Good points David. And I love that question you ask clients.

Hi Chaten,

Yes, use a qualifying questionnaire. I send one to anyone who sends me an inquiry.

It includes 5 questions and one of them is a budget question asking if they have a minimum budget and if it is over X amount.

X is my MEA. So any prospects that don’t have that budget will likely not reply. That saves me and them time wasted.

Then I look for red flags of clients that are momentum killers and take up all your time. I also see them as low-value clients and try to avoid them if possible.

I included my qualifying questionnaire, tips on how to spot low-value clients and other tips in my book Work With Clients You Love.

http://insidefreelancing.com/work-with-clients-you-love

Thanks Cath. I was a huge revelation for me too when I made this connection.

I was listening to someone talking about creating and selling online courses and they mentioned that the a lot of the effort that goes into creating, marketing and selling a $49 course goes is the same as goes into a $499 course.

Of course, you have to do more to deliver on that higher price but some much of the ground work is the same. So why not get more out of your initial effort and concentrate on quality?

For me, that means delivering quality work for quality clients and getting paid well to do so.

Hi Simeon, I think a lot of freelancers have this perspective and haven’t tried raising their prices for fear they will lose clients.

But I can guarantee you that there is someone in your country that is charging double what you are and are doing quite well. Go find them and try to model what they do.

Glad to hear you will establish an MEA. Even if it is a relatively low one to begin with, it will help you be more selective of who you work with. It will also give you some feedback.

Eventually, you will find the sweet spot of charging the right amount to the right people for the right kind of work.

I currently have way too many low value clients seeking help, and I’ve been thinking about all these questions. You just helped to gel my thoughts.

That list….so many steps before the project even lifts off, and what about the times when you go through them all and the client suddenly changes business direction, so the project is canned? From their perspective it’s nothing, but from ours, it’s hours gone.

Thank you so much Ian.

Thanks for the great article anyway.

Hi Tracy, Glad you liked it. I could share the blog I wrote, but that misses the point a bit, and I don’t want you to look at that blog post and try to model that particular post and think you’ll have success with it. . It’s not what’s in that post that is important.

The point is more about working on your business instead of your client’s business when you can afford to do so.

It could be a blog post, it could mean creating an opt-in carrot to attract subscribers, it could mean guesting on podcasts or creating any number of assets that will pay off down the road.

Mainly it is about saying “No” to projects that are too small so you can build something bigger with your time.

Thanks for the question Joshua. I include my minimum in a qualifying questionnaire I send to prospects after they contact me. The budget question in the questionnaire asks if they have a budget and is it over X amount. That X amount is my MEA. It implies that I have a minimum amount but isn’t stated as such.

That question gets rid of a lot of tire kickers so I don’t have to waste time speaking to someone who can’t afford to work with me. (It also saves them time too.)

For projects with previous clients, I will occasionally do it to maintain the relationship but not for new clients.

Joshua