Freelancer Q&A: How To Get To $5,000 Per Month Fast(ish)

This Freelancer Q&A comes from Pro-Lancer Federico “Fede” Fasan. Find out how I think he should approach hitting his first $5,000 month as a freelancer.

It’s been a while since our last Q&A.

So today, I’m going to answer a question I got from fellow Pro-Lancer Federico “Fede” Fasan.

But first, if you have a question you want me to answer, get on the Freelance Like A Pro email list. 

Then reply to one of my Members-Only emails.

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Okay, on to today’s question… 

Fede asked me to “talk about your strategy to charge your first $5K/mo.”

So let me start by saying, you’ll need some experience in your profession before you make that much.

It’s going to be really hard to do as a total beginner.

But here’s the thing…

You don’t have to be the top expert in your field.

You just need to be more experienced than the client.

Because then your work will be better than what they can do by themselves. Which means you’ll be able to bring added value to their business.

So assuming you have the skills, making $5,000/month comes down to two things…

1. The services you offer
2. The needs and size of your target clients

Because some freelancers can only do big assignments.

Like software developers. Some of them have skills that are only suited to assist with large infrastructure projects.

But other freelancers can break their work down into smaller chunks. 

Like copywriters. Some copywriters get paid for projects as small as one-sentence product descriptions.

So to make $5,000 a month, you need to think about how you can package your services…

But at the same time, you also need to figure out what your potential clients need.

Because a small local restaurant has different problems and opportunities than a large ecommerce company.

And like we talked about last week, some clients will be able to get a much higher ROI from investing in your services. So those clients will be willing to pay you more for the same exact deliverables compared to another company.

Which means to hit $5,000 a month, you need to look at the intersection of the services you can offer — and what your clients will value and pay for…

Then you need to determine the best way to get there.

For some freelancers, that will be with one large $5,000 client. 

Because they can only offer their services in large projects. And they work with big clients who can afford that.

But for other freelancers, they could decide the best path to $5,000 a month is with five smaller clients at $1,000 each.

Like offering a local restaurant a batch of Facebook ads every month for $1,000. And each month, you come up with a new batch of ads based on upcoming holidays and events, special menu items, and discounts.

Then once you have a plan, you need to get in touch with your target clients.

And you need to pitch them your services.

Now there are a lot of ways to do that. And I’ll probably write another article (or series) on the subject in the future.

But for now, here are the CliffsNotes for a few of the best options out there…

Live Events

Getting in a room (or Zoom) with your target clients is one of the best ways to get high-paying projects. Since by investing to attend the event, you set yourself apart from 99.9% of the other freelancers out there.

Strategic Partnerships

You can “shortcut” your way to high-value clients using strategic partnerships. Essentially, you find other (non-competitive) companies who also serve your target client. And you find ways to partner so that their clients can become your clients. In fact, using this strategy allowed me to land a $163,360 client.

Job Boards

These can be hit-or-miss. And you have to watch out for low-paying clients. But I see at least two benefits. First, these clients are actively hiring. So you don’t need to convince them them of the value you bring. Plus if they have a lot of work, you can turn one project into repeat business pretty easily.

Direct Outreach

Sending cold emails to your target clients is another good option. The downside is that it can be hard to find the contact information for the decision-maker in the company. And even if you do, standing out enough to get their attention and start a conversation is also hard. So if you can get a referral or mutual introduction, try to do that.

So there you have it…

To get to $5,000 a month, start by thinking about the intersection of what your target clients need and the services you offer. And determine how many clients you’re going to need — and at what price point — to reach $5,000 a month.

Then get out there and start pitching them!

Simple. But not easy.

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