Image by Computer Science Geek.

Do you remember that feeling as a child of not ever being afraid to try new things? Nuh uh, me neither.

And yet as children one of the primary ways we learn and grow is by experimenting and testing — forever pushing the boundaries of what we can do and what’s ‘allowed’. Yet somewhere along the path to adulthood, fear took over…

A fear of failure, a fear of making mistakes, a fear of standing out, a fear of being different, a fear of trying new things.

So here you are today running a modestly (very?) successful freelancing business or wondering how to get started. What’s the main thing holding you back from going to the next level? Fear.

If you’re a relatively experienced freelancer, have you sometimes thought you yourself: “I wonder what would happen if I [fill in the blank]?” but then listed over a dozen reasons why you shouldn’t try? In today’s world where businesses can be launched or tested on a shoestring budget, what is it that holds us back?

There’s great quote by Price Pritchett, the organizational change guru, which goes like this:

“If you send a rocket towards the moon, about ninety percent of the time it’s off course - it “fails” its way to the moon by continually making mistakes and correcting them”.

If you weren’t afraid, what would you try out today to take your freelancing business to the next level?

Here are some ideas to get you started…

In your marketing

• Try total upfront honesty.
• Try asking for clients if you need/want them — people won’t know you’re looking unless you ask
• Try out new ways to attract business that you’ve dismissed and never tried before: advertising, networking, blogging, referral incentives, direct marketing, cold calling, writing, PR, public speaking.
• Do the opposite of what you’ve always done.
• Do the opposite of what everyone else is doing.
• If you’ve been tiptoe-ing around, hedging your bets and trying to attract all-comers, then try a different approach: polarize your market.
• Publicize your views, especially if they’re strong and even a little controversial. Some people will strongly agree with you and others strongly disagree. In one stroke, you’ve identified the more targeted prospects for your business and weeded out the less than ideal ones.

In handling clients

• Go way over and above the level you’ve ever thought possible to add value to your clients: think you’re already doing all you can? Think again.
• Cut back on customer service: give way too much and get taken for granted? Then try a different approach and either start charging for the extra (especially if you already undercharge) or try not providing it at all.
• Treat customers and clients how they treat you: reward those customers who get back to you on time and treat you with respect and delay responding to the customers who don’t. Harsh? Yes. Might lose you business? Yes. But ultimately it’s about respect and if you have clients who don’t respect you, what are you doing still working with them?
• Constantly reward your very best customers and sack your worst ones.

In your own personal effectiveness and productivity

• Unplug from the internet.
• Read a business book about a totally unrelated business or industry.
• Subscribe to blogs in loosely related fields for off-beat inspiration.

These are just some basic ideas, not meant to be “wrong” or “right” but perhaps just different to what you’ve been doing.

I’m not advocating that you go wild (although it doesn’t always hurt), nor that you throw all sense of caution to the wind — especially if your ideas require you to invest sums of money — but I am suggesting that if what you’re currently doing isn’t getting you what you want or taking you to where you want to be, then experimenting a little might just yield the results you’re looking for. If you don’t try, you’ll never know.