Earn More Digital: 7 Tips to Boost Your Income

Raise your hand if you want to make more money.

I suppose that most of you, if you didn't throw your hand up so as not to suddenly attract the attention of colleagues in the office in broad daylight with a strange action, then they certainly agreed mentally – I would like more money. The good news is that you can earn more without changing anything in your life. Well, to be more precise… making minimal adjustments to the workflow.

The content of the article:

1. Double pay for emergency work
2. Accurate cost estimate
3. Checking all calculations
4. Outsourcing
5. Subcontractor
6. Automation

I think that even though most people would like to earn more, it doesn't mean that we all want to work around the clock or do something we hate. Or turn into moneybags-introverts who have large amounts in their accounts, but love only a crowd of their cats.

The great news is that there are TONS of ways to increase your income in digital business. And you don't have to hate yourself for it.

There are even some quick and not-so-dirty ways to make more money… today. Especially if you are a freelancer or looking for a part-time job.

What is good information business for making money

At the entrance, you give away your knowledge and can immediately assess your strengths and weaknesses in this matter. But the article is still about freelancing. And this is a little different.

Note: Freelancers pay taxes too, did you know? Read this article about the legislative side of the issue.

When you are a freelancer, whether you are self-employed or self-employed, you get a free schedule and more freedom. As a result, there are opportunities for growth. Of course, provided that you have a sufficient degree of motivation and time management skills. Otherwise, instead of earning more, you will receive income randomly and spontaneously – after sharp rises, long months without orders can follow. But with the proper level of self-organization, this can be avoided. But this article is also not about personal growth.

Read on: 7 amazing tips for making more money right now.

1 Ask for more money for overtime and emergency work

Assume that building a basic static website typically takes two weeks. You get a client who wants to do it in four days. You know that you can do it. But that will mean working late into the night and may have to reprioritize some other projects. Ask for payment for urgency and work!

How to calculate payment

Depending on how much emergency work you have to do or how inconvenient it is for you to complete the task, you can charge 25% -50% more. In some cases, you can even double your fee! It all depends on what value you convey to your client.

2 Make sure you accurately rate everything

Whenever you start a project, you should send your client a quote and get them to sign. I've already talked about how important it is to stop charging by the hour, which means that accurate estimates are even more important.

If you are not able to estimate how much work and effort you put into a project, then it is unlikely that you will receive the correct payment for it. But we're talking about earning more here. In fact, you should probably create a bit of a buffer in any evaluation you give. Because tasks inevitably take longer or require more effort than you expect. It is better to send the client a final invoice that is lower than they expect than to send one that is higher. Thus, you guarantee yourself payment for your work. Although initially it seems that this idea will not bring more profit.

3 Make sure you billed correctly

It may be too easy to throw a bill together hastily and send it to your client. Or postpone invoicing and other accounting tasks in favor of a more “fun" job. But there are huge benefits to sending accurate invoices quickly. First, the faster your customer gets the bill, the faster they will pay (hopefully). If you take three weeks to send an invoice for work done, then your lack of enthusiasm for getting paid will be passed on to your client.

Accurate billing is also important. You need to make sure that you are billing exactly for your time and investment in the project, as well as for any expenses incurred (don't forget to bill for things like domain names, hosting, etc.). Submitting a second invoice with a lot of fees because your “forgot” about them the first time is super unprofessional.

4 Outsource some of the work

I'm not saying that you should outsource design or software development (although it's a good idea for large projects where some help would be helpful). But there are many administrative tasks that you can outsource without any impact on your core business. For example, things like bookkeeping, invoicing, research, and even social media management.

And it makes sense financially. Let's say you charge $60/hour for a static website design. If you pay someone else $15 an hour to manage your billing or do any research, you free up those same hours to do work that you can bill for. This means your network for those hours is still $45!

5 Hire a subcontractor

If you outsource some of your work to subcontractors, be aware that there are other firms that do the same. Finding a consultant, designer, developer, or other freelancer to work on specific projects can be a great way to speed things up when things are slow for you.

Sometimes the things you do as a subcontractor are not the most “fun” parts of a project. But they can also pay well. Especially if you skillfully balance your main job and additional income.

6 Automate as much as possible

If something can be automated, automate it. This will make your work faster and more efficient. 

Social media is another area that you can automate. Using an app like Buffer to automatically queue and send social updates at optimal times makes it easy to manage your social media presence.

Depending on what kind of business you're in, there are of course other simple tasks you can automate to save time and money.

7 Ask for partial payment up front

Requiring partial payment up front does not mean that you will receive more money based on each project. But this can lead to a decrease in the number of accounts. If you have received money in advance, then even if the client does not pay his final bill, at least you are already insured against non-payment. 

For small projects, an advance payment of half of the total amount is considered. For larger projects, you can reduce this to one third. But if that's the case, make sure there's another third of the payment at some other point during the project. And–this part is key – make sure it's based on something you control, like material delivery, and not something the client controls, like material approval.

It doesn't matter if you're a freelancer or have a day job that you love (or hate…), there are ways to increase your income without doubling your hours or doing anything illegal. What methods do you know?