Freelancers get started for a variety of reasons: autonomy, flexibility, and control of their own schedules. But let’s be honest, at the end of the day we are all here to make money. Whatever your original goals were for getting into freelancing, getting paid and living a comfortable life remains important.
Figuring out your pricing and packaging and how to present your offerings when you first start freelancing can take a while.
You have to consider
- the skillset or service you’re providing;
- why you’re an expert they should trust to provide that service;
- the overall value of the work you’re doing; and then
- how much you’re charging for said work.
Figuring out your own pricing and packaging is an evolution on its own that will change and progress as you move forward in your freelance career.
Outside of just elevating our own pricing and packaging, there are other ways that we as freelancers can progress in our careers and make more money. The key to making more money as a freelancer is to add as much value to your client as possible.
One way to add more value is to partner with other freelancers who provide complimentary services. This allows you to up-level your offering, and in turn, charge more for it. Here’s how to get started with these partnerships and some insights I’ve learned in doing this myself.
Partner with other experts
Freelancing is typically seen as a solo career, but taking advantage of and partnering with others in the community is a huge opportunity!
When my business partner, Andrea Wildt, and I were freelancing, we offered marketing demand generation services to early-stage tech companies. But those companies often needed other talent to actually stand up the programs we were building into our strategy.
We often brought in writers, editors, designers, developers, and others to partner with us on these larger projects. By bringing our clients a full team to get the job done, it provided an immense amount of value that we were able to build into our costs. Plus we charged way more than we would have been able to on our own and we didn’t have the overhead of a typical agency.
Not only did we end up making more money, but all parties involved typically ended up seeing better profits on this type of project.
The important thing to remember is that it doesn’t have to be a massive project like a full demand generation strategy for you to try this. There are several ways you can make this work.
Here’s an example: If you’re a writer, you can put together a full package where you provide the actual content, the revisions through an editor, and the social copy to accompany the content. Bulking up this offering provides a lot of value for the client, by saving them time on revisions and allowing them to go straight into distribution.
A Few Things to Pay Attention to When Taking This Route
Partnering with other freelancers can be hugely beneficial for your business—but it doesn’t come without its potential challenges and obstacles. Here are a few things to keep in mind if you plan on collaborating with other freelancers on projects:
- Position the package up-front as a team effort.
When selling a project that involves numerous parties, take the time up-front to package it nicely into one larger proposal. When creating that proposal, spend more time baking in the costs of all parties, estimating the time you think will be involved, and collectively figuring out how each party works and communicates best.
If you can really package to show the value and depth of what everyone will be provided, it’ll be hard for your client to say no.
- Work cohesively as a team with one point of contact.
We typically see this type of partnership work best when you have one main point of contact—or at least there’s a clear hierarchy for who is approving and delivering what.
This alleviates questions like:
- Who will lead communications?
- Who will execute?
- Will someone do both?
Some of the experts you partner with might just want to deliver the work without speaking to the client. If you’re a writer working with an editor, maybe that person is just behind the scenes supporting you and not interacting directly in meetings and emails.
Settling this up front makes life easier not only for you, but also for the client, so there’s little to no confusion.
- Find partners that you trust.
We all know that our reputations as freelancers are vitally important.
Because of this, make sure you’re either vetting your partners, finding people that come highly recommended, or bringing in freelancers with whom you’ve worked in the past.
If you’re a writer, consider using a site like EditorNinja to find a pre-vetted editor partner for your next project. Having conversations and vetting your freelancers before you kick off the project will make sure you’re all aligned from the get-go.
Ready to Make More Money?
Some people prefer to go the solo route as a freelancer, and I respect and acknowledge that. But if you’re looking for a way to elevate your offering, make more money, and build long-term connections with your community, partnering with other experts may be a great path for you to consider.
When you’re ready to streamline your freelance business, check out Harlow. It’s everything you need to run a thriving freelance business.
Bio: Samantha Anderl is the co-founder of Harlow – an all-in-one tool to help freelancers manage their business more confidently. She’s experienced the ups and downs of freelancing first-hand and is passionate about helping freelancers transform their work lives. Follow her on Twitter to keep in touch!