To really make the shift and have a financially secure business, you need to be thinking in ways that will attract more money. What got you here will most likely not get you to where you want to be in five years.

Here are some things to consider:

1) Stop charging per hour

If you’re still getting paid per hour – or even worse, by how much clients use what you’ve given them – you’re limiting your potential income. Instead, offer a flat fee for the project and find ways to make the most of that time. For example, don’t just write one article – turn it into a series. Use every moment productively. If you have an hour-long meeting with a client, ask yourself what else can I get done in the next hour.

2) Discover your niche/speciality

You don’t have to be the jack of all trades, but limit yourself to a niche where you are an expert, or at least specialise in something that people really need and want to pay for. If it’s easy, they won’t pay as much. Find something unique – and then sell it at a premium.

3) Charge more

There’s plenty of research that shows higher-priced goods and services are bought with much less hesitation than low price ones. So if your customers will pay £1000, why would you sell them something for £100? If they’re happy to pay £10,000, don’t sell it to them for £1000. It makes no sense.

4) Offer a guarantee

Something that can help build trust and make people feel comfortable spending their money with you is offering them an iron-clad guarantee. Especially if you’re in new, unfamiliar territory, this is essential. Help customers realise there’s nothing to lose and everything to gain.

5) Stop chasing new customers and focus on the ones you have

It’s much easier to make more from your current clients rather than spend time, energy and resources trying to get new business that is only a small percentage of what you already have. The growth potential for your business is found with those who are already spending money with you.

6) Ask for referrals and testimonials

Rather than just asking people to pay you, ask them to recommend others who can benefit from your services. Make it easy by providing a form they can fill out and use as an income generator. Then there are the testimonials, which help show that what you’re offering is in demand and something that will really make a difference for those who buy from you.

7) Offer personal coaching/consulting as an add-on

You could do this individually or create packages of consulting calls where people get unlimited time to ask questions over a period of days or weeks – ending up saving them money overall when compared with working one-to-one with you on a per hour basis.

8) Give away what they’re paying for

If you’ve created something of real value, why not give it to people for free? Not necessarily on the entire internet – but create a special page just for clients where they can access this information and more when they sign up or become a client.

This will mean that they’ll have the incentive to buy from you once they realise how helpful it is, and if your product/service does end up being as great as you think, then giving them something free will only help build trust and rapport – which are essential in attracting money.

9) Offer multiple products or services

Don’t limit yourself to one thing – offer everything! The more in-demand and unique your offer, the more people will pay for it. Once you’ve given them value with one product/service, get them to spend money on something else.

10) Invest in your marketing

Whilst many freelancers tend to focus on their service or product rather than investing in getting new business (and then just crossing their fingers that they’ll be able to find the work), unless you’re already an established or well-known name, this is a big mistake.

Firstly, no matter how good your offer is, nobody will know about it if they don’t know who you are! So you need to put time and resources into building your brand online and offline so people get to know you and the work you do.

Secondly, good marketing spend will help ensure that once they find out who you are, they’ll be interested in what you have to offer.

By mastering your mindset, you truly can master the money you make in your business.