In Lesson 4, we built guardrails to protect your sanity during the project. But frankly, most freelancers and agencies lose the battle before the war even begins. How many times have you spent 6 hours crafting a beautiful, detailed, 15-page proposal—outlining exactly how you’ll solve their problem—only to have the client ghost you? Or worse, take your plan and hire a cheaper junior to execute it? When you give away the strategy for free, you are telling the client that your thinking has no value, only your typing does. It is time to kill the free proposal. Instead, we are going to sell The Roadmap. Here is how you reframe the engagement, filter out the "tyre kickers", and get paid for your brain, not just your hands. Phase 1: The 1-Hour Discovery (The Vibe Check) The "Discovery Call" is usually a trap where clients try to pick your brain for free consultancy. You need to flip the script. This call has one purpose: Qualification. - Do you like them? - Do they actually have a budget? - Can you actually help them? This is on you. Give them 45–60 minutes of your time. Listen to their pain points. Validate their struggles. But do not solve the problem on the call. The Pivot: At the end of the call, when they ask for a proposal, you don't say, "Sure, I'll send over a quote." You say: "I can see exactly what needs to be done here. The next step is for me to build a Strategy Roadmap. This allows me to do the deep research required to diagnose the root cause and prescribe the right solution." Phase 2: The Immediate Charge (The Gate) This is the most crucial moment. You are treating the "Proposal" as a product, not a favour. You need a standard, ready-to-fire agreement and a payment link (Stripe, PayPal, etc.). - The Cost: Charge a flat fee (e.g., £500, £1,000, or whatever equals roughly 3–5 hours of your rate). - The Rule: You do not type a single word of strategy until that invoice is paid. Why this works: 1. It kills tyre kickers instantly. If they won't pay £500 for a roadmap, they were never going to pay £10k for the project. You just saved yourself hours of wasted writing. 2. It establishes authority. Doctors charge for diagnostics. Solicitors charge for consultations. Experts get paid to think.

Hey everyone! I am completely new to this community and I am also completely new to what this community has to teach me so that I can be successful! I am here to learn from this community with @Luke Michael so that I can start building my career in tech and make an online income! I am happy to be inside this amazing community😇 Looking forward to get started and share my wins as well🔥 Thank you so much for having me here @Luke Michael🫡💯👍

In Lesson 3, we talked about the Master Spreadsheet. It’s your shield. But even the best shield is useless if you let the client walk right around it and poke you in the ribs at 9:00 PM on a Sunday. The biggest mistake freelancers and agency owners make isn't being "bad at the work." It’s being too available. You think you’re providing "great customer service." In reality, you are training your client to disrespect your time. If you answer a text at 10:00 PM on a Tuesday, you have officially told that client: "My time is worth nothing, and I am always on call." To survive the project, you have to set the guardrails before the first invoice is even paid. Here is how you set boundaries from Day 1: 1. Kill the "Quick Question" Text Texting is for friends, family, and food delivery. It is not for project management. The moment a client texts you a project update, the "Single Source of Truth" we built in Lesson 3 dies. Information gets lost. Expectations get blurred. The Rule: If it’s not in the official channel (email or the Master Spreadsheet), it didn’t happen. How to say it: "To make sure nothing slips through the cracks, I keep all project communication in [Email/Slack]. I don't check texts for work, so if you send something there, I’ll likely miss it!" 2. Establish the "Response Window" You are a specialist, not an emergency room doctor. Unless you are managing a nuclear power plant, nothing is so urgent that it requires a 5-minute response time. If you respond instantly every time, the client begins to panic when you take two hours to reply. You’ve created a "responsiveness debt" that you can never pay off. The Rule: Set a clear window for updates. - The Window: "I check and respond to emails twice a day (10 AM and 4 PM)." - The Result: You get deep work blocks. The client gets predictable communication. Everyone wins. 3. The "Emergency" Definition Clients love the word "urgent." Usually, "urgent" just means "I forgot to do this until now." On Day 1, define what a true emergency is.

That's you, Dan, Mitul, David! I wanted to bring you along for the ride. Feel free to just post/say anything here (David I so wanted to call this community Project Zeus but it just felt too much like an inside joke. Thanks guys

Let's get to know each other! Comment below sharing where you are in the world, a photo of your workspace, and something you like to do for fun. 😊