revealed: my plan to 2x in 2023

Wow {NAME}!  I got a ton of great replies to my email last week.  So I’m going to make good on my promise and reveal the three-part plan I came up with…  Which would allow me to double my business from $200K to $400K next year.  And I have to warn you — you’re probably not going to like number two.  But first, in case you missed it, I posted [a copy of last week’s email]( on my Facebook page.  So you can check that out if you need to get up to speed.  Also, before I share my plan to double my business next year, I want to make a few things clear…  To start, I usually don’t like to talk too much about my plans.  Because anyone can come up with some crazy plan…brag about how they’re going to make so much money…  Then proceed to fail miserably.  That’s why there are countless quotes about how quickly plans fail.  Like when Mike Tyson said, “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”  Or the military axiom, “no plan survives first contact with the enemy.”  It’s way too easy for even the best plans to fail.  And that’s why I normally prefer to focus on my actual accomplishments.  Since those are real — while plans are still unproven.  But I’m making an exception in this case.  My hope is that — even if my plan winds up failing this time — you’ll get to see the process that led to the plan.  Because it is possible to follow a solid planning process and still have factors outside your control derail the plan anyway.  But without a plan, there’s almost no chance you’ll reach more significant goals.  Since like I said in my last email:  “The bigger your business gets, the number of ways you can grow even more starts to shrink…  While the number of mistakes you can make that will take you backwards grows exponentially.”  And that means the only way to reach more challenging goals is to identify the few limited options you have for continued growth…  Then to be as disciplined as possible in executing them.  So with all that out of the way…  Let me show you the three steps I discovered that would allow me to double my business from $200K to $400K next year.  Are you ready?  Here it goes…  Step 1: Collect Underpants Step 2: … Step 3: Profit.  🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣  Sorry, I couldn’t help myself LOL.  And in case you didn’t catch the joke, that’s a reference to a classic episode of South Park about the Underpants Gnomes.  [30963859_1664397028ulYSPUG.png] (It’s Season 2, Episode 17. And you can watch it for $2 on YouTube or for free with HBO Max and maybe some other streaming services.)  For real though, here are the three tactics I can use to reach $400,000 next year.  (And like I said, you’re probably not going to like the implications of number two…)  Also, I’ve identified two specific steps I can take to implement each of the three tactics below.  TACTIC #1 — INCREASE DEAL FLOW  STEP 1: BOOK MORE SALES LETTER CLIENTS  This year, I’m expecting to write 2.5 sales letters.  I’ve got contracts for the first two already. And I’ve got a tentative agreement to start the third next month (in October).  But since I’m getting married in November and moving in December, I don’t think I will finish the third sales letter before next year.  So that means I’ll only get 50% of the total payment for that project this year.  At the same time, I currently have the bandwidth to complete a sales letter in roughly 10 weeks, given all my other client obligations.  That means my current maximum capacity would be five sales letters per year.  Yet I only booked half that amount in 2022.  So if I can increase my deal flow and max out my capacity for writing sales letters, I would be able to double the number of sales letters I write from 2.5 this year to five next year.  And at my current rate of $25,000 per sales letter, that would bring me an extra $62,500 in revenue. (2.5 extra sales letter payments at $25,000 each.)  STEP 2: MAINTAIN RETAINERS  I started a new retainer in July of this year for $3,000 a month up front. (Plus I also have the ability to earn performance bonuses, which I’ll come back to in a minute.)  So provided I can keep that retainer through the end of next year, I will have it for six months this year and 12 months next year.  That alone will add an extra $18,000 to my revenues. Not to mention any performance bonuses I collect — which once again come up later.  TACTIC #2 — INCREASE SALES LETTER CAPACITY  STEP 1: REDUCE SALES LETTER WRITING TIME BY 20%  If I could cut my writing time for a sales letter from roughly 100 hours to 80 hours, it would allow me to write an additional sales letter next year — for a total of six.  And at my current rate of $25,000 per sales letter, that would bring in an extra $25,000.  Okay, now for the part you’re not going to like…  STEP 2: SHUT DOWN FREELANCE LIKE A PRO 😭  In the first half of this year, I spent 183.5 hours on Freelance Like A Pro content and coaching.  So if you extend that to the end of the year, it means I’ll spend about 367 hours on Freelance Like A Pro.  At the same time, my projected effective hourly rate for writing copy for clients this year is $204/hour. (That includes all the time it takes to acquire the client, onboard them, do my accounting and contracts, etc.)  Which means shutting down Freelance Like A Pro and instead writing more copy for clients would bring in roughly $75,000.  Now I would also lose roughly $9,000 in one-on-one coaching income…  But that would still produce a net gain of $64,000 in revenue.  (Provided I could generate enough new business to fill that extra capacity. Which goes back to the “Increase Deal Flow” tactic above.)  TACTIC #3 — INCREASE EARNINGS PER CLIENT PROJECT  STEP 1: CLOSE 50% OF SALES LETTERS FOR $30,000  If I can get three of my six sales letters next year to close for $30,000 — an increase of $5,000 — that would bring in an extra $15,000 in revenue.  STEP 2: GET MORE UPSIDE WITH ROYALTIES/BONUSES  First, like I mentioned before, the new retainer I have also pays performance bonuses on top of the monthly flat rate.  And without going into the private details of that contract, I think there’s a decent chance I could bring in an extra $2,000 per month on average in bonus payments.  If so, that would add an extra $24,000 per year of revenue.  On top of that, I also earned a $10,000 performance bonus this year from one of my past sales letter projects.  So if I can get more opportunities like that next year — and have at least two of them succeed — it would bring in an extra $10,000.  (Remember, I’d need one of them just to match this year’s bonus. Then I’d need a second one to generate the additional revenue.)  TOTAL IMPACT  Here’s what happens when you add up the additional revenue I would collect by implementing the elements I listed above…  - (6) Total Sales Letter Projects: +$87,500 - (3) Sales Letters For $30,000: +$15,000 - Maintain New Retainer: +$18,000 - Eliminate Freelance Like A Pro: +$64,000 (+$75,000 / -$9,000) - Royalties & Performance Bonuses: +$34,000 (and beyond) - TOTAL: +$218,500 That’s more than double the [roughly $211,000 I made last year](. (And that [I expect to earn again this year](.)  However, just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.  Remember, this was just a planning exercise to see how I could double my business.  But now that I’ve seen what it would take…  The question becomes do I want to follow this plan?  Or do I want to consciously decide to make less money in exchange for other considerations?  For example, having more free time. Or not sacrificing long-term growth for short-term gains.  So now that you’ve seen the full plan…  What would you do if you were in my situation, {NAME}?  Hit reply and let me know. I read every email and respond to as many as I can.  Then maybe next week, I will share my own thoughts about how I want to move forward based on what I’ve discovered going through this exercise.  Talk soon,  -Brian [Unsubscribe]( | [Edit your details]( Freelance Like A Pro PO Box 3712 Jersey City New Jersey 07303 United States [Powered By Kartra] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -