When you’re a freelancer, you’ll eventually notice that the freelancing community for your niche is pretty small. You generally have a good idea of how much each freelancer earns, who they work for, how long they’ve been working for that client, their mentality, etc. You just know.
With all of this information, it’s easy to get competitive. Partner that with the fact that you’re a freelancer – that probably means you’re probably competitive anyway. But fear not. I’ll make some very good points in this post which will enable you to keep an abundance mentality. You’ll be able to look at other freelancers as peers, not competitors. It’s much more fun this way!
Combined, You Set the Industry Prices
Early in my freelancing career, a fellow freelancer encouraged me to ask for raises. She said that I was writing for some pretty big names and I should be getting pretty big pay. It seemed odd to me at first. Why was she wanting me to get paid more? That would mean I’d be even more wrapped up in her freelancing niche. With more money, I definitely would be sticking around. But then she made the following point…
She said, “We set the prices people pay in this niche. If we don’t encourage fellow freelancers to raise their rates, we could sabotage our own rates. We may then all turn into starving artists. It’s important we all ask for what we deserve. The industry won’t be undervalued. What’s good for one of us is good for all of us.”
Makes sense, doesn’t it? If we’re focused on only ourselves, we’ll probably start undercutting other people’s rates. This means no freelancer wins. After you do this for long enough, you may ruin the niche!
Friends!
Once you begin meeting people, you’ll see they are honest and hard working just like yourself. When you become friends with someone, you’ll see there’s no need for you not to get along. Everyone can work to help each other out. You may clue them in on a client you have who wants additional help which you can’t take on yourself. To return the favor, they may introduce you to a virtual assistant who can help you in big ways.
They say keep your friends close and your enemies closer. But I’ve found that when you do this, everyone turns into your friends. And what’s wrong with that? As long as you’re not giving away your secret blend of herbs and spices, you’re just fine chatting it up.
What you think (or your mentality) you’ll get is exactly what you’ll get
This is the part of the post where I get a little… new age. But bear with me. I know many successful people of all backgrounds who have done what I recommend with great success.
I believe that what you think you’ll get is what you’ll get. Mentality if everything. Imagine there’s a pie. The pie represents all the freelance income there is to be had in your niche. When all you see is one pie, you scramble towards the pie and savagely take all you can. But what if you thought differently?
Instead of visioning only one pie – imagine dozens and dozens of pies. Even imagine a bakery where fresh pies are baked each morning. Think of all the pies there are for you to devour.
Which do you prefer? One pie? Or endless pies? If you focus on endless opportunities, I believe that is what you’ll get. Your mind will be programmed to find opportunities everywhere. Say you’re a freelance clown. Clowns with a scarcity mentality (one pie) will focus on getting all the children’s birthday parties he can. The other clowns be danged! But the clown with the abundance mentality sees all the opportunities for clowns. He will get bookings for children’s parties, carnivals, company parties – you name it!
Which sounds more fun?
To boil this post down, which mindset sounds better to you – a scarcity mentality or an abundance mentality? I know which mindset will help me sleep at night.
