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Upselling your freelance services to clients you’ve already closed can be a great way to increase your profits without having to find new clients.
So, in today’s article, I’m sharing several actionable ways to incorporate upsells into your freelance business.
What is an upsell?
Simply put, an upsell is an additional sale you offer to an existing customer.
For freelancers, an upsell might involve expanding the scope of the project (and therefore increasing the budget) or adding other creative modules to the project. We’ll explore some examples below.
The purpose of an upsell is to increase the amount you earn on each client project.
Customer Upselling Brainstorming + Examples
For your best chance of success, you need to have a few predetermined, “for sale” upsell packages on hand at all times.
Thinking about upsell options can be a difficult task, depending on the industry you’re in. But no industry is excluded when it comes to using upselling as a way to increase profits.
The key to successful brainstorming is to follow this pattern:
1. Determine your core offerings.
First, make a list of everything you sell publicly to your customers. These are your main offers.
2. Identify services that could be added easily.
Then identify services that are a simple and easy addition to your core services. These are highly related services that may be an “obvious” decision for a client.
Here are some examples:
Basic offer | Natural add-on (upsell) | |
Freelance writer | To write an article. |
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Independent designer | Design a brochure. |
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Independent video editor | Edit a YouTube video. |
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Independent Social Media Marketing Specialist | Create posts that generate attention, engagement and traffic on social media. |
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Independent illustrator | Illustrate images for an ebook. |
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Independent photographers | Take photos of a family and sell prints. |
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What separates a good upsell from a bad one?
However, not all upsells are equal. It will take some serious brainstorming, planning, and experimentation to determine the best upsell option for your freelance business.
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Here’s what warrants an upsell:
Upselling should be focused on adding real value
Have you ever gone to the store and they try to convince you to buy something you really want as well as something you don’t care about at all?
It goes something like this: Buy this amazing new luggage set and we’ll give you these Christmas stockings.
What a desappointment.
Customers can smell this stuff from a mile away. They know when you’re trying to spice up an offer with something that doesn’t really add value.
This means that if your upsell doesn’t add additional value to your customer, they will simply stick with the original project, leaving your profit margins wanting.
Upselling should require minimal effort on your part
Remember, the goal of an upsell is to increase profit margins. Upsells should therefore require minimal additional effort while adding a lot of additional value.
Having resources that you can create once and then reuse is particularly helpful in this area.
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If you’re a logo designer, for example, a PDF booklet explaining the do’s and don’ts of using a logo could be extremely valuable to a large corporate client.
For writers, a list of outlets willing to share articles on social media can be very useful: it only requires one additional email from you, but drives additional traffic to your client, which you can charge.
For coaches, activity worksheets and other guides can be created once and distributed for an additional fee to those you coach and work with.
Upselling should be easy to explain and easy to say “yes”
Finally, your upsell should be quick to explain and should be as simple as possible for your customers.
Keep your upsell concise and to the point. If the explanation takes more than 2-3 minutes, you will lose your customer’s interest.
The most basic upsell example: “Would you like fries with that?” » gives us a good idea of what I mean. They might say, “Would you like some sides?” We have fries, salads, fruit or chips. But the simplicity of answering yes or no to “do you want fries with that?” adds a few extra dollars every time someone just says “sure”.
Where and when to upsell
I would like to share with you, as promised in the title, five ways to sell to your customers.
Of course, there are many other ways to upsell products. The key is to find the timing, style and strategy that suits you best and is most comfortable with.
Here are some ideas to get started:
Upselling during the initial pitch meeting
When you first meet your client, it may be the best time to include an upsell: that way, they can build it into their budget from the start.
Mid-Project Upsell
Sometimes clients want to expand the scope of a project while you’re in the middle of it. Having a backup upsell that solves their problem can be helpful.
Upselling right after delivery
If you’ve done a good job (as of course you have), your customers will be the happiest and most satisfied right after your final product is delivered. Catching them in a good mood is the perfect time to offer an upsell.
Upsell when you send the invoice
Regardless of your favorite freelance invoicing software, including a little note with a link encouraging clients to purchase your upsell is always a subtle but effective way to add margin to your project.
Upsell after a while
It may take time for your client to realize that some issues their business still faces were not fully resolved by the original project. Following up after a few months is a good time to see if they have any other work to send you.
And after?
There you have it: a quick primer on upselling for freelancers. I’d love to know where you take this idea from here. Be sure to leave a comment below and let me know what you think you’ll add to your business to reap the benefits of upselling.
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