[100K] #19 Systemize, Delegate, and Grow w/Margaret Reffell
Margaret and Chris talk about how to systemize your freelancing, delegate your work, and grow your freelancing practice into an agency without losing what’s special about your offering. We also discuss why it’s so hard to get content from your clients, the dangers of minimizing language, and how to build a funnel!
There are 5 client situations stopping you from earning $100K, right now. Do you know what they are?
Find out who they are and what to do about them with this free 5-part email course, available exclusively from $100K Freelancing.
You can find Margaret on Twitter, or visit her online at https://margreffell.com/
Highlihgts:
Started solo
Tired of doing *everything* personally
Went agency-style
Issues:
* Clients don’t want to be handed off
* Have to keep myself as the face of the business
* Lose clients in the funnel sometimes
* Have to avoid over-system-izing
* Nurture the human component
* How to systemize your freelancing without losing the human touch
Clients often overlook the same things developers do with regard to sales funnels
It takes huge amounts of content, time and money to get a sales funnel to the point where it’s truly automated — part of how to systemize your freelancing
Clients always struggle with content:
* Look at existing content
* Take note of keywords
* Little bit of coaching
* Send them to my copywriter
Other agencies funnels:
* Addressed AFTER the clients are taken care of
* Often lacking in creativity
* Opportunity to improve my site where others are coming up short
How I get leads & close deals:
90% come from referrals
80% proposal close rate
Contact form on site — assistant Sasha not great for qualifying, has more of an administrative screening:
* Looks for keywords in the contact
* Minimizing language is a HUGE red flag
* When you systemize your freelancing it’s easier to filter this out
Knowing they need a thing is not enough:
* We need to educate them as to the potential ROI
* We also need to educate them when they need LESS than they think
Existing clients referring
Past clients referring
Past clients re-activating
Not currently soliciting referrals; they happen organically:
* This will become a priority soon, however
Recurring clients provide an excellent base of revenue
It’s sometimes easy to get complacent
Check in every 2–3 months with past clients:
* Sometimes it’s quiet because it all works, or they’re busy
* Simple e-mail template to help systemize your freelancing
Fix-it projects are fraught with landmines & gotchas, and are best avoided
Originally published at www.100kfreelancing.com.
