#038: Get Better Clients Who Pay More [Podcast]
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Today, I share how to get better clients who pay you more money for your products and services. At one point in my career, I would take on as many as six simultaneous projects, and work as much as 80 to 100 hours a week. That is simply crazy. There is a better way, and in this episode I\\u2019ll show it to you..
Other points of interest in this weeks episode:
- How to read your customers minds, and know exactly what they want.
- Are you living a life that just \\u201chappens to you\\u201d? Or are you happening to life? Stu McLaren gives us the answer.
- In our spiritual foundations segment, will answer the question: does God care even about my small problems, like the pimple on the end of my nose? How could he have time for our tiny little problems?
That\\u2019s all coming up on today\\u2019s episode\\u2026 so fasten your seatbelt\\u2026 and let\\u2019s roll.
Tip Of The Week
One of the best ways to find out what your audience wants from you is to ask them. I suggest using a tool like Survey Monkey for this purpose. In fact, I\'m going to demonstrate this suggestion in practice, by asking you how I can improve this podcast. Click here to take the survey
Lifestyle Business With Stu McLaren
Stu McLaren challenges us, by asking: are you living a life you designed, or are you living a life that happens by accident?
Spiritual Foundations
My blood pressure used to go up every time my phone rang. Why is this person (any person) calling me? Don\'t they know how busy I am? I\\u2019ve got news for you\\u2026 that attitude is a sickness.
Jesus is the perfect model of what a human being led by the Spirit looks like. How they walk and talk and interact with other people. And Jesus always had time. He still does.
Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, \\u201cLet the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them\\u2026
Matthew 19:13\\u201314
I am not sharing this to judge anybody for feeling busy or stressed out. But it strikes me as remarkable that the Son of God always has time for us. He is infinitely available. We don\\u2019t have to wait in line.
There is a mindset that exists that I call the \\u201cpoor little me\\u201d mindset. This is the line of thinking that leads you to say things like, \\u201cGod is too busy, and this is only important to poor little me.\\u201d
This kind of thinking is focused on your own self-worth, or lack of it.
But the truth is, God is infinite.
He is instantly available to everyone of us-and he is interested in every detail of our lives. Scripture tells us that he even numbers the hairs on our head. Imagine that.
Whatever might be troubling you right now, it is not too big, and not too small, for Jesus. Nothing is impossible for him. And he has an infinite amount of time just for you
Ask him for help. Open your heart and let all your emotions out. He\\u2019s big. He can take it.
Approach him just like a little child approaching your father-the perfect father, the one without the shortcomings that earthly fathers have-and ask your daddy for what you need.
He\\u2019s ready to give it to you.
Feature Segment: How To Get Better Clients Who Pay More
As I mentioned earlier, when I was beginning to build my freelance business I took on too many clients and worked too many hours. This is chiefly because I was not selective about who my clients were, and did not think through how much they were paying me.
This key mistake took its toll. It affected my health, my attitude, and even my family relationships.
What\\u2019s worse, many of the clients I took on during this time were\\u2026 well\\u2026 jerks. It seemed that some of them existed only to torture freelancers.
These days, my business is totally different. I work well under 40 hours most weeks. .. and I make a lot more money.
I enjoy every hour that I do work. And I simply don\\u2019t tolerate cheap or annoying clients anymore. One\\xa0 of the annoying variety occasionally does slip through under the radar, but once I detect them, I am very quick to chase them back across the border.
I have 9 suggestions that will help you attract and secure higher-quality clients, who pay you much higher fees than you currently receive. You may be surprised to learn this is easier than it sounds.
- Suggestion 1: Decide in advance what you want your business and life to look like.
- Suggestion 2: \\xa0Reverse engineer what kind of clients you need to make that happen.
- Suggestion 3: Define your criteria of what constitutes a good client \\u2013 in writing.
- Suggestion 4: Identify the qualities that are evident in a bad client.
- Suggestion 5: Commit yourself to never again except a bad client.
- Suggestion 6: Develop a client screening process.
- Suggestion 7: Script everything at first.
- Suggestion 8: Confront with love and boldness; use brave communication.
- Suggestion 9: Kill the monsters while they\\u2019re little.
Special Announcements
- I will be making an appearance onstage at James Malinchak\\u2019s \\u201cBig Money Speaker Bootcamp\\u201d December 6-9 in LA. I\\u2019m super-excited about this event! I don\\u2019t know if you saw ABC\\u2019s hit TV show, \\u201cSecret Millionaire\\u201d\\u2026\\xa0 James was featured on the show. At the Boot Camp, he shares his strategies and tips on how to become a Big Money Speaker.
- I\\u2019m attending the Platform Conference in Nashville. If you do business online, you MUST attend this conference that helps you \\u201cget noticed in a noisy world.\\u201d It\\u2019s being put on by Michael Hyatt and Ken Davis. My friends Stu McLaren and Carrie Wilkerson are speaking. I\\u2019m also looking forward to meeting\\xa0 Jeff Goins, Cliff Ravenscraft, Pat Flynn, Ken Davis, John Saddington, Michele Cushatt, and Andrew Buckman. Unlike most conferences, there\\u2019s not a single speaker I\\u2019m not excited to hear and to meet. Get a ticket while you can!
- I am getting tremendous feedback about the \\u201cBig Idea, Big Plan\\u201d teleseminar I hosted last week with my \\u201cmystery guest\\u201d. Replay recording available for a short time.
- My next podcast will be on the topic of \\u201cHow To Thrive In A Turbulent Economy\\u201d. If you have a question about that, please leave me a voicemail message. This is a good way for you to promote your own website, because I will be happy to link to your site in return for you asking a question.
Episode Resources
Here are links to resources\\xa0 mentioned during this episode:
Would you like to have me speak at your event? Click here to visit my speaking page and get details on my availability.
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Call in your questions or comments to our new, fancy \\u201crequest line\\u201d at\\xa0(509) 713-2679
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