Jay Clouse
Creator of Freelancing School
Helping creatives become confident business owners. Creator of Freelancing School, founder of Unreal Collective, and host of Creative Elements.
A couple weeks ago, I sat down with Josh Hall (does incredible tutorials on how to use Divi on YouTube) and talked about selling. I've shared some of this in previous interviews, but there's a lot of new stuff too.
In this episode:
In this episode:
03:32 – Greeting to Jay
04:25 – Being a “Creator”
07:14 – Changing a work style
09:35 – Creating confidence
12:12 – Anyone can advocate
14:33 – Realistic expectations
16:37 – Reinforcing yourself
18:57 – Small celebrations
25:29 – Comfort in certainty
27:29 – Action steps
32:12 – Pricing tell a story
34:26 – Everyone listen!
37:17 – Investment not cost
41:47 – Exciting start
45:15 – Opportunity cost
49:34 – Qualified definition
55:16 – Seasonal coaching
56:30 – Forming habits
1:00:12 – Capacity advantage
04:25 – Being a “Creator”
07:14 – Changing a work style
09:35 – Creating confidence
12:12 – Anyone can advocate
14:33 – Realistic expectations
16:37 – Reinforcing yourself
18:57 – Small celebrations
25:29 – Comfort in certainty
27:29 – Action steps
32:12 – Pricing tell a story
34:26 – Everyone listen!
37:17 – Investment not cost
41:47 – Exciting start
45:15 – Opportunity cost
49:34 – Qualified definition
55:16 – Seasonal coaching
56:30 – Forming habits
1:00:12 – Capacity advantage
Good morning, everyone! It’s time to reflect on your week! I’ll get the train rolling… 🚂
Woohoo!
Woohoo!
- My newsletter was featured as a favorite by ConvertKit!
- Based on some feedback I was getting, I tested the waters on a presale for a course on my podcasting process…we are 9 out of 10 preorders that I needed to see before committing to making it!
- My mail in ballot was counted!
- Trying a new referral program for Creative Elements
- We have our community call at 11am!
Woof
- I’ve gotten pretty bad sleep this week because of the cat, mostly
- It looks like I’ll be working this weekend on podcast editing because I doubt I get it done today
Let me know how YOUR week went! 👇
My second assignment was submitted, accepted, and paid on Monday 10/19. That felt great.
The client planned to send me a proposal 10/23; they gave me an update that their client is behind on billing so they will give me the assignment when the client is paid up. I absolutely respect that, and I let them know I appreciated the update.
I'm exploring a second type of side hustle work, loan signing agent. So I'm doing research on that during my downtime.
The client planned to send me a proposal 10/23; they gave me an update that their client is behind on billing so they will give me the assignment when the client is paid up. I absolutely respect that, and I let them know I appreciated the update.
I'm exploring a second type of side hustle work, loan signing agent. So I'm doing research on that during my downtime.
I had a busy week that was very productive:
Had productive sessions with two leadership teams; always makes my brain dance to watch leadership teams strengthen their companies.
Spent a day with my Strategic Coach colleagues in our virtual quarterly workshop.
I'm redesigning the services I offer, and had some "aha" moments of my own this week!
Outlined the content for six new tools to add value to my client sessions.
Had productive sessions with two leadership teams; always makes my brain dance to watch leadership teams strengthen their companies.
Spent a day with my Strategic Coach colleagues in our virtual quarterly workshop.
I'm redesigning the services I offer, and had some "aha" moments of my own this week!
Outlined the content for six new tools to add value to my client sessions.
Hey guys,
I hope you've had a great week! It's been a whirlwind over here...it's looking like I may have a bit of a working weekend.
But it's all good things! And tomorrow, I'm excited to reconnect with a lot of you!
We'll be meeting tomorrow, Friday 10/23 at 11am EST.
If you're free and want to join us, please do! We'll check in on wins, struggles, and generally have a good, cozy time.
Bring a cup of coffee, bring a question or two if you want.
Click here to register
I hope you've had a great week! It's been a whirlwind over here...it's looking like I may have a bit of a working weekend.
But it's all good things! And tomorrow, I'm excited to reconnect with a lot of you!
We'll be meeting tomorrow, Friday 10/23 at 11am EST.
If you're free and want to join us, please do! We'll check in on wins, struggles, and generally have a good, cozy time.
Bring a cup of coffee, bring a question or two if you want.
Click here to register
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I have a conflict tomorrow so I'll miss all of you this time! But I will almost certainly have a cup of tea by my side!
· 3 replies
Hey folks!
I was just looking around at some of the other spaces around here...and it occurred to me that we have a lot of spaces that aren't as active.
So, first of all, I wanted to make sure you knew they existed:
Maybe you're thinking, "Duh Jay, I saw the spaces. I'm just not interested."
If that's the case, that's useful to know too! Do you think we should remove some of the lesser known spaces in the Chat area?
I was just looking around at some of the other spaces around here...and it occurred to me that we have a lot of spaces that aren't as active.
So, first of all, I wanted to make sure you knew they existed:
Maybe you're thinking, "Duh Jay, I saw the spaces. I'm just not interested."
If that's the case, that's useful to know too! Do you think we should remove some of the lesser known spaces in the Chat area?
I think some of the spaces could be combined and a few could be removed. For example, you could have a business administration section that includes money and legal and other administrative stuff (like tools). Marketing could include audience building. I also think the products and services sections could be combined instead of each type of business being separated out (but that's only because I tend to read everything). And maybe combine general and random into miscellaneous?
· 1 reply
Hey folks!
I took a slight step back from our challenges this month (as you may have noticed) but I'm feeling some community withdrawal.
Who's interested in a virtual Friday morning meetup next week (10/23) at our regular time of 11am ET?!
I took a slight step back from our challenges this month (as you may have noticed) but I'm feeling some community withdrawal.
Who's interested in a virtual Friday morning meetup next week (10/23) at our regular time of 11am ET?!
Scheduled! I'll send an email out as well.
Click here to register and add to your calendar
ccJosh Robbs Tom Peracchio Cynthia Jones Laura Ciampa
Click here to register and add to your calendar
cc
Gooood morning my friends! It's Friday. Fri-Yay. TGIF and all of the other cheeky ways of celebrating the end of the week!
That means, it's time to celebrate together.
My wins:
That means, it's time to celebrate together.
My wins:
- Recorded two great interviews for Creative Elements
- Started working with a new coaching client
- My second LinkedIn Learning course earned out and started generating royalties
- These cookies my girlfriend surprised me with
- I wrote two blog posts I'm proud of!
How did YOUR week go? 👇
Still on my 2-week break, but the highlight of this week is covered in the following tweet:
More than anything, I am just glad that it is off my plate and now I can focus on other things I wanted to do. Pushing it out also gave me a little more confidence for other things I may work on in the future.
More than anything, I am just glad that it is off my plate and now I can focus on other things I wanted to do. Pushing it out also gave me a little more confidence for other things I may work on in the future.
· 2 replies
Busy week!
Wednesday: Participated in a meeting with several principals at a small company. (Most of the people on the call were former coworkers at my former company.) I submitted a proposal for several short projects on Thursday, and plan to discuss them with the company next Wednesday.
In addition to these short projects, the company may win a contract which could require significant additional work, possibly as significant as the Thursday opportunity discussed below.
Thursday: Participated in a meeting including a principal at a large company, and a second person who used to work at my former employer. Initially they wanted someone to work 40 hours a week until the end of the year, but their fixed budget wouldn't let me charge my ideal hourly rate.
I've mitigated this a bit in the proposal that I'm preparing by reducing my maximum hours per week to 32, allowing me to increase my hourly rate a bit and still fit within their budget. My proposal includes a contract expiration of December 31, giving me the opportunity to raise my rate in the new year if I want to continue working with them. Even at the non-ideal rate, this potentially provides a livable income, which helps.
(Aside: I priced this opportunity after listening toJay Clouse 's advice in the podcast that he recently shared via email. Perhaps I'm not being as aggressive as I should be, but the income potential from this makes it worthwhile to pursue it, even if I can't charge my ideal hourly rate.)
Today: Participated in a meeting with two principals at a small company. (The company found me via a LinkedIn comment I made on one of their compeitor's posts.) They desire some short projects - perhaps a LOT of these short projects.
I've already provided them with a simple proposal; if they're interested, I can hopefully start work on the first short project soon.
Wednesday: Participated in a meeting with several principals at a small company. (Most of the people on the call were former coworkers at my former company.) I submitted a proposal for several short projects on Thursday, and plan to discuss them with the company next Wednesday.
In addition to these short projects, the company may win a contract which could require significant additional work, possibly as significant as the Thursday opportunity discussed below.
Thursday: Participated in a meeting including a principal at a large company, and a second person who used to work at my former employer. Initially they wanted someone to work 40 hours a week until the end of the year, but their fixed budget wouldn't let me charge my ideal hourly rate.
I've mitigated this a bit in the proposal that I'm preparing by reducing my maximum hours per week to 32, allowing me to increase my hourly rate a bit and still fit within their budget. My proposal includes a contract expiration of December 31, giving me the opportunity to raise my rate in the new year if I want to continue working with them. Even at the non-ideal rate, this potentially provides a livable income, which helps.
(Aside: I priced this opportunity after listening to
Today: Participated in a meeting with two principals at a small company. (The company found me via a LinkedIn comment I made on one of their compeitor's posts.) They desire some short projects - perhaps a LOT of these short projects.
I've already provided them with a simple proposal; if they're interested, I can hopefully start work on the first short project soon.
· 2 replies
It was a great week!
- My website and portfolio are shaping up nicely. I've been sharing progress on twitter @samandrewsmakes
- Said no to a project that I'm not a good fit for. This is always difficult for me, but I know I need to niche down.
- Exercised three times and cooked three times!
· 1 reply
Hey everyone,
Open Enrollment is coming up from Nov. 1 - Dec. 15 for marketplace health insurance policies. If you're in the US freelancing full time and need to purchase your own health insurance, you should be getting ready to enroll!
I wrote an article covering what you need to know here
If you have questions outside of that, please let me know! I will update the piece based on anything that seems unclear.
Open Enrollment is coming up from Nov. 1 - Dec. 15 for marketplace health insurance policies. If you're in the US freelancing full time and need to purchase your own health insurance, you should be getting ready to enroll!
I wrote an article covering what you need to know here
If you have questions outside of that, please let me know! I will update the piece based on anything that seems unclear.
Recently I met a web designer named Chris Misterek.
He has a really great side project called the Self-Made Web Designer, and he read my recap of my last three year's freelancing.
He asked me to come on his podcast to talk about that journey and to dive deep into pricing your services and increasing your income as a freelancer.
To be honest, I go on a lot of podcasts and I don't end up sharing most of them. But Chris's show is different for two reasons:
- What we talked about is super focused to freelancers
- He did a fantastic job of producing the show to sound great
So, if you're interested, take a listen! We talk about:
- How I scaled up my hourly rate (and why you should ditch hourly)
- A few simple things that you can do to be successful as a freelancer
- How to use your long term vision to keep going when things get hard
- How to gradually get bigger name clients
- How to overcome fear and increase your rates
- How to price for happiness rather than value or market rate
- How a willingness to walk away is a key factor in increasing your income as a freelancer
- How to understand your true value as a freelancer
- How to understand what a client means when they say they have a certain budget
- The importance of your personal budget in being successful as a freelancer
- Why energy management is more important than time management
Hey friends!
We've reached the end of another week...how did it go for you?
We've reached the end of another week...how did it go for you?
- I landed a new coaching client
- A few new course students
- New community members here!
- Created our talent directory
- I have next week's podcast and Sunday's email already queued up!
How did YOUR week go? 👇
Back in May, before I was laid off from my corporate job, I scheduled a ten-day vacation visiting relatives in Alabama. I didn't cancel the vacation, but it turned into a semi-working vacation as one of my existing clients has been giving me repeat business.
While flying home yesterday, I was contacted by a former coworker with another possible consulting opportunity.
And now that I'm back home, I have a list of other people with whom I need to follow up.
We will see what happens...
While flying home yesterday, I was contacted by a former coworker with another possible consulting opportunity.
And now that I'm back home, I have a list of other people with whom I need to follow up.
We will see what happens...
· 2 replies
Love reading about what other people are up to! Here's my wins for this week:
- Joined this community and posted! :)
- Finally went for a walk today - very refreshing. Love this time of year!
- Finished a client project that was dragging on.
- Sent out the sixth edition of my newsletter In the Good.
Looking forward to the weekend - it's a long weekend here in Canada and the forecast is looking great, so I'm excited. :)
· 4 replies