The summer after my freshman year of college, I needed money.

I had tuition to cover, living expenses to pay, a car to buy, and no money to do any of those things. So when a guy called me about a summer job and told me the average worker earned $8,000, I showed up with the type of naivete only a college freshman can muster.

And guess what I ended up doing that summer?

Door-to-door sales.

Yep… I was one of those guys.

I relocated out to West Virginia and sold educational handbooks out in the sticks. I worked 80+ hours a week. Woke up at 6am. Started selling by 8am. Finished up around 9pm. 6 days a week.

Woof.

Needless to say, I absolutely hated it. HATED IT! But on the plus said, I made $16,000 in about 10 weeks… double the alleged average and frankly, just an insane amount of money to me at 19 years old.

And the funny thing is, my sales numbers were shit.

Seriously.

Many of the other salespeople in my group were closing 3+ sales per day. I would close 1-2 maximum. And yet, while they were making around $75 per day, I was making around $250.

Why?

Because I was selling $550 packages with each sale while they were selling $50-100 packages. In other words, they had to make 11 sales to earn the same amount I was netting in just 2.

So the question has to be asked, what was the difference between how they approached sales and how I approached sales?

The answer is the same as the answer to the question,

“Why do I earn $1,200 for a single article while most writers aren’t making more than $50?”

Ready for it?

#1: I don’t sell $100 packages or $50 articles.

The problem for most freelancers, salespeople, marketers, and humans in general is that we are often afraid to aim high, particularly when there is a backup option.

When most freelancers exchange emails with a potential client, they are scared to ask for a high rate. Or worse, they don’t even go after the types of clients who could afford to pay a higher rate.

When my sales teammates were pitching their products, they would hesitantly mention the bigger packages and then quickly back down to small-dollar items. They were too uncomfortable pitching the larger amounts, because they didn’t expect people to say “Yes” and they were afraid to hear “No”.

But not me…

I wouldn’t even bother with the small stuff. I wasn’t there to sell you a $100 set of items. I was there to sell you a $550 package.

That’s it.

And do you want to know why people would gladly pay me $550?

Do you want to know why some of my current employers gladly pay me $1,200 for one article?

Here’s why.

#2: I don’t sell $550 packages. I sell $2,000 packages for $550.

Your goal as a salesman is NEVER to sell someone on a price. Your goal is to sell them on value – such incredible value that the price seems like a no-brainer.

When I sold educational handbooks, I wasn’t selling a collection of books. I was selling a means for parents to understand modern teaching methods in order to help their kids with schoolwork.

When I sell articles, I’m not selling 3,000 words. I’m selling a tool that brings targeted traffic, leads, and customers to a website. And since that’s both what I pitch and what I deliver, the rate I charge is a no-brainer for any company that understands the power of content marketing.

Now it’s your turn. I want you to answer this one question.

What is the value that you provide?

When you write an article for someone, what is it actually worth to them?

Value is the difference between a total scam and a life-changing product.

Most freelancers don’t really care about the answer to that question. They are simply looking for people who are willing to pay money in exchange for writing. There are a lot of for-pay writers creating content selected by for-pay editors with no value being created.

Nobody has any skin in the game. There’s no reason for anything valuable to be created.

If that’s been you up to today, let’s turn it around.

You are no longer a freelance writer. You are a value provider. You are focused on creating highly valuable content that accomplishes it’s intended purpose.

And once you combine valuable service + confident pitch + targeted prospect, you begin making bank.

Okay… I’m done yapping. Don’t forget to answer the above question in the comments below. What value do you provide?

 

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