Check out our Creator Of The Week

Check out  our Creator Of The Week, Suliman Botha's post in our group about landing his first 7-figure client using one of the strategies I talk about inside the Sales 4Creators program…

I liked his implied question at the end, “How do you maintain consistency with outreach + networking while keeping up with client work?” so let's go ahead and tackle that in today's newsletter.

Balancing client work and marketing/sales efforts is a pretty common challenge, I dealt with it and so does everyone else. But this just kind of illuminates one of the inherent challenges in freelancing which is the scalability of services. 

You pretty much only have two options to scale:

1. Raise your rates
2. Take on more work.

As a freelancer, you can’t always just take on more work. You may not have the time. You usually end up juggling multiple projects, deadlines, and client demands, which can be overwhelming and unsustainable in the long run.

This is why a lot of people end up going the agency route and turning their services into “productized services” that they can assemble with hired employees.

To be fair my friend, I have never wanted to nor do I plan to run an agency. I like building a team for my own projects, I like hiring agencies, but I do not like running my own agency. I’ve pondered why quite a bit. I think it’s because to me, DFY is already commerce based rather than artist based. If you have the right branding it’s can be a bit more artisty, but if you don’t it’s entirely just a “get it done” thing for the client, they’re not hiring an artist they’re hiring a project to be completed - that’s what I mean by it’s more so commerce based.

I’ve always been an artist which means I like to create what I want to create, that’s probably why I don’t like agency model.  I don’t want to create what people want or what is profitable, unless that happens to be what I want to create.

I have a team right now of like 8 serbian dudes who are fucking killers, they’re really fun to build shit with because they’re so good. But here’s the thing, they’re creating what I tell them I want, not what they want. 

But that’s me.

You may be totally cool running an agency and if that’s you, go hire my friends over at Client Ascension to help you scale.

If you’re not going to transition to running an agency, I don’t think the right question is “How do I better manage my time?” I believe the right question is “How do I make more with the time I already have?”

You HAVE TO raise your rates.

Think about it, you can only do so much to optimize your time. You can be an absolute psychopath like me right now and go to bed at 8, be up at 4, work till 8, take a break, work till 12, work out, take calls, work till 4, take a break, and then study for a few hours before bed and plan the next day. But outside of that, what else can you do? You can’t create more time. Even if you’re being HYPER efficient like me and disregarding your social life entirely because the mission is more important, the amount of time you have will always be limited.

If you prefer to remain a solo freelancer and dont want to go the agency route, I would consider stacking your skills to offer a broader range of services, to me this is the easiest reason to justify your rates raising unless you have been undercharging already.

I prefer telling people to stack skills because it also boosts results which also boosts your confidence. If I tell you to go from $1,000 a month to $8,000 a month that may be difficult for you to do because what you’re charging may only be worth 1,000 a month!

For example, if you CRUSH IT at writing direct response emails for e-commerce brands, you could also learn to write ad copy, manage CRO, and develop comprehensive marketing strategies. That’s how what you’re doing becomes worth more and when you're doing more, you're more confident with the results because YOU are more responsible than if you were just writing emails for that same company.

Now you get two benefits from the bigger packages you can sell to clients…

1. You can charge more
2. You can work with fewer clients

I would rather work with 2 clients at $10,000 a month rather than 5 at $4,000 per month or 10 at $1,000 per month. The amount of communication alone with multiple clients is a massive fucking headache.

This is because lines of communication are super annoying to deal with, this graphic explains it pretty well:

Too much communication! It starts to get satanic at 5 people lmao.

I would rather stack skills and work with fewer people and solve multiple problems for those clients, increasing their loyalty and the average order value (AOV).

That’s what I would recommend doing atleast.

Think of “skill stacking” as a symphony. Each skill you master is a new instrument, adding depth and complexity to your composition. The more instruments you can play, the richer your symphony becomes. It’s about layering your skills, blending them seamlessly, and creating something that resonates on multiple levels.

Yes, you can use tools and techniques like time blocking and setting better boundaries to have more time… but remember, that will only take you so far.

The most organized pooper scooper in the city is still a pooper scooper.

Now, I know what some of you might be thinking: "But Nick! I'm not sure I have the time or energy to learn all these new skills while still managing my current workload." And I get it, believe me. It's not easy to juggle client work, personal life, and professional development all at once.

Start small. Pick one adjacent skill that you can begin to learn and integrate into your existing services. Maybe it's learning how to write compelling ad copy to pair with your email marketing expertise, or diving into the world of CRO to help your clients optimize their websites for conversions. The key is to choose something that excites you and aligns with your overall business goals.

As you begin to master this new skill, you'll find that it opens up new opportunities and allows you to approach your work from a more holistic perspective.

You'll be able to offer your clients a more comprehensive solution, which in turn makes you an invaluable asset to their business.

And as you continue to stack your skills and refine your craft, you'll naturally attract higher-caliber clients who are willing to pay premium rates for your expertise. You'll be able to work on more interesting, challenging projects that truly showcase your talents and make the most of your time.

It really is that simple.

To Your Super Success,

Nick

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