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Welcome to this week's edition of Freelance Fuel, where, as always, we share curated content that will hopefully inspire your business or get you started.
Today we look at when you can start selling on retainer, freelance podcasts that should be on your radar, how and why you should take a second look at your sleep and not work all night, and how your success is tied to your ability to think long term.
Let's get started.
/Jannik from Factofly
🎟️ Sell on retainer
In the freelance world, income tends to fluctuate up and down a bit, and a freelance dryspell is something that is almost inevitable for most people.
😱 Periods where there's just a little longer between tasks.
According to our own figures, more than 70% of freelancers sell on a pure hourly rate. That's not the biggest problem, but that bag can be shaken up a bit.
There's nothing like having fixed appointments, and you can do a lot to move your customers from a pure hourly agreement to a retainer.
Here are some signals you can pay extra attention to:
- Repeat business: If your customer repeatedly contacts you to solve the same type of problem.
- Long-term need: Your customer has a project that extends over a longer period of time.
- Strategic input and consultation: If your customer starts coming to you for advice that falls outside of simple task completion, a retainer can often be a natural next step.
Of course, you should only try a retainer agreement if it fits into your business model, but landing a couple of retainer agreements gives you peace of mind and room to chase new customers.
We've written quite a bit about pricing, where retainer is of course part of the mix.
🔊 The sound of freedom
Whenever we highlight podcasts worth your time, there's always good interest. Here you have four that are worth putting into rotation:
🇺🇸 The American
"The side hustle show" by Nick Loper
Created for those who still have their day job. Nick Loper interviews people with the wildest side hustles.
"Being freelance" by Steve Folland
More than 200 freelancers have been guests on the program hosted by the entertaining Steve Folland.
🇩🇰 The Danish
"Supertrend: digital nomads" by 24/7
Liselotte Lyngsø and Lars Tvedei spoke to 3 experts - representing different perspectives on life as a digital nomad. Find out if a life on the move is for you.
Iværksætterhistorier is Denmark's (perhaps) largest podcast about entrepreneurship. You could start by listening to the episode about Factofly, where we talk about the conditions for freelancers in the Danish labor market and the story behind the business here.
😴 Sleeping to success
One of the biggest downsides of being your own boss is that if you're not good at setting boundaries, work can become overwhelming.
There's always something to tighten and new customers to chase.
As a freelancer, it can be tempting to work late into the night, but sleep actually plays a crucial role in your path to success.
Here are 5 reasons why you should prioritize your sleep:
🤝 Increased productivity: Good sleep improves mental clarity and helps make better decisions.
🏃 Physical recovery: Sleep allows the body to repair itself, which is essential for maintaining good health and energy.
🧠 Stress management: A well-rested person is better able to handle stressful situations and maintain mental well-being.
🎨 Improved creativity: Good sleep can lead to increased creativity, which is important for finding new solutions and opportunities.
🤓 Knowledge consolidation: During sleep, information is consolidated, which improves memory and learning.
We could throw a lot of resources about sleep your way, but today let's just pick one.
Headspace has collected some of the best for you here. Sleep well!
🧐 Think years not days
"We vastly overestimate how much we can get done in a month, and simultaneously underestimate what we can achieve in a decade."
We tend to only engage in things that can show a return in the here and now.
If we can't point to content - whether it's on LinkedIn, in a newsletter or on a website - that has proven to be worth the investment within a short period of time, it gets cut.
But remember why you started in the first place. Credibility takes time to build and it's hard to buy.
And if you want to land the big fish, it's ultimately credibility that will land you the job.
