#99: Six-Figure Freelancing: Be Persistent and Don’t Dwell, with Amy Posner

Amy Posner lives in Olympia, Washington. She calls herself a serial entrepreneur and has been a business owner for three decades — she had a computer start-up, a New York City agency and then built a very successful (and lucrative) sales team in the telecom industry.

 

But for the past decade, Amy has been an in-demand conversion and direct response copywriter, coach and copy chief. She now mostly focuses on coaching and training.

 

Amy currently runs the Magnetic North Mastermind, where she helps each member decide — and then create — their ideal business life. She also has a YouTube channel called Cut to the Copy, which offers short tips about business. And she co-hosts a podcast called Business Badass.

 

Amy offers a “coaching on demand” service, in which people hire her for coaching for 30 minutes or 60 minutes on one specific issue. She also offers “copy chiefing” in which people have her vet their copy before they submit it to a client.

 

As a six-figure freelancer, Amy initially had the goal to replace her employee income, which was six figures at the time.

 

She wasn’t interested in becoming a agency, but she does have a small team of subcontractors, including a new position she recently hired for, “vision and growth manager.” She got the idea for that role after hearing about the position of an “integrator,” who serves as a project manager for the vision. She wanted someone to help her both create the vision but also to create the growth. She finds it exhausting to be both the person focused on growing her business and the person executing work for clients.

 

She also has her own copywriter for her business, a tech person and a virtual assistant. She hires subcontractors for copywriting clients also.

 

Persistence and gaining confidence have been critical to Amy’s success. “Your success is directly proportionate to your attitude or your ability to handle the obstacles,” she said.

 

Don’t dwell on failures or other people’s opinions. It’s OK if you’re a sensitive person, but it’s important to learn how to remove your feelings of failure and move on.

 

Amy shares her pricing formula: internal hourly rate + your intuition + your gut sense. She stresses that it’s essential that you time your projects at various times throughout the year so that you know how long projects take. That will allow you to price properly. She says freelancers tend to have “leaky boundaries” around their time.

 

The price that you give a client that feels really good on Monday can often feel too low on Tuesday. So, you should always sleep on the price. Amy also believes if you don’t charge enough, you aren’t seen as that higher level of a professional.

 

Amy is always considering if a client is a good fit. Red flags that she looks out for include people who think they know more than they do or who want her to execute on bad marketing ideas. Also watch out for those “trial projects” for lower rates with a promise of a future project. That compromises people’s professionalism, and the “more projects” don’t often materialize.

 

Amy also admits to a “weird” red flag: people who don’t have any sense of humor. Melanie can relate to this and also lists this as one of her red flags!

 

Amy finds the right clients by getting in the right rooms, where people there need what you offer. Have you figured out what audiences are your potential clients and which ones you’re wasting your time on?

 

Amy struggles with a couple of boundary issues. She admits to being a Type A workaholic. She also struggles with over-delivering on a project.

 

Biz Bite: Make a Plan and Work Your Plan (and Remove the Emotion from It)

 

Resources:

 

No Sweat Sales Calls course discount link ($100 off):
https://amyposner.podia.com/no-sweat-sales-calls?coupon=MPP

 

Amy’s website

 

CutToTheCopy.com YouTube weekly channel

 

Joanna Wiebe, founder of Copyhackers

 

Book “Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want from Your Business” by Gino Wickman

 

Book “The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters” by Priya Parker