And one of the best ways to boost your income is to raise your fees until they’re truly aligned with the value you deliver. Once you reach that level of parity, you must continually work to add even greater value, which in turn allows you to raise your fees again and earn a better living.

(You can also boost your income by improving your productivity, but that’s another post.)

Of course, when your fees are higher than the average freelancer in your field, it won’t be long before a prospect balks at your quote. You’ll hear comments such as, “Wow! I usually pay 30 percent less with other freelancers.”

Or, “Are you kidding? This should only take you a couple of hours to complete. How can you justify charging $600?”

There are several ways I address these pricing objections (some of which I’ve never used because they involve profane language!). But the best commentary I’ve ever heard on this issue came from author and blogger Jonathan Fields.

In a recent post in his Career Renegade blog, Jonathan commented on his recent throat surgery. He ended up going with a top-notch (and ultra-expensive) specialist who didn’t take his insurance. But Jonathan was happy to pay several thousand dollars out of pocket because, as he pointed out,

“I wasn’t paying for his ‘time in the O.R.’ I was paying to be as far as possible away from the guy who went first. I was paying for his 25 years perfecting his skills, thousands of patients, tens of thousands of hours and tons of newbie mistakes avoided. I was, quite simply, paying not to be first.”

Here’s the thing, my fellow freelancers. If you’re experienced — and if you’re good — smart clients are NOT paying for your time. They’re paying to be as far away from your first client (and the mistakes from your first project) as possible.

Smart clients don’t want costly mistakes. They don’t want the project to bomb. And they certainly don’t want to hold your hand.

Instead, they want to be able to award you the project and feel confident that you’ll come through and deliver an excellent product. On time and with little to no hassle.

The more experience you gain, the more projects you work on, the more problems you help clients solve, the more value you can add…and the more you’re worth.

Are you charging accordingly?

———-

Ed Gandia is the co-editor of The Wealthy Freelancer and author of the popular report “7 Steps to Landing More Lucrative Freelance Projects.” You can get a free copy (a $29 value) by subscribing to his biweekly newsletter, The Profitable Freelancer at www.TheProfitableFreelancer.com.

I love BlackBerries and iPhones. They’re wonderful tools for staying in touch and getting things done. They’re also very, very dangerous because they can commandeer your personal time.

This became a big problem for me.

For a long time, I allowed my BlackBerry to creep into my personal time which, for me, is the evenings when I hang out with my wife and kids. I was always quite good about not responding to emails after I had left my office, but whenever I saw that flashing red “You’ve got mail!” light on my BlackBerry, I would open it up and read it.

The trouble was, if I read an email at 7:00pm, it would be on my mind for hours. This prevented me from detaching from work after long day, and being fully mentally present with my wife and kids.

Even if I didn’t physically reply to the email until the next day, I found myself beginning to craft the reply in my mind right after reading the email! 

After letting this problem go on for too long, one day I just decided to take the “drastic” step of cancelling the data plan on my phone, meaning I stopped paying for the service that delivered the emails to the phone itself. 

I suppose if I were really brave I would have gotten rid of it altogether. However, I find having the device itself a tremendous convenience in my personal life. My wife and I phone or text one another over details about who’s picking up the kids, etcetera. 

The point here is that I eliminated the features that were hindering my personal life, and I kept those that were helping it. 

I’m not suggesting you cancel your data plan or trash your cell phone. What I a saying is, if you’re feeling “too connected,” take a good hard look at your use of technology like BlackBerries and iPhones and ask yourself this one question:

Is this technology supporting or upsetting MY work-life balance? Then, take steps to make the technology work for you, not against you.  

“I’m looking for the least possible amount of responsibility.” What a great line from the movie American Beauty.

In this scene, Lester Burnham, a tired and overworked 14-year advertising executive (played by Kevin Spacey), has just quit his corporate job. He’s tired of his life at home and his dead-end career. And upon seeing a “Now Hiring” sign at the local fast-food joint, he decides to really simplify and start all over as a burger flipper.

This scene came to mind when I read an article in the Los Angeles Times about high-powered and highly educated single young professionals who have recently lost their jobs. The article talked about a trend called “funemployment,” where many young professionals are opting to stay unemployed indefinitely.

Basically, these individuals gave their careers everything they had. And after years of sacrifice, they suddenly find themselves unemployed…and tired of the corporate BS. So instead of looking for another job, they’re taking advantage of the opportunity to do all the things they’ve been putting off for years.

Some are traveling the world. Others just want to hang out at the beach and drink margaritas, take road trips to see friends and family, or play golf every day.

To me, this is just more evidence that we’re about to see a massive paradigm shift in the way we view work. The current “work them to death” model in corporate America is broken. People are tired of sacrificing everything for their career, only to get a pink slip at the end. And we have a new generation entering the workforce that has a very different view of what the right work-life balance should be.

That’s why I’m confident that a large percentage of these “funemployed” will come back (when their severance and savings run out!) as freelancers and solo professionals – not as corporate execs. They want the high pay, but they’re not willing to compromise too much to get it. Which means that in many cases they’ll have to settle for less until they build their solo careers.

But I think most of them will be OK with that. The freedom to design the life they want and live by their own rules will be the biggest reward. And it won’t be long before many of them are earning more (and doing more of what they want) than they did in their corporate jobs.

What do you think? When you talk to friends and colleagues, are you sensing the same attitude changes about work?

For many freelancers, summers can be tough. With so many clients on vacation, projects often get put on hold. Tracking down prospects can be tough. And it seems like no one wants to make a decision because “Pam is out for two weeks, and once she gets back it will take her another 2 weeks to catch up!”

So, what’s a freelancer to do with the idle time? Here are 8 ideas to consider as we enter the dog days of summer.

#1: Clean your office. Throw away old files, purge old magazines and newsletters, reorganize desk drawers and clean up your email inbox. Don’t know about you, but my office is a disaster right now. Getting it organized has become a top priority.

#2: Catch up on your reading. If you love to read as much as I do, you probably struggle with too many books and not enough time to read them. If your workload is a bit light right now, use the extra time to catch up on your reading.

#3: Re-evaluate your technology. How’s your computer holding up? Do some of your software applications need updating? Now is a great time to install and learn new software or migrate to a new system.

#4: Strategic planning. With 2009 nearly halfway over (can you believe it?!), this is a good time to evaluate your progress toward the goals you set back in January. Which goals need further attention? If you’re behind on some of them, draft a realistic (but aggressive) action plan for the next 6 months.

#5: Create an information product. If you’ve been thinking about putting together an e-book, audio product or other information product, now is the time to get it done. I created my first e-book over a 3-week period last year when workload was light.

#6: Meet friends and colleagues for lunch. This is a wonderful time to reconnect with people you haven’t talked to in awhile. Call your friends and colleagues. Meet them for lunch or coffee. Share ideas, insights and plans.

#7: Volunteer your time. The economic downturn has had a dramatic impact on charitable and religious organizations. Donations are way down while the needs of many have increased sharply. So, if you find yourself with idle time, why not do some volunteering? Sure, a cash donation is always welcome, but your time and talents are just as (if not more) important.

#8: Spend undivided time with your family. Make it a point to spend more time with your kids, spouse and loved ones. Go on a family vacation. Head out to the pool, the beach, the park. Take the kids fishing. Work on some puzzles. Relax. Turn off the TV (yes, it actually has an “Off” button) and have a few sit-down dinners as a family. Show them how much you love and care for them.

View your spare time this summer as a gift. Use it wisely. If you’re doing the right things, you’ll soon be busy again…and you’ll wish you would have used that time better.

What about you? What are you planning to do with some of your idle time this summer?

—————-

Ed Gandia is the co-editor of The Wealthy Freelancer and author of the popular report “7 Steps to Landing More Lucrative Freelance Projects.” You can get a free copy (a $29 value) by subscribing to his biweekly newsletter, The Profitable Freelancer at www.TheProfitableFreelancer.com.

Recently I had the pleasure of delivering a copywriting webinar with Steve Slaunwhite and Ed Gandia, co-Editors of this blog. Part of the seminar involved a contest where attendees could win several months of one-on-one coaching from the three of us. 

As part of the contest, participants had to answer a series of questions, one of which asked them to briefly describe how they plan to build their business.

Many of the answers included very general, foggy statements, which amounted to, “I plan on using the techniques learned in the seminar.”

A few participants, however, outlined very specific plans of action. A series of specific actions such as “I’m sending out direct mail letters to 30 new prospects each week for six consecutive weeks,” followed by more specifics plans for following up. 

Whenever freelancers ask me what they should be doing to market their business, I first invite them to tell me a little about their current plan. 

Often times, they just don’t have one. And that, right there, is the root of much anxiety. Anxiety which is heightened by tumultuous economic times. 

As the old adage goes, if you’re failing to plan, you’re planning to fail. Not only that, you’re planning to fail in a way that is stressful, frustrating and no fun. 

Freelancers who neglect to create a plan for growing their businesses end up bouncing around from project to project and usually end up taking on work they don’t like, or that doesn’t pay well. 

Freelancers who take the time to create a plan of action for their business succeed. Period. One the best examples of this is Ed Gandia. 

Ed Gandia created his own plan for transitioning to the freelance life while also holding down a demanding corporate job. Once a successful freelancer, Ed created an ebook out of his plan – which is more than 150 pages long! Now that’s a detailed plan! 

However, not all your plans have to be as detailed and meticulous as Ed’s. My current plan for my next direct mail effort takes up just a small corner of my white board, but there it is. A complete plan, clearly mapped out for me to see. 

I love the map analogy when talking about making plans. For me, planning becomes a lot easier when I think of it in terms of just “mapping out” a plan visually. One visual planning technique I recommend is called a mind mapping which is basically a free-form technique where you jot down ideas and concepts anywhere on a page, and then draw lines between ideas that go together. 

What about you – what do your plans look like? Do you have a detailed plan (or map) for marketing your freelance business that you can pull out and look at, or point to on a white board?

My opinion is that the level of anxiety you experience as a freelancer rises – sharply – when you’re just winging it, with no plan in place to follow for growing your business. What’s your opinion?

~

Pete Savage, co-Editor of this blog, is currently planning a big change to his business. Plans which he’ll be sharing this summer, right here on this blog…

5. Don’t underprice yourself.
This is the biggest mistake women make — and one I still struggle with.

Women often underprice themselves for various reasons: they don’t “need” the money, they believe they don’t have the experience to charge higher rates, or they’re afraid they will lose clients if they charge more.

Your prospective clients don’t know your household income and really don’t care how much your husband makes. By pricing yourself too low, you’re essentially saying you have no experience and that you’re not ready to play in the big leagues.

Also, consider only taking gigs that pay well. For instance, I don’t write articles because if I had to subsist on $0.10 a word, I’d be destitute. Instead, I focus on B2B marketing writing for corporate clients.

Is this work sexy? No. Does it come with a byline? No again. Does it pay well and enable you to significantly add to your household income? Yes, indeed. Every freelance profession has project categories that are very lucrative. Find out what they are in your field, pick a few and go after them!

6. Get plenty of rest and exercise.
When you have younger children, you do end up working nights and weekends, which is exhausting. No matter how busy I’ve been, I’ve always made time to exercise and relax. One year I trained for a marathon; now I’m at the gym four days a week lifting weights and doing step class.

I’ve heard mothers say they can’t leave their children at the gym daycare so they don’t go. Yes, you can — and your children will love it. So drop the guilt and do something for yourself.

7. Don’t do housework when you should be working.
As you would with a “real world” job, have set work hours that you adhere to every day. This doesn’t mean you can’t be flexible, only that if your work hours are 8:30 to 3:00, don’t use the first hour sorting laundry and picking up after the children go to school. Leave all that for later — or better yet, get your husband and kids to help in  the evenings and on weekends. After all, your time is valuable.

8. Learn to say “No.”
A couple of years ago one of the mom’s at my son’s school called and asked me to stand outside a supermarket and sell raffle tickets for three hours in the afternoon.

I replied, “I can’t do that - I have to work.” She replied, “But you work at home. You have flexibility.”
I wanted to ask, “So did you call any of the working dads and pose this question to them?” Of course she didn’t. As I stated in Tip #1, when you’re a WAHM, people tend to think you’re really watching Oprah and eating bonbons.

To avoid these people, don’t answer your home phone during work hours, and volunteer only for those events that have definite start and stop times.

Trust me, you don’t want to be the “chair” of anything, as such a position will quickly eat into your work time (been there, done that).

Combining parenthood and running a home-based business has been one of the most thrilling, exhausting, and satisfying endeavors I’ve ever encountered.

Although I had my days, I’m glad I stuck with it. I look at my son, who is almost 12, and know working at home was the best thing for both of us.

Ladies: What other advice would you give a new or aspiring freelance mom?

—————————————————–
In addition to providing results-oriented B2B marketing consulting and copywriting, Dianna Huff, Principal of DH Communications, Inc., also offers marketing coaching to consultants. Sign up for her newsletter, The Profitable Consultant, and receive a free report: Achieve Fame & Fortune: 25 Tips for Using Twitter for Business.

Here, then, are my “in the trenches” tips for making real money as a work-at-home freelance mom.

1. Treat your business like it’s a real business.
I purposely gave my business a name and incorporated early on because I wanted my clients — and my family — to view my business as a serious enterprise, even though when I started, I worked only 15 hours a week.

In addition, it’s important to set aside space for your business, whether you use the spare bedroom or a corner in the unused dining room. Make sure everyone in the family knows this is where you *work* and that they are not to touch your space on pain of death.

Since your business is a living entity that resides in a real space, you’ll also need a telephone and a phone number separate from the house phone. I know this may seem like “duh” advice, but I’m still surprised by the number of women who use the home phone as their work number — and/or don’t use their business name on the outgoing voice mail message.

If you have very young children, you’ll also need voice mail or an answering machine for those chaotic times when you can’t answer the phone. Under no circumstance should you answer the phone with children playing (or worse, crying) in the background. Why? It’s simply not professional — and you want to look and sound professional so that you can charge bigger bucks.

And finally, don’t forget to open a bank account for your business. It makes record keeping much easier, and it also looks professional to have checks with your business name - versus a joint account with your husband.

2. Find a good daycare provider.
Mothers of young children mistakenly think they can work at home while their child or children nap or play quietly. Ha! Nothing is further from the truth. If you have a young child or children, and you want to start a business, you’ll need some form of childcare.

When my son was very young, I used a woman who had an in-home daycare. He went to daycare in the mornings four days a week; I picked him up at 1:00 PM and spent the afternoons with him. It was an ideal situation. Come up with something that works for you and your children.

3. Invest money in your business.
In addition to a phone, desk, computer, etc., you’ll need educational materials (i.e. books, seminars), trade association memberships, marketing materials (e-newsletter, blog, Website, etc.), and business cards / letterhead.

Get the best marketing materials you can afford. My first Website was a five-page site that cost me $750 back in 1999, but it was professionally designed. My letterhead wasn’t fancy, but it was offset printed — versus printed at home on an inkjet printer.

4. Invest in accounting software.
Whether you use Quicken, Quickbooks, or some other accounting software, keep track of all expenses and revenues. Each month, analyze your profit and loss statement. Did you make money? Lose money? How come? How many hours did you work versus the number you actually billed out? Where did your money go? How can you reduce expenses?

Again, treat your freelance business like a real business. It will make a big difference in your pocketbook.

I have four more tips I’ll share with you later this week. So make sure to come back and check them out.

In the meantime, do you agree with these suggestions? Disagree? What other tips would you offer new or aspiring freelance moms?

—————————————————–
In addition to providing results-oriented B2B marketing consulting and copywriting, Dianna Huff, Principal of DH Communications, Inc., also offers marketing coaching to consultants. Sign up for her newsletter, The Profitable Consultant and receive a free report: Achieve Fame & Fortune: 25 Tips for Using Twitter for Business.

It gets a laugh.

But what those funny nightclub scenes don’t reveal, however, is that there are some pick-up lines that actually work.

And if you use the right line — or “script” as I prefer to call it — at the right moment, you can get very good results.

Now, I don’t have a pick-up line for dating. (My wife doesn’t allow me to date.) But over the years, I have developed a repertoire of scripts and templates that have helped me build my business.

And in just a moment, I’m going to share one of my most effective scripts with you — one that you can use in your own freelance business.

But before I do, let me explain how all this began.

I learned the power of effective scripts and templates early on when I was selling industrial products to plant managers; my first career.

Those of you who have ever had a sales job know that the more appointments you make the more income you earn. So I tried to develop a cold calling script to help me do that.

My first scripts weren’t very good. They sounded canned and didn’t get results. After a few months of trial and error, however, I finally created one that actually worked.

Boy, did it ever!

In just a few weeks that “million dollar cold calling script” helped me land more appointments with more new prospects than any other salesperson in the company.

The script was simple. (Most good scripts are.) I would call a plant manager at a prospect company, introduce myself and, when the moment was right, ask, “Are you locked in with your present supplier? Or are you able to consider other alternatives?”

More often than not, the plant manager would say, “I’m not locked in with anyone! Come in and show me what you’ve got.”

Just like that, I would get an appointment!

A few years later, as I was building my freelance copywriting business, I developed several other scripts and templates. . . scripts for phone calls and meetings . . . templates for emails and letters . . . that consistently worked well in getting the results I needed.

For example, here’s a script I use when a potential client contacts me to ask for a quote or enquire about my services. When the moment is right, I ask: “Would it be helpful if I quickly explained how my copywriting services work for this type of project, and the results you can expect?”

Almost every time the prospect will say, “Yes, please do.” Then I simply segue into a persuasive 30-second description. (I did promise to keep it short!)

When I’m done, I ask another question: “Based on what I just described, is this the kind of copywriting service that would work best for your project?”

The answer is often, “Well, yes it is!”

Then I’m well on my way to getting that project.

Like me, you should build a repertoire of scripts and templates that you can use in various situations in your business. It may take you some trial and error to get them right, but the effort is worth it.

———————–

Steve Slaunwhite is the creator of the popular course, Secrets Of Strategic Copywriting, which helps professionals learn copywriting while building their portfolios.

Have you heard of Gary Vaynerchuk? He’s not a famous politician like Obama, or a mega-celebrity like Oprah. He’s not a famous athlete like Tiger Woods. He’s a wine retailer from New Jersey. A pretty normal, everyday guy, you might say. Except for the fact that 1) he has a following of about 345,000 people (at last count) who hang on his every word and 2) he was recently awarded a seven-figure book deal from publisher HarperStudio. 

How did this wine retailer from New Jersey rise up from “nowhere” these great heights? 

Two words: social media. 

Using sites like Twitter, Gary was able to grow his company, Wine Library, from $4 million to more than $50 million in annual revenues. And as his popularity blossomed, so did the business opportunities that started coming his way. 

(Read more about Gary’s story here.) 

Now, while not everyone will land a seven-figure book deal like “Garyvee” (that’s his Twitter identity) pretty much anyone can use can use Twitter to help increase exposure for their business. And freelancers are no exception. 

Take freelance copywriter Terry Rylander, for example. She uses Twitter to stay top of mind with experts and prospects in her industry by offering interesting links, and responding to tweets and posts at least a few times a day.

Originally unconvinced that there was any merit to Twitter, Rylander opened an account at the suggestion of a colleague. Since then, she’s established some promising personal connections. Her strategy? Simple. She simply began following and interacting with the people in her industry whom she respected.

“I’ve been in my particular niche for over 10 years. Other than a cold call on the phone or e-mail, I would never have the chance to get my name in front of vendors, industry analysts, and industry experts,” Rylander explains. “I’ve had a number of Twitter conversations that have led to personal conversations.”

Here, in my opinion, are the top three reasons why every freelancers should add social media sites like Twitter to their marketing strategy: 

1) Money. Many of your current and future clients are currently active on social media sites.  This means it’s ripe opportunity.  It means contracts.  For example, I just landed a gig with Anthony Robbins (yes, THE Anthony Robbins!) exclusively over Twitter. (And I’ve only been using for about six months.) 

2) Fame. Social media is the fastest way to gain a name for yourself in your niche. Those that jump in now can gain an early mover advantage and quickly establish themselves as experts.  

3) Traffic. Social media sites can rapidly drive traffic to your blog, white papers and other projects you are working on. This means you can gain an immediate response to your marketing efforts and quickly track the results, if you use free sites like BudURl.com to track your clicks. 

A Twitter Time-saving Tip:

Contrary to popular belief, using social media doesn’t have to be an enormous time drain. In fact one of the most appealing things about sites like Twitter is that you can check in and out as often as you like and whenever it suits your schedule. It’s not like a blog where you need to constantly produce content or write long articles. (Twitter messages can be a maximum of only 140 characters long!)

Rather then checking in and out many times throughout the day, I carve out about 30 minutes during my down time to go on Twitter. And I use a service called TweetLater.com which allows me to schedule my updates for the next day, which is a big time saver.

~

Michael Stelzner is the bestselling author of Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged and founder of the Social Media Success Summit 2009. You can follow Michael on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/mike_stelzner. 

Whenever I came cross biographies or anecdotes about people who achieved great things, I was left with burning questions like, How did this person accomplish so much? And, How did he or she find the time?

Well…I think I’ve figured it out. 

That’s not to say I’ve discovered something totally new, but rather that I’ve woken up to a simple truth that I should have recognized long ago. Today I’m able to make it work for me, with great results. (Namely, I get more done and I experience far less stress.) 

I’ve put some visual imagery to this truth, so that it continues to serve me well. I call it my Jigsaw Puzzle Visual™ approach to time management. And it’s pretty simple.

To illustrate it, picture a completed jigsaw puzzle. The number of pieces does not matter, for now. 

Let’s say this jigsaw puzzle represents your work life. Each piece of the puzzle represents one of the “projects” you currently have on your plate. By “projects” I mean the major categories into which your individual tasks or “to dos” are grouped. 

For simplicity, say there are five projects in total, labeled as follows:

1. Direct mail campaign for new clients

2. Blog: Launch it this month

3. Ongoing client copywriting jobs

4. Book proposal: Write and submit to publishers

5. Commercial real estate business opportunity with John

So, five projects on your plate equals five pieces in your jigsaw puzzle.

Now, here’s how my discovery came to be…

The list above is fictional, but items #4 and #5 were real puzzle pieces in my own jigsaw puzzle a couple months ago. 

Then one day, about a month back, I actually landed a book deal with a publisher! 

Suddenly, my puzzle piece #4 swelled in size because I instantly found myself committed to co-authoring a book (with Steve Slaunwhite and Ed Gandia as it happens.) 

Pre-book deal, my puzzle piece #4 required no more than a few hours of my time each week. But actually writing the book will now require several hours of focused work every day.  

This means puzzle piece #4 must now take up more space on my jigsaw puzzle.

Prior to using this jigsaw puzzle visual, I would have just updated item #4 on my list to read “Write the book!” and left it at that. I would have tried to “work smarter” or “dig deep” believing (naively) that I could somehow manage to write the book with no impact to the other commitments (“projects”) on the list. 

Using the Jigsaw Puzzle Visual, however, it’s clear to see that in order for item #4 to expand in size, another puzzle piece must shrink, or disappear altogether. 

That realization has made all the difference for me. 

As a result of getting the book deal, I’ve bumped the commercial real estate opportunity off of list of commitments. Is my colleague in this project disappointed? Perhaps.

But he’s a good friend and he understands how important this book deal is. And, even if he didn’t understand, it would not be fair to him, nor to me, to move forward with that puzzle piece still holding a spot in my jigsaw puzzle. 

Now he’s free to go it alone, or find another interested party and I’m free of the anxiety over when and how I would be able to fit that project item into my schedule.

By keeping the Jigsaw Puzzle Visual in mind, now I no longer need to ask how high achievers accomplish so many impressive feats. They find the time to do worthwhile and exciting things not by constantly adding to their list of commitments, but by constantly examining their own personal jigsaw puzzles, and re-sizing or re-structuring the puzzle pieces according to the changing circumstances and opportunities that show up in their lives. 

~~~

Pete Savage is co-editor of this blog and grew up, he just now realizes, with a mild phobia of 1000+ piece  jigsaw puzzles, which he regularly saw in various states of incomplete upon the kitchen table in his childhood home. Also, he has a free newsletter just for freelancers at http://www.savagemarketing.com/