Out of books to read and going into withdrawals, I hit up Amazon to see what Brian Tracy had to offer me. Since I am a huge lover of Eat That Frog, I just knew he’d have something else I’d fall in love with.
I was right.
Brian Tracy had several titles for me to choose from. But, since I am now getting ready to transition myself into full time freelancing The Psychology of Selling: Increase Your Sales Faster and Easier Than You Ever Thought Possible
After all, that’s what freelance writers have to do. SELL their services. Don’t think any differently. If you want to freelance you will be a salesman, a service provider, and an accountant. It’s kind of a package deal.
Anyway back to the story.
I have been having trouble connecting to books lately for some reason, but not this one. It told me what I needed to hear right when I needed to hear it.
You Only Get What You Think You’re Worth
You only get what you THINK you are worth.
Money.
Respect.
Love.
What do you really deserve? What are you worth?
Let’s talk money. I have complained about not making enough money several times. I don’t have a fancy college degree, or any college degree for that matter, which always seems to be my excuse.
The truth is, if I was offered three times the salary at my current job I’d probably feel a little sleazy taking it. Why? Because I don’t feel like my job is worth that much money.
“Your beliefs are your reality.”
Popular blogger and successful freelance writer, Carol Tice, says aim no lower than $100 per hour when freelancing. I aim for $30. While this is still a huge step up from my current salary it makes me wonder if I should be aiming higher.
According to Tracy if you think you’re worth $100/hour then you are. If you think you are worth $10/hour then you are. This doesn’t mean you can go from $10/hour to $100/hour in a day either. You have to take the necessary steps.
Brian Tracy’s Solution
In a nutshell Brian Tracy says building your self-confidence should be your number one priority in sales. You will only make sales if you are confident in yourself and know what you’re worth.
To get started, make a goal for how much you want to earn next year. Tracy suggests taking your highest yearly income and increasing it by 25-50%. That’s your goal.
The highest I have ever earned in one year was right around $33,000. So my goal for next year is $50,000. Think I can do it? I do.
Tracy suggests that if your goal is more than 50% of your highest yearly earnings it will feel unrealistic and therefore won’t motivate you. After you have your yearly goal break it down into monthly, weekly, and daily goals. Know how many sales you have to make, how many clients you have to book, or how many emails you have to send to reach those daily goals.
There is an ebb and flow of freelancing that you can’t control. Some weeks you won’t reach your goal, some weeks you’ll surpass it. The point is to keep this goal in front of you. Know you’re worth it!
This book is full of golden nuggets. And I think it’s a must read for anyone who is in sales of any sort. (Freelancing IS sales.). The Kindle version is currently only $2.99.
Do you get paid what you’re worth? If not, what’s holding you back?
I think this is great, Alexa. A lot of succeeding is just having a positive attitude and believing in yourself. I usually wouldn’t say anything as cheesy as that but it’s true!
Thanks, Holly.
As a self-employed hairstylist, this is my biggest problem! I raise prices every couple years, but then continue to give “friendly discounts” if their bill gets above $100. I think “she will freak out over the price and find a new stylist!” Or. ” Our salon isn’t fancy schmancy enough for me to charge full price”. It really boils down to the fact that I don’t think enough of myself to justify charging my set price. I know I am costing my family a lot of money by doing this, but I am way too scared to charge correctly.
You should think enough of yourself, especially if you have long time repeat customers! I know that I definitely would pay my hairstylist more if she asked. I really like her, think she does a good job, and if she raised her prices I would think she deserves it. Sometimes I think she charges me too little so I’ll give her a nice tip.
Maybe you could slowly increase the rate. Don’t think less of yourself!! I am sure you have clients who absolutely love you and wouldn’t go anywhere else. They’d probably be happy to pay you a little more.
I also get where you are coming from. It feels easy to tell you this but I should also be telling myself!
Thanks for the mention!
I really don’t say writers should never aim below $100 an hour. I say that’s a goal, and more for established writers. I advise new writers to look to make $50 an hour, and to aim to move up quickly from there. I have many gigs I’ve ended up doing where the hourly rate is around $75, for various reasons. The point is to aim high, because we all often fall short of our goals. If you aim low, you end up lower…and broke.
You just won’t make a living much below there, if you live in a first world country. Remember, not every hour is billable, and that hourly rates for freelancers are NOT in any way comparable to hourly rates at your day job. Apples to oranges.
Thanks for clearing that up Carol. I need to keep in mind that not every hour is billable. One of the problems I have though, is that I do quite a few things that are not really billable. If I was to work on cutting some of those things out I could definitely increase my billable hours. And, of course this is something I need to keep on my mind if I really want to do well – cut out the unimportant things.
It’s definitely something to think about.
I agree that this concept can apply not only to freelancing or sales, but to pretty much anything you do in life. In a way, it’s like the “self-fulfilling prophecy” theory. The challenge would be changing what is most likely a deeply ingrained perception of yourself. Your self view starts forming from the earliest stages of life. I believe it’s certainly possible to change your thought patterns and belief in yourself. Being aware of it is the first step.
Totally agree! I actually went on to order another book from Brian Tracy “No Excuses, The Power of Self Discipline” which pretty much goes hand in hand with your comment. All habits are learnable. So, even if we have a low self image we can develop the habits to improve that self image and become who we want to be.
Wow! You sound really fired up over this book. I’ll have to check it out. I love ” Eat the Frog”. Maybe I should read that to my kids to do their homework ? Hmmm~ Christie
Hmm that might work! 😀 Give the book to your oldest son and let him have a read!! I want to reread it again this month but keep getting sidetracked. This time I actually want to do the exercises at the end of each chapter.
I cannot wait to read this book!! Thanks for the recommendation. I need this.
Your welcome! I hope you get out of it what I did!
That’s some life changing advice: we get what we think we ought to get, in a lot of things. Karrass is famous for saying that in business & in life, we do not get what we deserve…we get what we negotiate. I think they’re both getting at an insight you hit on: our expectations are powerful drivers for our results.
Yes they are. This book even goes on to say that if you feel like your only worth 50k a year and reach that amount in October you won’t do any work the rest of the year. Once you hit what you feel like you deserve your ambition disappears.
I used to think small minded and that’s exactly the return I got. It’s not easy at all to stand up and demand what you’re worth…and sometimes you will backslide…sometimes you HAVE to backslide if you really do need to feed your family. But overall yes, I couldn’t agree more.
Sometimes you do have to backslide. Right now I have a couple of people who I work with that I feel like want a lot for a little money. But, I keep telling myself I need to earn money now so I’ll keep up the work while working on something bigger. As long as I actually work on these bigger things I am fine with doing what I need (and have) to do now.
Having the drive and believing in yourself is half of the battle. I’m sure you’ll be able to reach your goal!
Thanks, Lance.
You can totally do it! I’m cheering for you! Looks like such an inspirational read…I may have to head to Amazon….
Thank You, Brynn 😀
Self-confidence is an important ingredient to success. I’ll add this one to my “to read” list. Thanks!
Definitely worth a read!
I need to read that book! I think this concept applies to just about any job. There are always people who will undercut your rate to get more volume, but you need to just let cheap be cheap and focus on what you have to offer that is worth the higher rate. This is a lesson I can certainly refocus on for my day job and if I try to do much freelancing.
Nothing to do with this post really, but the people who fired me sent me an email wanting to reinstate me. Not sure why, but I sent in my first job yesterday as a make or break. I picked the hardest topic they had and knocked it out right away. I was in the zone. If they hated it, I was done. If they liked it, I would move forward. It got approved right away, and I actually got compliments. I think I was trying too hard on the first ones. I need to stick with what I know and just let it happen.
Freelancing is a whole different world! It seems like when it comes to selling your services you really do have to have that salesperson perspective and be willing to pass on deals that will pay you less than you know you’re worth. This sounds like a great book and I think everyone has room to improve when it comes to selling. Best of luck hitting your goal income!
Great post!! I also am trying to up what I am worth!!
I think setting goals for anything we do in life is the driving force from getting us from point A to point B. Without goals or challenges we have nothing to work towards. I agree, if you feel you are worth x amount, don’t settle for less.
Wow, Alexa – that line, “You only get what you think you are worth” really socked me one. I never thought of achieving goals/making money in those terms before. Powerful stuff!
Confidence and believing in yourself really is powerful. I like how the book advocates small, achievable goals for income. I was severely underpaid in my first job in my field and my salary jumped 50% within 2.5 years after two more job changes. At this point in my career I have to hold out for two years so I don’t look like a job jumper but I’m aiming for a full 100% increase at my next position and I know I can get it just like you know you’ll make $50,000 next year. 🙂
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I find this post interesting and an eye opener, especially now that I’m trying to give my blog a fresh start. It is good when you have an idea of what you are doing(a deliberate act), cos that way you can control the results and feedback. moreover, there is nothing more to building a relationship than having a clear tone people can understand and relate to…giving a clear picture of who are, your ideas and personality.