Lesson 1 of 4:
“Why Your Skills, Experience, Credentials, and Portfolio, Has NOTHING or Little To Do With Your Ability to Build A Successful Freelance Business…”
From : John Pagulayan
San Pedro, Laguna
This may be shocking to most freelancers…
But even though the freelancers inside this pic can command a monthly six figure income, they’re all just ordinary people.
NONE of them are business graduates, marketing wizards, or a great salesman. Heck, one of them didn’t even graduate college. 😉
Because you see, in the land of freelancing, your skills, your experience, your credentials, your portfolio, has NOTHING or little to do with your ability to acquire high-paying gigs.
Skeptic?
Take a look at this case study from one of my students, Marvin…
Hey guys Marvin here and I just want to stop by and share my results from following John’s Tips…
It’s been a while since sinubukan ko yung scripts and outlines from him dahil na din sa almost 1 month na pahinga from work but since last week, I started to really implement his strategy and as of yesterday to be exact I was able to close a deal worth $3,494 with an ongoing $997 per month for both designing a lead generation funnel and Facebook Ad Management..
Napakasimple lang ng action step na ginawa ko I “barely” followed what John said na to CONNECT with people in specific groups where your prospective clients hang out, connect with them and dive deep into their market to see their real STRUGGLE…
I then volunteered to check that person’s funnel pages and create a 15 min analysis of some things she can improve with her funnel [this is providing VALUE] then I mentioned that I can handle those stuff if she wants to then I ended the video and sent it to her…
Kinabukasan nag-message siya ulit at sabi na interested daw siya malaman kung ano yung service ko and paano daw gagawin ko… so ano pa ba ginawa ko?
Kinuha ko na proposal template ni master at gumawa ng proposal then gumawa ulit ng video going through my proposal kasi LIVE call was not possible dahil sa timezone at schedule niya.. inexplain ko lahat ng sinulat ko sa proposal then sent it to her…
Tapos the next day ulit natanggap ko na yung response niya which is basically a closed deal na. 🙂
Nasend ko na invoice so basically naghihintay na lang ako ng upfront payment then start na kami sa project specifics.
Gusto ko lang ipakita na may resulta talaga basta labas lang sa comfort zone. Kadalasan hiya lang naman kalaban natin at insecurities pero in reality, wala naman talaga dapat ikatakot. All you have to do is believe in yourself and your service.
I hope na nakatulong post ko, comment YES if Oo or No if hindi LOL! (yan ang pamatay na outro sa template at tingin ko yan talaga nag dala. hahaha!)
Pag may tanong kayo comment lang at subukan kong mag provide ng value sa lahat..
Thanks again guys at kay Master John! keep hustling!
P.S. With regards sa pricing sobraaaang alangan ako sumingil na ganyang amount. Naisip ko bahala na since I believe in my service at sa abilities ko I went ahead and charged a premium fee…
Totoo nga na hindi man lang naghanap ng portfolio. Naisip ko nga pano kung scammer lang ako at chikka2x lang lahat ng sinabi ko? Hahaha! Well, ganun katindi ang strategy and scripts talaga… super effective! Pag napunta sa masamang kamay alams na kaya gamitin sa tama!
Now some would read this and go… “That’s it!??”
I can’t blame you.
Back when I was starting out, I really thought I needed to have years of experience, some kick-ass credentials, and a portfolio bursting with past client work to be able to charge those kinds of fees.
In my head it seems there should be more.
Well, THERE IS more…
But NOT the things most of us freelancers think we need.
In fact, what I mentioned above are the least important factors of having a sought-after, highly-paid, stress-free, freelance business.
Because if you really look at the case study above, he only did 3 important things…
CONNECT.
FIND THEIR STRUGGLE.
PROVIDE VALUE.
Now let me stop for a second and say this…
All great freelancers, those who charge ridiculously high fees, begin with a simple process that allows them to do these three things with ease.
Which is why before you try and find your next (or first) client, you should have a deep insight into these three things:
Your Ideal Client
Their problem
Your Value
1. Identifying your IDEAL CLIENT allows you to easily know who you’d want to connect with and where to find them. Because seriously, how will you find something you don’t even know?
2. Knowing their PROBLEM allows you to have insight into their wants, emotions, and their biggest struggle.
3. Knowing the VALUE you provide allows you to ‘custom-fit’ your solution based on their biggest problem.
I can’t stress this enough.
What you do has very little meaning to the client compared to the value and results you can help them achieve.
All this, before you even try to get a single client.
Because just like what my mentor and client Ryan Levesque would say…
“The secret to succeeding in business is actually the same as it was 100 years ago…
…Find out what people want and give it to them…”
Simple, isn’t it?
Yet there will still be folks who’ll read this far and think…
“Don’t you need to be really good at what you do to charge that high?”
Well, are you ready for the truth?
The answer is, ‘No.’
Think about it…
Most of us (if not all) are hired before the client even witnesses a single shred of what we do.
So how do you expect them to judge your fees based on something they have no idea about?
It’s not about your skill.
It frankly never was.
Then again, this doesn’t mean you should be charging tens of thousands of dollars if you can’t generate results for your clients.
That’s not the point.
I’m writing this piece assuming you’re not a scammer and you only want what’s best for your clients.
Like Marvin said above…
“Pag napunta sa masamang kamay alams na kaya gamitin sa tama!”
All I’m pointing out is the absurd excuse of ‘I’m not skilled enough’ as reason for why they’re not having any success getting clients.
That’s just bullshit.
Here, let me give you another example from Christi…
See what I mean?
You may not be THE expert at what you do but this shouldn’t stop you from getting the clients you want at the rates you want.
In fact, you could be like Christi who gets clients for herself and outsources the work to experts instead while sharing the profit.
And like all successful freelancers, all she does is find out who her ideal clients are, identify their problems, and give value by offering her solution to those problems.
Now I don’t want to overwhelm you with one freelancing tip after another.
But in the meantime, there’s a neat little strategy you can do RIGHT NOW to apply what you just learned inside this lesson.
You see…
Most people make this mistake of trying to make people see how awesome their service is.
They always try to ‘create’ demand.
I see this everytime.
For example…
People selling chatbots or social media services when most prospects don’t even know what it is.
A struggling freelancer would try to sell how awesome chatbot is, why it’s 100x better than other channels, and how it’s the next best thing since sliced bread.
The mediocre ones will try to wow the prospects with case studies, portfolio, and testimonials from people who worked with them.
The best ones, however, know for a fact, that most of their prospects are not even aware of how it works.
So instead of generating demand for something people don’t even know they want (which is almost impossible)…
They tap on the existing WANT every business owner has — more leads AND sales.
Only then do they position their service as a way to give their prospects what they want.
Like the great Eugene Schwartz once said…
So you may want to ask yourself…
What problem does my service solve and how can I position it so it gives them what they really want?
The answer to that question is what you’d like to talk about in front of your prospects.
As to how you’d do this…
First, you need to find an answer to that simple, but challenging question…
WHAT DO YOU DO?
Of course, you can answer with a one-liner job description. But like we learned above, it’s better to tailor fit or position what you do based on who your clients are and what they ‘think’ they want.
Remember, clients don’t buy services — they buy the results they think your service can give them.
And to make things simple, you can just follow this format…
I help [ideal client], [their problem] or [results you can help them achieve] using [your solution/skill].
Easy peasy.
And you know you have a good one when it makes your prospects stop in their tracks and say…
“How the hell do you do that!?”
“Count me in!”
“I’m interested!”
“Would love to know more…”
And once they do, all you have to do is invite them to hop in on a call with you, close them, and you’ve got yourself a client.
Just like this example…
Pretty cool, right?
So look…
In Lesson #1 of this workshop we’ve already busted some freelancing myths and discovered a shortcut to getting paid your desired rates without being the best at what you do.
That to have a thriving freelance business, you don’t need to be a business graduate, a marketing wizard, or a great salesman.
You don’t need to have decades of experience or credentials to be successful.
You don’t need to have a portfolio list as thick as an encyclopedia to land your dream client.
All of which should be as incredibly exciting for you to hear, as it was for me when I was first starting out. It removed a ton of things I thought I needed to do to become good at freelancing.
The best part?
None of this is theory.
And if you’re the type of person who loves to see examples, there’s gonna be a lot of those in the next lesson.
Examples of REAL freelancers applying this method and getting results.
But for now, my question for you is this…
In this lesson, what’s your single biggest takeaway?
And based on what we’ve covered so far, what are you most excited about?
Leave a comment below to let me know.
And if you can think of someone else in your life who would benefit from this lesson…
I would love for you to just click on the ‘LIKE’ button and ‘SHARE’ this with them.
I’ll see you on the next lesson.
Rooting for you,
John “no longer struggling” Pagulayan