How to Increase Your Freelance Income Month After Month After Month

By: Yuwanda Black
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:42:59
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If you've ever wondered why some freelancers struggle along and others seem to intrinsically know to increase their freelance income month after month after month, here are four specific things you can do immediately to get on the money train.

1. Pull out last quarter's sales reports: Looking at your numbers from last quarter will allow you to make some projections for the current quarter.

As you can see, time passes rapidly, if you don't stop and create a sales plan, you will constantly be wondering where your time went. As a freelancer, you are probably so accustomed to putting out daily fires, that you can't get around to planning for the future.

This is deadly to the growth of your freelance career. You absolutely, positively must have a growth plan for your freelance business, or you will always be wondering why you're not making the money you should be making.

2. Write out at least a quarterly marketing schedule: What will you do today, next week, next month to increase sales. Will you send out postcards, write monthly press releases, create weekly e-mail campaigns.

If you write this down, you have a much better chance of sticking to it. This will also allow you to map out major holidays and relevant events that are pertinent to your customers: ie, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Mother's Day, etc.

Doing this will allow you to prepare ad campaigns weeks or months in advance, which by the way, means better ad rates as well. The farther in advance you purchase ads, they cheaper they usually are.

3. Put your schedule within your everyday view: My marketing plan is the first thing I look at every morning because I know that if I don't market, there will eventually be no business.

If you devise a schedule, yet fail to look at it on a daily (or at least, weekly) basis, then you are much less likely to use it. Put it where you can see it. On those days where you have a marketing duty scheduled, do that first.

If you are lucky enough to find some free time before a scheduled duty, work on your marketing campaign. The beauty of this is that it allows you to get in the habit of thinking "marketing first."

4. Track your marketing results: Devise a method to figure out where the bulk of your clients come from. Is it a direct mail campaign, e-mail contact, affiliate links? Whatever it is, find out. This will allow you to increase your marketing in that area.

For example, if you use direct mail, put a code on the back of each mailer. Offer a discount to those who use this code when they give you a subsequent job. This simple tracking method can be used in whatever form you accept orders (via phone, a web site, in-person, etc.)

Good marketing campaigns usually consist of more than one type of marketing. If you're working within a limited budget, try combining one free method (eg, free article distribution, press releases) with a low-cost method (eg, postcard mailing). The key is to advertise on a consistent basis.

Many freelancers market only when they have money. But, there are free methods that can be utilized all the time.

Consider this: Robert W. McChesney, a professor of communications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, cites studies showing that Americans are exposed to as many as 2,000 commercial messages a day. How will yours get through?

Given the ever-crowded ad market, hit and miss advertising (ie, advertising only when you can afford it) will not work. Remember, marketing consistently is the name of the game. This is the ONLY way to build constant sales and increase your income -- month after month after month.

Article source: Expert Articles