Double Your Freelancing Podcast

By Brennan Dunn, Zach SwinehartBusiness Technology

Double Your Freelancing Podcast episodes

October 17, 2016 Episode 62: Meryl Johnston on Growing a Six-Figure Productized Service
My guest today is Meryl Johnston, founder of the international accounting agency Bean Ninjas. She has a background in accounting and began her first business as a consultant. She has grown her current business from the ground up and is now generating over $100,000 in recurring revenue through monthly productized bookkeeping services. We discuss her career, how she transitioned to a productized service business and lessons learned along the way.
Today’s topics include:
Transition from consulting to productized services
Launching in seven days and growing the business through referrals
Developing product offerings and pricing strategy
Lessons learned since launch: hiring, customer niches
Aligning marketing to customer niche
Sales processes for productized services versus consulting
Value of informational sales calls
Resources and links:
Bean Ninjas
Dan Norris - 7 Day Startup
Trello Project Management
You Need a Budget
Double Your Freelancing Meetup Groups
Double Your Freelancing Academy
FreshBooks
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45 min
September 19, 2016Episode 61: Barry O'Kane on How He Chose a Niche and Went Location Independent
Today I’m talking with Barry O’Kane on niching down and creating a location independent business. He’s a Double Your Freelancing Academy student who has been working with Philip Morgan for the past few months while living in Edinburgh, Scotland and running his online business: Happy Porch. Barry has over 15 years experience in the web development industry and became location independent four years ago.
Today’s topics include:
Double Your Freelancing new drip email marketing automation course
The importance of using Mastermind groups to improve focus in your business
Mastermind group structure, leadership and relationships
Running a distributed team using structured communication processes
Recent evolution of Double Your Freelancing Academy
How Barry founded his company Happy Porch
Resources and links:
Drip Email Marketing Automation - Double Your Freelancing Course
Double Your Freelancing Academy
Happy Porch
Endzone
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Subscribe on iTunes Leave us a 5-star review on iTunes Share the podcast with your friends Here is what one loyal listener had to say about the Double Your Freelancing podcast:
After you’ve published your review, send an email to [email protected]. You’ll get an exclusive video from Double Your Freelancing Conference — James Clear's talk on Developing Better Work Habits — absolutely free. Click here to make it happen!
37 min
September 12, 2016Episode 60: Todd Tresidder on Financial Independence
My guest today is Todd Tresidder, a former hedge fund manager and founder of FinancialMentor.com. He is a personal finance and investing expert coach who teaches how to grow wealth and reach financial independence. He emphasizes the importance of personal development and fulfillment in attaining the goal of financial freedom.
A self-made millionaire himself, Todd’s FinancialMentor.com programs provide a step-by-step blueprint for building wealth. Visit Todd at FinancialMentor.com for free resources, courses, financial coaching and advice.
Today’s topics include:
Conceptualizing the importance of retirement and making it a priority
The journey to financial freedom as a freelancer
Controlling expenses is important, but increasing your income is less limited
Adding value to yourself by being a revenue increaser, not an expense to your client
The goal is not just to be rich but to experience fulfillment and happiness
The Rule of 300/400: For every $1000/month you spend it takes $300,000-$400,000 dollars in assets to support that
The three classes of assets: business entrepreneurship, real estate, and stocks/bond/mutual funds
Building passive assets as revenue streams
Growing equity slowly instead of “getting rich quick”
Formula for wealth: Make more than you spend, and invest the difference wisely
People will pay for one thing, which is a solution to their problem.
Formula for business: traffic x conversions = profit
Resources and links:
FinancialMentor.com
How to Design Your Life to Create Financial Independence
52 Weeks to Financial Freedom
Twitter @financialmentor
Double Your Freelancing Rate
Like the Podcast? Help us!
If you enjoy the Double Your Freelancing podcast, support us to keep it going!
Subscribe on iTunes
Leave us a 5-star review on iTunes
Share the podcast with your friends
Here is what one loyal listener had to say about the Double Your Freelancing podcast:
After you’ve published your review, send an email to [email protected]. You’ll get an exclusive video from Double Your Freelancing Conference — James Clear's talk on Developing Better Work Habits — absolutely free. Click here to make it happen!
48 min
September 07, 2016 Episode 59: Michael Port on Offline Marketing Strategies
Today I’m talking with Michael Port, author of Book Yourself Solid and four other bestselling books. I came across Book Yourself Solid at a bookstore when I first started freelancing, and loved the online marketing techniques he describes. He has been running Book Yourself Solid programs around the world and training freelancers for the past 14 years.
Michael describes six core self-promotion strategies that freelancers use, and more importantly goes into the backend of how to close sales and actually book business. He is a networking and direct outreach expert that has a daily routine to open doors and bring in clients. Even as an introvert, he has used public speaking, teaching and networking to create an international brand.
Today’s topics include:
Freelancers need to design a marketing and self-promotion system for their business.
Building credibility, pricing yourself right and being able to have simple sales conversations are more important than self-promotion strategies alone.
Marketing doesn’t get you clients, it gets you awareness; what you do once you have that awareness is what gets you the business.
There are 6 core self-promotion strategies: networking, direct outreach, referral, writing, public speaking, and web strategies; some of these are mandatory and some are not.
Networking is developing deeper relationships with people you already know.
Technology tactics might change, but the core strategies remain as the big picture.
Don’t focus your energies on every platform out there and spread yourself too thin - it is overwhelming and distracting.
Make sales offers that are proportionate to the amount of trust you’ve earned.
Decide which self-promotion strategy will work for your ideal client.
To get booked solid you only need a network of 90 people.
You can add value to your network by regularly introducing people to contacts and information relevant to them.
Helping others by reaching out to them is a more comfortable form of self-promotion than just trying to help yourself.
Networking as an introvert can be made easier by connecting others and delivering on your promises.
Resources and links:
Michael Port Website
Book Yourself Solid
Book Yourself Solid on Amazon
Twitter @michaelport
Facebook @michaelport
Contactually + Book Yourself Solid
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48 min
June 27, 2016 Episode 58: Jonathan Raymond on Leadership
Today my guest is Jonathan Raymond the former CEO of E-Myth, he became the CEO in 2011 when the owner wanted to modernize the brand. He decided to break out on his own in 2015. The idea behind the E-Myth is that running a business is different than being great at whatever the business does. An example would be a great dancer who opens a dance studio and discovers there is more to running a dance studio than being a fantastic dancer. Jonathan now focuses on what it takes to create a great business and the culture, scale and team involved with doing so.
He now focuses on refound.com and the core principles required to be a great leader and business owner. Jonathan has a new approach to leading and managing teams. He is also the author of the upcoming book, “Good Authority”. When it comes to managing teams, we not only need a new set of skills, we have to reimagine who we are and Jonathan and his business help leaders to be the best they can be. Enjoy!
Today’s topics include:
As an entrepreneur there is still culture and team building and interpersonal dynamics that need to be dealt with
It also comes down to referrals, so good relationships are important
People make referrals in relationships
Going into a relationship with a freelancer, you want to be able to refer them to others because of the great job they did
We want freelancers who do their job and don’t need to be micromanaged, we also want to refer responsible people because it is a reflection on us
People overestimate the big stuff, but the small stuff is important, like email response time
Be the type of person people want to do business with, no BS around communication
If you mess something up take responsibility and not only apologize, but say what happened and take ownership
We have a pretty good sense of which clients are happy, reach out and restore amicability
People don’t like confrontation and bury stuff, but then it stacks up
Understand who your ideal customer is, challenge assumptions that the client has, the client is in their own bubble, coach and mentor them
Fill the gap with challenge and communication
Scarcity can prevent you from pushing the envelope, yet it is counter intuitive to not take the risky road
Some clients aren't’ the clients you want to work with anyway
Actually, have requirements and screen clients so that you are not stuck with an unresponsive hard to communicate with client
The fear that it turns off clients is unfounded, people want to buy a process, so having a set plan to deliver will set you apart from the competition
Set expectations from onboarding to deliverables
Build accountability into the process
Your time is valuable
It comes down to the way you see yourself and your value, at some point being superman is not sustainable, hold space and create context for change
Be Yoda not superman, self value and self worth
Fixer, fighter or friend - 3 styles of taking on superman role
Good Authority is Jonathan’s new book coming out
Mentoring your own clients - Small business owners don’t have anyone to question them
People at the top are in a bubble and they don’t see what they don’t see
You can add value by mentoring and asking questions and building a personal relationship
What is the purpose? What is the result? Find the why, you will have a happier client and deliver a better product and maybe make a friend on a way.
To get the right website figure out why they are doing what they are doing.
“Mentoring means questioning the assumptions they don’t realize that they are making” Jonathan Raymond
Imposter Syndrome - Roadblock of it not being my job and self doubt coming up.
Take a small risk and you will be amazed how people will open up
Resources and links:
Refound
Like the Podcast? Help us!
If you enjoy the Business of Freelancing podcast, support us to keep it going!
Subscribe on iTunes
Leave us a 5-star review on iTunes
Share the podcast with your friends
Hopefully the fact that your show of support will keep the podcast going is reward enough for you. But we want to sweeten the deal for you even further:
After you’ve published your review, send an email to [email protected]. You’ll get an exclusive video from Double Your Freelancing Conference — James Clear's talk on Developing Better Work Habits — absolutely free. Click here to make it happen!
36 min
June 20, 2016 Episode 57: Ryan Waggoner on Feast and Famine
I’m super excited to share today’s interview with Ryan Waggoner with you. Ryan has an amazing consulting business and is pushing more than a million a year in profit. Ryan is killing it with mobile consulting, where a lot of people in that space struggle to make $100,000 plus. Ryan is an all around sharp guy, but I’m specifically bringing him on because he is really good at cash flow management. He has a great perspective on splitting up personal and business finance, and I want to capture that story.
Ryan has been freelancing for 10 years. He started with website development and now he helps startups build mobile apps and know what not to build. Because there is a 6 to 8 week lead time in Ryan’s business, he always focuses on doing business development to avoid those feast or famine times when there is no work or too much work. He has a background process where there is always some form of business development going on.
Today’s topics include:
The emotions and behaviors of business and personal finance are intertwined
Budgeting to pay yourself a stable amount every month no matter what you bring in
Having a monthly buffer, depending on how long the lead time for projects are and where your monthly budget falls
Getting recurring revenue can also help buffer the situation and put you into a good psychological place
Getting very disciplined about budgeting, getting out of debt, and saving an emergency fund, can make life less stressful and make business decisions easier
Even if your monthly recurring doesn’t cover all of your expenses, it helps relieve the stress and make covering the expenses easier
Ryan and his wife both freelance
Once they started making money and getting a bit ahead, they started putting money in IRAs on a monthly basis
Treating your savings like a bill and having a tax strategy and a solo 401K is a good idea
Successful freelancers should take advantage of some of the amazing tax advantages we have
Automatic payments and savings as much as possible
Big fan of “I Will Teach You To Be Rich”
Have a backbone of recurring income and be smart and don’t burn through all of your money on a good month, save if you can
When your income isn’t enough, do whatever you can to cut expenses and save a buffer,
Having 3 to 6 months in the bank help you make an investment in yourself and fire bad clients
It’s hugely freeing to take big chances on yourself
Being desperate for money can lead to bad decisions
Billions on Showtime - money that allows you to tell people I don’t need your business
Often, what holds entrepreneurs back from making big business decisions and taking big leaps is not having enough money to feel secure
The truth is my Ryans income became higher because he got his personal finances together - the psychological space to treat his business like a business
Dumb business decisions tie back to fear related to money
Ryan has a hustling mentality and he is good at sales, people good at sales can get in trouble by spending too much, because they assume they can make more
This strategy works until it doesn’t
Resources and links:
Ryan’s Website
Twitter @RyanWaggoner
I Will Teach You To Be Rich
Let’s Make Apps.io
Firstmillionisthehardest.com
Like the Podcast? Help us!
If you enjoy the Business of Freelancing podcast, support us to keep it going!
Subscribe on iTunes
Leave us a 5-star review on iTunes
Share the podcast with your friends
Hopefully the fact that your show of support will keep the podcast going is reward enough for you. But we want to sweeten the deal for you even further:
After you’ve published your review, send an email to [email protected]. You’ll get an exclusive video from Double Your Freelancing Conference — James Clear's talk on Developing Better Work Habits — absolutely free. Click here to make it happen!
42 min
May 30, 2016 Episode 56: Diana Huff on Variable Cash Flow
Hello everyone, today I am talking with Diana Huff, the President of Huff Industrial Marketing a business that helps industrial manufacturers grow and succeed. Diana just released her new book Cash Flow for Freelancers. Today we will be talking about how to manage cash flow when you have a variable income.
Diana started her business in 1998 when it was known as DH Communications. She is now a marketing consultant, but when she began she was focused on freelance copywriting in the B2B market. At the time, she had a 12 month old son that she wanted to stay home with. Over the years, her business has evolved, but last year there was a huge transformation. She changed her entire focus and now runs Huff Industrial Marketing. Diana wrote Cash Flow for Freelancers because she is very familiar with struggling with the cash flow issues that freelancers have, and she wanted to do something to help others.
Today’s topics include:
When faced with financial issues, Diana turned to all of the popular financial books. None of them applied to her freelance situation, they were all geared for people with steady jobs and incomes.
Figure out your own personal break even. That is personal and business expenses combined.
If you don’t know how much you need to bring in, you don’t know what to do
With freelancer variable income, freelancers may need to modify a budget
You need to know three numbers for business
Break even - how much you need to bring in
Sales goal - a little bit more than break even
Cash income goal - cash can come in from different places (more than break even)
Budget cash cushion into your break even amount - this is for when you have low months
Paying yourself a set amount, a salary that is part of the break even
You can also take a distribution at the end of the year or quarterly
Have a business account
Treat your business like a business
Project based cash flow analysis - steady out cash flow
Payment terms, 50% up front and 50% on delivery
Become efficient to get done faster - document processes
The second invoice is net 10, not net 30, 60 or 120
When people don’t pay, you have to get on the phone and call them
Pre-paid work is great if the client will go for it
Written and signed hard copy contracts with terms stipulated
Resources and links:
Cash Flow for Freelancers
Double Your Freelancing Academy
Freelance Business Bundle
Huff Industrial Marketing
You Need a Budget
Like the Podcast? Help us!
If you enjoy the Business of Freelancing podcast, support us to keep it going!
Subscribe on iTunes
Leave us a 5-star review on iTunes
Share the podcast with your friends
Hopefully the fact that your show of support will keep the podcast going is reward enough for you. But we want to sweeten the deal for you even further:
After you’ve published your review, send an email to [email protected]. You’ll get an exclusive video from Double Your Freelancing Conference — James Clear's talk on Developing Better Work Habits — absolutely free. Click here to make it happen!
32 min
May 23, 2016 Episode 55: Introducing the Double Your Freelancing Academy
It's time to officially announce the opening of the Double Your Freelancing Academy. Get details and an insider’s scoop on the Double Your Freelancing Academy in today's episode.
25 min
May 16, 2016 Episode 54: Reuven Lerner on Selling Training To Your Clients
Today our guest is Reuven Lerner, who teaches Python, Ruby, Git and PostgreSQL to companies around the world. Today we are discussing using training as a productized offering. Reuven will also be giving an extended presentation on this topic at the Double Your Freelancing Conference that we are having June 22nd through June 25th in Stockholm, Sweden.
Reuven has over 20 years of experience as a software engineer and over 15 years experience teaching in high-tech companies. He has a PhD in Learning Sciences and incorporates student feedback into his courses. He offers on-site training courses that not only teaches programming, but teaches students how to think in new more productive ways. Reuven has been involved with the Internet since its inception, and his first website was even on Tim Berners-Lee’s list of all of the websites in the world. Reuven now lives in Israel. Enjoy the conversation.
Today’s topics include:
Reuven started out doing consulting and web development for businesses.
He then started teaching some of his development skills to the employees of the businesses he was consulting for.
Reuven still does development and has an employee that does a lot of the programming for him.
On the DevChat Freelancers Show Reuven was giving the following advice
Find your ideal client
Focus on one thing
Stop billing by the hour, sell products as blocks
Try to build a pipeline far into the future
When he thought maybe he should start following it.
There was also explosive interest in the programs Reuven specialized in.
He was working for a training company that wasn’t paying him anything close to what they were charging his students.
Reuven finally realized that to maximize his time, earnings and interests having his own training programs was the key.
Working on his own was an easy transition because the companies that needed the training already wanted his courses
Reuven customizes his courses according to the training questions his students ask.
Reuven teaches all over the world, and has 3 types of pricing
Open enrollment courses where he charges by the person
Private teaching at a company where he charges by the day
Private teaching where he charges by the person.
He also does online training and uses WebeX.
Reuven is excited about this productized consulting business he has discovered.
Resources and links:
Double Your Freelancing Event Stockholm, Sweden
Reuven’s Books
DevChat Freelancers’ Show
Webex
Lerner Consulting
Twitter @reuvenmlerner
Like the Podcast? Help us!
If you enjoy the Business of Freelancing podcast, support us to keep it going!
Subscribe on iTunes
Leave us a 5-star review on iTunes
Share the podcast with your friends
Hopefully the fact that your show of support will keep the podcast going is reward enough for you. But we want to sweeten the deal for you even further:
After you’ve published your review, send an email to [email protected]. You’ll get an exclusive video from Double Your Freelancing Conference — James Clear's talk on Developing Better Work Habits — absolutely free. Click here to make it happen!
56 min
May 09, 2016Episode 53: Budi Voogt on Finding Points of Leverage
Hello everyone, today I am talking to Budi Voogt. He is an awesome guy from the Netherlands. He runs a recording label consultancy. I love looking beyond the typical web designer, copywriter, marketer kind of business and seeing how other types of entrepreneurs are successfully charging more, getting better clients, and putting systems in place.
Budi is in the Hague, Netherlands. He went to school for Business Administration. Then started working in artist management and booking. From 2012 to 2014, he was Co-Founder of Heroes Managment which is now merging into Heroic Audio. He wrote “The SoundCloud Bible” and created the Music Marketing Academy.
Today’s topics include:
The music industry was a gate-keeper model, but technology has
disrupted the industry
Instead of convincing gate-keepers to take notice, Budi and his crew focus on the online model for marketing and
distribution
A lot of creatives struggle with having buyers for their service, Budi’s agency noticed that the online marketing model was really taking off and validated their path to entry using SoundCloud
SoundCloud was working to launch digital music, Budi’s agency started their own label, and he wrote The SoundCloud Bible
The consulting they do now, is more like music management, they represent the artists on a yearly or bi-yearly contract
They have invested very heavily in a few artists that they really believe in
This has now led to much bigger returns developing careers for these artists
People take you more seriously when you have authored a book, The SoundCloud Bible is great for marketing, Budi is the SoundCloud guy
To start out, find the pain point of your audience or what you are struggling with, then build a product or book about that
Actually asking your potential customer what they are interested in is a great way to choose what to work on
With digital and content marketing, play the long game, find out what your customers need and be valuable and find
out how you can help them
Resources and links:
Website
Heroic Recordings
Music Marketing Academy
The SoundCloud Bible
Twitter @BudiVoogt
Budi on facebook
Double Your Freelancing Conference in Stockholm, Sweden
Like the Podcast? Help us!
If you enjoy the Business of Freelancing podcast, support us to keep it going!
Subscribe on iTunes
Leave us a 5-star review on iTunes
Share the podcast with your friends
Hopefully the fact that your show of support will keep the podcast going is reward enough for you. But we want to sweeten the deal for you even further:
After you’ve published your review, send an email to [email protected]. You’ll get an exclusive video from Double Your Freelancing Conference — James Clear's talk on Developing Better Work Habits — absolutely free. Click here to make it happen!
51 min