A freelancer just dropped me a note wanted some advice for knowing how to focus. 👀

Whether you are a freelancer or a business the same approach applies so here is the outline I gave them which might help others too…

👉 Step 1

What kind of work/life do you want? How much do you want to earn? What type of work would you be doing? (the numbers really matter because what actions you would do to earn a million a year is different from £200k.

👉 Step 2

Review you previous clients and projects and give them a score out of 10 on whether they are in your 'sweet spot' (i.e. you enjoy doing them, client loved it and you got paid what it was worth). You should be able to see themes of patterns of the work that fits you best, along with the client's challenges/value you are adding.

👉 Step 3

Do a client deep dive on the 2-3 clients you want to work with / can add the most value too. Who are they, what are their 'pains' and what are their 'gains' working with you.

👉 Step 4

You should now have more focus and a strategy of where to play and what you are aiming for. Look at the revenue you want to hit. What types of projects could you realistically do in a year? This is a CRITICAL evaluation as often there is a mismatch. Reconsider based on what is achievable.

👉 Step 5

Think about you sales and marketing tactics which need to be smart and doable and based on what you are selling (e.g. if you want to do £200k per year then you tactics for delivering 4 £50k projects would be very different to if you were selling a workshop at £4k).

I didn't use AI to write this, this is from my own experience and learning the hard way what does and doesn't work, but I am sure AI could be a brilliant advisor here.....the challenge I guess comes with knowing what questions to even ask it.

(I do a small amount of advisory work each year so reach out if you want a chat about how I can support you.)