This is the “paradigm” shift most freelancers I work with have to make to take the next step in their income. This is from a freelance Unity developer:
“This made my blood boil”
He’s, of course, the freelancer in this conversation. I think a lot people would look at this and get angry or wonder how to respond, what to do so people don’t lowball you like this, etc.
I see it completely differently.
Imagine I had a brand new gadget I wanted to sell, the latest and greatest phone or tablet, let’s say. I could try and sell that to you in two ways. First, I could show up at your doorstep, while you’re in the middle of dinner, ring your doorbell and try and convince you why you needed this thing.
Or, second, I could run a bunch of ads, do demonstrations and events and get the word out about this gadget… all to get you to show up at my store.
Who’s in the power position here?
Me showing up at your door VS you showing up at mine?
That’s the difference between inbound and outbound marketing. As long as you’re engaging in outbound marketing, the kind of stuff like you see in that conversation above… is going to keep happening.
You want clients coming to YOU…
Not the other way around.
It could be argued that job boards and freelance sites aren’t outbound marketing… but, even if not, they’re close. A lot of the same dynamics come into play when you put thousands of freelancers together competing for the same jobs. You get what you see here.
So, start thinking less about how can I get clients…
And, more about how can I get clients to come to me.
That single, simple shift will make more difference in your freelance career than just about anything. In any case, a big part of this is knowing how to charge more for your services in a way that’s justified to clients.
Even when everyone else is charging less.
I call it the “iPhone Principle”.
And, I teach it in Lesson 10 of my Beginner’s Guide to Freelance course. Right now, Udemy is running a Cyber Monday sale where you can get the course for just 9.99. Link for that is here: https://johnmorrisonline.com/freelanceonudemy
Later,
John
P.S. Or, if you prefer Skillshare, you can learn how to get FREE access to all my courses, including this one, here: https://johnmorrisonline.com/skillshare
