[Coaching: Maia #11] Effective Hourly Rate, Lead Gen Focus + Starting a Podcast and the Importance of Time Tracking

Coaching Series: Can Zach take this entry-level freelancer (Maia) to a 6-figure income ($8,333/month) in 6 months?

Follow their journey through the ups and downs and watch them grow!

Milestones from today’s episode:

• How Time Tracking Helped Effectively Pricing Services
• Explore different channels for lead generation, including starting a podcast
• Choose which tasks to simplify or delegate

Coaching highlights from today’s episode:

• The importance of time tracking for profitability
• Test higher prices for different services
• Create a recurring monthly revenue stream

Original coaching call recording date: 09/08/2023

The DYF Accelerator Community includes weekly live 20-minute one-on-one Zoom coaching with Zach that follows the same format you saw here.

You’ll also have access to our huge library of all past coaching calls, as well as a text-based community and weekly accountability check-ins.

Click here to find out more “

• 12:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. — Zach hosts the podcast series, focusing on Maia’s journey from starting freelancer to earning a six-figure income.
• 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. — Zach mentions the format of their meetings and promotes the DIY accelerator community for coaching.
• 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. — Maia shares her positive experience with time tracking, which allows her to gain project pricing insights and focus on more profitable projects.
• 6:00 – 8:00 — Discussion on Maia’s effective hourly rate for different types of clients and the cost-effectiveness of coaching clients compared to other projects.
• 8:00 – 10:00 — Maia and Zach discuss the importance of consolidating service offerings and Maya’s recent success in confidently introducing a new service.
• 10:00 – 12:00 – Maia and Zach discuss aligning time tracking with your brand voice and customer interactions.
• 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. — Zach guides Maia in reviewing her time tracking data, focusing on her work model and project categorization.
• 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. — Discussion on the distribution of Maia’s working hours between client work and her own business development.
• 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. — Maia and Zach explore the specifics of categorizing different types of work in time tracking.
• 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. — Analysis of Maia’s income potential based on her hourly rate and work hours, including the impact of non-billable tasks.
• 8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. — Maia discusses the time it takes to set up customer dashboards and considers delegating some tasks.
• 10:00 p.m. – 24:00 p.m. — Zach suggests delegating certain tasks, comparing it to the workflow of a doctor’s office.
• 24:00 – 26:00 — Discussion on delegating the creation of client reference documents to Maia’s junior designer.
• 26:00 – 28:00 — Explore potential time and cost savings through delegation and focus on tasks that require Maia’s expertise.
• 28:00 – 30:00 — Maia reflects on the tasks she enjoys and their impact on her energy, considering automation for other tasks.
• 30:00 – 32:00 — Maia considers automating some tasks and Zach warns of the potential pitfalls of self-built automations.
• 32:00 – 34:00 — Discussion on the identification of recurring tasks worthy of automation compared to experimental tasks.
• 34:00 – 36:00 — Maia considers her services a key factor in the success of her business, using them to bootstrap rather than close clients.
• 36:00 – 38:00 — Zach suggests making service descriptions more persistent to reduce the need for frequent updates.
• 38:00 – 40:00 — Maia recognizes her tendency to become absorbed in design work, considering delegation to avoid tedious tasks. Zach introduces the concept of tracking time spent on non-essential tasks.
• 40:00 – 42:00 — Zach and Maia discuss delegating design tasks to maximize time efficiency.
• 42:00 – 44:00 — Maia explains its different service offerings, including Basecamp, content strategy and coaching.
• 44:00 – 46:00 — Maia plans to focus more on creative mentoring and coaching rather than just content strategy.
• 46:00 – 48:00 — Zach suggests optimizing Maia’s workflow and exploring new channels like podcasting.
• 48:00 – 49:36 — Discussion on increasing service rates and tracking time spent on different projects for greater efficiency.