← All questions

#260 · if you're not doing outreach 90% of the time, you're doing it wrong

youtube ↗Offers

After closing two projects via manual outreach and having no personal brand or website, how can I continue getting work?

Continue just like that. Once you've acquired your first couple of clients, you'll realize you don't want to start at zero each month—you don't want to go from making two grand in one month to zero the next and then grind back up. So you'll start pursuing monthly recurring revenue (MRR) instead of one‑off fixed‑price projects. MRR means clients pay you repeatedly for similar work over time, and that's where most long‑term money comes from. So push for recurring revenue: close those fixed‑price projects, re‑pitch, and try to reactivate the clients you just closed out. Enumerate all areas of their business where you could help, and for each area outline the estimated earnings or gains. For example, you might add $15,000 in MRR by solving a particular issue. You could charge that amount, but it's better to bundle those 10 items into a retainer and work on them ongoing. That helps you understand their business better, gives them a dependable partner who shows up, and eliminates the need for random fixed‑price projects. You become an extension of their team, focused on system and process optimization.

mrrretainerrecurring revenueoutreach

Related answers

youtube ↗Agency Operations

How can I shift the way my business operates to increase the total ceiling revenue I can achieve as a solo freelancer?

Instead of selling custom builds or one‑off projects, switch to productized services. Create a simple, repeatable deliverable—like a basic CRM setup—so you don’t have to go through a lengthy scoping phase, learn new platforms, or do extensive revisions. You can price it lower (e.g., $2,000) and deliver more of them each month. Five $2,000 projects equal $10,000, which is double what you’d make from a single $5,000 project. The trade‑off is higher leverage: you either keep the old model and grow slowly, or you redesign your business to run on repeatable, smaller projects. That’s how many freelancers and solo agencies now hit $20‑$40k months.

productizedsolo agencyscaling
youtube ↗Agency Operations

How did you manage many projects and multiple clients when you were starting out?

When I first started I was juggling a lot without a defined project‑management system. Eventually I got a system, but I don’t think you need a fancy tool right away. Managing two or more clients depends on what you’re building, deadlines, expectations, and whether the client is recurring. For recurring clients, scope the process and deliverables so you allocate time for each. Set a unified schedule for client management—e.g., be available on Slack from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. PT—and bundle work. I usually set aside two hours to handle about 20 clients because only one or two will message daily. A 2‑hour Q&A period in a retainer adds perceived value with little effort and works well for progress updates. When building for multiple clients, I create separate make.com environments for each, keep a big password manager, and use templated projects—copy a blueprint and make a few adjustments—so everything stays isolated. If it feels overwhelming, simplify the builds. Juggling two massive $20k custom projects is stressful, but handling five simple templated projects that cost $3‑4k and take two hours each is much easier. I didn’t adopt a formal project‑management system until I was making at least $10k a month; before that I just used email and Slack. Develop personal and mental systems that let you avoid external tools, because those skills transfer across roles. Improve your ability to project‑manage if that’s a major issue.

project managementmultiple clientsworkflow
youtube ↗Pricing

Miguel started his agency in October, got stuck perfecting the product instead of getting clients, joined a Dutch freelancer site and closed four clients; most want fixed hourly work, and he’s considering letting clients pitch ideas and quote hours per task for stable income flexibility—should he push the new BS approach to motivating?

So, if you've closed four clients, I feel you—and nice job being offered two jobs and showing simple builds is almost always enough. I entirely agree with you; you’ve probably internalized some sales skills that don’t come easily to many younger people or those without corporate experience. Recognize that you have a unique angle: you’re good at explaining things to people, not just stumbling upon an amazing trick. Anyway, for sure: if clients want to hire you for a fixed number of weeks, let them pitch ideas and quote hours per task. Initially they’ll need to pitch the ideas and tell you what they want, but you should move into a partnership role as quickly as possible. Do a couple of jobs at this fixed‑pricing level for a few months—I did it at $11.75 an hour, then pushed to $15 an hour. That was cool for a while, but remember the hourly rate involves more than just the number. Move to fixed price for sure. Since you’ve already shown you can close clients easily and quickly, fixed price is just a small curveball to handle—not a big deal.

pricingfixed pricehourly ratefreelancer
youtube ↗Marketing

What are the non‑negotiable tasks for growing from $10K to $100K a month?

The non‑negotiable daily tasks are essentially the same as when scaling from $1K to $10K – they’re all about consistent marketing. I always start at the top of the funnel: marketing, then sales, then the transformation event, onboarding, fulfillment, and finally admin and re‑engagement. Previously I focused on cold‑email outreach, time‑boxing one to two hours each day and making at least one improvement to my emails – whether a tiny copy tweak or a full rewrite. I’d also respond to all outstanding leads on platforms like Upwork, Freelancer.com, and Fiverr, then handle sales and client management. Nowadays the focus is more on content (videos, community engagement) because community members become my marketers. I aim to spend roughly 20‑30% of my energy on marketing each day (sometimes up to 50‑60%). Consistent daily effort on these core activities is the only thing that reliably drives growth.

non-negotiablemarketingdaily