Building A Freelance Service Business To Six-Figures

By Sandi Krakowski

When you first start out in business one of the first things you'll have to decide is what you will market. Will it be products or service based?

Many of our newsletter articles are directed towards product based sales. You can also create your own info products and build a business around marketing these. There is another great way to build a business and bring in a profit. Many people are succeeding everyday through a service based company. 

A few choices for new business owners would include:

  • Graphics Design
  • Web Design 
  • Website Management
  • Website Setup
  • Social Media Profile Graphics
  • Social Media Profile Setup
  • Social Media Marketing Management
  • Email Writing
  • Newsletter Creation- Templates and Layout
  • Auto Responder Writing
  • Copywriter
  • Editor
  • Virtual Assistant

All of these service based businesses require a specific skill that you can learn and earn at the same time. Each one has several levels of skill that can be marketed from beginner to mastery. The great thing is each level also have clients just begging for someone to serve them.

Let's look at some of these service based opportunities and how you, a new business owner could develop your skill in each.

Graphics Design – When my son was 14 years old he began to develop graphics and small banner ads in his free time. By the time he was 15 he was competing against other graphic artists in project bids and winning. At 16 he was making $400 per week doing banners, graphics and eventually website design. Alongside of this skill he was also self-taught in video editing. At the age of 18 he got his first apartment and steppedinto full adulthood. Let's look at this time table- in 4 short years he was making what many adults make with a bachelors degree with several marketable skills. Because he never gave up and always worked hard on his skill development even when he was still learning, every year he compounded his skills. At the age of 22 he purchased his first home. 

A career in graphics design requires that you continue to learn as you earn and never give into the notion that you're 'all set' in your career. Things change rapidly in this niche and offer many income potentials. 

Website Management And Setup– This would include setting up WordPress, installing banners, widgets, Opt In boxes, maybe some custom coding and even sales copy. With the ability to start out small ($ 295 projects) and work your way up you could easily do 3-4 clients per week earning $ 3000-5000 per month. The only difference between someone who does earn that kind of income in Website Management and Setup and someone who does not is: marketing. Just marketing. That's it. One person markets themselves online and the other person waits for jobs to show up. Wouldn't it be a great opportunity to learn how to do this amazing occupation? Sadly, many wanna be business owners give up enroute to mastery because they're expecting huge incomes in the first 45 days.

Auto Responder Writing And Newsletter Creation– If you can learn to write auto responders that build rapport, connect the client to the company and then close the sale, this a very valuable and profitable skill to have. But here's the best part- even if you don't quite understand all the mechanics of copywriting and sales letters, you can write high quality auto responders with just a few key industry secrets. Auto responder writing is fun, easy to learn and anyone who can knows how to talk to people can master this marketable skill.

Service based businesses rely on regular clients, so the biggest focus for a freelance service provider is in finding new clients every week. There are many online project sites like Elance.com, Guru.com, ODesk.com and more that I personally used to build a 6-figure business in under 12 months. Regular small projects with a wide variety of clients made it very possible.

Here's an example of how this kind of business can play out:

$ 85 per email for auto responders- 4 emails in a series= $ 340

3 clients in a week = $ 1020 per week = $ 4080 per month.

Increased my skill after 6 months to $ 145 per email

Total increased income with same amount of clients= $ 1740 per week= $ 6960 per month.

Added installing WordPress, set up Opt In Forms, create a great Opt In Offer & Write a Free Report = $ 895-1395 per setup of entire project

3 projects per month = $ 2985 more income

Total Income: $ 9945.00 per month= $ 119,340 in income

Before you go out and buy a new house, or begin dreaming about being rich, there are a few key things you need to learn when starting this kind of business:

#1- Be consistent– I typically see lack of consistency before there is lack of skill. Highly skilled writers and graphics artists who give up prematurely are far more common than those who simply aren't any good. Be consistent, stay faithful, serve your clients and be here 1-2 years from now. Tell me what college offers that kind of proposition to earning while you're learning! 

#2- Keep learning– one of the biggest keys to my success was that while I was servicing all of these clients I was still learning. Every letter, website and campaign I created not only helped me get better at what I did, it gave me more work to have critiqued by my mentors. With every critique, every investment into my future, every project completed my results got better. Writing 3 emails that generated $ 135,000 was a big accomplishment for me.  It was the result of hard work and commitment! 

#3- Pay attention to the marketplace– it is critical that you always be one step ahead of what the marketplace wants. This is why coaching with a mentor and being with like-minded people is so important! If you can be ahead of the curve, you'll be able to serve your clients more faithfully and more effectively. This in turn brings you into a higher level of providing excellent service and being paid handsomely for it. Don't watch what the media or colleges say when it comes to these online businesses- pay attention to successful business owners online, read online media resources. Become an avid student of your particular niche. 

Have you been frustrated with trying to earn an income selling vitamins when you are designed to write and serve others? Some of the above examples will serve as a great inspiration to you. But please remember this- 

This is for the hard working, committed person who is willing to give it their all and develop a specialized skill.

That's my disclaimer so that no one says I guaranteed they could be successful. *grin* There's all kinds of silliness in the business market these days!

One of the other reasons I was hugely successful in business is I didn't depend on hand outs, didn't give into a victim or a get-rich-quick mentality. I worked hard, gave it my all and like any other career, developed my skill until I was one of the best in my field.

Make a commitment to learn a skill and get masterful at it.

The only difference between a General Practice Doctor and a Surgeon is a specialized skill. One doctor might understand how arthritis works and how bones can degenerate. The other doctor gets specialized training and masters his skill to operating on arthritic joints and doing replacements where necessary. One earns a nice 6-figure income, the other could be paid into the millions for his specialized skill.
 
Pick a skill and learn to master it. 
 
Serve people better than anyone else.
 
Keep learning as you're earning and you too will soon be on your way to a very profitable career.