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How to increase your income as a freelancer month after month after month

If you’ve ever wondered why some freelancers struggle and others seem to intrinsically know how to increase their freelance income month after month after month, here are four specific things you can do right away to jump on the money train.

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

As you can see, time goes by fast, if you don’t stop and create a sales plan, you will constantly be wondering where your time has gone. As a freelancer, he’s probably so used to putting out daily fires that he can’t plan ahead.

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

2. Write at least one quarterly marketing calendar: What will you do today, next week, next month to increase sales? Will you send postcards, write monthly press releases, create weekly email campaigns?

If you write this, you have a much better chance of fulfilling it. This will also allow you to map out the major holidays and events relevant to your customers: i.e. 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, also means better ad rates. The sooner you buy ads, the cheaper they usually are.

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

If you update a schedule, but don’t check it daily (or at least weekly), then you’re much less likely to use it. Put it where you can see it. On those days when you have a scheduled marketing duty, get it done first.

If you’re lucky enough to find some free time before a scheduled job, work on your marketing campaign. The beauty of this is that it allows you to get into the habit of thinking “marketing first.”

4. Track your marketing results: Design a method to find out where most of your customers come from. Is it a direct mail campaign, email 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 mailing. Offer a discount to those who use this code when they give you a subsequent job. This simple tracking method can be used in any way you accept orders (by phone, a website, in person, etc.)

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

Many freelancers market only when they have money. However, there are free methods that can be used 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 up to 2,000 commercial messages a day. How will yours pass?

Given the always crowded advertising market, unpredictable advertising (i.e. 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 generate consistent sales and increase your income, month after month.