How to get your friends start paying for your services
To your ears, their evaluations resound with a resounding resounding resounding resounding “Great! You’re doing a fantastic job! I’m ecstatic for you!”
“I’m hoping for a slew more offers; more cash in your account, boss!” They’ve finished, and you chuckle and say, “Amen!”
After a few weeks, your phone rings with a message from them, asking for your assistance in making a graphic design (or whatever service you provide) for their company. And so the cycle begins. The issue isn’t that they’re asking for favors. It wasn’t even a problem when you first started accepting their demands.
However, months have gone since your amateur start-up days, and you’ve recently started getting paid gigs that need a significant amount of time. And there they are, requesting that you spend that time doing freebies instead.
You’re not enraged with them, but it would be wonderful if they began paying for your services. You’re also well aware that they can’t deny your existence.
However, the issue is that you don’t have the slightest idea how to suggest the topic. You fear you may get them bothered up and a significant misunderstandings could emerge from that.
Yet, you need not fear for that, at any rate, not when you handle the issue wisely.
So, how do you go about overcoming this?
1. Place value on your craft.
Value what you do, treasure it, and hold your abilities in high regard. If you keep trivializing what you do, they’ll eventually join you in dismissing it. How can you expect them to pay you to do the same if you say “it’s not a big deal…nothing it’s remarkable” after producing that wonderful piece?
2. Show the new demands on your time.
Emphasize how busy your service has grown when people began to use it. When they ask how your day went, you can tell them about the long hours you worked. But don’t make your situation pitiful or turn into a crier—don’t overdo it. When they decide to annoy you with freebies, this will undoubtedly make them reconsider.
3. Offer to pay for their services.
If they sell products or offer services that you use, offer to pay for those from now on. You can’t really be expecting them to pay for your services when you binge on theirs at no cost.
They might want to insist that you shouldn’t bother, but do… pay for it. Subtly, that simple act begins to seep into their subconscious. If they’ve never thought about paying you before, they’d begin to do so. It doesn’t take a degree in human psychology to get this one.
But if you have that degree, you’d probably know more ways to activate that side of them.
4. Drop cues.
Start small and deliberately optimize every opening to let them know how much you’d appreciate it if they started to pay something. Intentionally get it into conversations. Mention it casually whenever the topic of discussion, or banter, flows to that direction. Be tactful about this. At first, you may not want to be so direct.
5. Start that talk!.
Talk to them since they’re your pals. If they still refuse to follow the signal after seeing these amazing signals and messages, talk to them. Don’t be silent if they chose to be stupid. You know their characteristics, so you know how to start a conversation with them. Make it clear to them that you have bills to pay and that your company is not a charity. Explain calmly that making financial commitments is one way for them to indicate how much they love your job and how much they support you.
6. Offer little incentives in exchange for prompt payment.
Offering benefits for quick payments will expedite the process while also delivering better. People have become more aware that they will have to pay at some point. If they know that completing the payment right away will provide them with a bonus, they are more likely to do so.
These rewards can also be based on your product or service. It might be as simple as mailing corporate stickers, gaining access to a new function, or receiving a free week of subscription. This will incentivize them to pay one time and give them another reason to return.
“Tell them you don’t want your friendship to be harmed by business.”
It’s not always a smart idea to mix work with pleasure—regardless of whether you’re getting paid—whether your friend wants you to design her website or she hopes you’ll offer her with free business coaching.
It’s possible that working together will put a strain on your relationship. What if your friend isn’t satisfied with your services? What if you have the impression that your friend is taking advantage of you?
Make it obvious that, while you are capable of providing the services your friend requires, you would never put your friendship at jeopardy. Instead, tell them you’d be pleased to provide them with the names of other professionals who can help.
8. Let them see the efforts you make in getting better at your craft.
Take that online, or offline, paid class and let them know about it. Buy that equipment, purchase that software, and let them know. It’d help them appreciate the fact that you’ve been making financial investments in your craft. When you suggest that they pay the next time, their minds will put up a mental image of what it costs you to get this good.
Friends have recently asked me to assist them with various tasks and then offered to pay me. A freelancing buddy asked me to edit a few pages of a narrative for her the other day so she could see how I worked—new she’s to the field.
She requested that I tell her my rate for the work while I was able to do so, but she pleaded with me to be kind with her.
I smiled and didn’t demand payment. It was a voluntary gift. I also took into account the fact that I had never done any freebies for her previously. The following week, another friend noticed a piece of graphic art I had created and asked if I could do the same for his company.
The story would have been different a few months later. They would have requested those services and pinned it on me as a means of assisting them. (Who’s to say you won’t be able to get them to pay for them?) “What happened?” You can probably guess.
Simple Tip:
I STARTED to take my brand serious. I started to place value in what I do. I began to show that I deeply treasured it. In other words, I obeyed all the principles I shared with you.
Sincerely, it doesn’t need to be that difficult. You don’t need to lose your friends either. What’s more, it unquestionably doesn’t imply that you become so cash driven that you can’t deliver unpaid assistance. It’s tied in with making a sound, gainful, and balanced relationship.
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