Michael Janda - The Ultimate Freelance Course 2021

The Ultimate Freelance Course Learn how to run your creative business like an agency veteran. More profit. Less stress. This six suite course bundle covers everything from finding clients to managing your creative business. It includes 40+ hours of video lessons, proposal templates, contract templates, pricing systems and strategies, project management templates, and much, much more! These courses are literally EVERYTHING you need to run your creative business profitably.

What’s inside The Ultimate Freelance Course?
Course 01: Preparing for Full-time Freelance
In this course, I walk you through the things I wish I would have known when I started freelancing in 2002. Fortunately, I made more right decisions than wrong and my freelance business exploded into an Inc. 5000 agency. The lessons in this course include strategies to help you prepare for self employment including mindset preparation, financial preparation, and marketing preparation. This course also includes a lesson that contains some of the foundational principles that were at the heart of my success as a creative entrepreneur.

Included in this course:
More than 1 hour of video content
6 video lessons
3 downloadable resources
How to have the right mindset for success as a freelancer
Calculations and strategies to help you prepare financially
Marketing preparation, including the materials you need to start selling your services
Fundamental principles that were instrumental to the growth of my freelance biz and agency
View Course 01 Curriculum

Course 02: Selling Creative Services
This course is a deep dive into sales, a challenge for so many creatives. If you can’t sell, you will not succeed as a creative entrepreneur. Through more than 10+ hours of comprehensive video lessons, I will share with you the techniques I used to grow my agency, yielding $30,000,000+ in revenue over 15 years and effectively closing more than 2,000 projects for high-profile clients including Disney, Google, ABC, NBC, Fox, Warner Bros., Pepsi, YouTube and many others.

Included in this course:
More than 10+ hours of video lessons
49 lessons
17 downloadable templates, worksheets, and tools
Comprehensive strategies to help you choose a niche
Downloadable worksheets to you define your market position
Worksheets and formulas that will help you write your marketing messages
Fundamental sales principles explained in detail
Scripts and example conversations you can start using with your potential clients
Worksheets and strategies to help you vet clients
Downloadable capabilities deck templates that you can edit to effectively pitch your services to potential clients
Downloadable spreadsheets and strategies that will help you track your sales efforts, identify problems, and rectify them
Downloadable discovery meeting questionnaires for many different types of projects
This course will change the way you view sales and give you strategies to sell in a “non-sleazy” way
View Course 02 Curriculum


Course 03: Proposals & Contracts
I believe my proposal and contract strategy to be the most thorough and bulletproof in the creative industry. Every contractual lesson I learned from experimenting through thousands of client pitches and 15 years of agency grind is now available in this course. I’ve included pre-written proposal templates to help you sell more effectively and pre-written contracts to help you control the client engagement. With my proposal and contract strategy everybody wins. The client will know exactly what you will do for them. You will know exactly how to execute and get paid for your work. These are the proposals and contracts I used to execute on projects for a client list that included Disney, Google, ABC, NBC, Fox, Warner Bros., National Geographic, and many other amazing brands.

Included in this course:
More than 8+ hours of video lessons
28 detailed lessons explaining every proposal and contract clause
16 downloadable proposal and contract templates (templates are in Adobe InDesign format and PDF)
Example presentations you can model for your clients sales meetings
Downloadable spreadsheets and strategies to help you track your proposals and better understand your creative business
Downloadable proposal templates for many types of projects – easy to edit and easy to use
Downloadable contract templates (statements of work) that you can easily edit to contract your clients more effectively
Legal terms for your contracts with clear explanations of each clause
Downloadable change order templates (addendums) and crystal clear instructions of how, and when, to use them
Downloadable simple proposal template with explanations of how to use it
Downloadable rough estimate and how to use it in your business
A solid contract is the best way to ensure a happy client, this course will change your business
View Course 03 Curriculum


Course 04: Pricing Creative Services
If you’ve ready my book, The Psychology of Graphic Design Pricing, you will know my pricing methodology. But you’ve never heard it explained like this. In this detailed pricing course, I take you step by step through my process to help you understand your numbers, price your work with confidence, and close better deals for more profit. This course goes into more detail than my book and also includes my “Price Master System” which you can use to improve the profitability of your creative business. (If you’ve read my book already, this course goes deeper. If my book isn’t available in your area or language, this course will dramatically change the way you price your work and improve your profitability.)

Included in this course:
More than 7+ hours of video lessons
31 video lessons
8 downloadable resources
Thorough explanations of pricing presentation strategies including price anchoring, price bracketing, pricing design strategies, price rounding and more
Comprehensive formulas and calculations to help you understand your numbers
Downloadable worksheets that will empower you to calculate your pricing and choose a final price that your clients will approve
Downloadable spreadsheets that automatically calculate your hourly production costs based upon the actual costs of your business
Downloadable spreadsheets for my “Price Master System” which you can use price your projects with confidence
View Course 04 Curriculum


Course 05: Project Management for Creatives
In this course I share the production systems and strategies that resulted in hundreds of happy clients and countless referrals. I used these strategies to execute on projects of Disney, Google, Fox, FX Networks, Netflix, ABC, NBC, and tons of other great brands. Repeat customers and referrals are the key to growing your creative business. I’ll show you how to deliver top-notch client experiences and execute on projects in a way that minimizes stress.

Included in this course:
More than 7+ hours of video lessons
38 video lessons
13 downloadable templates and tools
Project management strategies and structures for a variety of sized creative businesses
Turnkey and downloadable checklist processes to guide you in the execution of identity projects, print projects, and website projects
Downloadable template to guide you in the creation of systems for the services you provide in your creative business
Downloadable critique checklist to help you improve your eye for detail and increase the quality of your work
Turnkey systems to improve your ability to do competitive, audience, and design research
Communication strategies and prewritten messages you can begin using today to help you provide an excellent customer experience
Downloadable presentation templates for identity, print, and website projects
Post mortem strategies and templates to help you close out projects effectively, receive future work from your clients, and ask for client testimonials
This systematic and turnkey course will help you immediately begin producing work like a top-tier creative veteran
View Course 05 Curriculum

Course 06: Managing a Creative Business
I grew my agency from solo-freelancer to a full-time staff of 20 creatives. In 2015, I sold my agency and continued to act as a partner of our combined agency where we had a staff of 70+. I understand all phases of agency growth and the strategies to manage your creative business at each phase. This course delivers fundamental business principles that will help you manage your business profitably and stress free! (Well, at least with as little stress as possible in the creative industry.) I will give you the tools you need to understand your business from financial management to expanding your team size. You will learn how to track the right data and use that data to make smart business decisions. I attained financial freedom by the age of 40. This course delivers the strategies I used to achieve that dream.

Included in this course:
5+ hours of video lesson with in-depth and actionable instruction
23 lessons
10 downloadable resources
Downloadable spreadsheets that empower you to track the right data points for your business and teach how to understand them
Financial management instruction to teach how to understand your finances, when and how to reinvest into the future of your business, organize your banking, invoice and collect money from clients, and manage your cashflow
Actionable advice how to grow your creative business including when and how to hire, when and how to fire or lay people off
Downloadable employment offer letter and employment agreement templates
Downloadable termination and layoff letter templates
Actionable guidance about how and when to expand into studio space and grow your agency
View Course 06 Curriculum

Includes 60+ Downloadable Resources
The full suite of six courses includes more than 60+ downloadable templates, worksheets, checklists, and tools to help you manage your creative business like a seasoned pro. These are the exact systems I developed and used at my agency.

Capabilities Deck Templates:
Agency Overview
Generic Project
Brand Identity Process
Print Design Process
Web Design & Dev Process
Case Study Templates:
Generic Project
Example Project
Pre-written Proposal Templates:
Multi-project Proposal
Generic Project
Logo Design
Print Design
Web Design & Dev
Rough Estimate
Pre-written Contract Templates:
Logo Design
Print Design
Web Design & Dev
Monthly Retainer
Time Based Engagements
Web Maintenance
Generic Project
Addendum/Change Order
Master Service Agreement
Simple Contract
Project Delivery Templates:
Generic Project
Print Design Project
Identity Design Project
Web Design Project
Business Tools & Templates:
Sales Effort Tracker
Staying Top of Mind Tracker
Discovery Meeting (Generic)
Discovery Meeting (Identity)
Discovery Meeting (Print)
Discovery Meeting (Web)
Creating an Elevator Pitch Worksheet
Three Marketing Summaries Worksheet
New Project Interview
New Project Analysis
Proposal Tracker System
Hourly Burn Rate Calculator (Part-time Freelancer)
Hourly Burn Rate Calculator (Full-time Freelancer)
Hourly Burn Rate Calculator (Agency)
Price Master System (Identity)
Price Master System (Print)
Price Master System (Web)
Billable Hourly Rate Calculator
Pricing Spectrum Worksheets
Project Organization Worksheet
Competitive Research Spreadsheet
Project Kickoff Agenda
Project Post Mortem
Canned Communication
Critique Checklist
Project Task List (Identity)
Project Task List (Print)
Project Task List (Web)
Revenue vs. Expense Tracker
Invoice Scheduler
New Worry Date Calculator
Business Insights Worksheet

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