5 Ways to Earn More Than the Average Freelancer
Posted September 16, 2008 in Business, How-To, Marketing 11 Comments »
Most freelancers earn a pretty good income, nothing enormous, but still pretty good.
And when you think about the freedom and independence of freelancing, the money is easily worth it.
But what if it were possible to increase that income, and make a lot more than pretty good?
Well, it isn’t easy to do, but it definitely is possible. For those of you who are willing to try, here are 5 ideas to get you started earning more:
1. Go Premium
In every field there is a group that charges way more than everyone else. Typically, freelancers in this group makes at least twice the average salary. Sometimes it’s much more than that.
Not everyone has the skill level to go premium, but a lot of freelancers do. What holds most people back is fear or insecurity. Sometimes you just have to push past your limits and take the jump — start charging more. If you do everything well, you might find yourself making a taking home a much bigger paycheck than before.
2. Expand your business
Expanding isn’t always a priority for freelancers, but it can be a good way to shatter all limits on your salary. If you have the drive and the desire, this might be the option for you.
Growing into a bigger business, either through outsourcing or bringing on employees, typically takes a lot of time and effort — but the end result is easily worth it. Most larger business owners earn many times more than the average freelance income.
3. Sell an informational product
Some people have given info products a bad name by using questionable sales tactics and crappy content — but in reality a good informational product can be incredibly valuable and profitable. Many of the better info products have earned so much as to entirely eclipse the freelancers initial income.
If you have advanced knowledge of an in-demand subject area, and the ability to communicate that knowledge, an informational product could be the perfect way to increase your earnings.
4. Sell a physical product
Physical products are often underrated on the internet, but as with info products, the reality is that a good physical product can be incredibly valuable. All it takes is a good idea, a plan to print, manufacture, or create the product, and a lot of effort to get the whole thing off the ground.
If you can handle the difficulties and overhead required for this endeavor, you may find yourself heavily rewarded at by the end of the process.
5. Create passive income
Passive income is the darling of the online world, and with good reason. If you can find a way to generate a stream of income that requires little or no effort on your part, you may just be able to quit freelancing and retire to a sandy beach.
Of course, creating a passive income stream is much more difficult than most people let on — and most types of passive income typically require much more work than you might imagine. However, success could mean an additional source of income that still leaves you free to pursue your freelancing or other careers with a passion.
Where do you stand?
These are just 5 out of an infinite amount of ways you can earn more as a freelancer. Have you come up with something that’s worked wonderfully for you? Do you have any other ideas to add into the mix?
About the author: Mason Hipp is an entrepreneur, marketing guru, and writer. He blogs about life and business at FreelanceFolder.com and is co-author of the Book The Unlimited Freelancer. Follow him on twitter @MasonHipp
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11 Comments
salwa
September 16th, 2008 at 1:14 pmBuild Name Recognition. It’s not easy but possible.
Jenny
September 16th, 2008 at 1:39 pmYes a great addition Salwa!
Good article and ‘food for thought!’ Mason. Thanks.
Brandon Cox | eGrace Creative
September 16th, 2008 at 10:11 pmI’ve also found it helpful to find a niche. As for the passive income, if everyone else could just stop it for a month or two, I could catch up!
Dainis Graveris
September 17th, 2008 at 5:41 amI got my cliens by charging less then serious companies, and for now it works.
Mason Hipp
September 17th, 2008 at 10:10 am@Dainis — You just reminded me that I missed a seriously big one.
“Charge less and sell more” — Automate as much of your work as possible and sell many more products for less money each (more overall). Think wordpress template site vs a wordpress designer. The template site is an example of selling a lot more for less per item.
Thanks for the great comments!
– Mason
Karen Swim
September 17th, 2008 at 11:39 amMason, these are excellent tips. Although I have been in business for 3 years, I found myself questioning my worth this year. Am I good enough? What do I really know? I finally got to a place where I owned my worth (much to the delight of my tight network of support). I took a bold step recently to charge what I’m truly worth with no apology. It has definitely been a good move. I had also not developed info products believing I did not know enough. Sometimes the biggest barrier to our income is our own mind.
Michael Martine, Blog Consultant
September 20th, 2008 at 1:46 pmRight on, Mason! This is exactly what I’m doing right now and it’s freakin’ fantastic. If you sell advice one-to-one, do it to a group instead, record it, then sell the recording. Transcribe the recording and sell that. Or use these items as subscription incentives. If you keep giving one-on-one clients the same advice over and over again, encapsulate that into a product and sell it.
The possibilities are endless!
nick
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:11 amThis is a great article. I also really like your web design.
Beautifulcharge
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