💰 Earn more money as a freelancer: x5 different ways 💰

Explore these different approaches of how you can earn more money as a freelancer

When I started freelancing years ago, I was so gobsmacked at the simple idea that I could earn more in a day working for myself than I did an employee, that I didn’t actually give loads of thought to rates. As long as it was more than my old salary, I didn’t really mind.

I had a lot to learn!

After a couple of years working on a day rate, I began to explore lots and lots of different things. I ran a community for a while. I offered some online courses. I did some project work. I became seriously intrigued with the different ways you could effectively get paid.

Some worked, some did not.

So, how can you earn more money as a freelancer? I am going to share my x5 top ways you can start to do this.

A slight disclaimer at this point: they might not all be right for you. They might not fit your business, work style, or personality. It’s important to take time to work out what works for you.

💰 1. Increase your day rate

This one is obvious, but I want you to really see how much of a difference this can make. Say you charge £300 per day and work x4 days per week. That’s £1200 per week. And say you work x45 weeks of the year. That equates to £54,000 per annum of income.

But say you increase your fee by just £15 per day. That means you’re charging £315 per day. And x4 days per week works out at £1260 per week. Over 45 weeks of the year that equals £56,700.

That’s a huge £2,700 difference per year. Enough for a holiday!

💰 2. Reduce your admin and marketing time

I realised back in 2022 I was spending a day per week doing admin work. I hired a VA on £20 per hour (at the time) to do this for me. So I paid her £160 per week to take this off my hands.

Say you did this and paid a VA £20 per hour, 8 hours per week - that equals £160 per week. But it freed you up to do a day of client work at £300 per day. You’re then making an additional £140 per week for the same number of hours of work after you’ve paid your VA.

Over 45 weeks of the year that works out at £6,300 of additional income. That’s a good couple of extra holidays per year.

(I like holidays).

💰 3. Upskill and become an expert

I know a lot about freelance job rates - what people charge and what people pay. This is because I coach 1:2:1 and help people with their finances. And the weekly round-up of freelance jobs and opportunities always includes fees where known.

Let’s say you’re a graphic designer and charge £300 per day and you work on the schedule I outlined in point 1. You’re on £54,000 per year. But let’s say you upskill and train to become a motion graphic designer in the retail sector. You have fewer competitors and have a specialist skill. If the average day rate on this is £400 per day, over x4 days per week you’re making an additional £400 per week.

Over 45 weeks per year you’re making an additional £18,000 per year.

That is a serious amount of holiday budget!

💰 4. Offer an online product

I write this with a little hesitation, as there is a ridiculous amount of noise out there about passive income and online digital products turning people in billionaires overnight or whatever.

Be warned! They are hard work and require a lot of upfront investment.

But an online product is something you can make once and sell over and over. Technically the financial gain is limitless, but let’s get practical.

Say you are a graphic designer as before. On £300 per day. You could use your skills and create a course on a particular area you know well. For example a digital course on how to become a graphic designer. Or a 2 hour masterclass on using Canva. There are a lot of options!

You can sell this through your website or other places such as Etsy or training course websites such as Udemy.

I’m not sure how many holidays this equates to… anything between 0 and early retirement I suppose.

💰 5. Offer higher-ticket items

Sometimes clients want a freelancer on a day rate, to do a service for them. But sometimes they want other things. Like training, consultancy work, strategy advice or coaching. These services can be charged at a higher price. Why? Because you need to not only be good at what you do, but you need to be excellent at what you do in order to help others.

Say you’re a freelance writer on £300 per day. But you ran a workshop in which you helped an in-house team develop their writing skills. And you charged this out at £1,000 for the day.

Now let’s say you did this just once per month alongside your usual work. That is an extra £1k per month or £12k per year.

I’m thinking a trip to the Carribean?!

Don’t get me wrong, you need to be able to sell this high-ticket item. But that is a post for another day.

Happy money-making, fellow freelancers. very un-British of me, perhaps. But there you go.

Work with me 1:2:1 and grow your client base