Ditching Hourly

This week I am joined by Ed Gandia. Ed is the co-author of The Wealthy Freelancer, the host of the High-Income Business Writing podcast, and a coach to ambitious writers and copywriters who want to earn more in less time doing work they love for better clients.

As you can probably tell from this bio, Ed and I are very much kindred spirits, so this episode is a bit different than most. Instead of me interviewing Ed like a normal guest appearance, we decided to just have a chat where we compared notes on what were see working in our respective spaces. There was a lot of overlap but also some interesting differences.

Ed will also be posting our recording on his podcast, so if you're subscribed to both, you don't need to listen twice :)

Ed's Links:

https://b2blauncher.com/

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Before you go!

The next time someone asks you for your hourly rate, I want you to stop what you're doing and head on over to valuepricingbootcamp.com to sign up for my free value pricing email course.

Hope to see you there!

Legal operations advisor and law professor Mitch Kowalski joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about innovation in the legal profession, including alternatives to hourly billing.

Talking Points

• The history of hourly billing in the legal profession
• Transparency in pricing (and why hourly billing isn't transparent at all)
• The perverse incentives of hourly billing
• Why billing hourly short changes you if you are good at what you do
• The importance of breaking a big project into small chunks
• Why lawyers remain in the “dark ages,” technologically speaking
• The mental health effects of hourly billing
• ”Working toward the price”
• Price as an initial design constraint
• Reverse engineering your costs to support your desired pricing

Mitch’s Links

• Website: https://kowalski.ca
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MEKowalski
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchkowalski

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Before you go!

The next time someone asks you for your hourly rate, I want you to stop what you're doing and head on over to valuepricingbootcamp.com to sign up for my free value pricing email course.

Hope to see you there!

Are you ready to start getting paid what you’re worth?

The Pricing Seminar is back for its 11th session, and registration is open now.

Enroll Now »

I hope to see you there!

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Do you have questions about how to improve your business?

Things like:

Book a one-on-one coaching call with me and get answers to these questions and others in the time it takes to get ready for work in the morning.

Best of all, you're covered by my 100% satisfaction guarantee. If at the end of the call, you don't feel like it was worth it, just say the word, and I'll refund your purchase in full.

To book your one-on-one coaching call, go to:

https://jonathanstark.com/call

I hope to see you there!

Sew Heidi is a business coach and educator who helps freelance fashion designers build better businesses. She joined me on Ditching Hourly to compare notes on the similarities and differences between freelancing in fashion vs. freelancing in software. Spoiler alert: There was a lot more in common than you might expect.

Episode Summary

In this episode, we discuss the journey of fashion freelancing, the business of fashion design, the complexities of product development, the transition to permanent freelancing, and the business-building principles for freelancing. Our guest Heidi shares her success story of becoming a fashion freelancer in 2009 and building a six-figure income in just 30-40 hours a week. We discuss the roles and processes involved in the fashion industry, from fashion design to pattern-making and textile design. We also cover the importance of niche-down and positioning for business success and the importance of cash flow and finance. This episode is full of valuable insight for anyone looking to become a successful freelancer of any type.

Heidi’s Bio

After running a brand I grew to hate and working 60+ hours in a toxic fashion job, I almost burnt out of the fashion industry. But then I found freelancing. I reached $100k+ and was living my dream, working when I wanted, traveling, and I never worried about paying the bills.

I worked for myself, earned steady income, and loved my clients. #winwinwin

Since then, I’ve taught 1000s of fashion freelancers to do the same through my free content, my podcast, and my program, Freelance Accelerator: from Surviving to Thriving (FAST).

Heidi’s Links

• https://successfulfashiondesigner.com/ 
• https://successfulfashiondesigner.com/fast/  (Heidi’s Freelance Accelerator program)
• https://successfulfashiondesigner.com/podcast/

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Before you go!

The next time someone asks you for your hourly rate, I want you to stop what you're doing and head on over to valuepricingbootcamp.com to sign up for my free value pricing email course.

Hope to see you there!

Jason Lengstorf joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about the novel way he's using his generalist web skills to create value, have fun, and make a living.

Jason's Bio:

Jason Lengstorf is the host of Learn With Jason, a web generalist and the undefeated smashburger champ. A creative technologist and educator, Jason helps tech companies connect with developer communities through better devrel strategy and creative media production. He advocates for continued learning through collaboration and play as the fastest path to growth, and models this on weekly livestreams where he pair programs with experts from around the community to learn something new in 90 minutes. He’s trying his very best to follow his own advice. When this whole internet thing goes out of style, he'll probably open a food truck in his home city of Portland, Oregon.

Jason's Links:

• https://www.jason.af/links
• https://www.learnwithjason.dev/

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Before you go!

The next time someone asks you for your hourly rate, I want you to stop what you're doing and head on over to valuepricingbootcamp.com to sign up for my free value pricing email course.

Hope to see you there!

Home studio architect and author Junaid Ahmed joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about why it's important to look and sound your best on camera, how to level up your home studio without spending a lot of time or money, and the novel approach he took to writing and publishing his new book, Mastering iPhone Video Production.

Junaid's Bio:

Junaid Ahmed is a Home Studio Architect, podcast host, and filmmaker with over three decades of experience. He specializes in creating optimized home studios for confident content creation and high-quality video production. As a seasoned professional, Junaid has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in this field and shares it through his podcast, "Hacks and Hobbies."

Junaid's Links:

Book Link: https://superjunaid.com/iphonevideo/
5-Day Challenge Link: https://homestudiomastery.com/5DayChallenge/
Home Studios: https://homestudiomastery.com
Blog/Personal: https://superjunaid.com

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Before you go!

The next time someone asks you for your hourly rate, I want you to stop what you're doing and head on over to valuepricingbootcamp.com to sign up for my free value pricing email course.

Hope to see you there!

Jeff Doolittle is a software architect, transformational leader, and se-radio.net host who’s on a mission to make good software professionals great.

Jeff joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about his journey from a web dev working for free pizza to an in-demand software architect.

Along the way, we talked about the importance of strategy, systems thinking as applied to software, and finding a balance between “wonk” and “geek” in order to deliver real business value.

Related Links

• Jeff's website
• Jeff's LinkedIn
• Jeff's Twitter
• Jeff's Github
• Exploring Requirements: Quality Before Design
• On the Criteria To Be Used in Decomposing Systems into Modules
• iDesign.net
• Lean Software Systems Engineering for Developers
• Thinking in Systems: A Primer

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Before you go!

The next time someone asks you for your hourly rate, I want you to stop what you're doing and head on over to valuepricingbootcamp.com to sign up for my free value pricing email course.

Hope to see you there!

In-demand Python teacher Reuven Lerner joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about building a software training business in 2023.

Reuven's links:

- https://lerner.co.il, Reuven's main site
- https://BetterDevelopersWeekly.com/, Reuven's Python + software engineering list
- https://TrainerWeekly.com, Reuven's newsletter about training
- And Reuven frequently posts to Twitter and LinkedIn if people want to
follow him there

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Before you go!

The next time someone asks you for your hourly rate, I want you to stop what you're doing and head on over to valuepricingbootcamp.com to sign up for my free value pricing email course.

Hope to see you there!

Landscape architect Brandon Reed joined me on Ditching Hourly to discuss how ditching hourly billing, offering fixed price options, and niching down transformed his firm.

Brandon's Links:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

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Before you go!

The next time someone asks you for your hourly rate, I want you to stop what you're doing and head on over to valuepricingbootcamp.com to sign up for my free value pricing email course.

Hope to see you there!

CPA Erica Goode joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about how coaches and consultants should think about inflation, recession, cash flow, and taxes.

Erica's Bio:

Erica Goode, CPA owns an accounting firm serving coaches and consultants through accounting and CFO services.

Erica's Newsletter:
https://www.ericagoode.com/newsletter-signup

Erica's Podcast: 
Coaches, Consultants, and Money (available everywhere, but here's the iTunes link)

NOTE: Episodes 3 - 7 are "Business Money 101" and a great place to start.

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Before you go!

The next time someone asks you for your hourly rate, I want you to stop what you're doing and head on over to valuepricingbootcamp.com to sign up for my free value pricing email course.

Hope to see you there!