Freelance Success

Seven ways to bring in more money this year

by Ann Wylie, president, Wylie Communications Inc.

Here are 10 strategies for making more money while working in your sweats:

Do more. Diversify your business. Look for businesses that thrive at different points in the economic cycle. For example, during boom markets, when companies are staffing, my training business prospers. When companies are laying off, my writing business flourishes as organizations try to get by without staff.

Do less. If, on the other hand, you've never said "no" to a potential client, ask whether you're diversified or fuzzy and unfocused. Seek synergies between your businesses and limit your specialties to three. It's hard to be an authority at everything, and experts earn more than dilettantes.

Drop your hourly rate. "People who charge by the hour are either poor or tired," says my self-employed friend Michael DeMent. About 75 percent charge by the project instead of by the hour or day, according to Advertising Age. If you're charging by the hour, shift your fee basis to a project basis.

Get help. Would you pay $10 to make $250? If you're making your own copies at Kinko's, driving to the post office or ordering office supplies, you're wasting your billable hours on administrative work. Hire an assistant or office manager to handle these tasks and free up your own time for client work, marketing or product development.

Give your work away. Leverage your time by subcontracting some work to others. Pay them a percentage of the fee and keep a profit on their work.

Work for 20 percent off. If you have slow times, accept subcontracted projects. The time and money you save on marketing will more than make up for the "commission" you pay.

Go to sleep. One of my mentors tells me that the only way to get rich is to earn money while you're asleep. Develop a product — a book, a series of audiotapes, a downloadable tipsheet — and you'll be on your way. Plus: For sole proprietors, product development is a form of disability insurance.

Need more techniques for creating a structure that makes your copy easier to read and write? Check out Ann's workshops and learning tools.

About the author

Ann Wylie runs a company called Wylie Communications Inc. Ann works with communicators who want to reach more readers and with organizations that want to get the word out. To learn more about her training, consulting or writing and editing services, call Ann at 816/997-8753 or e-mail her at ann@wyliecomm.com. Get a FREE subscription to Ann's e-mail newsletter at http://www.wyliecomm.com/newsletter_signup.shtml.

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