This is the hardest lesson for any entrepreneur or freelancer to learn and implement.
But it’s also the one that makes the biggest difference, cements you as a successful freelancer, and gives you an endless stream of clients.
The reason I love freelancing is because my ability to make money is directly tied to my efforts. If I work harder, I will make more money. Period.
This was also true during my days as a waiter and bartender.
For 3 years of my early adulthood, I served people food and drinks – a couple years at a fondue restaurant, and random stretches of time at various higher-end bars in and around Milwaukee.
When you serve somebody, you learn that you can’t just tick boxes and expect a good tip at the end of the night.
Yes, you do the basics: you greet them, take their order, bring their drinks, bring their food, clean up after them, bring them their bills, answer questions.
But if I wanted to make more money, I had to do better.
I don’t mean doing the basics better. You can only do those things so well.
No, I had to build a better connection with my table.
I needed to display a personality that they would connect with. I had to build conversations with them, if they wanted them. I had to carry myself with professionalism and humanity, which is a delicate balance in and of itself.
In the small amount of time I had, my goal was to build a relationship with whomever I was serving.
If I did that, my tips would go up dramatically.
I’ve often said that waiting tables and bartending is the perfect proving ground for a freelancer.
That’s because being a server forces you to develop soft skills.
Anybody can be a server and bring food to a table.
But the GOOD ones establish connections with each table.
For 3 years of my working life, I honed those skills. I’ve used those skills as a freelancer every day for 16 years since.
Why?
Because when I lean into those soft skills, I’m able to build a thriving roster of client relationships that pay me $2000-$8000/month EACH.
Anybody can be a writer, especially with today’s tools.
But the writers who build careers for a lifetime are not the ones who keep trying to do the basics better (“mAsTeRiNg ThEiR cRaFt!” they’ll say).
No, the writers who build lifetime careers and incomes are the ones who develop soft skills that make the Client Experience so good, clients pay to keep them around.