Cultivating an A+ Mindset

The following is an excerpt from my free e-course, “How to Get More High-Paying Clients.”

One thing you’re going to find out about me (assuming you continue to read my stuff) is that I don’t believe in shortcuts to success. That’s probably not what you wanted to hear, but I just don’t have it in me to lie to you. The hard truth is that high-paying clients expect top-notch work. If you’re not prepared to provide that, you won’t have much success attracting these types of clients – at least not more than once.

So it’s important to begin holding yourself to a higher standard.

How do you do that?

First, act as if every piece of work you’re completing for a client is going to be graded, and that you want nothing less than an A+ on every assignment.

Now don’t panic. I’m not saying that every single thing you do has to be the best thing you’ve ever done. I’m saying you should always be striving for A+ quality. Just by doing that, you are placing yourself in the upper echelon of your field. As you probably remember from school, most people are quite satisfied to get a B or C. Don’t be one of those people.

Let me give you an example. Say you’re a freelance writer, and you’ve been hired to write a marketing newsletter. You estimated the job at 10 hours, and quoted your client a flat fee based on your hourly rate times 10 hours. You get to the 10th hour, and the newsletter is just about done. It’s pretty good. Not great, but pretty good.

You have 2 choices:

(a) call it a day, send the newsletter off to the client, have a beer and relax. Your client will probably be satisfied with your work.

(b) decide to spend another couple of hours on the newsletter to make it AWESOME. You know that your client may not even notice that you spent the extra time, let alone appreciate how AWESOME the newsletter truly is. You definitely won’t get paid for the extra 2 hours.

What do you do?

You’re a smart person, so you know I’m going to recommend option (b). But why? After all, I said your client would probably be satisfied with your work if you chose option (a). You’re not going to make any extra money from this client if you go with option (b), and your client may not even notice your over-the-top performance.

Here’s why:

1. You’ll end up with a sample for your portfolio that shows exactly how amazing your work can be;

2. Your client may actually notice your extra attention to quality and spread the word about you;

3. You’ll have improved your newsletter-writing skills for the next project; and

4. You will have started making excellence a habit.

Whenever possible, go for the A+. If you want to charge A+ rates, you’re going to have to earn them.

Second, never stop learning.

A+ students have a thirst for knowledge. No matter what service you’re offering, you will be competing with at least a few of these A+ people.

Want to keep up? Keep learning.

There are a lot of ways to do this, including:

Read about your industry or profession – books, blogs, newsletters – anything you can get your hands on that will help you grow.

Practice. Maybe do some pro bono work to practice new skills.

Get feedback from mentors or anyone who’s more advanced than you and willing to help.

Take a class (like this one).

Get a coach or consultant to advise you.

Basically, never allow yourself to get too comfortable. Never delude yourself into thinking you know all there is to know. No matter how good you are, if you stop learning, you won’t be able to maintain your competitive advantage.