This week, Val and I talk about one-on-one work, and how this type of work can be very lucrative in the service-based industry. Many people don’t like one-on-one work – with very valid reasons. This working model can often make you feel drained – both emotionally and physically. So how do you do one-on-one work without leading to burnout? What ways can you make it work for you while improving your bottom line? How do you determine when to say “no” to a client? Should you raise your rates? How do you raise your rates? When should you should you ask your clients for feedback? We will discuss all of this and more in the show and hopefully give you a better perspective of how we handle this type of working model in our own businesses.
Season 2 of the Get Paid Podcast is sponsored by Acuity Scheduling. Start your exclusive 45-day free trial at acuityscheduling.com/getpaid!
In This Episode You’ll Hear:
- What are the two types of one-on-one work?
- What are some ways you can make one-on-one work, work for you without resulting in “burnout?”
- How to set expectations and boundaries with your clients.
- When to say “No” to a client, and when to raise your rates.
- How to raise your rates with existing clients.
- When to ask your clients for feedback or testimonials.
- How to wrap-up a one-on-one gig.
- What are in-take forms or working guides and how can you use them in your business?
Mentioned In This Episode:
- Nikki Elledge Brown on Lady Business Radio with Jessica Kupferman (check out Nikki’s comment below where she clarifies some things about her initial one-on-one offering, which is fascinating!)
- Ramit Sethi shares his email script on raising rates with Marie Forleo TV fans
- Ramit’s email script: I know we said we’d include the entire script in the shownotes, but because we don’t want to step on any potential copyright land mines, we’re gonna let you watch that video and write it down yourselves.
The TL;DR of the show:
Make one-on-one work, work for you!
- One-on-one work is the fastest path to cash.
- It sets the foundation for everything else you’re going to build.
- It provides testimonials and referrals.
- Minimum Viable Services could net you $5,000 per month.
- Raise your rates – after you have testimonials.
Connect with Val and Claire on the ol’ Social Networks:
Val Geisler
Claire Pelletreau
SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES, STITCHER OR GRAB THE FEED LINK HERE!
Thanks for listening! Time to go get yourself paid. :)
Thanks for the mention gals! Love the both of you!! xoxoxo
Our pleasure as always Jess! Thanks for those hours and hours of interviews that got me hooked on listening to podcasts. :)
Claire, don’t feel bad and think that you stuffed up at the end of last year’s Incubator. It was awesome, the support you gave us was awesome, you’re awesome. That is all :)
Ok Angela, if you say so, I’ll stop feeling bad! It’s funny how we can never quite forgive ourselves for small mistakes even when the overall result was great.
Oh heeey, ladies! Thanks for the love :)
To clarify a bit: At the start (how was it three years ago?!) I offered one-hour 1:1 sessions to help folks with whatever communication-related concerns they had (my background is in teaching communication studies at the college level – which leaves a wiiiide range of potential out there!).
Gave them a list of options to choose from – public speaking, social media shares, emails, face-to-face convos, whatev.
About 99% opted for help with website copy, and the VAST majority of those were *most* concerned with their about pages – then work with me pages, then home pages and/or blog posts.
(That made it easy!)
After working on the same type(s) of pages with over 160 folks (over the course of eight months, but you’re right – first 100 were all that summer!), the basic recipes I now share in A Course About Copy were born.
And for bonus to your Q (to Val), Claire – I always let them know ahead of time that I’d send them Qs for feedback within two biz days of our session.
Getting those testimonials was HUGE for me. I didn’t have a site up when the first 90+ booked in that crazy jumpstart, but once I did, several clients shared that the sheer quantity of quality testimonials on my site was enough to help them feel comfy investing in me.
Great discussion!
You rock for clarifying, Nikki! That’s incredibly helpful info for our listeners, especially since we obviously don’t fact-check. :) Thank you so much for listening!
My pleasure! Earlier this week one of my ACAC customers asked me how I’d start if I was starting all over, and I said the same thing you did. One-on-one work is a brilliant way to build your systems, your confidence, your clientele, and your content for a future one-to-many offering (if that’s something you’re interested in creating). I didn’t PLAN it that way since I was just going with the crazy flow, but I can’t imagine it any other way.
I LOVED this episode, ladies. I am at the start of my business and have felt the pressures that Val mentioned to create a product so I could scale. But I definitely don’t feel like I have enough experience to know what my audience might need, not to mention that I ENJOY the one-on-one work (at least at this stage) and that’s why I’m getting into this in the first place. Thank you for validating my thoughts and encouraging me to build my confidence, my clientele, my content and my processes. I am feeling re-energized and focused!
You’re so welcome Katelyn! Focus is hard to come by, so you go get it girl! :)
Fantastic episode, as always :) As someone who started my business with 1:1 work, this episode was incredibly supportive + freakin’ honest!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Victoria! Thank you so much for listening and for coming over here to leave a comment. :D
Hi Claire, this episode is such a refreshing take on the value of starting with services and 1-on-1 work. Highly appreciated! You and Val are really on to something with the “minimum viable service” thing. : )
Thanks so much, Danny! So glad you liked it. :)
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