The Four Pillars of Success is a process I have been using to create my own success and the success of my clients. These 4 pillars are the most practical and solid way to establish, visualize, and reach your business goals, no matter what industry you’re in. What’s so awesome about these these four pillars is that it can be applied to only your business, but all areas of your life.

Pillar #1: intent. Are you living intentionally or reactively? It’s easy to complain and focus on what’s not working. But that approach only hinders our growth and stops us from progressing forward. 

It’s super important that you take the time to really ask what you want and be super specific. 

It’s like punching in address in your GPS. When you’re specific about your destination, you’ll have a clear roadmap to help get you there. It’s when we don’t have a destination we lose time and become frustrated.

When you have an intentional goal set it will be easier for you to create results crazy fast. Because if you don’t know where you’re going how do you know when you get there?

(Leaving Pyper Young story)

 
Pillar #2: Vision. Vision is crucial because it’s how you anchor your intent. It’s how you take your imagination bring it into reality. If you have a goal, you need to be able to see yourself achieving it. Really get detailed about the end results.

So if you want work from anywhere in the world, having amazing clients who seek you out rather than always looking, or have a solid creative time under you, take the time to truly see how that would appear in your life. Where in the world would you be working? What does that amazing client look like? What does that creative team look like?

Don’t half ass this! You have to visualize your goals as if it were true. 

(Art gallery story)

Pillar #3: Action. Once you have your plan, the biggest challenge is stop procrastinating and take action. You’ve come a long way! You have you’re intent. You have your vision. Don’t mess it up because you didn’t do anything! 

The secret is creating a solid plan and take bold and repeatable action. Set daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly goals for yourself. And no goal is too small. The more you hit your daily goals, the easier it will be to hit your weekly goals, which will help your reach you monthly goals, and so on. 

(30k In One Month Story)

Pillar #4: Clarity. Clarity is the secret sauce to staying on track with your goals. Without it, we’ll tell ourselves we deserve a break put our projects on the back burner, let our emails pile up, and we’ll be for cash to be able to pay our rent. When you are super focused about your intent, vision, and actions you need to take, you the faster it will be for you to reach your goals. Now I’m not saying it’s easy, but it is simple. Consistency is key!

Just like learning a new software, a new coding language, or a new technique, it takes commitment and daily practice to achieve that mastery. 

And with clarity comes sacrifice. You might have to sacrifice spending time with your friends, buying that car, or traveling overseas. And if you’re not willing to sacrifice those things to create the business and life you love then maybe you need to revisit your intent.

Just follow these four pillars and you can’t fail. It’s not fluff! It’s proven to work. Stop just sitting on the sideline wishing and start doing. Commit yourself to these pillars every day and see how much will life, business, and creativity will sky-rocket.

5 Pillars To Create A Successful Freelance Business

When you’re needing to make more money in your freelance business, our first impulse is to get more clients. But there’s actually a strategy that often goes overlooked. 

Well, in this episode of the Greye Matter Podcast, I’ll share with you a method that doesn’t involve you to do more work. Stay Tuned! 
 
Hey, I’m Jonathan Greye, I’m an award-winning creative director, personal branding expert, and creative mentor based out of the St. Pete, FL. I help designers, photographers, developers, and copywriters shift their goals, skill sets, and mindsets to build a profitable and impactful creative business.

I am dedicated to helping you attract the RIGHT paying clients, build credibility in your industry, and provide a roadmap for creating a profitable and scalable freelance business.

If you are tuning in live or watching the replay, I’d love to know where in the bay area you’re watching from. And don’t forget to share some love by hitting that like button!   

It’s unfortunate that most freelancers greatly undercharge their work. Their logic is that if I lower my costs I’ll be able to get more clients who can afford my work. But what ends up happening is that you get more clients, get overwhelmed with the amount of work on your plate, and you’re STILL struggling to make ends meet. It’s a terrible vicious cycle that had me trapped for the longest time. 

So how do we break this cycle? A cycle that has freelancers charging less, working more, and feeling overwhelmed, stressed out, and even resentful?

It’s easy… Raise your prices!
I’m already hearing all the annoying, negative voices inside your head making excuses why you can’t do that. I get it. I know exactly where you’re at. But I’m here to tell you it’s not as hard as it sounds.

And  you’d be surprised what clients will pay you if you only just asked.

So I’m going to share with you the 4 steps I took to help me raise my prices my charge my clients what I’m truly worth.

Step #1: Understand The Value You Bring To Your Clients. Do you ever get the sense that your clients have locked you in as being worth a certain amount? If you price by the hour, then there’s a good chance that they do.

A better approach is to think about what you do in terms of the value delivered. Your value is the “so what” of what you do. It could be solution that has a direct impact on your client’s bottom line or a task-based service that frees them up to focus on their priorities.

The best cure for underpricing is not an indiscriminate rate hike; instead think about the problems you solve and the impact you bring.
 
Step# 2: Stop Charging By The Hour. This was a game changer for me. Once I started quoting clients by the project rather than the hours it would take, I started closing deals faster. You have to think about it from your clients perspective. 

When you work hourly, it’s really a shot in the dark. It could take 3 hours or maybe take 10 hours. And that idea from a clients perspective isn’t very reassuring.

But if you quote a client a specific price, knowing the resources you’ll need and how long the project will take, it’s easier for your clients to digest.

And when you’re pricing your work always consider there are things that pop up you didn’t anticipate. So when you have a number in your head, add a little more to have that buffer for the unexpected.

Make More Money Doing This One Thing

Is your website lost in an obscure corner of the internet? Quietly being ignored?

On this episode of the Greye Matter Podcast, I’ll share with you 4 creative ways to help YOU attract more visitors to your site. Stay Tuned!

Hey, I’m Jonathan Greye, I’m an award-winning creative director, personal branding expert, and creative mentor based out of the St. Pete, FL. I am dedicated to helping you attract the RIGHT paying clients, build credibility in your industry, and provide a roadmap for creating a profitable and scalable business.

If you are joining us for the first time, I’d love to know where in the bay area you’re watching from. And don’t forget to share some love by hitting that like button!  

Now, Taking your website from zero to a few hundred, or even a few thousand visitors a month is not an easy task. But that doesn’t mean it’s not doable. 

The key ingredient to any high traffic website is one simple thing: creativity! And here are 4 creative ways to attract not just anyone, but the right visitors to your website.

#1 Create an epic blog

When I say epic, I don’t mean only posting when you get a new client or when you have something you want to sell. I’m talking about more of a personal diary where you post what inspires you. Something that not only grabs your attention, but also allows your audience to see through the keyhole of your life.

And instead of writing a long blog entry that goes on and on and on. Follow this formula to help you stay clear and memorable:

Focus on one idea, don’t go overwhelm people with a multitude of topics. Just stick to one key idea.
Craft a compelling headline. And don’t use click bait. Make sure your headline promises exactly what you’re covering in your article.
Give examples. How does this topic apply to your audiences everyday life? What can they take away that they can start implementing immediately. 

Ask questions. This is a great way to get your readers to engage with you and further the conversation.
And most importantly, ask them to sign up for a newsletter. They key is to build loyal followers who repeatedly visit your website. And the best way to do that is to notify them when you have fresh and new content.

#2 Give Away Valuable Content

Take advantage of the massive reach the internet provides by giving away high-quality content for free. You can share:

The first chapter of your ebook
A free report or blueprint packed with useful information
A three part video series
Product review and demonstration
Tutorials or a mini course

And really make sure it’s genuinely valuable. The idea is to have your audience align with you before they buy into you.

#3 Tap into someone else’s audience

Why build an audience from scratch when you can tap into some who already put in the work. Writing high-quality posts for popular industry blogs or engaging in facebook groups is a great way to get noticed. 

Make sure you’re putting out your best content so you can make a positive first impression. Also, if you are going to dive into Facebook groups, make sure you read the group rules and respect their guidelines. Social etiquette is super important!

#4 Circulate Your Content

You can’t just hope that people will find you, you have to show up and share your content regularly. Post to facebook, twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, youtube, blogger, and reddit. Share share share! You have to do everything you can to make it easy to find you and the best way to do that is to leave your mark on as many platforms as you can.