freelancelift - a blueprint for your next big move
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A guide to the big move for freelancersTRANSCRIPT
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by Liam Veitch
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About the authorMy content is all-action but easy to digest enabling you to leverage compound moves to think big, banish excuses and go way beyond most other freelancer advice youll read.
This way we can really unleash whats possible, allowing you to finally
get the upper hand in your market.
It took me one failure at the freelance game and 2 years inside a cor-
porate to figure it out, now I want to give you the benefit of my expe-
rience as well as inviting you into the world of the people who have
been there and broken the freelance boundaries themselves.
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One of the biggest and most impactful moves you can make in business (especially as a freelancer) is to develop a vision statement.
Your core reason for being.
I advocate a lean approach to business, specializing down on a specific
customer, mapping out an overview set of assumptions and making
some short, sharp tests to validate those assumptions.
You might think that youre the proverbial waiter (serve anyone with
money) but if you really make efforts to be specific about your customer
and identify your core strengths youll find it easier to shape your
message and attract the right kind of customers.
In this book Ill walk you through some key exercises for developing
your vision, the blueprint for your next big move.
Armed with that paragraph you can set about validating your
assumptions and really carving out your space.
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This was a common thought path in my first time around freelancing. Although things were sometimes good, for the most part Id be struggling from project to project barely making ends meet.
This would keep me awake at night, thinking the night away.
Is this really right, I love it when its good but its just not stable, Im
earning less than minimum wage on average
What about getting a mortgage in the future? Without wageslips or a
steady income how could I?
If only I could make some other money on the side itd all be alright
Of course the money on the side never came even though I tried. It
only served to take away time from the things I should have been doing
to turn it around. During the low points the hunger for a steady income
burns deep inside like a furnace, I would resort to taking to employment
sites to see what was available, again taking me from actually fixing my
business and leaving me in no-mans-land.
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My lack of a core vision contributed to a downward spiral which
eventually forced my hand, I had gotten behind on some payments and
was greeted with a rap at the door from a bailiff. He was here to take
what possessions I had, a real low point. Something had to give and I
temporarily threw in the freelance towel.
Had I not had the inner entrepreneur resolve to have a second try
with my new found epiphany I may not have made it back out of the
corporate cubicle.
2 years ago I figured something out which gave me the ability to try
again, and I want to share it with you.
This core mindset fix helped me develop the techniques that have
grown my businesses to such a level they no longer require my day-to-
day input.
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I threw in the towel, but this painful moment does carry a silver lining.
Being wrapped in the corporate machine (Id been forced to take up a
design position in a 400 person corporation) gave me an insight into
big business thinking Id not been exposed to previously.
This really started to fall into place for me when I really nerded out on
the corporate mission statement. Something most employees didnt
know existed let alone know what the contents were.
I found it fascinating how the machine chugged into action and I
began to apply that same level of structure and strategy to my own
sideline freelancing work.
From accounting to customer service, from marketing to hiring & firing I
ran my part-time just me design business with the strategic precision
of a publicly traded company.
What followed was quite staggering, I mashed the under the hood
corporate structure and muscle with the flair, enthusiasm and care of a
one-person business and the thing just exploded.
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I finally had the missing link from the last time around freelancing, the
absent piece of the jigsaw that had sent me into the employed world in
the first place I finally had a vision, and a strategy to execute it.
After quitting my job I promptly set about growing my newly found big-
small business and just 2 years later I stood at the head of a company
generating almost $1m in lifetime revenue.
This size of team, while on the surface may seem large is just the right
size to allow me to only apply my craft (design & marketing) when
I want to, not because I have to. I primarily guide the vision of the
business rather than being actively within the day-to-day production.
This outcome might not be for you, but I guess I tell you this to give
you an indication of where my path has taken me.
Indeed, your vision would lead where you want to end up. I personally
am happy to have the business not reliant on my being involved in
order that I can spread my message and help other freelancers along
their way.
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By not having a dependable vision, youll find it very difficult to think through problems strategically. Youll constantly look to address the issues in front of your eyes without understanding the deeper problem.
If youre familiar with what I do youll know I rarely teach the basics.
You are great at your craft, be that writing, designing, developing,
administrating in a freelance capacity its just that youre thinking like a
freelancer, not like a megacorp.
I mentioned earlier that there are things big business sucks at which
you are great at, so attention to detail, care, love of what you do,
personality as well as agility and the ability to move quickly and get
ideas to fruition.
So you are not the problem here, you just need to address that one
thing that small business traditionally struggle at which big business has
nailed; strategy, market domination and scalability.
It is possible to be ruthless without being evil, if youre ruthless in
sticking to your vision to be a better freelancer youll find clients you
love, money you can only dream of and more free time to do what
matters.
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[companyname] [standfor]. We help [customer] by [theframe] with [primary] and [secondary]
[customer] Narrowing and defining market
[primary, secondary] Defining and documenting primary and secondary product set
> Primary service (i.e. web design)
> Secondary service (i.e. hosting, support, plugins)
[standfor] Picking your end of the market and defining what you stand for
[theframe] Whats the frame for your product/service?
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[companyname] [standfor]. We help [customer] by [theframe] with [primary] and [secondary]
In this playbook Im going to walk you through step by step how you can develop your vision statement. So the elements that make it up
along with the order they should appear.
So lets get into it, Im going to walk you through here the development
of your vision statement, something I go into in more detail in my
Handiwork training but essentially this is the cornerstone of your newly
refocused business.
This simple paragraph, with less than 100 words simplifies the central strategy youd develop with me and help you have an anchor
point, a vision and central concept you use as your guide.
Im going to deconstruct the Freelancelift vision statement:
Freelancelift exists to help freelancers grow by leveraging big business thinking and making compound growth moves. We help freelance designers, writers & marketers grow revenues while working less with our no Bullshit business growth ideas, Genius Q&A Calls, Playbooks & Video training
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So the first bit is customer, really narrowing and defining your market.
Dude, really? I waited this long for you tell me
I needed to define my customer? Sheesh
Well, bear with me. Theres a secret sauce, its called specificity.
Most freelancers fail at this point. For example for Freelancelift and
Handiwork Im not just targeting small businesses. Im specifically
targeting freelance designers, developers and writers.
Sure, there may be some people who join us for the ride but in order to
support your core messaging you need to be really specific.
Get inside the head of this precise person, where do they hang out
online, how old are they, picture them if you can, give them a name.
If youre doing okay already serving different markets then try analysing
your previous customers, see which were easy to work with, who was
fun, whether there are any common traits between the bad clients.
Its in that place youll find your customer, the real one not just
businesses with a blog
My Customer - Freelancer designers, writers & marketers
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[primary, secondary] Defining and documenting your primary and secondary product set
> Primary service (i.e. web design)> Secondary service (i.e. hosting, support, plugins)
Okay so your product. Another crucial point, again it all sounds kind of
obvious but it just doesnt happen a lot of the time. So first of all what
is your primary product or service?
Youre a web designer, cool. Most people get that. Now then, what
about a secondary service. This is where you need to really start to
think like a corporate and lose the freelancer blinkers.
You need to have at least 3 secondary services for every 1 primary
service. This will form the basis for your income stability and our plans
to dominate your market and fix your core issues once and for all.
For more on building a secondary product set head to Handiwork.io for full video training and a mindmap.
Primary - No bullshit business growth ideas
Secondary - Genius Q&A Calls, Playbooks & Video training
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This section of the vision statement is about succinctly picking your end of the market and defining what you stand for.
Heres where it starts to get outside of your comfort zone. What do you
stand for? How specifically are you going to make a difference?
Think about that one for a second. Are you a boutique service where
quality and attention to detail is paramount? Or are you going for
volume purchases in the lower ranges?
Both have their advantages and disadvantages but you cannot afford
to sit on the fence. If you find yourself with troublesome clients youve
probably got a problem with your positioning, do it right and position
yourself where youre most effective and youll never have that problem
again.
Are you aiming for clients who take it seriously? Or clients just starting
out? Think about it, and get it down as a statement, what type of
people do you want to help and what do you call upon to do that.
For me, I strive to help freelancers grow, in this book particularly by
finding their vision and thinking like corporates.
Stand for I strive to help freelancers grow by leveraging big business thinking and making compound growth moves.
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Even with the most simple of freelance output youre still providing a solution to a problem, how does that solution affect the lives of your prospective customer?
If youre finding your services hard to sell youve probably got an issue with framing. A bad pitch or bad client reaction to a proposal is probably directly related to poor framing, not to your abilities as a
freelancer.
So framing, how you explain what you do experientially is really important at this stage. At its binary level a Ferrari is a car, a method of
transport.
What do you think would happen if Mr Ferrari had come up with the
tagline Gets you from A to B? Not a lot, the frame for a Ferrari is a
lifestyle, its the sign of success, its the admiration, its the prestige, its
the experience. Nowhere in the Ferrari frame would it be referred to as
a car.
So think about that. Put into words how you improve the lives of your
clients, try and do it without mentioning your primary or secondary
service.
My frame is that I help freelancers grow revenues while
working less and having more time to do things that matter.
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Okay so heres the fun part, the formula. if you pull together answers to those 4 key elements then construct your vision statement like this:
Formula [companyname] [standfor]. We help [customer] by [theframe] with [primary] and [secondary]
Freelancelift vision statementFreelancelift exists to help freelancers grow by leveraging big business thinking and making compound growth moves. We help freelance designers, writers & marketers grow revenues while working less with our no Bullshit business growth
ideas, Genius Q&A Calls, Playbooks & Video training
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The key here is to use this powerful statement to your advantage, to place it at the heart of your marketing message and help guide you through decisions that need to be made.
This is the starting point for your propelled growth, something you can put into action right now. Armed with this statement you can make better decisions on marketing, partnerships, branding and more.
This book forms part of my wider resources on one of the five pain points for freelancers. Click the link below for more resources on the topic:
Head to Knowing the steps to growth >