software like Invoice Ninja allows you to create appealing and professional-looking invoices that you can send at the click of a button (reducing the likelihood of it getting ‘lost in the post’), as well as email automated payment reminders. You simply set up the frequency, and your clients will get reminders when it’s time for them to pay.

2. They dispute the invoice.

One of the most common reasons invoices don’t get paid is due to either a discrepancy over the amount due, work completed, or erroneous information on the invoice. You need to identify what the issue is as soon as possible.

What you can do

Always double-check your invoices before you send them out. Using professional invoice templates can help ensure everything that needs to be on the invoice is included.

If your client has a genuine discrepancy, then you need to resolve it before your invoice can be paid. Having a written agreement in place that details your payment terms, fees, and conditions should help iron out any issues at the beginning, and it also acts as a term of reference for both parties for the duration of the project.

3. They have different invoice payment terms and processes than you.

It’s not unusual for larger corporate clients to have different invoice payment terms than you. Some might pay in arrears or on a specific day of the month. They may even have longer net payment terms – even up to 60 days or longer.

What you can do

Ensure you know their payment terms and conditions before you commence. This should be laid out in the written terms of agreement and sorted out during your client onboarding process. Also, ensure you know who (and what department and cost code) is responsible for payment and procurement, as well as the name of the contact in case of a dispute. You should also consider what your late payment policy is – and communicate it clearly.

4. They are unsatisfied with the work.

No freelancer likes to get negative client feedback on their work, but handling feedback effectively is part and parcel of running a freelance business. If they are unsatisfied with the work, and your client proposal and written agreement were specific about providing work to the client’s satisfaction, your invoice will most likely not get paid.

What you can do

Communicate clearly and find out exactly what the problem is – it might be something you can quickly rectify and get your invoice paid. You should also check your written terms of agreement (to see if you allow for revisions of your work if applicable) and see if payment was on completion of work completed to the client’s satisfaction. 

You can help avoid negative feedback concerning your invoice processes by using Invoice Ninja. We offer user-friendly invoice software with some great features. Everything to help you look professional, get paid on time and make a good impression on your clients.

5. They can’t afford to pay.

It might be that your client has cash flow issues themselves, or they could be owed money they need to pay you.

What you can do

In this situation, getting full or partial payment upfront would’ve been advisable. This can be 100% of the invoice or less and is common practice for freelance project work, especially with a new client.

Alternatively, if you can afford to, rather than lose the client (and your money), offer a payment plan so they can pay in installments.

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If you are struggling to get your invoices paid on time, using reliable and client-friendly invoice software can go a long way to reducing some of the most common reasons clients pay late.

With Invoice Ninja, you get lots of helpful features to get you paid on time, in addition to professional-looking invoice templates you can brand and make your own.

Invoice Ninja offers free and paid plans. You can try it for free here.

Let’s make it easy for clients to pay you so you get paid on time!

1. You can hire an expert (without the training costs)

In other words, you don’t need to train yourself on tasks you don’t enjoy or don’t have time to learn or carry out.

While some VAs are generalists, meaning they can turn their hand to most tasks given a proper brief and direction, conversely, some VAs focus on a specific skill set or area of expertise.

Hiring a VA means you can focus on your core skills that make you money.

2. VAs can save you time (and therefore money)

Hiring someone to do the tasks you haven’t got time to do saves you time and money in the long run.

When deciding on whether to hire a VA, a good metric to ask yourself is how much is an hour of your time worth to you. What would you have earned performing billable client work if it wasn’t for the time-consuming task (that you can outsource to a VA)?

Then, work out how many hours it will take you compared to the cost of a VA.

3. Important admin tasks get done

Sounds obvious, but important admin tasks that you might otherwise put off get done, such as invoicing clients, emailing payment reminders and tracking expenses and inventory.

Invoice Ninja, the leading free invoicing software for small business invoicing, online payments, tracking expenses and billable tasks, can facilitate all the above and much more.

Furthermore, with the paid Enterprise Plan, you can create up to 20 additional account users, set permissions of what additional account users can view/create/edit, and receive notifications for actions taken by users.

Perfect if you are hiring a VA to do this type of admin work for your business.

Try it for free here.

4. You don’t need deep pockets

Contrary to popular belief, hiring a VA doesn’t need a huge budget.

You can buy their services in blocks of time, for example, a set number of hours per week. Or hire them per project (or task) and rehire them accordingly. VAs are remote workers; they are not on your payroll, so you are in control of how much you spend.

You can also hire them from anywhere in the world, which can reduce costs.

You can hire VAs via a VA company/service provider to give you access to a wide range of skills and talent pool instead of hiring just one person. In this scenario, you are usually assigned a project manager who you deal with – although this way of working will generally cost more to cover the company’s overheads.

What route you go down will depend on your needs, budget and the tasks you want to be carried out.

Here are just some areas of your freelance business where a VA can help:

Email Management

Everyone dreams of Inbox Zero, but unless you have the time to wade through all the emails you get on a daily basis – this can prove challenging.

Hiring a VA to ensure your inbox is in order and important notifications and client communications get seen and actioned can boost productivity and efficiency and improve client relations.

VAs can also help with cold emailing potential prospects – to help ensure your sales pipeline is full, and you don’t get caught out with the dreaded freelancer feast and famine cycle.

Financial Admin Tasks

These tasks range from financial record keeping (think tax deductible expenses and receipts) to invoicing clients, data input, and inventory tracking.

Anything important that needs to be done, especially when it comes to keeping business finances in order and managing freelancer cash flow, but is time-consuming, can benefit from VA help.

Social Media Management & Content Creation

Managing social media accounts and creating content can take up a large chunk of any freelancer’s time.

It also requires a deft touch, creativity, and knowledge of the individual social media platforms and how they work. Unless you work in this field yourself, getting a skilled VA to help with some or all of this makes sense.

While they typically won’t be involved in the strategy like a professional Social Media Manager would be, their help in this area can also extend to video editing, podcast transcripts and re-purposing content for the different social media and video sharing platforms.

Website/Blog Management

Ensuring your website’s plug-ins and themes are up to date, blog comments are moderated, and content is fresh, relevant, and SEO optimized can all take time.

As well as creating the content for your blog, resourcing images and helping with SEO keyword and keyphrase research and best practice, all of these tasks can be within a VA’s wheelhouse.

Of course, many more tasks can be outsourced to a VA depending on your line of business, and we’re sure you can think of some that can apply to your own business.

We hope this conveys just some of the many benefits hiring a good VA can bring to your freelance business.

If you know anyone else who might benefit from reading this post, please share. Thank you!

Here are 6 typical ninja character traits and how you can apply them to your business to enhance your freelance success, win clients, and get paid on time!

Spend time wisely

Ninjas are dedicated to their craft, so they spend their time wisely to hone their skills. They focus on improvement and don’t get distracted, which leads them to excel at what they do.

For freelancers and small businesses, to free yourself up, it makes sense to outsource essential but repetitive tasks that swallow up your valuable time, or you are not an expert at so you can focus on your craft and loyally serving your clients.

That’s why Invoice Ninja takes care of your invoicing so you can focus on doing what you love (and what makes you money).

We’d say that’s time well spent!

Be fearless

Being a fearless freelancer doesn’t mean you don’t experience fear.

We can all get nervous when working with a new client, delivering work for the first time or sending off our first-ever invoice. We want to get everything right.

Being fearless means you recognize and accept fear; that way, you can take heed of it and apply the necessary steps to move past it.

It’s about having a growth mindset and, at the same time, being aware of and confident in our abilities.

And the best way to get good at it – is to practice it.

So do your best work and, with the help of Invoice Ninja, send off your branded, professionally laid out invoice containing ALL the correct information (and get paid) with ease!

Be trustworthy

Ninjas are loyal to their cause – and trustworthiness is fundamental to any true ninja. A ninja must be able to execute the task assigned to them. There is no room for error or oversight.

Likewise, to win and retain clients, freelancers need to be seen as reliable, dependable and trustworthy.

That’s where professional invoice templates come into play.

Well-formatted, error-free, branded professional invoices show clients you mean business and signal trust.

Invoice Ninja offers free invoice templates, and what’s more, each invoice template can be customized with your company logo, branding and other detailed formatting customizations.

Be alert

Ninjas are always on alert and aware of their surroundings. They know exactly what is going on in any given situation so that they can react quickly and efficiently. They are never backed into a corner.

As a freelancer, you need to be aware of what’s happening in your business, what needs to be done, and when. These days, things move fast, and it’s easy to lose track of things – especially cash flow.

With Invoice Ninja, you can get alerts when a customer views and pays your invoice to help you keep your cash flow on track. You can also automatically send reminders at whatever intervals work best for you!

Our dynamic dashboard data allows you to view revenue, invoices sent, recent activity and lots more at a glance. Plus, you can easily track inventory levels using our inventory management feature that automatically reduces stock and lets you know when stocks run low.

Be prepared

Ninjas are always prepared for whatever scenario they find themselves in – this gives them the upper hand over any competition.

A savvy freelancer will have systems and processes in place to ‘combat’ day-to-day as well as less regular client and business transactions that may come up.

For example, it’s advisable to have a process in place for onboarding clients and client calls as well as having proper invoice and payroll systems in place – especially one with a huge range of language options for overseas customers, like Invoice Ninja!

The more top-notch processes you have, the better, as it will mean your business and ways of working are more streamlined and efficient – leaving less room for error or any unpleasant surprises.

You’ll also stand out amongst the competition.

Be consistent

Ninjas are consistent. In their training, in their daily tasks, and how they ‘show up’.

They are super disciplined and can think quickly on their feet.

This is an excellent trait for freelancers to follow. If you are consistent, you are also seen as reliable, and if you consistently show up and do a great job, you will soon gain a reputation for excellence.

This ‘consistency’ and ‘discipline’ can also show itself in your processes. For example, with Invoice Ninja, you can also save time by automatically billing long-term clients with recurring invoices – taking consistency to a ‘whole nother level’.

All these ninja traits, when applied diligently and consistently, build on one another, making you a sensei-level freelancer who never needs to worry about snatching victory from the jaws of defeat!

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So, if you want to boost your freelance ninja skills, attract clients and get paid on time – try Invoice Ninja today.

Try it for free at the link here.

Not only do you have the freedom to work how and when you please, but there is no limit to how much you can potentially earn running your own business.

Here are 6 ways to make more money as a freelancer.

1. Increase your prices

The answer to making more money may be as simple as increasing your prices and rates.

Freelance price increases are normal, and clients expect them from time to time, as long as they are not excessive (or done too frequently), appropriate, and clients are informed with plenty of time.

Some freelancers adjust their prices in line with cost of living increases. Some make a point of increasing their prices annually, and some more or less frequently. For example, as they get more experienced and provide more value, they increase their rate accordingly.

Some freelancers increase their rate for each new client.

A current review of your prices, taking into account market conditions relevant to your industry or profession and your experience and services, should reveal any disparities.

Another point to consider is that charging more could positively result in positioning your business for larger clients (with a bigger budget).

2. Change how you charge

Are you charging an hourly rate, which would be better converted to a project or retainer rate? 

One issue with hourly charging is that as you get better at performing tasks over time (and therefore quicker), you’ll be getting paid less while providing more value.  

It’s also pertinent to remember that not all hours are billable – so you need to incorporate this into the amount you charge to cover project items such as research and any lengthy client interactions.  

When calculating your basic rate, make sure you’ve taken into account all your outgoings and make allowance for days when you cannot work, i.e. vacations or sickness (and are therefore not being paid). 

This is vital if you want to make ends meet.

3. Ask for referrals

Make good use of low-hanging fruit by asking your current clients for referrals. 

Referring good, reliable freelancers to colleagues makes sense to clients and puts them in a good light, too, so don’t be afraid to ask if they know anyone else who might benefit from your services. It’s also likely that asking a good client for a referral will result in your getting more of the same.

Likewise, when you ask for a client testimonial at the end of a project, you can also ask for a referral. Don’t be shy about asking for referrals.

You could even add this request to your final invoice.  

Invoice Ninja is a leading free invoicing software for small business invoicing, online payments, tracking expenses and billable tasks. It includes attractive, professional invoice template designs you can customize with your logo and brand colors. You can also customize the messages on your invoices and emails.

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Some freelancers even offer an incentive for referrals, i.e. a percentage of the initial new client contract fee.

4. Add extra value to existing clients

This doesn’t mean you have to go out and get an extra bunch of new skills (although there is nothing wrong with that), but you don’t have to be an expert at everything to add extra value to your existing clients.

You simply identify other areas you can help with – business, at the end of the day, is about helping. And the more help you can give, the better for everyone.

Extra help might be on an ad hoc basis or an add-on to your service. Either way, you can charge more for it.

For example, you might identify a gap in your client’s marketing strategy that you can consult on, or you might offer sales page copywriting services in addition to blog posts or Facebook ads.

5. Create a product

A really good way to earn extra income is to create a product.  

This could be an info product, an online course, a subscription service (such as a membership) or even something more tangible, such as art and crafts via Etsy or perhaps use an online platform such as Shopify or eBay to sell your wares.  

The great thing about creating your own products is that it creates an extra, often passive, income stream and can even be an excellent way to upsell your other services.

For example, you could upsell your higher-ticket private coaching via a lower-ticket online course. 

When it comes to products, online and offline, the only limit is your imagination.

6. Collaborate with other freelancers

Consider collaborating with other freelancers to provide an irresistible offer and expand your services.

For example, if you are a website designer, consider teaming up with a copywriter. Not only can you launch attractive packages and offers together that meet your client’s needs, but you both benefit from each other’s clients.

If you want to scale up, the next stage would be to consider starting your own agency. Collaborating with freelancers might be a taster to see whether this model would suit your business and skill sets.

To make more money as a freelancer, leverage your current skill sets, take advantage of low-hanging fruit, and always be looking for opportunities to help.

To summarize:

• Consider increasing your freelance rate
• Change how you charge, e.g. hourly to a project rate
• Don’t be shy when it comes to asking for referrals
• Add extra value or offer additional services to existing clients (and charge accordingly)
• Create products to add passive income streams
• Collaborate with other freelancers and consider starting an agency

We hope you find this helpful. If you know of anyone else who might benefit, please share.