How Amy stopped saying yes to low-paying projects, finally launched the strategy offer gathering dust on her hard drive, and gave herself a 28% raise in 6 months

Amy Beardsley is a seasoned insurtech writer who got caught in the freelancer’s Bermuda Triangle: random client work, low-fit projects, and an idea for a strategy offer gathering dust in Google Docs.

Amy didn’t want to lose income, and she questioned whether she could sell higher-value strategy projects.

The Challenge

Amy felt like she was fighting a war on multiple fronts.

She found herself trapped in the “yes cycle”—yes to tight timelines and last-minute requests, yes to projects with less-than-ideal budgets, yes to client who weren’t going to move her business forward.

“I used to feel bad when I would say no,” Amy said. “Like, I was disappointing them or letting them down. But I realized that I my business is here to support me, and I can’t keep saying yes to things that drain me.”

Amy also couldn’t her strategy offer across the finish line: “I had so many iterations, drafts in my Google Docs. It’s ridiculous how long I’d been thinking about it. But now it’s real.”

Like a lot of freelancers, she was afraid of “not being able to meet income targets, afraid “that the clients wouldn’t be there if my funnel was too narrow.”

Amy suspected that her mindset was getting in the way: “I always feel like I was missing something. I realized that the missing piece was just my belief in my own ability to do it.”

The Journey

Amy didn’t experience breakthrough overnight. We had to identify the little battles so that she could win them, one by one. Here’s what we worked through together:

1. The Opportunity Bouncer. Amy used clear criteria to define what she would and wouldn’t say yes to. This “Opportunity Bouncer” helped her say no to low-budget, fast-turnaround projects. More importantly, it helped her to stop apologizing for making the smart, strategic choices that made sense for her.

“I have that fancy new opportunity bouncer that keeps low-paying and soul sucking projects out of my life.”

2. Ideal Client Profile. Amy used two of my playbooks to sharpen her understanding of her target audience, fix her messaging, and market her services with more confidence.

“I got crystal clear about who my ideal client is and rewrote a bunch of copy on my website to match that… less wishy-washy, more direct.”

“You helped my marketing. I was never sure what to say or where to go to find clients, and your playbook made marketing a lot easier too.”

3. Signature Offer. After years of “almost” launching, Amy used another one of my playbooks to finally ship her strategy offer. The accountability helped, too.

“I told you I was going to, and so then I had to,” she admitted with a laugh. “The signature offer playbook was really valuable… Having everything in one place with examples was extremely helpful. Most blog posts don’t go into that level of detail.”

4. Stronger systems and processes: Instead of going down research rabbit holes mid-task, Amy developed SOPs that live where the work happens, a key process-related principle I teach.

“If I put them where I’m going to use them, then I’ll actually use them… ridiculously helpful. Even if it’s just a link to the Notion page, I don’t have to type anything into Google. I just go there, and I do it.”

5. Task and focus management. After I recommended that Amy pick a single tool to capture and manage her priorities, ideally a physical planner, she chose the Full Focus Planner. Going all-in was a game-changer for her.

“The Full Focus Planner has changed my life.”

6. Effective delegation. Amy felt loyal (a good thing!) to her two VAs, but both served in specialized roles. Neither was a generalist who freed up Amy’s time and attention so that she could grow her business. She made the hard but right decision to part ways with those two VAs, hire a full-time VA via OnlineJobs.ph, and delegate much more.

The result? Amy’s momentum—and optimism—picked up. She even went on vacation.

The Result

Six months later, Amy and her business are in a different place:

• She gave herself a 28% raise without logging a single extra hour. “I looked at my effective hourly rate … and it increased by 28%.”
• She turned a flaky, sporadic client into a steady (and sane) anchor account. “Now I get a consistent three or four articles a month from them… and the lead time is, like, two to three weeks, which is incredible.”
• She finally shipped her new offer. “Launching the strategy offer is, like, the biggest win. […] It's ridiculous how long I have been thinking about doing that.”
• She upgraded her mindset: “overall being more confident and feeling more comfortable taking risks and actually taking my business seriously.”

Amy put it best:

“Austin’s coaching gave me the clarity and backbone I needed to run my business like a business.
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The biggest shift? Believing I already have what I need. I stopped second-guessing and started trusting my decisions. That confidence made everything else possible—niching down, launching my strategy offer, and setting boundaries with clients.
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In the six months we worked together, my effective hourly rate went up 28%. Austin’s guidance was exactly what I needed—spot on, practical, and confidence-building.”

Your Turn

If you’re done spinning your wheels, second-guessing every dang decision, and saying yes to projects that make you hate your laptop and your life, let’s talk.

Coaching isn’t about piling on more work. It’s about building clarity, confidence, and systems that can give you the life you want.

Go here to learn about what freelance business coaching looks like and book a complimentary strategy call with me.