If you’re a solo consultant or freelancer, chances are you left a good-paying job to launch your own business. If you’re like me, a few of the reasons you set out on your own include more freedom and independence and the chance to earn more money for your family.
It can take time but achieving a six-figure income as a solo consultant or freelancer isn’t just possible… it’s eminently doable. In this article, I want to give you 5 income secrets to becoming a six-figure consultant as quickly as possible:
#1: Focus on Marketing
Of all the income secrets on this list, this one is probably the hardest to implement. When they’re just starting out, most consultants and freelancers understand the need to market themselves. In fact, before you signed up your first client, you probably spent all your time focused on marketing your business.
So often, though, once a consultant finds his or her first couple of clients, they shift into heavy client-service mode. They know they need to provide excellent services to their initial customers, and they let marketing slide. Many solopreneurs go from spending 100% of their time marketing to 5% of their time marketing.
This is a huge mistake. You need to have a steady stream of new customers coming in if you want to reach the six-figure level. If you’re a solo entrepreneur, you should never be spending less than 1/3 of your time marketing. This will ensure that you’re always attracting new clients and will make the rest of the income secrets in this article much easier to implement.
#2: Build Your E-Mail List
Much of the marketing work you do will be done online. And when it comes to online marketing, the number one thing you should be focusing on is building your e-mail list. E-mail is the “killer app” of online marketing, and your e-mail list should be the foundation of your customer pipeline.
There are many income secrets for online marketing, but focusing on e-mail is the most important one of all. To learn a step-by-step strategy for building your list, read How to Build a Bigger E-Mail List for Your Business.
#3: Use the Right Tools
The tools you use to build your business matter. Your customer CRM, your website platform, your e-mail list provider, your print shop… they all matter. But here’s the honest truth: you don’t need to get too hung up on these things.
Yes, you should do your research, but one of the best income secrets I’ve ever gotten from a colleague is that it’s better to make an informed decision and go for it than to get analysis paralysis trying to find the exact perfect tool for the job. This is particularly true for online tools, where you are likely able to find a couple of different products in each category that are relatively similar.
If you’d like my recommendations for some tools that you should be using to build your business (and which I use to build mine), click here.
#4: The Fortune is in the Follow-Up
One of the most powerful income secrets to learn is that when it comes to marketing, the fortune is in the follow-up. So many consultants and freelancers make connections with potential clients and then never follow-up, or follow-up once or twice, and then let the relationship go fallow.
There’s an old saying in advertising that someone needs to see your ad 7 times before they remember it. A similar thing is true in marketing your services: you often need to reach out 7 or 8 times to potential clients who showed an interest in working with you in order to make the sale.
This is also true for your online marketing and e-mail list. Once someone signs up for your list, you need to stay in touch with them through your e-mail newsletter and e-mail sales offers… over and over again… in order to get them to buy.
#5: Build Passive Income Streams
Every consultant and freelancer can use passive income streams to rapidly grow their revenue. This is a such a powerful income secret that I’ve built this entire website around this simple truth.
Building passive income streams means taking what you know (your consulting or freelancing knowledge) and packaging it into products you can sell online… things like e-books, webinars, and classes. Offering these info products alongside your consulting services can help you double your revenue, and will also help you sign-up new clients. To learn more about building passive income streams, read Why Passive Income Streams are So Important for Freelancers and Consultants.
There’s No Easy Path: Ignore These Income Secrets at Your Peril
Just because building a six-figure consulting or freelancing business is doable doesn’t mean it is easy. Building a business of any kind takes hard work and determination. But there are tried and true strategies that can make the process easier and more effective. Use the 5 income secrets above to help you build the income you dream of in your business.
Photo Credit: Free-Photos from Pixabay
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