Category: Podcast

The Busy Freelancer’s Guide To Getting Your Time Back (By Building Systems That Scale) | With Rachael Mueller

Post author By James Cross
Post date October 4, 2022
No Comments on The Busy Freelancer’s Guide To Getting Your Time Back (By Building Systems That Scale) | With Rachael Mueller

Every successful freelancer has hit that wall where you can't say yes to even ONE more project… This is usually the same time you start getting more inquiries than you've ever seen before.

In these busy seasons of business, there are a few options you could take…

You could turn down all those extra projects (and say goodbye to that extra $$$).
You could say “yes” to those projects and just hate your life for the next few weeks or months while you scramble to deliver (this is the route most of us take).
You take the responsible, profitable, healthy route of building systems that scale.

If you hate money, you'll probably take option 1 and turn down those extra projects. If you're irresponsible and want to live in a state of overwhelm, you'll take option 2.

If you're a responsible, mature business owner, you'll go with option 3 and build systems that help you deliver high-quality work faster, more efficiently, and without dropping the ball or overwhelming yourself.

In this week's episode of the 6 Figure Creative Podcast, I interviewed systems expert Rachael Mueller. She's a virtual COO that helps service-based business owners plan, create, and manage systems that scale so you can take on more projects in less time.

If you're overwhelmed, working too much, or just feel like you have WAY too many project details floating around in your brain, and you're not sure what to do, this episode is for you.

In this episode you’ll discover:

Making your business run smoothly
Unloading your mind to focus on creativity
Flow charts – they're not just for nerds
Setting up your systems for success
The three key systems any business needs
Using templates to cut out wasted time
Logging your time to see where it goes
Why the major CRMs aren't the best for freelancers
Consolidating your tasks for easy reference

Podcast

How To Land High-caliber Clients By Emailing Strangers | The Cold Outreach Masterclass With Colleen Welsch

Post author By James Cross
Post date September 27, 2022
No Comments on How To Land High-caliber Clients By Emailing Strangers | The Cold Outreach Masterclass With Colleen Welsch

In this episode, Colleen Welsch breaks down the cold outreach process she used to land some of the biggest brands in the beauty industry.

This email process can work in any industry to start bringing in consistent clients no matter how much experience you have.

If you've ever wanted to see a proven process for cold outreach, this interview is for you.

In this episode you’ll discover:

Why failure is not the end
Starting fresh after your business collapses
Working with major brands just by asking
What you need to have in place before emailing strangers
How to face rejection as a freelancer
How to craft a cold email
How many times to follow up if no one replies
Brian and Colleen's original (and embarrassing) AIM usernames

Podcast

How To Use Social Media To Start ATTRACTING Clients (Instead Of Chasing Them) | With Chris Smith

Post author By James Cross
Post date September 20, 2022
No Comments on How To Use Social Media To Start ATTRACTING Clients (Instead Of Chasing Them) | With Chris Smith

The most difficult part of freelancing is attracting high-quality clients to you (especially early in your career).

Most people resort to two main “desperation tactics” when their schedules thin out…

Desperation Tactic 1: They start sending cold emails/DMs to people who don't have any idea who they are.

Desperation Tactic 2: They start publishing desperate-looking “hire me” posts on their socials. Things like “50% off THIS MONTH ONLY. HMU”.

While they're chasing leads down like a starving troglodyte desperately hunting for food, there's a better way to market your business as a creative.

So what's the better way? That's what Chris Smith—our guest this week—wrote the book on…

While the book is called “The Conversion Code“, the tagline says it all: “Stop chasing leads and start attracting clients”.

No one wants to be “hunted”, but most people want to be attracted to something/someone.

In this episode, Chris breaks down how to use social media to start attracting more clients instead of resorting to desperation tactics.

In this episode you’ll discover:

Overcoming the lead generation bottleneck
The number one key to getting booked
Content marketing as a freelancer
Basing your business model on Disney
Getting booked by posting on TikTok
The ROI of social media content creation
Documenting vs. creating content
Looking to others for inspiration

Podcast

Case Study: The Solo Freelancer Earning $1 Million Per Year (It’s Not What You Think)

Post author By James Cross
Post date September 13, 2022
No Comments on Case Study: The Solo Freelancer Earning $1 Million Per Year (It’s Not What You Think)

I recently came across one of the coolest freelance businesses I've ever seen, and I wanted to bring this to the 6 Figure Creative audience.

I'm not going to spoil anything, but this freelancer is earning over $1 Million per year without a staff, without contractors, and he's able to accomplish this just by taking inspiration from a totally different industry than his own.

If you're feeling stagnant, stuck, uninspired, or you're simply not earning what you think you should be in your own business, this episode is absolutely for you.

In this episode you’ll discover:

Why you shouldn't rely on a single point of failure
Taking influence from other businesses outside of your industry
Creating income stability with a better business model
How to stay away from becoming an “inbred business”
How successful entrepreneurs deal with roadblocks
Sharing knowledge with your “competition”

Podcast

How To Spend Less Time Doing The Stuff You Hate | The Easy Ates Framework

Post author By James Cross
Post date September 6, 2022
No Comments on How To Spend Less Time Doing The Stuff You Hate | The Easy Ates Framework

No matter how much you love doing what you do, there are always going to be things that you hate doing but still need to be done.

This is the life of a business owner, and one of the root causes of burnout.

What if I told you there was a way to spend less time doing the stuff you hate so you can spend more time doing what you love?

There is, and it's something called the “Easy Ates” framework. This episode will break down how to use this framework in your own business so you can avoid burnout, work less, and spend much more time enjoying your creative business.

In this episode you’ll discover:

Finding time to work on your business instead of in your business
How successful business owners use the same 24 hours you have
The best app to track your time KPIs
Eliminating the stressors in your business
Brian's 4-step framework for saving time
Systemizing your processes for more efficient business practices
Protecting yourself from outside factors
Procrastinating with perfectionism
Why not all hours are created equal

The “Easy Ates” Framework

Eliminate
- Can you remove this from your business entirely?
Automate
- Can you set up a system to do this for you?
Delegate
- Can someone else do this for you?
Mitigate
- How can we make this task less painful if we can't eliminate, automate, or delegate it?

Podcast

How To Earn Up To $500,000 Per HOUR As A Designer | With Cat Coquillette

Post author By James Cross
Post date August 30, 2022
No Comments on How To Earn Up To $500,000 Per HOUR As A Designer | With Cat Coquillette

By FAR the easiest way to monetize your creative skills is by offering freelance services. The only issue with that approach is that it puts a cap on how much you could ever hope to earn per hour.

$50 per hour? Sure.
$500 per hour? Maybe…
$5,000 per hour!? Possibly
$500,000 per hour? As a freelancer? There's no way that I know of…

The other issue with the freelance business model is that if you're not working, then you're not earning a dime (unless you know some secret hack to get paid time off as a freelancer, in which case hmu).

While freelancing can be a great way to get started as a designer, there's a far better business model that our podcast guest this week has used to earn up to $500k per hour–allowing her to travel the world full-time as a digital nomad.

The business model is partnering with big brands via licensing, and Cat Coquillette has mastered the process of being a prolific creator while also getting her designs placed in some of the biggest stores in the world, including Target, Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom, Bed Bath & Beyond, and more.

Listen now to hear how she built her design business from the ground up while skipping out on the freelance part entirely.

In this episode you’ll discover:

How to skip the freelance game and jump into scaleable income
A tax loophole to write off most of your travel expenses
80/20 for creatives – playing the numbers game
Using Print on Demand services to sell your designs
Being open to all opportunities
Handling criticism well
Contract negotiation – give and take
The importance of an active mailing list
Focusing on the important parts of your business

Podcast

How To Stop Trading Hours For Dollars By Creating An Ascension Ladder | With Rachel Brenke

Post author By James Cross
Post date August 23, 2022
No Comments on How To Stop Trading Hours For Dollars By Creating An Ascension Ladder | With Rachel Brenke

Answer this question: If you don't work today, will you still make money? What if you take the whole week off? Or the whole month?

This is the biggest drawback of being a freelancer. You have to work more if you want to earn more.

There are a number of consequences for this, but the biggest issue for creatives like us is that the more we work, the more we face burnout. The more we face burnout, the higher the chance that we'll lose the initial passion that drove us to this business in the first place.

That means that the more we earn as freelancers, the more we'll face burnout.

I'm sure you see the issue here… while you may love what you do, I'm sure you want to maintain a healthy balance between maintaining creativity and maintaining your bank account.

None of us want to feel like we're on a hampster wheel of working just to pay the bills, but this is the sad reality of some of the most successful freelancers I know. They built amazingly successful careers (at least financially), but they unknowingly built a trap for themselves. As their income increased, so did their lifestyle and bills.

As their bills increased, so did their dependency on their freelance income. This created a perpetual cycle of saying “yes” to projects they otherwise would have said “no” to if they didn't need the money.

So how do we get out of this deadly cycle? Well… One method is to just keep your living expenses (and business expenses) as low as humanly possible. The other method (and one I much prefer) is to break away from directly trading your dollars for hours.

This is the choice that Rachel Brenke took in her own businesses, which have allowed her to scale her income to over $9,000,000.

While she does offer 1-to-1 services just like any typical freelancer, she's also built something called an “ascension ladder”, which has allowed her to keep earning money regardless of whether she works this month or not.

If you're still on the hours-for-dollars treadmill, and you want to break away, this week's episode of the 6 Figure Creative Podcast is for you.

In this episode you’ll discover:

The art (and science) of niching down
How to offer services and products in multiple niches
Automating and outsourcing the stuff you don't want to do
How to build an “ascension ladder” as a freelancer
Why relying on a single point of failure can destroy a business
The 80/20 of content marketing that actually brings in clients

Podcast

The 4 BEST Ways To Become More Valuable To Your Clients (So You Can Charge More) | Takeaways From $100 Million Offers

Post author By James Cross
Post date August 16, 2022
No Comments on The 4 BEST Ways To Become More Valuable To Your Clients (So You Can Charge More) | Takeaways From $100 Million Offers

I'm super excited to share this with you today because this is the stuff that really moves the needle in your business.

This is how you can charge more without losing clients or getting rejected.

This is how you make your clients SO happy that they refer all their friends to you.

This is how you become more attractive to your “dream clients”.

And this framework comes from a business owner earning over $100,000,000 per year… so you know this stuff works.

Today's episode breaks down the 4 BEST ways to become more valuable, and if you get this right, you'll completely transform how you show up to clients.

99% of the freelancers I know neglect all 4 of these areas to their own detriment. As a result, they're losing gigs to their competitors, they get constant pushback on pricing, and they're not generating nearly enough referrals to keep their calendars full.

In this episode you’ll discover:

Focusing on the end goal, not the short term
The value exchange
The importance of social proof and perceived likelihood of achievement
How to close bigger deals
How time delay affects pricing and client acquisition
The expert wins: why experts get the job 9 times out of 10
Why adding friction is a recipe for losing clients

Podcast

How “Growth Hacking” Can Kickstart Your Freelance Business | With Ian Paget

Post author By James Cross
Post date August 9, 2022
No Comments on How “Growth Hacking” Can Kickstart Your Freelance Business | With Ian Paget

Answer this: What have you done this week to bring in new clients?

99% of freelancers would say “uhhhh…..” and proceed to stare at me blankly with a distant look in their eyes.

The sad reality is that most creatives sit around and wait for clients to find them. This is perfectly OK if your business is at the point where you're 100% booked up for the next 6 months with nothing but your ideal clients.

For the rest of us, we have to put in work to fill our calendars.

On this week's episode of the 6 Figure Creative Podcast, I interviewed Ian Paget of Logo Geek. Ian has done a lot over the years to bring in clients as a freelancer.

He's executed multiple growth hacks in his business, which lead to over 90,000 followers on social media. He then used that following to launch one of the top design podcasts (despite being a total introvert).

Ian is the master of taking “imperfect action”, and he's proven over and over again that anyone can face their fears and get out of their comfort zones in order to bring in new clients to their freelance business.

In this episode you’ll discover:

How Ian pivoted from employee to freelancer
Growth hacking social media
The importance of engaging your audience
Overcoming the fears holding you back
Stumbling into success
The tech needed to start a podcast
Launching a podcast with a massive guest

Podcast

The Missing Skills You Need For Surviving (And Thriving) As A Freelancer | With Sarah Townsend

Post author By James Cross
Post date August 2, 2022
No Comments on The Missing Skills You Need For Surviving (And Thriving) As A Freelancer | With Sarah Townsend

You're finally out on your own as a freelancer… no more bosses, offices, fluorescent lights, and no more commute. 🥳

That also means you're now responsible for your own survival. No more regular paychecks, retirement accounts, paid time off, or coworkers who can cover for you.

Do you have all of the skills that it takes to make survive as a freelancer? If not, this is going to be a rough ride on the entrepreneurial roller coaster…

On this episode of 6 Figure Creative, I sat down to talk to Sarah Townsend, the author of “Survival Skills for Freelancers”. She broke down the skills she had to develop to survive (and thrive) for the past 2 years as a freelancer.

In this episode you’ll discover:

The importance of saying no
How to politely turn down a lead
Why working with the wrong people hurts you more than you think
Coping with self-doubt – you're not alone
How social media can be positive or negative for freelancers
Picking the right social media platforms for you
Managing your social media presence effectively
Why you shouldn't expect your followers to know who you are
How to focus on work as a freelancer
Separating personal and work time