My Earn1k course — to help you earn your first $1,000 on the side, and beyond — has been live for 3 weeks.

Instead of telling you how it’s going, I thought I’d let my users do the talking.

What have you learned in Earn1k that you didn’t know before? Please be SPECIFIC.

“Having too many ideas is not an acceptable excuse. Also, you don’t need an original idea. Just do better than crappy people.”

“I learned a better process of how to narrow down a niche by what questions to ask. Learning which areas I should devote more my time to (figuring out what is MOST essential for your business) was also a great lesson because I can sometimes get caught up on some of the non-essential things (i.e. go to networking events, get business cards, etc.)”

“-To start with a narrow niche focus and broaden if necessary. The point is to actually start doing things that matter.
-Ask for referrals. Ramit recommends “Referral Flood.” Noah: Ask each client for three referrals, and “Who do you normally hear about this stuff from?”
-From Tim and Ramit: Don’t rely on willpower. Develop habits to avoid having to think about every detail every time you encounter it. Form new habits to create new behavior.”

“I thought that online surveys would work well for getting in the head of your market. I found that there is nothing better than meeting face to face with potential clients. The meetings are so dynamic that the information is so much richer and full of potential products and services that you would never be able to capture with a survey. Surveys have their role, but you can’t design a survey to deliver this much essential information.”

“Step away from the computer and GO TALK TO POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS.”

What have you DONE after watching the Earn1k material? Please be specific: Include details about what ACTIONS you’ve taken.

“I have contacted three potential clients, one of who is very close to becoming a paying customer. I have adjusted my game plan, focused, found a niche that I think is the right size and scope, and learned a lot from my conversations with existing customers.”

“1. Wrote up the 3 most important things to do for my business (price list – which i already have, contact 3 customers, contact 3 mentors).
2. setup a surveymonkey page for customers to fill out
3. Contacted 3 people from my target market. Meeting with two of them this weekend.
4. Also contacted so far 1 person who is in the same business I am interested in and seems to run it very well. Asked for 30-60 minutes time to meet and chat
4. Added my business info to local google information.”

“The number one thing I’ve done is throw most of my planning out the window (swallowing my pride in the process) to start talking to people. I’ve volunteered with a non-profit and planned trips to talk with important figures. I put my website on hold. My interviews and calls are much more concise and market oriented (”what would you like to see?”) instead of my previous questions (”blah blah blah…what do you think of my idea?”). Finally, I’ve done my best to get out of idea-land and make concrete moves. This means less reading/writing time and more email/phone/social time.”

“After watching the videos, I keep the worksheet and pdf files of the lesson open on my laptop as I go through the material again. I also find myself going back to read the transcript the next day.”

“1. Identified an additional service I could offer in my current freelance gig, and negotiated an increase in hours to do this work (grant writing: $500+ this month)
2. Talked with a colleague with a similar market who offers different services than I do, getting her feedback about what she saw the market needing that was not currently supplied.
3. Sent 3 emails to potential clients for coffee/lunch dates
4. Sent a survey out to participants in an event I recently facilitated”

What specific steps will you be taking this weekend to earn more on the side?

“I am replying Sunday afternoon. I have already had my call with Susan, and I gathered a lot not only from that, but from listening to the other people on the call. I will be sending Susan my email conversations with my prospects so she can give me advice on them. I’ve gotten the contact number I needed to proceed with my marketing strategy, and plan on calling that person (non-client) this evening.”

“I will send out at least three emails to current students this weekend. On Tuesday I will be back at school and will actually speak to potential clients.”

“1. Set up a meeting with my current freelance gig to get feedback / testimonials
2. Send 3 more emails to potential clients
3. Outline questions for potential client meetings
4. Do that extra work on grant writing that I negotiated!”

“Just had a great phone conversation with someone I contacted via email. Have another in-person meeting set up for next week. Will prepare some follow-up emails using the techniques/tips I learned in the Office Hours”

I’m so impressed with the caliber of Earn1k members.

Want to earn more money The Earn1k course is closed for now, but you can get on the Earn1k list to get notified next time it opens.

Want to save money? Check out my savings program, The Scrooge Strategy.

Today I’m thrilled to announce a totally new course called Earn Your First $1,000 On The Side.

The short version: An all-new course that I’ve been quietly developing for a year, which includes 16 super-specific lessons on finding a profitable idea, testing it, finding clients, pricing, marketing, all designed to help you earn $1,000 (and more) on the side — every month. Also includes hours of gorgeous HD video strategies and tactics, Master Classes from people like Tim Ferriss (4HWW) on specific topics like marketing, time management & productivity, and psychology. Course registration ends tomorrow — click to see course details.

Q: What’s surprised you so far?

A: “The level of polish, thought, and effort that goes into every aspect of it so far. It is seriously the best looking, most relevant material I have seen online.”
–Ned White, Earn1k preview member

The detailed version: For the last four years, the #1 requested topic on my site has been “how to earn money.” Yet I’ve resisted creating a course for you guys, because most of the “earn money” courses I see are sleazy SEO plays or worthless courses that give you the same information you could find on Google. ‘Pick a market! Make a business plan. Network a lot!’

Give me a break.

But last year, when I went on my book tour, I met my readers in Starbucks and Barnes & Nobles in Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, Denver…and all over. When I asked them what THEY wanted me to write about, they all said the same thing: how to earn more money.

I asked them what questions they wanted me to answer, and here were some of the most common:

• “I already have a full-time job. Can I really earn $1,000 on the side without spending 60 hours/week?”
• “I don’t know which skills could actually earn me money. How do I decide what to do?”
• “What can you teach me that’s new? I already know the stuff on Google.”

Their questions were really surprising.

That’s when I started seriously thinking about building the single-best course on earning money anywhere. Not just high-level advice, but specific strategies and tactics to help you use your skills, find a market, and charge competitive rates for side income.

You saw the first 3 weeks of January with all-new posts on earning more money, niche-ing it down, getting in your customers’ heads, and using a step-by-step process to earn money on the side.

As we’ve worked on this course for the last year, I wish I could go back to all those cities and tell my readers:

• You DON’T need to spend 60 hours/week to earn $1,000 on the side…
• You DON’T need to set up a sophisticated website or become an SEO master…
• You DON’T need to get 10,000 Twitter followers or set up a YouTube/Facebook/LinkedIn page…
• You DON’T need to create an ebook or product to earn your first $1,000…
• You DON’T need to become a legal expert on business licenses…

Instead, you need to spend the majority of your time GETTING PAYING CLIENTS. Amazing when you eliminate all the BS.

It’s not just about the money

When I asked readers why they wanted to earn more money, the biggest reason across the board was NOT just about the money.

Actually, the #1 reason I got from you was to be able to eventually leave your job and work for yourself or travel.

Knowing this, I focused on not only new tactics to earn more, but the psychology of your own barriers — the barriers that are keeping you in a “meh” job. Are you too busy? Not sure where to start? Nervous about investing thousands into an unproven idea? The Earn1k course breaks it down step-by-step.

All these barriers (and more) can be systematically tested and used to help grow your side income.

In fact, here’s what some people said about the the preview version of Earn1k, which contained just a fraction of what the full course contains.

“I don’t feel scammed! No offense Ramit, but I’ve been burned by empty promises from other online courses. Also, I feel like I’m being taught and pushed to act, rather than merely inspired. It’s completely different than my other experiences. At this place in my life when I’m feeling poised to make changes and earn more money, it would be self-sabotage not to do it.”

–R. Cree, Earn1k preview member

“I am surprised how much I have gotten out of it, honestly. I came in thinking I might pick up some tools and tricks that could be used in my current business or to start my next one, but now I want to try freelancing. I knew in the back of my head that I shouldn’t try to make everyone happy, but you really hammered ruthless niching enough that it finally clicked for me. More niche = more rare = more concentrated demand = higher $/hr.”

–Blake Wager, Earn1k preview member

“Ramit’s course has already completely changed my perspective from what *I* want to what the *customer* wants. Learning about marketing is icky (for me), but also painfully eye-opening. I’m seeing that I was a fool when I started this, thinking only about me and what I wanted to sell. Now I am seeing why my original plan would have flopped before it even started. And why so many others’ do as well.”

–Karen, Earn1k preview member

All new material that you won’t find on my blog

The full Earn 1K course contains all-new, step-by-step content. This isn’t the kind of material you can find by Googling “freelancer” or “earn more money” (try it, you’ll see). To create the single best course on the market, we…

• Surveyed thousands of freelancers and full-time employees to see where the biggest barriers are
• Assembled a team of top freelancers to help put the course together, including specific solutions for turning your idea into income, finding your first clients, setting your rates, and marketing yourself
• Hired a videographer to produce professional-quality video for the course
• We hired a transcription team, in case you prefer text
• Hired audio editors and professional designers

You can’t find this material anywhere else. It’s an investment to help you earn your first $1,000 on the side — and remember, you can make that income over and over again.

What’s in the Earn1k course

Here’s how I put the course together:

All-new, super-specific material in hours of professional HD video. This isn’t some 50-page ebook. I hired a professional videographer and created hours of HD video to demonstrate a structured process to help you earn money, crush psychological roadblocks, and take the years of tactics I’ve been developing and apply them to your market. Perfect if you want to learn the material at your own pace. Transcribed for your convenience..

Group calls and private forums to keep you motivated and address your specific skills. Many of us want to be held accountable. We want to see how others are handling the roadblocks that inevitably come up. And when we get stuck, we want to know how to push through instead of getting stuck. The course includes weekly group calls (recorded if you can’t make it) with live Q&A

Ready-to-use, field-tested scripts that we’ve used to ramp up our own freelancing and consulting businesses. We deliver detailed, ready-to-go scripts that we’ve tested and refined over years of successful freelance work. Including:

• Pitching via cold email, with real-world examples and followup scripts
• Questions to ask your client to build trust and uncover hidden problems, overcome objections and speak to desires
• Actual questionnaires used to get inside your customers’ heads and get a deep understanding of your clients’ business (I use this in my own business)
• How to charge a firm price and handle price objections
• Scripts with Key Convincer Phrases to use with your clients so they acknowledge your value and happily pay your fee (most people never use these)
• Upselling & getting more work at the end of the engagement
• How to end unprofitable engagements without burning bridges
• The most effective way to follow up with clients that are slow to pay (or aren’t paying at all)
• How to ask for referrals that will snowball your freelance business

Access to the private “Earn More Insider Sessions.“I flew in my team of freelancers to San Francisco, where we got together to film private sessions that show you dozens of the best techniques we’ve created, tested, and engineered to help us earn significant amounts of income on the side

Master Classes from the best guest speakers on the planet. I assembled people who are master practitioners on specific topics — for pricing, marketing, identifying your customer, building a sales funnel, and time management — and convinced them to come together to teach you in private Master Classes

Powerful real-life case studies. Learn how people just like you are earning serious side income doing freelance project management, graphic design, software engineering, writing, Excel consulting, dog walking, professional room-organizing (really), and more. Comprehensive case studies where we ask them all the questions you want to — How much are you really making? What was the biggest waste of time? How’d you convince your customers to pay? Listen to them on the go or read the transcribed versions we’ve put together for you.

Office hours with me (Ramit) and my instructors. Private access to ask your questions and get specific answers — including how we’d write that pitch email or phrase your pricing increase. We’ll be here to make sure you have a helping hand in starting to earn money on the side

Inside stories that we’ve never revealed before. This isn’t some college textbook. We’ve added our own stories of ridiculous clients, tricks and techniques we’ve heard from other freelancers, and case studies on how others earn money on the side. Think of the best college class you ever had, where people wanted to be there.

Week-by-week course overview

Top tier spots are already sold out

Tier 1 of this course included everything I listed above, plus private coaching with I Will Teach You To Be Rich instructors. We sold out of this premier level within just 2 hours of our initial private launch. We’re getting close to selling all the seats for our Master Classes – featuring speakers like Tim Ferriss and Pamela Slim – as well.

When I created this product, I never imagined there would be this much demand, and this much positive response. It’s shown me that people are hungry to to learn how to effectively and efficiently earn money on the side, so that they can one day be independent and high-level freelancers that set their own terms.

What being a member means

I built my own course on this topic because I personally tried so many other popular ones only to find that they were more of the same old material that didn’t get me results.

I invested tens of thousands of dollars of my own money into developing this course, flying top-notch freelancers across the country to contribute their expertise, and putting together the best lessons anywhere. I only care about developing super high-quality material that you can’t find anywhere else.

This is premium, never-before-released material, and because we’re teaching you how to earn money, you can re-use the system over and over again. How much is it worth to learn how to increase your earning power, earn extra money whenever you want, and replicate your money-making month after month and year after year?

We give you lifetime access to the course material once you’ve joined as a member. Use it now to grow your business, and refer to it whenever you like.

FAQ

Q: I don’t have an idea. Should I join?
A: That’s the point of the course — to help you find a PROFITABLE IDEA and implement it. In fact, if you had an idea, it probably sucks. In the course, we teach you how to rapidly test it to see what’s profitable and what’s not. You don’t already need an idea. It’s not about a magic idea — it’s about testing them.

Q: How much time do I need to do implement the course?
A: 5 hours/week minimum (2 to watch weekly course material, 3 to implement). Don’t kid yourself — the more time you put in, the more you’ll get out of it.

Q: I’m really busy and this isn’t a good time for me. Can I do this later?
A: I’m not sure if/when I’ll offer this again, and if I do, it will be significantly more expensive. You get lifetime access to the course so you can check it out whenever you want.

Q: I don’t have enough money to join
A: Then you should not join, and focus on savings instead

“I was really convinced that I couldn’t afford to pay the full course (and I wasn’t even gonna try to) but now I’m really decided to get a spot in the course I will become a thief if I have to. You really made me think in value rather than in cost. That’s a lesson that I will remember all my life.”

–Vladimir S., Earn1k preview member

Are you ready to invest in yourself? Learn how to earn your first $1,000–and more–on the side. Check out the full details (course enrollment closes tomorrow, Friday 2/5).

Go here: http://earn1k.com/join/

The Briefcase Technique

This is just one simple example of the hours and hours of HD video in a new course I’m launching, called “Earn Your First $1,000 on the Side.”

Live webcast tonight, Tuesday, 2/2

So tonight, I’m hosting a special webcast.

In the webcast, you’ll see…

• 2-3 “teardowns” of people’s freelance ideas: I’ll get them on the line, analyze their freelance business, and show them how to skyrocket their earnings. Live.
• What the #1 mistake of people who try to earn more money is
• The first public look at the new “Earn Your First $1,000 on the Side” course — choose which course is right for you

How to attend the live webcast

• Date: Tonight, Tuesday, February 2nd

• When: 7pm Pacific
• Where: http://www.earn1k.com/webcast
• Backup URL: http://earn1k.weebly.com if something goes wrong

The webcast will not be recorded.

Oh yeah. On the webcast, I’ll also answer this question:

Why did I turn down $60,000 cash last night?

Over the last 3 weeks, I’ve covered earning more money in extreme detail.

But over the last 11 months…I’ve been quietly working on building the I Will Teach You To Be Rich course on earning more money.

This week, after previewing it to 10,000+ people, I’m ready to release it publicly.

Here’s a quote from people one of my preview members:

Q: What’s surprised you so far?

A: “The level of polish, thought, and effort that goes into every aspect of it so far. It is seriously the best looking, most relevant material I have seen online.”

–Ned White

Stay tuned this week.

The important thing is to understand that it’s not simply a series of formulaic tactics to follow. To earn money, you have to get inside your customers’ heads and understand what they really want. For example, check out the comments on this post — you’ll see that some people can do this very well, while others cannot.

Here’s a recap of the material I covered.

Week 1: Mindset of earning more money

• Earn more money in 2010
• Attention whiny complainers: Why you STILL aren’t saving money
• The 3 easiest ways to earn more money
• Case study: How a venture capitalist started earning more money on the side

Week 2: Freelancing is the easiest way to earn more

• Week 2: Earning more money
• “But starting a freelance business is too risky!” and other reasons people don’t earn more money
• Earning more money: How to turn your skills into services that people will pay for
• But I don’t want to take a SECOND full-time job to earn money on the side
• The Freelance Diaries: The Caffeinated Project Manager

Week 3: Getting inside your customers’ minds

• Want to earn more money? How to find your first 3 paying clients
• Case study: From $17/hour to $65/hour. How did she do it?
• Psychological tactics to earn more (video)
• The Freelance Diaries: The laid-off marketing consultant whose income has skyrocketed

Things will be quiet on the blog next week. I’ll be running a private email course, covering things like:

• Case study: How an iwillteach reader started earning $1,500/month in the last 2 weeks– including a $750 check *I* am writing him each month (includes email script)
• How one of my readers went from free to fee, convincing me to write him a $10,000+ check in one month (includes the presentation he used to convince me)
• Psychological barrier training

If you haven’t already signed up at Earn1k.com, we’re closing it down soon. See you guys in a few days.

That’s because when it comes to finding clients, typical advice goes something like this:

• “YEAH! Just start blogging! Create great content and someone’s bound to come along someday!”
• “Make a website and do some SEO on it so you always get free traffic!”
• “Do something unique and eye-catching, like creating a viral video to get lots of viewers and show off your viral video-making skillz!”
• “Go on some forums and you know, be helpful… answer questions… establish your presence and see what happens!”

Wow, I’ll just do a little SEO. It’s so easy! Then a simple viral video. Ugh, get the hell out of here.

Problems with creating creating fancy marketing strategies

Problem 1. Stop building complex marketing strategies for clients you don’t have. Your first goal is to get 3 clients. Do you really need a blog to do that? And notice I said 3 clients, not just 1 — that could be a fluke. Get 3. Once you have 3 clients, you’ve proven that you have a reliable base of people who’ll pay you for your services. You can test service offerings and prices on them. And now you can start with more complex marketing strategies. Remember: Skip all the fanciness and get 3 people to pay you first.

Problem 2. It makes complex marketing strategies like SEO, blogging, and viral marketing appear both easy and discrete, when in reality they’re often an excuse for you to avoid the hard work of finding actual people who will pay you for your services. Do you know how long “SEO” takes to work? Do you just start a blog, and then check it off your to-do list 5 minutes later? If you say yes to anything I just asked, I will kill you.

Generic freelancing advice tells you to do high-level – and in reality, highly complex – work that actually encompasses dozens of subtasks. Where will you be after Subtask 11? In all likelihood, you’ll have given up. Honestly, are you defaulting to high-level, almost impossible-to-finish strategies as a way of avoiding getting down to the real work?

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Solution: Get your first 3 paying clients

Getting your first client is a 2-step process that I call Locate and Communicate.

1. Locate.

• Who is your exact client, and where do they go to look for a solution to their problems? Do they read magazines? Go to the grocery store? Ask their priest?
• Where are people already looking for solutions to problems, and how can you make a match between them and your service?

(By the way, the 2nd option is something that anybody can do by posting and responding to ads on sites like Craigslist. Just last week, after I recommended Vin give niche guitar lessons, he posted an ad on Craigslist and got immediate responses.)

The 1st option, though, is my favorite: Identify very specific leads in your very specific target market, and figure out where they go to look for a solution to their needs.

Look, most people don’t want to buy your services. Most people think you’re ugly! But a few people might be into paying for your services. When you’re starting out, your job is to find those few people and turn them into long-lasting customers.

Here’s how you find them:

First step is to niche down your market. Do not try to find every person who uses a computer between the ages of 18-34, lives in the USA, and likes pictures of naked girls. NICHE IT DOWN. By age, location, interest, income level, and so many more options (that we will explore in detail at Earn1k.com).

Then, find out where they go to find solutions. Get in their heads:

• Want to pitch to moms that blog about children? Go to The Mom Blogs and start with the ones under “Popular Blogs.”
• Looking for physical or massage therapists within 50 miles of your house? Yelp should get you started easily.
• What about tech startups with over $1 million in funding, with more than 10 employees, but less than 50? Here’s 100 of them.
• If you want to do… large dog grooming and sitting, well there’s probably a local pet store or dog park near you where owners are all congregating just waiting for you to offer them a solution.

Listen closely. Over the last few weeks, people have been coming to my weekly video office hours saying things like, “But Ramit! I have this idea and have NO IDEA where to find customers!” My response is always calm, yet you know that anger boils closely below. “What have you done to research your audience?” Have they emailed a few people? Taken them out to lunch? Asked complementary service providers if this is a good idea? The answer is almost always no.

Example that made me angry: Last night, someone said they were going to start a wedding-montage photo business. What should they do? They appeared to be stuck. Answer: Go talk to a few wedding photographers and ask them if this is a good idea. Would their customers buy it? Are there holes in the market that are not being served? What about event planners? Florists? You could do this in 1-2 weeks and save 1 year of your life.

80% of your ideas will be strengthened — or washed out — with this simple exercise. And it only takes a week or two to get started.

Get in these people’s heads & then niche it down. Read their minds and then act on those insights. So you’ve figured out where the secret large dog pet store is. Great. Now look at their website, visit the store, talk to the owner. GET OFF YOUR ASS AND TAKE ACTION.

Could you pitch one potential client each morning? You probably could if you created an email template. How about 10 over the weekend, playing with different headlines/offers so you can see which ones work better?

It doesn’t have to take a long time, and it doesn’t have to be agonizing…which brings us to step 2.

2. Communicate

Email will be your most important communication tool for pitching clients. I get pitched via email all the time for guest posts, product pitches, and people who want to work together. I vomit routinely. The emails are usually way too long and have no clear point.

Bad email:

Subject: to the real ramit [Subject line is too vague]

Ramit (please forward to him, if VA reading),

I’m impressed, I’ve scanned your blog from 2004 to now, left a few comments and felt the need to contact you for networking, an offer, and advice. This should take you about 4 minutes to read, I hope you can. [Good compliments, but 4 minutes is way too long]

Background: I’m influenced by Tim Ferris, Seth Goden, Leo Babauta, Rocky Balboa, and Steve Jobs. Effective efficiency meets ideas, the power of less, will power and innovation.

Status: Working 40 hours a week until I can escape via passive or easily managed income. I am IT support for an all Apple global consulting firm. I run [Company], a well oiled machine of an IT support, web development, and internet consulting company (just me and my VA’s). I run [Website] – a chronicling of the stages of becoming self actualized to the fact that life isn’t how people tell you it is, and you can design it otherwise. I just bumped up my pretax savings to %11 of my earned income. I am unrelentingly in pursuit of the break that will come and free me to live out my dreams of supporting people and their technology, training in crossfit, learning spanish, and giving to youth without worrying about money. [Too long=I'm starting to lose interest]

My need is to learn from you (not your typical money wisdom), and your need is that you or someone you know could use me like a cup of coffee on a Monday morning. [This is where most busy people make the decision not to read on]

I’ve seen enough cases now, yours included of people vice gripping life and making it their own. I’ve always been service oriented in the quiet leader type way, and I’ve made smart no risk decisions, I’m 25 and will no longer take the slow road. I’m primed for a break, and will be unrelenting until it comes. I’d like to include you in that because I think you’re smart, on your way up, and accessible. Please review me below, I hope you can make use of me before I realize my full potential and be swept up in that.

Although I can be wordy, I’m not a magician with words, I’ll lay my most powerful qualities/experiences out in bullet points. I hope you see them as I do, as ammunition.

• will power like no other (never lost a “bet you can’t stay…”)
• technical savant (no technology too frustrating or complex)
• people person (communication is a strength, met several C level execs, Sony for instance)
• action oriented, all plans suck without implementation. simple plans plus action work.
• business man. started and sold several businesses
• founder of [Company]
• i save %11 of what i make, split to an IRA and emergency fund. i make very little.
• building a backup information product and breaking the ice of online marketing
• traveled the world while being a digital worker
• self starter, will succeed and see the positive regardless of situation
• educated, technical, fast and i think before i act

Would you let me help you or someone you know with these skills? If yes, please connect with me.

Honestly, the guy sounds like a nice guy who wants to offer his services. I think. I’m not really sure.

But instead of getting in my head and suggesting how he could help me specifically, he just listed a series of vague skills that were all over the board. And the call-to-action is…for me to “connect” with him? I responded, as I usually do to vague emails, with a 1-sentence: “So what would you like to do for/with me?” He sent another rambling email, so I at that point I simply shrugged and moved on with my life.

Good email:

Subject line: I want to work for you for free [Best subject line I've ever received]

Hey Ramit,

Love your site, especially the articles about automation and personal entrepreneurship. It’s because of you that I have multiple ING Direct accounts for my savings goals, a Roth IRA, automatic contributions, and asset allocation all set up. [Good buttering me up]

I’m a web developer for [Company], a site that gets around 50 million hits per month. I used to do freelance work exclusively, and I’m preparing to make the switch back to doing freelance work ~30 hours / week while I travel and study in China. I work in Ruby on Rails, doing everything from the database to the front-end, and I’m especially good at rapidly prototyping new ideas and projects. [He's in my head: I'm always looking for talented developers and he's clearly one of them]

In order to start getting myself back out there, I’d love to have the chance to do some development work for you, completely gratis. If you like my work and have some paid projects for me down the road, that’d be great of course, but I’d be happy just for the opportunity to network and receive a little advice. I’m sure you have a project or two in the back of your head that you haven’t had time to prototype yourself yet; let me do it for you! [I LOVE IT!! As a matter of fact, yes I DO have some side projects I've been wanting to do]

You can give me a call at ###, or find me on Google Talk under this address. You can also check out some samples of my work here: [website]

Thank you!

Two things: First, that was the best subject line I’ve ever received. Second, it’s clear, concise and makes me a strong offer while highlighting his experience. I called him within 60 seconds of receiving this email.

Note that if you are looking for paying clients, you can often skip the work-for-free arrangement that I often urge by creating an incredibly niche offer. For example, if he had attended the last 5 video office hours I did and had heard me make an offhand comment about how I’ve been wanting to launch XXX project, his subject line could be: “I can help you launch XXX in 2 weeks.” This could then lay out why he’s good, what he would do, and it could lead directly to paid work.

When it comes to communicating with your prospects, I hear many people complain that they’ve tried to reach out with little success. The truth is they’re often reaching out in the wrong way. But by getting in your clients’ heads, you can fix that and write emails that engage and lead directly to paid work — no fancy marketing strategy needed.

Why your first client is your most important

It’s not what you think.

Yes, you need your first client so you can actually say you’re in business. And you definitely need your first client before you can unleash a full-scale marketing campaign.

But, the most crucial thing your first client brings you is NOT money. It’s feedback.

• Is your business feasible?
• Does your basic pitch work?
• Can you execute on the service you’re selling?

Would you rather find these answers now, or in 6 months after you’ve put in massive amounts of your own money and time into marketing a business that doesn’t yet exist?

The point is to build a simple system that lets you rapidly test and iterate on your business. And while most people are worrying about building a fancy website or taking other useless steps, you’ll realize that the best simple system begins with THREE PAYING CLIENTS.

Today, I covered how you can LOCATE and COMMUNICATE with specific, targeted leads. Once you’ve done that, you’ve built your first simple system. Then what?

What’s next for earning money from your clients

This is just the tip of the iceberg. These are the next questions you might be thinking about:

• What about pricing? How do I test that? Can I negotiate as a freelancer?
• What exactly should I offer, and how should I structure my service? Hourly? By project?
• How do I get referrals? Should I be networking? How do I do that without wasting my time?
• When do I raise my rates?

These are all critically important questions that will shape the success of your freelancing work to earn more money. Over the last 3 weeks, I’ve been giving you specific suggestions for earning money, so if you read closely, there are enough recommendations for you to easily earn your first $500 — and this is just my free stuff. Imagine what my upcoming premium course, which I’ve been working on for 10 months, will contain.

If you want to get the answers in detail — and get your ass kicked to take action — sign up to learn more about my upcoming Earn1k program, where I’ll show you how to earn your first $1,000 (and more) on the side with a detailed video course, case studies, master classes, and comprehensive strategies and tactics. Free signup now gets you a 1-week advanced course at Earn1K.com.

For those of you who’ve already signed up to earn more money, let’s do an exercise to help crystallize this and make it real.

Leave a comment with your responses to these questions:

What will it take you to get your first 3 freelance customers?

1. My specific customer is someone with this problem: _________.

2. My prospective customer spends time researching the problem / solutions in these 3 places:

1)

2)

3)

3. One way I can break in to one of the places above: _________.

4. My opening line in an email to them: __________.

Leave a comment with your responses.

Today, a Freelance Diaries by a former technology employee in San Francisco who was laid off a year ago, and is now a full-time freelance marketing consultant. Below, you’ll notice:

• Her work/life balance is blurred: She works out every day and takes a 2-hour lunch with no worries, but also works past 10pm many nights
• How there’s lots of “meta-work,” including administrative work, billing clients, and keeping them updated with her work
• She earns a $6,000 check — which is a 300% freelancer raise in less than 3 months (and a 30% raise from her former full-time job)

Once you’re done, take 5 seconds to sign up to learn specific strategies and tactics to earn more money at Earn1k.com.

Day 1 (a Monday)

9 a.m. Wake up and open my laptop. A year ago, I’d be rushing to my desk at this time, probably with some free breakfast in hand. Ah, the good days of free breakfasts… as a freelancer working from home, I don’t get that benefit anymore, nor do I get to chitchat with my coworkers every morning. Work pretty much starts as soon as I let it, but not having to rush off, commute or deal with a ‘manager’ makes it worth it.

10 a.m. Monday mornings I send a weekly update to a major client. I spend a full hour working on this single email because it’s where I talk about what I’ve done and why they should keep paying my fee.

Lesson Learned: Spending an hour on what seems like an administrative email seems long, but it’s turned out to be one of the most important ways to keep my client happy. My client gets almost no face-to-face time with me, so this is my way of showing up. I recap everything I accomplished in the previous week in terms of the objectives we set at the beginning of our relationship, and I outline my plans for the coming week. I make sure to emphasize results, not just tasks. I’ll use this email later when it’s time to raise my rates (“Last month, I accomplished XYZ. This month will be even bigger….”) This is the longest email I send to anybody all week.

11 a.m. Daily workout session. It’s so great to have the freedom to go to the 11:00 session — I don’t have to get up early and it’s never crowded. My friends think it’s weird / sketchy that I can go to work out in the middle of the day for 2 hours, especially since they’re not sure how I actually make money to afford stuff like this. I love perpetuating the mystery for them.

1 p.m. Time to get back to work.

4 p.m.: I’m feeling a little distracted, or maybe just tired from an intense afternoon of writing, so I decide to take a short walk. Not having in-person coworkers or a watercooler to distract me means that work can get surprisingly intense.

Lesson Learned: Giving myself intentional breaks away from the screen – and not just mindlessly surfing Facebook – are really helpful in restoring my mental energy, but don’t make me feel like I’ve been wasting time.

7 p.m. Dinner out with my boyfriend. Saves time on cooking / cleaning that I’ll use to do some work for a third client I’ve recently brought in.

9 p.m. Back in front of the screen, I switch to client #2. I always get a ton done between 9 p.m. and midnight, most people’s t.v. time. It can be annoying to work late, or to have stuff to do when everyone else is having fun, but then I remind myself that I already had my fun time – in the middle of the day while everyone else was at their cubicles.

Day 2

9 a.m. Sometimes I check my email on my phone from bed. I know everyone says this is bad, no boundaries, blahblah, etc. I tend to agree, but for some reason I always get a ton of emails from one client between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m., so I’m a bit anxious to see what’s up.

My client appreciated the weekly update, but didn’t respond specifically to any of the questions / requests I put in it. Still no answer on the website budget from this client, but the deadline hasn’t changed. I usually like emails because they’re safe and allow me time to craft my communication, but some in some situations a phone call works best. I hate phone calls, but in this case I call my client to get a final answer on this so I can move on.

Lesson Learned: Because I get almost no face-time with clients, the immediacy of a phone call can be just as important as the long, detailed weekly emails I put together.

11 a.m. Work out again. It’s daily!

2 p.m. Today I have an in-person meeting with a potential client. I don’t like commuting around to in-person meetings, but sometimes these are the best way to pitch yourself. I know I’m much better in-person than on the phone, so if there’s a new client I really want to work with, I always try to get an in-person with them.

5 p.m. I’m back at home and doing some publicity work for a client. This means researching past news on competitors, writing stories, and calling up journalists to pitch them.

Day 3

9 a.m. Work, work, work. People tend to think freelancers can do whatever we want, whenever we want. It’s pretty much true – I could do that, but I actually need structure in order to get stuff done. When I first started freelancing, I loved the flexibility, but sort of lost sight of structure. I didn’t get a whole lot done each day, and I would always wonder why. Getting up and starting work at the same time every day gives my whole day structure so I can be productive.

11 a.m. You-know-what.

1 p.m. My client is sponsoring a big conference this week, so I spend the rest of the afternoon running around and making sure everything is in place.

Day 4

1 a.m. I am falling asleep when I hear a “bzzz. bzzz. bzzz.” Oh no… a series of text messages. No one ever texts me at this time of night just for fun. I wish I could just pretend I hadn’t heard it, but I drag myself out of bed to see what’s up.

My client has a public image emergency. Business journalists and bloggers rarely work on a 9 to 5 schedule, so that means I don’t either. I’m told that a huge last-minute story about my client’s company is going to break in less than an hour. They need me to produce a public statement and letter to my client’s customers. I am on Skype with the co-founder and corporate counsel well into the wee hours of the morning.

Here’s where being a freelance consultant hurts me: I’ve done a good job, so I’m close with the company. But, I am still a freelancer, so I’m not that close from a legal and business perspective. For legal reasons, it’s common for me not to hear about developments like this until they’re already happening. Like at 1 a.m.

10 a.m. I am tired. This would never have happened at my old job, which, despite its many shortcomings, always ended with the regular workday.

11 a.m. Somehow I still manage to go to work out. Maybe this freelancing deal is not so bad after all — I’d be stuck at my desk looking at a spreadsheet if it were my old job.

1 p.m. Lunch with a friend who’s also a freelance consultant. It feels great to be sitting around at this restaurant in the middle of the day. Neither of us looks at our watches.

3 p.m. This week has been heavy for one client, so I devote the remainder of my afternoon to monitoring press reactions and preparing for their conference.

7 p.m. All I want to do is stare at the ceiling, but I need to spend some time tending to my other clients. It’ll be a working dinner tonight.

Day 5

7 a.m. Ah, Friday. Friday still feels like Friday to me, even as a freelancer making my own schedule. I’m helping my client at their big conference today so I’m up early.

2 p.m. I’ve spent all morning running my client’s booth, making sure speaking spots have gone well, and meeting new people. Here’s my thinking: my contract with my current client will inevitably end, so attending industry events like this one makes sure that I get visibility with other potential clients. It can be exhausting, but it works better than sending ‘cold’ emails to people I don’t know very well–emails are pretty easy to ignore, while face-to-face conversations are hard to forget.

An extra note: I do marketing, so one way I get through these conferences is by thinking of them in terms of audiences. Here, my primary audience is my client. For me right now, that’s the person I need to impress most. But actually, it doesn’t stop at that person. I have a secondary audience: my client’s peers and/or competitors. These people might turn into clients if they see and like the results of my work. In my view, I even a tertiary audience – people who will never become my clients, but who might talk about me to potential clients if they’re impressed with what they see.

These are some of the things going through my head as I walk around and talk to people at this conference. I actually get really nervous talking to people I don’t know well, but I know I have to do it if I want to make my freelance consulting thrive. I pretend that I’m somebody gregarious – and I make sure I have a set of things to talk about that I can fall back on.

By the end of the day, I’m all talked-out and just want to go home and stare at the wall. The good thing is, I did have a couple of decent conversations and people that I’ll follow up with via email (I never use business cards – remind me too much of a used car salesman, but that’s just my take on it).

Day 6

11 a.m. I get up late! Unlike some freelancers and consultants I know, I don’t do any official work on Saturdays or Sundays. I do, however, work on experimental projects that often end up netting me more income. I also catch up on stuff that supports my business, but isn’t directly income-generating. Stuff like reading industry blogs, reading people’s Twitter feeds, maybe writing a blog post.

1 p.m. A fat check arrives in the mail. It’s for over $6k– more than 3 times fatter than the checks I used to get as a freelancer 3 months ago.

7 p.m. I go to a dinner party with a client who’s now also become a friend. Lots of people in my industry are at this party, so there’s plenty to talk about and ideas to throw around. I’ve developed social relationships with a lot of the people I work with, and have found it be a big source of new projects. All else being equal, most people would rather work with friends than with random strangers.

Day 7

11 a.m. Catching up on administrative stuff. Working for myself means that I spend my own time to take care of business essentials like billing, accounting, marketing and sales. That’s all stuff I don’t get to invoice somebody for, so it often ends up getting done in my ‘off’ time, on the weekends.

6 p.m. The workweek for me really starts on Sunday evening. It’s my time to ready myself for the coming week and queue up stuff to launch on Monday morning.

8 p.m. Dinner with friends from my old corporate job. They complain about their jobs and their executives and tell me how lucky I am not to work there anymore. Nobody really gets what I do all week, and they’re continually confused as to how/why I have money. I don’t tell them that I actually make 30% more as a freelancer than I did when I was working next to them. I tell them they could be freelancers too, or at least start it on the side, but their eyes just glaze over. Shrug. I guess that means less competition for me, but fewer 3-hour lunch buddies.

Earn1k: Includes detailed case studies, advanced tactics on earning more, and first access to a full course I’m launching. If after 3 weeks of great original content on earning more money, you have not spent 5 seconds signing up for this, you really can’t complain about not earning money. Free signup.

And then I’ll be releasing a step-by-step program to help you earn your first $1,000 on the side.

Sign up for free.

* * *

Today, a case study to show you how even the weirdest skills can be very, very profitable.

This is one of my favorite case studies because you’ll learn how to take your skills — even if they’re unusual or seemingly not in demand — and turn them into significant income.

Cassie Phillipps realized that she was working too hard for too little money .She was a theatre stage manager, and as you know, I usually make fun of weirdo drama/artsy types because they revel in their poor financial skills and complain that the world is against them.

But Cassie realized how to carve out a specialized niche using her existing skills. Now, she produces exclusive events for the tech industry. She went from $17/hour to $75/hour and works fewer hours than her old job. What if you could do the same?

In this 35-minute interview you’ll learn:

• How Cassie managed to turn specialized skills from her stage manager job into a profitable and high-profile freelance business
• Where she chose to invest in her business, and where she’s chosen to save (if you’re wary about spending money to make money, listen to this section)
• Her marketing strategy, where every engagement is a secondary marketing channel
• How she’s developed multiple pricing plans to fit an unusual niche
• How she cultivates repeat business, even with big-budget, infrequent conferences

Listen to the interview here:

* * *

Introduction

• 0:24 How do you earn money on the side?
• 1:05 Why Cassie’s unusual skills turned out to be perfect for freelancing
• 2:40 Cassie’s old job as a stage manager — lots of hours, little pay
• 3:45 A friend sees her transferable skills, and asks for her help with events
• 4:35 Getting started working a little on the side, and realizing she’s already making more money

Psychology

• 5:01 It’s not about the technical specifics. It’s about what the client wants.
• 7:59 “We have $5,000 for you, can you make it happen?” Cassie is offered money for something she can do in less than 10 hours
• 8:06 Getting over fears: “What if I’m not the right person?”
• 9:45 Cassie goes from $200 a WEEK to $100 an HOUR
• 15:02 Addressing startup costs and getting over initial barriers
• 16:33 How she spends for value, and invests in her own business
• 16:41 “If you don’t have the confidence to invest $2000-$4000 in something you’re going to be doing for the next 5 years, then you’re not ready to do it yet”

Tactics

• 11:16 Understanding her clients’ worst fears
• 11:24 How Cassie negotiates rates with vendors, and pays for herself
• 12:35 Specific phrases to communicate her unique value proposition
• 13:35 Cassie cuts her hours, and triples her income

Marketing her niche business

• 19:17 How Cassie gets new clients, and attracts only big names
• 20:41 Cassie’s marketing strategy: work with influencers, and don’t hide in the background
• 22:08 “Niche it down!!” What this means for freelance event production
• 23:57 “By specializing in the startup industry, I can pretty much beat out any other events person”
• 27:15 How Cassie screens clients, diagnoses her client’s real problems and needs, and eliminates the need for hard sells
• 29:38 Creative rate plans
• 31:35 How Cassie guarantees repeat business
• 34:47 Her work does its own marketing

* * *

Get advanced strategies to earn more: You’ll find more case studies — including someone who turned down over $100,000 of side income — plus an MP3 download of this interview with Cassie. And lots more unannounced techniques to help you earn more.

Here’s the link: http://www.earn1k.com

Starting today, I’m releasing a sneak preview of a new project that’s going live soon. Code name Earn1k.

This is some of the psychology material you’ll see in Earn1k — specifically on not devaluing yourself as a freelancer.

Towards the end of the video, you’ll also see that the Earn1k course includes 8 weeks of structured, week-by-week material to earn your first $1,000, case studies, email scripts, worksheets, and more.

Get the first look at the Earn1k Course: For free signup, a 1-week advanced course on earning more money, and first access to the course when it launches, click: Earn1k.com

Below, you’ll notice:

• He now makes 3 times what he made at his fulltime job — but he still nets less overall
• His tactics for managing his clients
• Weaving lifestyle (video games from 3:30pm – 6:00pm) with work

Be sure to sign up at Earn1k to get specific scripts on increasing your rates, managing clients, and using psychology against yourself to keep motivated.

“I’m a freelance project manager. Which I know sounds weird. Project management, I always thought, was one of those made-up corporate jobs, kind of like that one guy from Office Space who deals with people so the engineers don’t have to. You’ve seen it, right? Of course you have.

In reality, project management basically just means I get paid to make sure things get done. It’s incredibly valuable to companies that are disorganized or run tight deadlines. The hard part is packaging it because it’s not often perceived as high-value (kind of like how most people think they know how to write well).

The trick for me is, I never position myself as a project manager when first pitching to a client. I’m usually brought on to do something small, like a writing project or a PR project. At some point, the client realizes their organization/communication flow used to suck and I’m making it better. So after that I usually just end up being a project manager. That’s the classic “sell them what they want, give them what they need” technique, I guess.

Anyways, here’s my Diary.”

Day 1

6 am: Wake up. Yeahhh, freelancing doesn’t always mean you get to sleep all day. Although sometimes it does!

7am: Drive over to a coffee shop to start working. I have noticed that good, work-friendly coffee shops (meaning they don’t have screaming children or broken tables) are rare. The only one in town worth going to costs $5 a cup, and parking there sucks. But it’s worth it. My time is important, so I try to save it any way I can.

8am: I spend a few hours at the coffee shop doing some work, following up on deadlines, shooting emails. No interruptions or random requests from clients, which is nice. I know you’re not supposed to leave your email open all day (the 4-Hour Workweek people tell me so) but whatever. I like to be responsive to clients, and I have a good process for handling email already.

2pm: My productivity level is dropping off. I guess that’s why I get up at 6 to work. Once I hit that “I don’t feel like working anymore” zone, I usually stop and pick it back up in the evening. So I drive home.

3:30pm – 6pm: Playing video games… nothing to see here. Man, I don’t miss my old job.

12 am: I catch up on some work. I’ve figured out that I do my best creative work at night, and like to power through stuff (menial work, invoicing, etc.) in the mornings. I’m a big believer in finding out what times you do your best work, then sticking to that.

Day 2

8am: I check my messages and see that I have one from my client (I turn off my phone at night. Boundaries, you know?). Apparently, he got his laptop stolen. Oh, and he wasn’t backing his stuff up, despite my recommendations to do so, so we’ll fall behind on one of our projects. Great.

Sometimes, clients will simply not do what you recommend – EVEN WHEN THEY AGREE WITH IT. They just ignore stuff. You have to live with that, I guess. Sometimes it’s not just about telling your clients what they should do, or lecturing them – it’s also being realistic about what they WILL do and working around that.

9am: At the coffee shop again. I work best in 4-hour bursts.

6pm: And yet, I’m still here… so I go home after sending a weekly email update to my clients. They don’t ask for it, but they always respond well and seem to like knowing what I’m doing. I guess it’s better than them wondering what I’m up to.

Day 3

10 am: Irritating. I like my client, but he absolutely doesn’t take ANY time to spell check his emails. I get something like this:

“cn weht \ time tmr?

Or what si itcan you telme minalkj

Otahnxk”

WHAT??? I’m not sure what to do with this. Usually I reply to confirm what I think he’s saying. I can’t really think of a nice way to say “Hey, it would really make me less irritated all the time if you spell-checked your emails.”

1pm: Write a pitch to a new prospect. Let’s see if it works out. I don’t pitch that often (I’m pretty happy with my current clients) but you never know what will be the next big thing, I guess. I keep the door open for stuff like that.

2pm: I have a tip – always, always keep track of what you spend your hours on, even if you think your client doesn’t care about the little details. My client never asked me before, then he suddenly calls me and is like “Hey these 20 hours – what are they for?”

It wasn’t a big deal, and of course I figured it out eventually but for a few seconds I was like “UHHHH… hm…” Lesson learned.

4pm: Here’s another tip: don’t drink and work.

Day 4

10 am: Spend 2 hours on a conference call with clients. They’re always traveling and in different time zones, so finding time to chat is difficult. Plus the calls themselves are pretty useless. I’ve realized that sometimes, clients just want someone to talk to and explain every little detail of what they’re doing. I’m like their therapist.

1pm: Finished writing a ridiculously long email with detailed notes from our call. Send it off to the clients, because they’re horribly unorganized (still). I can tell it helps them think about things more clearly, and they appreciate it a LOT.

These guys are really gushy too. They reply back with things like:

“Thank you SO SO SOOOO much for this.”

“thanks… you are incredibly professional and thoughtful and I am deeply grateful for your hard work and dedication.”

Good. I keep all this stuff in mind when it comes time to raise my rates.

9pm: My parents, both engineers, don’t really get what I do. I just tell them I do business stuff. They always ask me if I need money.

I guess it’s nice to know I have a safety net. I’m not opposed to the idea of asking for help if I need it – I’m just not that prideful I guess.

Day 5

11 am: Some days I just don’t feel like working. So I won’t today. It’s Friday, which is practically Saturday anyways. Ah, freelancing is nice after all.

People always go “wahh lucky” when I tell them stuff like this and I’m like hey screw you. I don’t get paid vacation and sick days, you ass. And it wasn’t just luck (although I admit luck helps).

1pm: As I write this, I’m thinking: It’s good to have flexibility. It’s good for my motivation. Now, when I take a day off, I usually charge into the next day with a roar and get really pumped up about knocking out work tasks. It was the opposite when I used to work as a management consultant at a top-tier firm. I dreaded Monday mornings.

I haven’t done a detailed analysis of the numbers, but I estimate that back then, I worked 60 hours a week (I worked from home all the time) for 50 weeks = 3000 hours. Let’s take my salary, around 60K, that makes my time roughly worth $20/hr.

Now I work fewer hours (about 40), and I charge $60/hr. And while you might think, Wow! $60/hour, that’s like $120,000 a year! You’re way richer now! No, because less than half of those hours are chargeable. Plus, I haven’t factored in benefits, 401(k) matching and the biggie: paid health insurance. All things factored in, I’m still making less than before.

Yeah, sorry to be a downer. But hey, new businesses take time to grow and things are looking positive so far. And I’m increasing my rates this year.

Day 6

11 am: It’s Saturday now, which basically means nothing to me. Back to the coffee shop. Most of the time, I work 7 days a week.

3pm: That’s as good a time as any to call it a day, at least for the client work.

4pm: One thing I like about my work is I can spend more free time on other, “riskier” business ventures. Right now a partner and I are working on a new product together, so I do some of the market research work at home for a few hours.

Day 7

1pm: On Sundays, I like to spend some time learning new things. Right now I’m watching a training program on product development. Very interesting stuff.

It’s hard to get over the fact that I’d be paid to watch this if I had a real job – instead I’m paying for it myself. But I really believe in consistently gaining new skills in order to grow.

4pm: Writing a Craigslist post for some help the clients want to hire. Not really what I was hired to do, but if they’re paying, I won’t complain. Yet another reason why I like charging by the hour – too many variables in project pricing.

5pm: I invoice one client, clean up my notes, and get ready for tomorrow.

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