There are a number of ways to increase your income.
One way to earn more money is to work more hours. But this is not possible if you’re already working at capacity. And most of us cannot do more than 5–6 hours of editing in a day, even if we are available to work for 8 hours every day. Editing is exhausting work!
Another way to earn more is to create leveraged-income products, such as books and courses. Note that I did not call them passive-income products. There is nothing passive about selling products online! Sure, creating the content is probably not too difficult for most word-lovers like us. But the amount of marketing required is quite staggering and not for the faint of heart.
Setting up an agency model is also a common way for sole traders to earn more. But it can take a lot of work to find a great team of subcontractors, and you may find that you are spending more time managing and less time editing.
By far the simplest method of increasing your income is to raise your rates. Now, don’t worry, I can hear your protests from here. I said it was simple but I didn’t say it was easy! In fact, the act of putting your prices up, even by a few dollars per hour, can strike terror in the hearts of many editors. And the reason for that is your mindset. If you are telling yourself that no-one will pay more for your services or that you’re a bad person if you want to earn a lot of money or that you’re not qualified to increase your rates then you’ll find it extremely difficult to put your prices up.
And the thing is, you might not even realise that you’re sabotaging your own success. Instead, you might be telling yourself things like, ‘once I have read a few more marketing books then I’ll feel more confident to put my prices up’ or, ‘I’ll just get another editing qualification and then I’ll launch my website and increase my rates’.
I have learned this the hard way. Years ago I had the idea to create an e-course. I had all the content in my head, from years of giving live workshops. But I stalled when it came to choosing the ‘best’ software to host my course. Whenever someone asked me about my course I would talk about the difficulties of choosing the software or say how I was too busy to set it up, and another couple of months would pass. Finally I got frustrated with myself and annoyed because I saw other people releasing similar courses. I realised that I was using the technology as an excuse because I was scared of having to be visible in the online world. So I put my fear aside, picked a piece of software and got on with it.
As a coach who is interested in money mindset, I created a half-day money mindset workshop which I presented at the IPEd conference in Melbourne in May 2019. Around 25 editors attended and they started to identify the beliefs that have stopped them raising their rates and promoting themselves. This in turn helped them develop a realistic marketing plan and find the motivation they needed to start implementing it.
I have received some lovely feedback:
- ‘Malini’s … ideas and practical steps helped me crystallise some hazy ideas about how to move my business up a notch and make more of my skills and existing contacts …’
- ‘I want to congratulate you on the brilliant presentation, which homed in so intelligently on the critical flaws in fee-setting practices that so many of us are unaware of when charging for our services.’
- ‘In my experience, many women (and some men, of course) are brought up to be afraid of dealing with money issues. I reckon this workshop should be mandatory for all small business owners, not just editors, and particularly women.’
- ‘ I wanted to thank you for your inspiring and motivational presentation.’
I’m excited to be giving this workshop in Toronto on 5 November as part of the SfEP mini-conference, which is on 6 November. I’d love to see you there! It’s really powerful to be in a room full of others who have the same struggles and are working towards the same goal. You can read more about the conference at: https://www.sfep.org.uk/networking/local/mini-conferences/toronto-2019/
In 2018 I was given the opportunity to go to Los Angeles for a one-day business retreat and to meet one of my mentors in person. It was a long way to go from Australia, and I only decided to attend at the last minute. But I’m so glad I did. The combination of working on my own mindset and having space and time to think about my business was amazing and contributed to the growth I have seen in my business over the past 18 months. So if you’re feeling nervous about coming to Toronto and wondering whether it will be worth it, I understand. But I also know that if you are ready to change the way you think about your business and, more importantly, yourself, you will reap the benefits.
Ready to learn more?
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