Build Your $300K Flywheel, Work Less, and Have a Record Year Without Wasting Months Trying to Figure It Out On Your Own
From: Austin L. Church, Founder of Freelance Cake
Re: How to make six figures sustainably
Did you know most smart, talented freelancers and consultants will never get off the feast-or-famine roller coaster?
Their income will keep going up, down, up, down. They’ll stay so busy managing that unpredictability that they won’t figure out how to break out of the cycle and invest the time to do it.
These days, working hard and being good at what you do isn’t a guarantee.
Here’s the problem you face…
High-paying clients have tons of options. In 2023 64 million people freelanced, in the U.S. alone. Millions of other people around the world have a skill set similar to yours. They’re willing to hustle. They want to succeed just as badly as you do. They charge less.
You may know you can deliver results, value, and impact for certain clients, but when there’s so much competition and noise, do they know that?
Most will ask a friend or colleague for a recommendation and follow the path of least resistance. They won’t go out of their way to find you.
- Which means that if you aren’t the easy, obvious choice because you stand out online with the right expertise then dream clients won’t find and hire you.
- Which means you’ll have to keep saying yes to too many small projects and less-than-ideal budgets.
- Which means you juggle too many and work more hours, nights, and weekends than you’d like and have little time left over to test ideas, solve problems, and move your business forward strategically.
- Which means you battle overthinking and indecisiveness instead of using your business development time effectively to create productized services, well-defined processes, and a clear plan you believe in.
- Which means you struggle to stay consistent with marketing, generate a surplus of leads, and be selective with the projects you take on.
- Which means you don’t have much control over your business and have too much UNPREDICTABILITY.
- Which starts you right back at the beginning with too many short-sighted yeses, a packed calendar, and seesawing back and forth between things begging for attention.
- Which is emotionally exhausting, no matter who you are.
So many of the freelancers, consultants, and solopreneurs who email or message me say, in effect: “Oh crap! How do I keep this up?! I want my life back.”
Thankfully, there’s now a solution.
Let me introduce you to my new coaching program, Business Redesign, which will help you build your $300K Flywheel in 10 weeks by giving you clear steps for moving from the grind to a more sane, sustainable business.
- In Week 1 you focus on pathfinding. You’ll create a clear picture of what you want your life to look like so you can take a methodical, process-oriented approach to growth and have more focus and confidence along the way.
- In Week 2, you focus on pricing. You’ll determine the Dream Rate you must use to calculate project prices so that you’re covering your immediate needs and making definitive progress on your long-term financial and lifestyle goals.
- In Week 3, you fix your positioning. You’ll figure out which of your key differentiators are most important and valuable so that you know how to stand out in the sea of sameness and attract clients willing to pay a premium.
- In Week 4, you define your dream client. You gain insight into their problems, pain points, common mistakes, limiting beliefs, and objections, so that you can offer the right outcomes and create offers that they’re eager to pay for.
- In Week 5, you create your juicy strategy offer. You develop an initial strategy, planning, or diagnostic offer that positions you as an expert guide, pays you for discovery work, and enables you to vet clients before committing to bigger projects. This means you still have something to sell more prospects who can’t afford bigger packages.
- In Week 6, you create your juicy signature offer. You look back at your best projects, pick specific problems you enjoy solving, and turn your capabilities into a productized service that enables you to increase efficiency and raise your effective hourly rate (EHR) over time. Higher EHR means more money in less time!
- In Week 7, you create your juicy subscription offer. You combine some ongoing strategy or advisory work with whatever implementation work you enjoy, and package that up as a retainer you can deliver on a monthly basis, which means you can increase the client’s lifetime value and generate predictable revenue.
- In Week 8, you overhaul your messaging. You choose words, phrases, stories, and ideas that will resonate with your dream clients and make your offers more enticing—aka, even juicier. This means you’ll know what to say on your website and socials and in emails and Zoom calls.
- In Week 9 you create your lead-gen strategy. You pick the 1-2 strategies that make the most sense, based on your strengths and where your dream clients’ hang out online, and commit to showing up in those places and starting conversations. That way, you can become easy to find and hire.
- In Week 10 you create your weekly marketing schedule. You assign specific activities to specific days of the week so that you can stay focused and consistent. Consistency is what you need to generate a surplus of leads.
As you build your $300K Flywheel, you put intentionality behind every single piece. You design a business that really is a business, not a job, and also create a lead-gen strategy for growing in a sustainable way.
Could you figure out how to create these pieces on your own? Probably. You’re smart, creative, and resourceful.
However, by following my Business Redesign process, you reduce the trial and error and get from A to Z much faster than if you went at it on your own because I give you training that’s clean and to the point.
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Austin L. Church.
I’ve been self-employed for 15+ years and I’m closing in on $2m earned as a creative entrepreneur.
That said, the first couple of times I made six figures in a year, I did it the wrong way.
We’ll call it the “Keep Grinding” approach.
Because I’d had my share of lean months in the early years—and a scarcity mindset, too—my default answer to clients was “yes.”
Eventually, I learned how to stack up retainers based on hourly billing and hired another generalist named Tyler to be my “Mini Me.”
We did a hodgepodge of tasks and projects, and that variety made documenting processes difficult. So I didn’t. Even though I’m fairly organized, everything felt chaotic and reactive.
Meanwhile, because I disliked self-promotion and never marketed consistently, I didn’t have a predictable way to get new leads. I was dependent on a handful of clients and referrals.
Being responsive was of utmost importance! If I had strong boundaries or took too long to reply to emails, I thought my clients would go elsewhere.
Despite leveraging my own productivity and putting in long hours to keep up with everything, I never really felt like I was in control, living life on my own terms, and building the business I really wanted.
A big breakthrough came in September 2015 when burnout and a personal crisis (a story for another time) made me realize something had to change.
In early 2016 I started selling project roadmapping and content strategy as a standalone offer.
After analyzing my own breakthroughs and studying other six-figure freelancers, I started piecing together what I now call the $300K Flywheel. In 2019 I founded Freelance Cake.
After dozens, then hundreds, of solopreneurs wrote to tell me about the effectiveness of my approach, I knew I was onto something.
What you’ll find is that my coaching style is honest, direct, and free from fluff.
I’m honest about both my successes AND mistakes. I still take on freelance writing projects and fractional CMO engagements, and that means those triumphs and fumbles still happen.
I share the unedited version with my coaching clients because I’m passionate about learning, improving, and participating in other people’s transformation in a way that’s consistent with my personality, values, and faith.
Last year, in 2023, I had my best year yet—over $330,000 in revenue with close to 90% operating profits.
Here are some screenshots from my Moxie dashboard and Stripe account, though about $50K that came from bank and wire transfers isn’t represented here.
But you probably care more about what my coaching clients have to say about Business Redesign
Here’s a video from Josh Monen, a copywriter and marketing strategist:
Here’s what some other coaching clients have had to say:
“I can’t remember if I told you that this gig is a 6-month contract at $16k per month. Which is kind of CRAZY!!!!! I have never EVER asked for anything even close to this amount of money for my work / thinking / leadership.”
“I have a clear, solid value proposition and clarity around my differentiators and core service offerings. I'm also in a position to create content that is driving leads to our business. Austin has a straightforward approach. I love that he keeps things real and was able to lead me step by step towards my goal. He helped me discover where my clients were truly coming from and how I should be spending my time throughout the week and focus on the right activities. Austin's experience itself was a huge benefit to me as well. His coaching around negotiation was invaluable. I landed one 3-month retainer worth $25,500 and another 12-month retainer worth $165,000.”
"When I was thinking about hiring Austin, I definitely was hesitant. Would I get my investment back? Would the methods or advice actually help? I’m glad I ended up pulling the trigger. We started with where my studio was at and the direction we wanted to go, followed by business strategy and positioning. The studio went from working on various types of projects—and having little to no experience with many of them—to becoming a known authority in one industry (physical therapy and sports recovery). I never felt pushed by Austin, only encouraged. He would ask what is working and what needed to be done to stay on track. His flexibility was critical for me as the studio grew significantly over 6 months. He gave me clear direction and kept me focused. He also helped me navigate the shifts in mindset from freelance to scalable studio.” Using Austin’s system, we developed specific processes to push PT and sports recovery companies forward, and in 8 months Typo went from $30,000 to $180,000. Austin pairs all the mindset stuff with systems and relatable experience, and that combination helped us reach the next level of growth much sooner."
“The coaching has been a very, very good investment of my time and financial resources. Looking back to when we started, I can’t help but ask, ‘If I hadn’t done it, where would I be now?’ Probably still spinning my wheels, not really knowing what to do next, and maybe even saying, ‘Is this a viable path?’ Instead, I'm seeing the payoff from my decision. Doing the right things and applying the principles pays off. This coaching has been a change-of-plane kind of experience, like, ‘Wow, here's all this stuff I didn't know was there before!’ Since we've worked together, I've broken a personal record for a sale three times. The results from coaching have paid for the investment and then some. I believe this is only the beginning. It's very exciting for me, and I feel very thankful.”
“I have immense appreciation for Austin's coaching over these past months. He was magnificently helpful, generous and encouraging all the way. It was also a real hoot. Which, as someone brought up to cherish comedy above pretty much anything else, makes me very happy. This is the first time I feel like I can actually achieve the things I've been dreaming of for my writing business.”
“I charged too little money to clients who hedged and dallied on projects they cared little about. I had no tracking system. A pipeline? Haha. LOL. The after picture compared to my business in July can't be more stark. I'm employing several tactics and strategies Austin suggested, all of them outside my comfort zone. I now have 1) a straightforward USP/outcome, a brand new website with a single productized service. (I’m very good at coaching. I see that now.) However, the single biggest change for me has been creating a pipeline. Tracking follow ups is much easier now. Given I never tracked anything I've improved by 1000% improvement. Meanwhile, I’ve hammered out a template and reduced the time from interview to report from about ten hours to four. I've thus quintupled my old rates!”
“Working with Austin as my business coach was easily the most sound business decision I've ever made - and one I should've made about a year earlier than I did. His treasure trove of real-world, been-there-done-that knowledge, actionable tools and advice, and healthy encouragement have helped transform me from a frustrated, burned-out freelancer into a more confident, process-driven business owner. If you're a freelancer of any kind looking for the right direction and mentorship, you must - not should, must - work with Austin.”
“Growing a business or freelance venture can be overwhelming. There are so many lessons that cost thousands of dollars in mistakes and hundreds of hours in time. Get help and bypass those! If you are in the creative, marketing, or writing space, and are looking for some help and direction with your freelance work or studio business, work with Austin L. Church. I have nothing but positive experiences with him.”
“Working with Austin was key for me and my work. He is an incisive thinker - together, we were able to rework my products and pricing which was instrumental to the growth of my business. By shifting to productized services, I was able to generate $60,000 in new business in five weeks, effectively doubling my rate. That’s a big win in my book.”
My desire is to help overcommitted freelancers become freed-up solopreneurs who work less and have more income, unscheduled time, and joy in their work and life.
Business Redesign is for people who don't have the luxury of blowing up the business they already have. They need to reinvent it while they're still running it.
Here are the nitty gritty details:
- The program helps you build your $300K Flywheel. You pull all the pieces together.
- This program has spots for 10 people and lasts for 10 weeks. It starts on July 1.
- Once you pay the $999 deposit (see below), you schedule your 1-on-1 coaching session with me, Austin, so that the two of us can discuss your specific goals and set your intention for the program. (These sessions usually cost $575.)
- You join the private community in Circle, and you create a free Notion account so that you can make your own copy of the Business Redesign exercises and templates you will use.
- Each week, my team posts the objective(s) in Circle—e.g., "This week, watch this 8-minute video and define your Signature offer."
- You can ask questions, get support, and share wins between group sessions in the private community.
- We have 1 group session per week: either a group training or Office Hour where people drop in to get 1:1 help. I also occasionally bring in a guest expert to teach on specific topics—e.g., cash flow management. (If you can’t attend live for whatever reason, you can watch the replay in Circle.)
- You pay $999 for your Month 1 and your 1:1 session with me. Then, you pay $749 for Months 2 to 4. $3,246 total.
Business Redesign also includes several bonuses:
- After the 10-week program ends, you get an additional 6 weeks in the private community to tie up any loose ends and/or knock out other sprints and objectives. For example, that’s the perfect time to get serious about your Morning Marketing Habit if you haven’t already.
- You also get access to other "sprints" if you want to work on other parts of your business—e.g., hiring a full-time VA, defining your key processes and playbooks (e.g., marketing, sales, delivery), content strategy for lead gen, etc.
- You also get access to my library. Just about anything you'd ever want or need for your business I already have and am happy to share. Templates, successful proposals, workbooks, checklists, SOPs, cheat sheets. Just ask.
30-Day No Questions Asked Guarantee
We guarantee Business Redesign unconditionally for 30 days. If you don’t have clarity on where you want to take your business next, what you must be charging, and how you can make yourself the easy, obvious choice for dream clients, if you don’t see your $300K Flywheel coming together and feel real momentum after a month, then we don’t want your money. We’ll give it all back. No questions asked. No hard feelings.
Are you ready to join Business Redesign and build your $300K Flywheel?
Click here to join the waitlist.
When you sign up, we’ll send the first couple of Pathfinding exercises so you can get a head start. It’s exciting and energizing to dream what your life really could look like once you’ve got your $300K Flywheel spinning.
Sincerely,
Austin L. Church.
P.S.
Business Redesign starts on July 1. As of June 26, I’ve sold 7 spots. 3 are left. Why not join us? This is an opportunity to get clear on where you’re going and why, to make yourself easy to find and hire online, to create a reliable system for getting high-paying clients, and to double down on the work that brings you joy.
P.P.S.
Can we be blunt? Let’s be blunt: If you pass on this, will your business be in a radically different place in 10 weeks? Probably not. You’ll still want a sane, sustainable, scalable business that supports your lifestyle. You’ll still want all the options that more money represents. But you won’t have used the program to give yourself the shock to your system required to focus and execute on a plan you believe in. It’s simply too easy to slip back into old rhythms. Wouldn’t you like to look back on massive progress very soon? Act now. Hold your own feet to the fire, knowing that you’ve got the money-back guarantee. Click here to join the waitlist.
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