Finding and acquiring new clients is a lot of work. You’ve got to spend time marketing so prospects know, like, and trust you. Then you’ve got to spend time vetting them as a prospect so you can make sure they’re a good fit for your services.

Next you need to write a great proposal that wins the work.

What if you could skip over much of that process and instead turn an existing client into a repeat client? Then you could continue to work with someone you love without starting from scratch selling new people on your services.

[Tweet “Work more with the people you love and spend less time chasing down new clients.”]

Today we’re going to talk about taking clients from single projects to recurring projects. If this interests you lots, then stay tuned for the podcast on Friday where we’ll talk to Jason Resnick about how he turned his business from a single project business into a fully recurring project business.

Types of recurring work

There are two main types of recurring payments/work you can have with clients. First is a monthly fee for access to your services. This is what coaches do. They sell ongoing meetings or coaching sessions to their clients for a set fee.

The second main type is some sort of commission work. I have one client who I provide support and new work for who pays me based on the sales they make in a month. That means as I help them get more successful, I get paid more without having to do more hours of work in a given week.

You’ll see this second type of work used often with conversion specialists. They agree to work on a client site for six months and they get paid a percentage of the increase in sales that occur during their work. Usually, they still get paid for six months after the work as well because the client gets to keep the benefit of the increased sales.

That means for six months you work hard on a site and then for six months you get paid commission, while you’re working on the next site. That means if you’re on vacation, you still get paid commission on your work.

If that sounds like the type of business you want, make sure to tune in on Friday as Jason and I talk about how to turn your business into a recurring machine.

photo credit: fallentomato cc