If you are a photographer or designer or other freelance creative, you probably want more. More clients, more money, more free time, more confidence, just something more.
At this time of year especially, we are given a lot of pressure and opportunity to look at what is and what isn’t working in our businesses. What part of our business is sucking? What do we want to improve or create more of in our lives?
Three Specific Steps That My Freelancer Clients Use to Help Them Get Amazing Results Faster
What do you think stops you from getting results quickly? Do you have any ideas on how you can get results faster? I do. And I know they work because my clients use these three steps all the time.
Step one: Review
Step two: Revise
Step three: Recommit
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Let’s go over each step and unpack everything.
The number one thing that you can do to get results faster is to review what worked and what didn’t work in the past.
Review Your Business For Faster Results
So, let’s talk step one – Review. Many of you may find this particular step difficult and frustrating to begin with. For many of my clients when they first start practicing this particular tool, it can be really difficult and really frustrating.
It can seem frustrating, but you need to start off by taking a look at what worked and what didn’t. Did you post something on social media that no one responded to? Did you give someone a proposal just for them to turn your price point?
Now that you’ve done this, think about the circumstances or conditions under which the thing you’re reviewing either worked…or didn’t work. And I know that if it’s something that didn’t work, it can feel deflating and demotivating, but so you need to review this. And your leverage comes from that review.
Reviewing what doesn’t work is equally as powerful as reviewing what does work.
Now, when you review what didn’t work, also think about what did work. If it worked, what were the factors that went into it working? What was different from the time that it didn’t work? By reviewing what does and doesn’t work, it can bring you closer to step two.
After reviewing what did and didn’t work, you can revise your plan moving forward. Learn from your mistakes, and learn from what didn’t work to make your next move.When you do your reviewing, you need to think about what were the circumstances that changed?
What were the circumstances that caused it to be successful?
What were the resources you had? Did you have any support? Did you have a different skill set from the last time?
Most of the times when we review what has worked for us in the past and what has not worked for us, there’s a specific set of circumstances that include resources, support, and skills, or training.
There is a specific set of circumstances that include resources, support, and skills, or training. Those are the three areas most often that are responsible for either our success or our failure.
Reviewing what does work is where the money is. Why? Well, because when you can figure out something that is successful for you, or something that is actually working, you need to do more of that.
As freelancers, we often think that we need to start from scratch or reinvent our methods every single time. That’s not always the case.
What is successful is looking at what’s already working and doing more of that.
So review. Review your insights, review your analytics, review your past sales conversations and see if you can tap into what about this was working. And what about it maybe do I need to revise?
Revise Your Business For Better Results
Once you’ve looked at what has been working and what has not been working, then you have an opportunity to intentionally and mindfully revise where you’re going to focus your time and energy.
You need to make really clear decisions about where you’re going to invest your time and energy. Don’t invest it in stuff that didn’t work, and start investing and focusing more time and energy on stuff that is working and is bringing you success.
The more time and energy you invest in something, the more that it will get back to you.
You will end up in one of two scenarios here. You will either find success and great results, if you focus your time and energy on the stuff that is working, or you’re going to get back more frustration, failure, slowing down results that maybe are not exactly what you’re looking for.
So keep reviewing. Review what’s working and what’s not working, and then revise where you’re focusing your time and energy. Revise the kinds of actions you’re taking to be more aligned with the stuff that does work.
The Final Step to Faster Results in Your Freelance Business is Commitment to Improvement
I often come across freelance creatives who are 100% committed to the work that they do. The products that they create. They love what they do, and they love doing what they do. But oftentimes, they do not have that same level of commitment when it comes to running their businesses. Recommitting is the third R, the third step towards really accelerating results.
Your level of commitment is going to help determine how often you take action.
Let’s backtrack here and take a look at all three steps we need to take. Reviewing what actions did work, revising those actions to be more effective and more aligned with the stuff that does work, and then recommitting to taking those actions consistently.
How can you practice recommitment? You need to do a review of what worked, you revise what you’re going to focus on moving forward, and then you recommit to the actions that you’re going to take for the next few weeks. Here are some questions you can also consider when thinking about your recommitment.
Need help getting started with this? Join me on December 29th at my Focus, Clarity, and Action workshop. There you’ll learn more about achieving your goals and taking the steps to do so. You’ll be able to review powerfully, revise your actions, and then recommit to what you want your success to look like in the next year.
Want to quickly chat with me about taking these steps? Book a call with me and we can discuss an action plan to get faster results sooner!
