You’ll probably think I’m crazy.
But, I just walked away from maybe one of the more lucrative gigs I’ve had… at least in terms of future potential. I won’t name names but a 7-figure tech company that was just getting started — and whose product was on the cutting edge of what I think is coming in terms of online education.
Even worse… they wanted to me to play a big role in it all.
I’d come in like a banshee.
Made it clear what I was capable of.
And, had them imagining all the ways they could use me.
So, why’d I leave?
In my neck of the woods, we have a saying: “A dog don’t bite when he’s young, he probably won’t when he’s grown.”
Meaning… people don’t tend to change their true colors very easily or often. They are what they are for the most part. At least, their core values and beliefs.
Especially as we get older.
Those values and beliefs tend to become more entrenched.
And the guy running that company was as entrenched as I’ve seen.
Zero wiggle room.
As a matter of fact, the way I left was indicative of just how entrenched. He had a “bigger vision” of what he wanted my role to be. I wasn’t really into it. But, I was willing to play a smaller role that I was damn good at and they needed help with.
Nope.
My vision or nothing.
And, I mean… it’s his company.
He can do what he wants.
But, high quality talent won’t abide that. The kind of talent you need to build a “billion-dollar” company… they won’t put up with having zero input… especially on *their* role in the company.
I imagine all his best employees and contractors will slowly leave and he’ll wonder why.
In any case, the point is this…
Know your worth.
Don’t take any s***.
And no one’s “vision” is bigger than your own.
These tech CEOs read a book on Steve Jobs and suddenly start prattling on about their vision as if they’re blessing you with some divine intervention from God himself… but those of us in the trenches know their vision ain’t worth a pile of s*** without execution.
What we do.
Tech CEOs and their “visions” are a dime a dozen.
Talented, hard-working and detail-oriented jimmies and joes who can turn those visions into reality… are a helluva a lot harder to find.
Don’t forget that.
In any case, this will probably only appeal to about 1% of my audience… but for that 1% it might be just the thing you needed to hear today.
That said, onto the biz…
If you want to learn how to land these kinds of gigs… with big-name companies and high-end clients (plenty of whom are perfectly nice people and a pleasure to work with)… I show you how in my Premium Pricing For Freelancers course.
Don’t let the name fool you.
It’s not a math class.
It’s about how to find and get hired by premium clients.
What I’ve learned over the past 15 years working with dozens of these kinds of clients.
Here’s some of the things you’ll learn inside:
- The “Microsoft Method” for finding premium clients. You can go on Google right now and find a nearly endless list of premium clients with this method — and yet, almost no one does it. I’ll show you how.
- If you’re a web developer, a red-hot service you can start offering now and immediately start charging premium prices for.
- A clever way to use your competitors testimonials to sell YOUR services.
- The “non-sensical” reason premium clients *want* to pay more for your services and how to package and present yours to attract these kinds of clients.
- The marquee difference between a regular, ho-hum service and a premium service — this one simple criteria can turn almost any deliverable into a high-end service.
- Three questions you must be able to answer in order to charge premium prices.
- The old-school automation software that can help you zero in on the premium clients desperate for good freelancers… that are all around you.
- If you’re a writer, I’ll show you a service one of my clients recently paid $15,000 for (zero promises that you can charge the same, but it’s a great example of how to take a regular service and turn it into a premium one).
- The ugly, 90s-era website where you can find a nearly endless supply of premium clients.
- A simple packaging mistake that makes clients immediately overlook your services and how to re-configure what you offer to stand out and make clients pay attention to you.
If you’re interested, you can learn more about the course and how to get access (there’s a couple options here, including a free one) on this page:
Later,
John