Unlimited Income Potential
So many people turn to freelancing because they believe such a career produces unlimited income.
Now that's a pretty powerful claim and once again,
to a certain extent this claim is true.
But there's also a dark side and that's what we'll explore in this article.
What does Unlimited Income Potential mean?
Potential means capable of being; a possibility, but not yet in existence.
Unlimited means not limited; unrestricted; unconfined.
Therefore, unlimited income potential means that as a freelancer there are no restrictions on the amount of income
you can possibly earn in your future.
Oh how tempting this sounds! It's no wonder so many people give freelancing a try.
Unfortunately, at some point during your freelancing career,
your income potential may become restricted.
The reason this happens is simple:
There is only so much you can accomplish in one 24-hour cycle.
You can work around the clock, perhaps for days on end,
and plenty of freelancers are doing this right now.
They're growing their freelancing businesses and taking on as much new work as they can.
You hear all the time about freelancers working 20-hour days,
catching cat naps while they can, generating revenue like never before.
They're running on adrenalin but sooner or later,
they'll run out of steam.
Either because of health issues or family obligations or because of sheer burn out,
they'll be forced to cut back on their freelancing work.
When you're limited by the amount of work you can take in,
you suddenly limit your potential income.
There is a solution for that
Well actually there are two solutions.
One is to enlist the help of others.
Maybe you can get your wife or your roommate to do your bookkeeping and scheduling.
Maybe you can even hand off some of your specialty work - your coding or your writing - to someone else.
After all, your clients care only that their work is done as they instructed.
They don't care who's pushing the buttons.
But having employees is sort of like having pets or children.
They need to be monitored, motivated and even scolded on occasion.
In other words, having employees, even if they're sub-contractors,
is itself a lot of work.
Something else you may not have considered about getting others to help is that depending on whom you choose,
that person might want to get paid for their work!
If so, that money's coming right off your profit!
A better solution is to get to the point
where you can start charging more money for doing the same amount of work.
That's called working smarter, not harder.
As a freelancer, you get to set your rates.
As long as you can justify charging higher rates you will usually find clients willing to pay more.
This is where your past experience becomes so very important.
Having a history of satisfied customers
who can vouch for the quality of your work will go far towards building your credibility with new prospects.
And that's what we'll cover in the next article. |
