I spent most of 2011 working a full-time job and juggling dozens of clients in an effort to pay my bills. In late August 2010 I found myself in a position of less money and roughly triple my normal expenses, and by the end of that year and all through 2011 I struggled against a sea of debt and very little income.
I made the mistake of being so in-need of income, that I took on every job that came my way, especially the small, low-paying jobs since they were plentiful. I scraped by on my salary and these small jobs through the entire year, living (barely) from paycheck to paycheck. It was less than ideal. I worked roughly 65-70 hours every week between my day job and my freelance work; taking up every minute of my free time in the evenings and weekends. Sleep was a luxury I could not afford.
Work smarter, not harder.
My colleague, friend, and client Jimmy would repeat a phrase time and again in reference to his children, his work or his home life. Every time I heard it I thought it was a great idea, but had no way of making it practical. It’s a phrase we’ve all heard, many times I’m sure! “Work smarter, not harder”. Okay, so what do I do with that? that’s easy to say but how do I use that to my benefit?
Then I tried something new.
Instead of being talked down on my (already low) pricing, and working (after taxes) for almost nothing, devaluing my personal time, I decided to raise my rates, and hold fast against the effort to get me to lower them. What happened then? The clients that wanted lots of work for less-than-minimum-wage started vanishing. Okay, so at first I started to panic, and even almost called some back to offer lower rates… But I didn’t; I held fast to my worth. What happened next, was actually surprising.
I wanted clients that were hiring me because I’m the expert
Once the slew of sweat-shop laborers (okay they aren’t that bad) asked for quotes and laughed me off as they left, I started getting quote requests from people and businesses that were serious about my skills and wanted to hire me for those skills.
It dawned on me that the majority of clients previously had wanted to pay me less, work me more, and not listen to the direction I tried to guide them to. I wanted clients that were hiring me because I’m the expert; and I found that the kind of clients I was (am) attracting with my new rates, are the clients who are hiring me because they want an expert, not someone who they control like a computer mouse.
So now I have fewer clients. I work less, and despite that, I make about the same amount of money. That’s working smarter, not harder.
Doubling my rates was the best thing to do, not only for me, but for my clients too. Now I can focus on the work I’m being paid (as the expert) to do, and still manage to have a home and social life too!