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:
- Maia has streamlined its services and prices, focusing its business model on greater profitability.
- Improved project management efficiency through better task delegation and team coordination
- Prioritize building a strong case study portfolio over immediate social media expansion
Coaching highlights from today’s episode:
- The importance of a targeted brand offering to help Maia streamline its services
- Marketing Alternatives to Social Media, Suggesting Diversification for Better ROI
- Delegate non-strategic tasks and consider a roadmap service to engage customers
Original coaching call recording date: 10/11/2023
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 introduces the podcast series aimed at helping freelancers like Maia achieve a six-figure income, describing the format and goals of the series.
- 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. — Maia shares her progress, including creating a new deck, simplifying her range of offerings, increasing her pricing, and booking a new client, signifying a major transformation in her approach.
- 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. — Zach and Maia discuss changes to its business model, including pricing adjustments and eliminating content strategy from its services, emphasizing a more focused brand offering.
- 6:00 – 8:00 — The conversation turns to Maia’s team dynamics and project management challenges, highlighting her strategy for more effective project briefings and task delegation.
- 8:00 – 10:00 — They explore Maia’s content strategist taking on more project management responsibilities, considering tests to gauge her ability to keep projects on track without oversight.
- 10:00 – 12:00 — Maia emphasizes her team’s potential beyond junior roles, urging them to engage directly with clients and build personal portfolios.
- 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. — Zach discusses the need for a project manager to oversee the phases of the project, ensuring tasks are completed on time.
- 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. — Maia decides to delay starting a new Instagram profile until her suite of services is more established, focusing on creating case studies.
- 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. — Discussion on investing in case studies for Behance, Instagram, and Pinterest to improve their studio’s online presence.
- 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. — Zach questions the readiness and fears surrounding launching a new Instagram business, while Maia considers balancing fear and necessity in marketing strategies.
- 8:00 – 10:00 p.m. — Zach discusses the value and necessity of social media channels, questioning their importance and effectiveness compared to other marketing strategies.
- 10:00 p.m. – 12:00 p.m. — The conversation shifts to exploring alternatives to social media, such as joint ventures or paid advertising, to diversify marketing approaches and potentially generate greater ROI.
- 24:00 – 26:00 — Maia presents its range of refined offerings, emphasizing streamlined services, clearer pricing and moving away from personalized propositions.
- 26:00 – 28:00 — Details of Maia’s suite of offerings are discussed, including “Base Camp”, “Essence” and “Expansion”, as well as the rationale for their pricing and structure.
- 28:00 – 30:00 — Zach and Maia discuss the strategic direction of Maia’s services and the decision to delegate non-strategic design work, emphasizing the importance of strategy in Maia’s offerings.
- 30:00 – 32:00 — Zach suggests considering a standalone road mapping service to reduce financial commitment barriers for clients, which could then be applied to the total project cost.
- 32:00 – 34:00 — Discussion on ensuring project profitability, particularly with plans to hire a project manager in the future and the importance of incorporating project management costs into pricing.
- 34:00 – 36:00 — Maia is not yet considering hiring a project manager due to its effective project management system, considering it a potential goal for 2024.
- 36:00 – 38:00 — Zach emphasizes viewing time as a valuable resource, even for solopreneurs, and the importance of understanding project time requirements for profitability.
- 38:00 – 40:00 — The conversation shifts to the need to track project management time by client to ensure accurate cost and profitability analysis.
- 40:00 – 41:44 — Future plans include Maia finalizing its services platform for client presentation and beginning to more accurately track project management time for business case analysis.