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I found this posted in the Piano Forum. I read it and it is, indeed, extremely informative. For those of you that have no idea how to properly set your prices, don't just read a part of it and quit. Read the whole thing, click on individual underlined links, read those. I think you will find this (Click Here) as interesting as I did.

I was hoping for more responses on this so, I copy pasted a page from that link above for you. In my next post, I'll copy and past a test for you to take.

10 Reasons Your Freelance Career is Failing

James Clear |
Freelancing Essentials
| December 5th 2011

If your freelance business isn’t where you want it to be, then it’s time to own up to your choices and make a change.

Here are 10 reasons your freelance career is failing. If you want to turn it around, then it’s up to you.

Consider this your “tough love” article of the week.

1. You know your craft, but not your business.

Sure, you’re an excellent artist or a skilled tradesman. You understand your task and you can do it well.

But you don’t understand marketing or sales or any of that other business stuff.

Guess what? It’s on you to figure it out. Learning new skills and adapting to the environment is part of the job.

You can either sit around and complain that less-skilled freelancers are beating you out because of “stupid marketing tactics” … or you can read some books, try some new things, and play the game.

2. You’re lazy.

Sorry. That’s not what you want to hear. And it’s not what I want to say.

But most of the time, it’s the truth.

Your business isn’t growing because you want to sleep in. Your business isn’t growing because you want to take Saturday off. Your business isn’t growing because you want to watch TV for two hours every night. Basically, you’re too lazy to build a business.

Don’t act like there isn’t enough time. Time doesn’t change. You can’t create more or less of it. You can only choose to use it better.

3. You treat it like a side hobby.

And what if you’re not lazy? What if you’re putting in three hours each night and still aren’t really getting anywhere?

Well, then you need to ask yourself, “What am I doing with these three hours? Is this the best use of my time?”

In all likelihood, you’re treating your freelance career like a side hobby. Reading an article about freelancing, updating your portfolio, tweaking your website design for the 100th time.

Scrap the extras and focus on the essentials.

Maybe you’re not lazy, but are you really giving it your personal best?

If I’m being honest with myself, most days I don’t give my absolute best effort. Each day there is something I could have done better. Time that I could have managed more effectively.

Whether you are willing to admit that you’re lazy or not, the fact remains that on most days you could give a better, more consistent effort. Stop treating your freelance career like a side hobby and start giving it your best effort.

4. You’re not charging enough.

Are you scraping to get by? Raise your rates!

There is no sense in complaining about people not paying you enough when you are the one who sets the price.

Increasing the cost of your services is a natural part of doing business and it’s not nearly as scary as you think.

Of all the freelancers I have talked to, almost every single one wishes they would have raised their rates sooner.

5. You assume that good work will be recognized.

Guess what? If you build it, they will not come.

People don’t just show up and hand you money because your portfolio is pretty or you have been featured in a nice magazine.

Part of freelancing is prospecting, cold-calling, networking, and promoting.

Doing good work isn’t enough. You have to do great work and share it in a great way.

I know a lot of people struggle with the soft side and interpersonal skills. That can’t be an excuse for not trying to get better. If you need help with this, then start with this list of self promotion tips and this article on networking tips.

6. You’re too scared to try something and fail.

Instead of taking a risk and telling everyone you know about the work you’re doing, you play it safe.

You keep your freelance work quiet. You don’t want to bother anyone with your dreams. Not to mention, what if you fail? What if you tell people you’re going to do something and then you try it and fall flat on your face?

That would be embarrassing, right?

Here’s the deal.

It’s not OK to be wrong. Failure isn’t something that we’re striving to achieve. But being wrong is a cost that you have to bear on the way to being right.

Show some courage in the process and some confidence in yourself. If you want to make a great change, then you need to take a great risk. Put yourself out there. Push the envelope. Try something new.

7. You don’t ask for what you want.

The world is filled with good people who are willing to help you out. But they are also very busy. If you never ask for their help, then you will never get it.

This is especially true if you’re running a business.

You need to ask previous customers to refer you.
You need to ask successful freelancers to come out to lunch with you.
You need to ask potential customers to buy from you! Yes, actually ask them.

The more you ask people to buy from you, the more they will buy. It sounds simple, but it works.

Quit acting like the world doesn’t want to see you succeed and start asking for people to help you out.

8. You want everything to be “perfect.”

If you’re waiting for the perfect time to do something … you’re going to be waiting for a long time.

It will never be the perfect time to start freelancing.
It will never be the perfect time to transition from part-time to full-time.
It will never be the perfect time to pitch that big client.
It will never be the perfect time to raise your rates.
It will never be the perfect time to fire your bad clients.

It will never be the perfect time to do anything.

Sometimes you just need to move forward.

9. You debate over decisions.

No business ever grew because the founder sat around and thought their way to success. Action has to be taken.

In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

-Theodore Roosevelt

Indecision is the father of regret. Make choices and make them now.

10. You try to be all things to all people.

Stop trying to sell to everyone you know.

First, it makes you look desperate.

Second, it’s a terrible way to do business. Figure out the profile of your ideal client. Develop a clear skill in one profitable area.

Yes, this means you will ignore some people. That’s a good thing.

Coca-Cola doesn’t sell milk. They sell Coke. If you want milk, then you go somewhere else. But when you want Coke, you know where to go.

This strategy makes it easy for people to realize what Coca-Cola does and it allows Coke to get really good at making Coke.

You want the same thing for your business.

Ignore the masses. Forget about being everything to everyone. Do your best to be one thing to someone.

Jer... I'm printing this and putting it up in plain sight to be read everyday....

OK, here is your test. Take it. Fill in the blanks and see how much you should be charging according to this. Be honest!

+1 for the test. It was eye opening. Thanks to Jerry for the link.

Many thanks for the link Jerry.

I made the test quickly just to have an idea and I found that I must raise 17% my hourly rate to get the savings/profit amount I want.

My actual rate is in fact about 5% below my break-even hourly rate.

That means I am losing money!

In fact I do extra work aside from tuning, regulating and repairing. I resell used pianos, make piano moving, refinishing, appraisals and whatever jobs related to pianos. I also work on week ends when the opportunity arises.

I must re-think seriously the way I am doing business.

Wow, is that an eye opener... you can also work the numbers backwards to find out how much you would have to work to get your current hourly rate....

Yes, most people haven't a clue in this business as to what expenses we actually have let alone, how to set prices or where to begin. This article explains a lot and is very easy to read. Such as:

The 25% Challenge: Become a Negotiation Ninja


This post is part 1 of 5 in our four-author series on perfect pricing and rates.

I’m going to teach you how to raise your rates by 25% right now — and get away with it — all by using the ancient arts of negotiation and knowing your price.

I can vouch for the power of these methods: by learning a few simple negotiational tricks and analytical frameworks I’ve been able to more than double my rates in the last six months — an increase of not 25%, but 100%.

Premise 1: You’re probably under-valuing yourself

Let’s take a look at the graphic from our Freelance Switch survey showing the average hourly rates that freelancers charge.



For each of those numbers, there are plenty of freelancers charging less and plenty of freelancers charging more. Let’s forget about everyone else for a moment and focus on those freelancers charging rates significantly higher than the average. Some of them will be specialists in a lucrative niche, no doubt, but most of them will be comparable in skill to you.

Here’s the honest truth: the differences in skill between you and high-end freelancers are probably too minor and technical for most clients to notice.

I want to suggest that there’s only one key difference between the middle-of-the-line freelancer and the highly-paid freelancer: freelancer #2 believed they were worth more than the average — perhaps a lot more — and asked for it boldly.

If there are other freelancers out there of comparable skill and talent earning more than you per-task or per-hour, you’re undervaluing yourself. You can use the art of negotiation to change that.

Premise 2: You’re probably afraid of what will happen.

I want to set you a challenge: after reading this article, raise your rates for all future clients by %25. Take a moment to think about the implications of that.

I doubt you’re imagining a sun-drenched vacation to Thailand, a more expensive car, another 24″ monitor. In fact, you’re probably thinking: no one will hire me. Let’s face it — if you weren’t afraid of the consequences, you would have raised your rates already.

In many cases, fear is a prerequisite for self-preservation. In this case, though, it’s an unfounded fear. I want to offer you a safety net and introduce you to one very powerful negotiation tip.

The Stone-Water Combo

So-named because the strength and solidity of stone will protect you against bargainers, but your stone resolve can melt like water if the situation calls for it.

Move 1: Take your current hourly rate or price for a particular task and raise it by 25%. This will be the rate you offer your next prospect.

Move 2: State your rates with rock solid language. “My flat rate for this kind of work is $250,” or “The lowest rate I can give you on that kind of work is $80 an hour,” or the social-proof option: “I charge all my clients $1,200 for a full re-design.”

Why: If clients sense your initial price isn’t firm some will try to bluff you by offering a lower rate — not because they can’t afford your rate, but because they sense you’d accept work for less. It’s not too difficult to tell the difference between a bluffing client and a client who genuinely can’t afford your rates. The top 3 signs you should look for:

They don’t burn any bridges. Statements like: “I can’t afford your price at the moment,” or “I don’t have that kind of money” are dead-ends for the prospect — they close of the possibility of accepting your original price if their counter-offer is rejected. Dead-end phrases usually indicate the client is genuine in not being able to afford your rates. Open-ended phrases like: “I was thinking more along the lines of,” or “I was actually hoping for a little less,” and “What about…” (or any counter-offer with no explanation) should indicate you’re being bluffed. Clients who genuinely can’t afford your rates will almost always make dead-end statements because, to their mind, this makes you more likely to accept their counter-offer.
They use tentative language. “Thinking,” “hoping,” “aiming” and other tentative words are signs that the prospect is trying to get a bargain. They’re just too easy to back out of.
They propose insignificant discounts. The difference between $950 for a web design and $1,000 isn’t the difference between prosperity and bankruptcy. Counter-offers with less than a 15% discount on your original price almost always mean the client is only out to save a few dollars at your expense.

Move 2: If you sense you’re being bluffed, re-state your first offer as non-negotiable. If a client genuinely can’t afford your rates and you need the work, offer them a one-time only 20% discount. That’s right — you’ll still end up making rates you once felt to be your premium. If you don’t need the work and don’t want to discount your rates, let the client know that you’re there when they need you, but you can’t charge any less at this time.

Why: Bluffers will almost always accept your initial rates. A chunky discount works wonders on clients who can’t afford your premium rates because they feel like they’re getting a super-deal and you’re still making better money than you were before. That’s your safety net — the reason you shouldn’t be afraid to raise your rates.

If the prospect declines your 20% discount they probably weren’t worth your time anyway!

How it works: this strategy acknowledges the multi-layered nature of price negotiations. Any serious prospect won’t shut the book on you because you offer rates above what they were hoping for. Instead, the next stage of negotiations will be triggered: the counter-offer. It’s a cushion that allows you to approach the process with a stone resolve.

Eye of the Prospect

So-named because this method requires that you view negotiations from the perspective of your sparring partner.

Move 1: Determine whether your prospect is a ‘hobbyist’ or an ‘entrepreneur’ (both used categorically rather than literally). You can accomplish this with a simple question: will the work I’m being asked to do help the client to profit in a tangible way?

Why: entrepreneurs tend to be confident that they’re spending money to make money. In their eyes, that ad-supported web app they want you to develop is probably going to make thousands. People generally don’t invest in a project they expect to have a miniscule profit margin. Another factor is that they tend to be more impatient than hobbyists — after all, there’s money to be made.

The overall point I’m making is that entrepreneurs are easier with their money because they see business expenses as an investment in future profit. Hobbyists tend to be much more careful with how they spend their money on freelancers. For that reason, you need a different price scheme for each prospect category.

Move 2: If your prospect is a hobbyist, charge them what the work is worth to you. How much would it take to make you feel good about doing it? You can use your hourly rate +25%. You’ll find that those who do refuse your rates will usually do so for genuine reasons rather than trying to falsely bargain you down.

Why: hobbyists simply have less money to spend on this stuff than entrepreneurs do.

Move 3: If your prospect is small business, a company or an entrepreneur, consider the true value of your work from their perspective. A killer landing page might take you two hours, but if the business relies on that landing page to sell their product, your work is probably worth a lot to them. If they believe it’s going to help them sell 10% more products a week, you can see that charging $100 for your work is not nearly enough (even if your standard hourly rate is $50).

Why: Entrepreneurs tend to treat business expense funds like Monopoly Money. Anyone who has splurged on home office “essentials” can relate.

Premise 3: Time does not correlate with your value

Too many freelancers charge standard hourly rates for work which stands to make the client thousands in profit.

Three hours of search engine optimization with the potential to see a 20% increase in customer traffic is not worth 3 x $70 an hour. It’s worth a lot more than that — and the client knows it.

Mainstream society (and I try to use the phrase without sounding like a cultist) has ingrained in us the notion of charging for what our time is ‘worth’, rather than on the value of what we do. It’s a mentality which needs to be shrugged off and discarded.

Take the 25% challenge

The next time a new prospect contacts you with an enquiry on work, use the Stone-Water Combo and Eye of the Prospect combination to propose rates at least 25% higher than you’re charging right now. The worst-case scenario with a serious, genuine prospect is that they’ll make a counter-offer or allow you the opportunity to do so. Any client who doesn’t respond at all wasn’t serious in the first place. Even in the very worst-case scenario you’re no worse off — possibly better off — than you are now.

Try it and you might be amazed with the results.

Thanks Jer for that!!

Rick

Although none of this applies to me, I like to keep my rates at a level where they are approximately what I feel someone leading a more normal life would need to make a decent living. I also want to impress on my customers that it is worth paying a fair price for a good job. I have found that most people are happy to pay you for good service.

We are planning a 6% increase this year, which will be approximately $10. One way I look at it is that even if the client gets their piano tuned twice a year or more, it is still a negligible part of their annual budget. Yet for a professional technician who is tuning 500-600 pianos a year, that small amount extra makes a significant difference in quality of life.

Another way to look at it is this: lets say you raise your rates $10 and as the result lose 30 clients. The result is you tune 470 pianos one year instead of 500. Let's hypothetically say you are charging $100 for a tuning. With the increase of $10 even with 30 less clients your gross income will be $51700 (470 * $110) instead of the $50,000 you would have made before the increase. PLUS you have 30 tunings worth of extra time that you didn't have, which could mean you could probably take a week or two off of work and still make as much as you did before the increase!

However, what you will probably find, is that you won't perceive any customer loss with the price increase. As you raise your rates, you begin to build a clientele that is more interested in quality then price. These are the clients who make your business more recession-proof.

Of course its easy to talk about raising rates, doing it is another matter. Every year we agonize over it a little bit. But once you get used to the regular annual increase, it becomes easier and easier.

Occasionally I have had clients raise an eyebrow about the new rate, especially some of my old customers. However I simply state that our policy is to raise our rates a little if we have been booked up for the year. "I owe it to my family to get the best compensation that I can" is a line I have used occasionally.

Raising rates is also what motivated me to transition from being mostly a "just a tuner" type of technician to a "full service" technician who often includes some voicing and regulating with my appointments. This, in turn, will boost your reputation and allow you to keep justifying regular 5-10 percent increases.

My last point has to do with education, which should also be a major part of each technicians business plan. I estimate that between attending 2 conventions and spending a week at Steinway, I spent nearly $10,000 last year if you count lost wages. That may sound crazy to some of you, but it is how I keep my inspiration up, and my skills up to date. Otherwise I'd feel like I was running to stand still.

Profit is number of customers times fee minus cost.
Number of customers is some function of price; the higher the price the fewer customers, the lower the price the more customers.

You then set the price to give you the best profit. What you need to know is how number of customers depends on price.

At least that's what I remember from high school economy classes.

Kees

This part is not true. At least in the piano tuning business. I believe, customers are FINALLY becoming smarter, seeing that quality really does come with a price when you are requesting good service and honesty to go along with it. In over 40 years of doing business, the lowest bidders, always want the cheapest price and in most cases, are not interested much in quality. Now, logic would state that those that are the lowest priced tuners on the market should be the busiest right? Wrong. In fact, the opposite is true. They are the least busiest. They are the lowest ones in general because they need work and they need it badly. And, why is this? Again, Logic gives the answer to that. in general it is often a lack of quality that forces them to attempt to get more business by charging less. Yet, if they would get their quality up there and keep it there, business would naturally gravitate towards them.

You can charge $40 and do lousy work and you will not be called back. Those that charge more but insist on doing the best quality work possible and being honest, will in fact, be able to easily charge more, and rightly so, and will be 10 times as busy as the lowest tuner.

FWI, the lowest tuners here are $40-$80. The lowest ones are booked 0 days. The $85 ones are booked 0-2 days. On the other hand, the highest paid techs around here, not because they are established, but, because their quality of work is higher, are booked 2 or 3 months in advance, solid.

I'll post more from that article in my next post.

Start with a small increase—this Mashable article suggests an increase of 10-15%. Let your current clients know that you are already using this rate with new clients and be sure to give them enough time to digest your new pricing before hitting them with a higher invoice. Don’t be open to negotiations—you’ll just get yourself into a pickle. Be firm.

Don’t feel like raising the rates of your existing clients? Raise the rates for each new client until you get used to charging more. Then, when you’re ready, you can talk to your existing clients about raising their rates to match your new client rates.

If you lose clients over your rate increase, don’t take it personally. If you choose the rate increase wisely, your clients will take your increase in stride.

In the majority of cases, clients will accept reasonable increases with relative ease. However, be prepared for a client or two to walk away rather than accept your new rates. If you’re confident with the value you deliver, don’t worry about the clients who walked. Most likely, those clients weren’t the best fit anyway. It’s best to move on to bigger and better things. —Mashable

The main thing to remember is to be confident about your new rate. Do your homework and find out what other freelancers are charging for their services. Find out what the going rate for your work is in the areas where your clients are located. A client based in New York City might be more comfortable with your rate increases than someone in, say, rural Nebraska.

Above all, make your rates fair. Charge what you are worth, even if it makes you uncomfortable. As a freelancer, you don’t have a boss to give you a raise, and your clients aren’t going to offer to pay you more “just because”, I assure you! There is no time like the beginning of a new year to implement changes—so what are you waiting for?

Have you recently raised your rates? How did you handle the situation?

Pricing Your Services

Pricing your services correctly is so important to any freelancer – it can be the difference between staying in business and going bust. Learning to make money is a core freelance skill, from setting our prices, choosing our hourly and fixed rates, and learning to adjust these rates as our skills increase over time. Below are a few handy resources to help you charge what you’re worth — today, tomorrow, and into the future.

The FreelanceSwitch Rates Calculator http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/

We have developed this hourly rate calculator to give you a guide based on your costs, number of billable hours and desired profit. This very handy tool will help you figure out how much you should be charging per hour.

Nine Factors to Consider When Determining Your Price

Part guesswork, part experience, part number crunching – however you look at it, determining your price is a difficult task. Figuring out how much you should charge isn’t just about the numbers. In this article you will learn various issues you must consider when determining your price.

Hourly vs. Fixed Pricing

There’s a lot of dispute about what’s the right way to charge, and doing it wrong can lead to unwanted situations between you and your clients. Should you charge by the hour or by the job? In this article Mathias Meyer goes into the most common ways to charge and how to make them work successfully for you.

The Price Is Right

A practical guide to making both you and your client happy with your rates. In this article, Scott Wills covers the basics of setting prices and how to avoid pricing yourself out of business. He shows how to create your own personalized baseline and profit margins. And advices, to never offer a price for a gig that is lower than how much you need to both break-even and make a profit.

Figuring Out How Much To Charge

Here you can get a short insight into how Collis quotes a web design job. He breaks down each task required to complete the job, to estimate the time involved, then adds in any additional costs, like hosting. Finally, he covers varying his rate based on estimated additional complications, like meetings, difficult clients, or on the other side reduced rates for awesome jobs and non-profits. You have quite a bit of leeway when quoting for freelance gigs.

3 Ways to Raise Your Rates and Crush Your Freelancing Fears

It’s normal to have worries as a freelancer. Concern about getting the next paying client is crucial to our success as freelancers. However, while having fear is fine, letting it hold you and your business back is not. To help you overcome freelancing fear and self-doubt — and grow your business — here are three strategies for overcoming fear and raising your rates.

How To Tell When Your Rates Are Too Low

There are times when our rates, as freelancers, are too low. It could be that you’re just getting started and you’re not confident in your skills yet. Or you’ve been freelancing for quite some time and haven’t raised your rates as you’ve developed more marketable skills. In these situations the best response is to raise our rates, and stop leaving money on the table.

Doubling Your Rate: A Thought Experiment

The tighter and stronger you define your niche, the more valuable you become to the folks who are in that niche. You can charge more by positioning yourself as a knowledgeable freelancer, for a specific customer type, with proven results in case studies from past clients, or you can continue to meander in mediocrity as a generalist. This article explores how to double your rates by narrowing your freelance customer focus.

Fast, Good, Cheap: Pricing Freelance Work

Have you ever heard of the Fast, Good, Cheap pricing method? Clients should only be able to choose 2 of these 3 words to define a project’s needs. It’s important you keep this in mind when pricing your next job; otherwise, your work, income, and freelance career could be suffering.

When One Rate Does Not Fit All: Negotiating With Clients that Want All-in-One Fees

Having a set fee for services is a professional freelance practice. You need to set a price range for a brochure design, written sales page, or website that reflects the scope of the project. You’ll need to consider the variables though, depending on if the client will require meetings, extra research, or other factors that could add to your time spent on the project. When pitching package prices to client’s it’s important to review some of these variables with your potential client and how they can reflect your final quote.

The Subtle Effects of Pricing on the Mentality of Clients

Pricing obviously has a huge impact on how much money we make, but what about its affect on potential clients? Pricing subconsciously, and even overtly, affects a client’s preconceived expectations, their impression on your skills, and yes, even how they view your professionalism. Because of the significant impacts that prices have on potential clients, freelancers should seriously consider what their prices are communicating.

Trading the Hourly Rate for Task-based Pay: Should You Do It?

Skellie takes the plate and bats out the method of per task pay. Learn the benefits of moving away from hourly pay and starting to charge based on quoted project rates. There are quite a few benefits to this method, such as: how it rewards your productivity, allows you to charge more for results driven work, and how it gives tremendous flexibility in setting our prices.

If you click on this link http://freelanceswitch.com/blog/explore/pricing-your-services/ it will take you to every single one of the above items marked in bold where you can read that particular article. Try it. Learn something new.

Very interesting, and I am convinced. I vaguely remember I suggested something like this in economy class in high school, but was punished for being "difficult".

I noticed a few years ago when I increased my Persian flute lesson rates I got more students. The opposite of what I wanted as I had more than I could handle already as a side job.

Kees

By charging higher prices, you attract customers that care about their piano, who are playing their piano, and will give you repeat business, and refer you to others. It's expensive to find a new customer, so generating a list of loyal customers is important.

Bottom feeding by offering lower prices attracts customers who care about price only. These customers are not loyal - they will shop for the lowest price 5 years down the road, when they finally decide the piano needs another tune - and they will use you only...... if you are once again the lowest price. And there are a percentage of bottom feeder customers who will be the biggest pains in the world, and call you back for issues built into their cheap piano, and not fixable (easily) by a technician. They live their lives not realizing you get what you pay for. While I respect their decisions, that kind of customer is not a good fit for me.

So, as I evaluate my numbers from last year, you might want to as well. Where do you want to position yourself in the market? What kind of customer do you want?


Here is an email I received today:

Oh it's ok Bob I'll tell Billy Joel to hang tight, the piano will be tuned soon. Rats i hate to keep putting him off, but you must be good to be this booked so you are the man. Tell me when is the next date, after Jan 14th, that you can do it in the evening after 5pm or on a weekend morning and we'll nail the date. Thanks and Happy New Year.

This is the type of customer I want

Exactly Bob and well said!!

People need to stop being afraid of charging for what they want and for what they are worth. We are already one of the most underpaid professions in the world as it is. Like, we don't have expenses or something? Like, we don't have to pay taxes out our gross income and health insurance, car expenses, phone expense and the list goes on and on...

The Business of Freelancing – Creating a Business Plan: How Will You Make Money?

Shane Pearlman |
Business & Finance
| September 26th 2007



10 Comments

This is the third day of our series on The Business Of Freelancing. Every day this week we will have a new tip to help you make the most of your freelancing career.

If you missed the previous posts, check out Saving For Taxes and You Are In Business To. For more, check out ShaneandPeter.com.

Creating a Business Plan: How Will You Make Money?

When someone asks you, “what do you do?” or “what type of business is it?” can you answer in 30 seconds or less? It’s called an elevator pitch.

If you don’t have one yet, take a time out and write one down. Then learn it, drill it, live it. It will help you focus on your goals and trust me, you will get asked that question all the time. It is nice to have an answer that leaves people with a clear understanding of what you do and how you make money at it.

That’s actually the first part of a business plan. If you get audited, one of the first things the IRS will look for is a written plan on how you will generate profit. There are many templates online and some good free courses offered by SBDC and SCORE if you’re interested in learning more.

Some people spend years perfecting their plan, while others take 30 minutes and handwrite it on a napkin. It doesn’t matter how you do it, just do it, put it in your files, and take the time to run it through your head when things seem complicated.

NB. This information should augment, not replace advice from an accountant or lawyer. This information is mostly relevant to US citizens. While we would like to include information for more localities, because FreelanceSwitch readers hail from all over the world this cannot be accomplished.
click here
The link to above...

With teachers giving themselves raises , and techs giving themselves 25% raises, it might be time for me to take up guitar!