Every freelancer dreams of earning at least six-figures per month.
And for years, they’ve tried cracking the code.
To some, figuring out how to charge higher has been like an unsolvable puzzle with a missing piece.
Yet, for some, it only took them a simple shift like the flick of a switch.
So easy that you might think it’s too good to be true.
But this mom’s story will prove to you that charging higher isn’t rocket science.
She got past the struggle of closing clients and charging premium fees with flying colors after watching one webinar.
And if you read all the way to the end, you’ll discover the real culprit that could be stopping you from closing premium projects yourself, just like what she experienced.
Meet Aiza.
A wife and fulltime mom to a two-year-old son.
When she was young, she and her family had an above-average lifestyle.
The kind of comfort envied by many because her Dad was a ship captain.
But that soon changed.
When Aiza turned 16, her Dad passed away.
And that was the start of their struggle.
No savings.
No insurance.
No backup plan.
It came to a point where they couldn’t afford to pay the mortgage, so their house was foreclosed by the bank.
They were forced to rent.
Since Aiza’s an only child, she didn’t pursue studying in Manila anymore because she couldn’t leave her mom alone — not after losing her Dad.
So she decided to stay with her mom and study in their town.
“After I graduated ECE in college, I worked for a semiconductor company in Cavite.”
It was 2010.
Aiza was earning P20K per month.
But it wasn’t enough.
As she later discovered, her mom incurred a significant amount of debt to put her through college.
To repay the debt, Aiza sent 50% of her salary to her mom regularly. She even remembers sending her sign-in bonus to her mom to pay off the debt.
Wanting to help, Aiza thought of finding a side hustle.
After office hours, she’d immediately go home, open her laptop, and find jobs online.
After several attempts…
“I found a job as an article writer, 500 words for $1.”
Aiza also landed a job to write a guide for an online game about candies — Candy Crush.
Soon after a few months, while browsing job posts on a freelancing site, someone reached out to her.
Aiza was offered a copywriting job for a SaaS company.
Note: SaaS means Software as a Service. Examples of these are Zoom, Active Campaign, WordPress, Shopify, etc.
They started chatting about the details.
The thing was, Aiza didn’t have any experience.
She didn’t even know what a SaaS copywriter does.
But out of her honesty and genuine desire to help the client, she was hired.
Soon after, Aiza got another client.
This time an Amazon store owner who needed blog posts and product descriptions.
And those wins eventually led her to make a major decision…
Since she’s earning more than her corporate salary, Aiza resigned from her corporate job.
“Ayoko na ng day job ko. Nakakapagod. Na-stress ako working for 12 hours lagi. Kahit nasa work ako lumilipad yung isip ko about dun sa blogs ko. Plus, I felt like I was overworked yet underpaid and undervalued.”
Aiza realized she needed to be financially secure.
As the sole breadwinner, she had to continue sending money home and to her mom.
So to make that happen, she looked for more clients.
Everything seemed normal until that day.
She saw John’s ad on Facebook.
In the ad, John talked about how freelancers can build a 6-figure freelancing business, even without experience, portfolio, credentials or skills.
She downloaded the videos in her hard drive — only for them to collect virtual dust.
Aiza confessed to being a course hoarder.
But then came a point where she felt stuck with her freelancing career.
She felt alone.
No freelancer friends.
No freelancing groups.
No freelancing events.
So when she saw John’s post offering a new program called “30-Day Script and Proposal Accountability Group”, a.k.a. SPAG, she was sold.
“Buntis na ako nun. Pero, pumila pa talaga ako sa bangko nun para magbayad kasi wala naman akong credit card. Curious kasi talaga ko pano nila nako-close yung mga 4-digit dollar deals. Hindi ko pa yun na-experience ever. Saka P2k lang (yung course), sobrang mura.”
It was her first time to encounter a course that offered a script to help with charging premium fees.
Aiza says she was never a course ‘believer’.
In fact, she despised the idea of paying for a course.
Why pay a dime when you can Google everything?
For years, that’s what Aiza did.
Whenever she wanted to learn something, she just searched for the answers on Google.
But for her, this SPAG course was different.
There was going to be an accountability group on top of the income possibilities it would bring.
She became a course ‘believer’ for the first time.
Inside SPAG, among the lessons taught were to find your one skill and one target market.
She decided to focus on email copywriting for SaaS companies.
But there’s only one problem…
Since her target market was niched down, she had a hard time finding them on Facebook. Add to that; she was also pregnant at the time.
Imagine the struggle to get results using a method you’ve never used before while carrying a baby inside.
The pressure was on.
Aiza also struggled with closing clients.
After sending proposals, most clients disappeared into thin air.
They ghosted Aiza.
And it happened over and over again.
Aiza hit a plateau.
There was a gap she couldn’t explain.
She looked for a miracle that would fill the gap — and it came in a way she didn’t expect.
John’s video ad showed up on her newsfeed again, and this time it was about the Tribe.
When she saw it, she knew right then and there this was the answer to her prayers.
Without any doubt in her mind, she joined the Tribe.
As she immersed herself in the Tribe, Aiza found she was shifting to a whole new direction.
She started doing things out of the ordinary.
Working with her SaaS client, she also focused on gaining the CEO’s trust.
She started acting like a business partner, not just someone who was paid to tick off her to-do list for the day.
“Naging pa bibo ako nun. I started pitching projects that will help us nail our goals. I measured everything. I created reports, telling them what wins my projects have been giving us.
Sa kaka reach out ko through the JTL method, I have earned backlinks to our site. And secure guest posts for myself (can use them for my own business din).”
She started a sales program even if she had no idea about sales (since she’s an engineer).
Imagine an introverted engineer who avoided sales like the plague, doing her best to master the A to Z of marketing and selling.
All to provide results for her client.
She treated her client’s business as her own.
They saw she not only cared, but she was in it for the long haul.
And she was getting them results without having to enroll in courses about selling.
She did it just by using John’s lessons.
The cherry on top?
She no longer had to work long hours.
Before freelancing, Aiza worked 12-hour shifts. Now she only worked 30 to 40 hours per week.
Plus she has a client who pays her premium fees month after month.
And they’re open about Aiza having other clients besides them.
“I already saw this coming (because he has mentioned giving me a fixed fee soon), but I was all smiles the entire meeting. Di ko na nga marinig mga pinagsasabi niya after the first few seconds ng call.”
According to her client, he was “orchestrating the whole thing for months.”
- He asked Aiza to lead the weekly meetings with other heads when he’s not around.
- He appointed her to create a sales process from scratch. She started it manually. She was able to get conversions. Then she automated it after a month.
- He trusts her to jump on a call with vendors and negotiate 5-figures worth of deals.
Her client also gave her the same amount as her maternity bonus, so she didn’t have to worry.
“Ang mindset nila is… “we need to provide you with money, enough for you to take your kids to college someday.” For the long run talaga. Kaya parang dream client na sila. As in sobrang na-attach na din ako.”
She’d no idea she’ll be paid as generous as this:
She transformed her $15 per hour deal to $2,500 per month (with paid holidays) without a time tracker and without asking for it.
Lesson:
“Your measure of success should be based on your own situation, not based on someone else’s. You have to go to a phase na makakaya mo mentally, physically na healthy ka pa rin. Pero at the same time, you don’t wanna go too slow na baka bukas tumatanda ka na.
Tapos, di mo pa nagagawa ang mga gusto mong gawin. Just find your own pace. And don’t be too hard on yourself. Beat yourself without beating yourself up. You always need to be better than what you were yesterday.
But without beating yourself up kasi, you have other roles pa naman. You have to be a mom. You have to be a daughter.”
As she watched one of the live webinars of John, she discovered the real reason why she was stuck.
The reason why she couldn’t take her freelancing business to a whole new level.
Why she couldn’t close deals.
And why she couldn’t get premium clients consistently.
“During that webinar, dina-digest ko bakit ko iniisip na magfe-fail lang naman ako. Magsesend ako ng proposal, tapos I’ll expect a rejection. So, parang nase-set na yun sa mind ko.”
She realized her limiting beliefs were the culprit.
“If life is good, then something bad will happen.”
“OMG, soobrang saya ko. May mangyayaring masama.”
“Wag kang tumawa ng malakas, kasi bukas iiyak ka.”
Sounds familiar?
These are the same beliefs some of us grow up with.
Wrong beliefs that keep us from realizing our full potential.
Beliefs that move us away from the results we want.
And looking back over the years, she realized it all started when she was a child. Precisely when her Dad passed away and she and her mom were left financially unprepared.
Their life had become a bittersweet journey.
And Aiza embraced it because she thought that’s how life “should” be.
She set herself up for failure without realizing it — only until she joined that webinar by John.
As she implemented the lessons, little by little, her mindset started to shift.
And the progress manifested right in front of her very eyes.
“I was able to close 2 premium clients a week after I corrected my mindset.”
So what did she do differently?
For one, she tried hard to the best of her ability to push the negative thoughts away.
She was also brutally honest with herself. She confronted what she didn’t want to admit — that she secretly hoped her proposals wouldn’t be accepted because her schedule was full.
This time around Aiza sincerely wanted to close clients.
And BOOM!
She closed 2 premium clients in 1 DAY.
“Lesson is “Think what you want to attract.” And love yourself. Wag mangarap ng ikapapahamak.”
That win created a ripple effect on her mindset.
For the first time, she started dreaming big.
Aiza had always described herself as a practical type of person. Someone who doesn’t take too many risks.
But after being with the Tribe, she was empowered.
She realized she could be an agency owner or a marketing manager.
She gained the confidence to push herself.
And her goal?
Not to make more money.
But to help SaaS businesses reach more users and benefit from their products.
As for the money, it became a by-product.
All because she embodied one of the core values of the Tribe: to come from a place of help.
And because of the Tribe, Aiza made her biggest move yet — Caasocio, a marketing agency for SaaS companies.
When a Tribe member reached out and asked her to be her business partner, Aiza didn’t think twice.
She said ‘yes’ to creating a SaaS marketing agency together.
“Our vision is to build a full marketing army of Filipinos for SaaS businesses.”
She saw herself becoming a SaaS marketing strategist/consultant, teaching a team to write sales copy.
And she’s just getting started.
Aiza’s ultimate goal is to have more time with her family and earn more passive income without the stress.
When asked what are the top 3 lessons she learned inside the Tribe, Aiza shared these:
Provide value. Treat your client’s business as your own. If you do this, you’ll open many opportunities with just one client alone. Aiza had the chance to meet her client in person when they visited the Philippines.
By providing value to her client, Aiza realized their beliefs and values were aligned. Now her client no longer sees her as a mere service provider — but more like family.
Work on your limiting beliefs. Growing up, Aiza and her family lived well. But her dad’s passing left a hole in their lives they couldn’t forget.
The hole reminded her that things could go south at any moment.
With John’s webinar, Aiza learned this way of thinking was holding her back. And it was something she had to change if she wanted her life to be better.
“He taught me that things are going well, then things can definitely get better.”
Surround yourself with a selfless, talented freelancing community. Surround yourself with other freelancers who are willing to dream with you. If not for the Tribe business partner who reached out to her, she would have never pursued the agency they’re trying to build. Not in her wildest dreams.
If you’re alone, there’s only so much you can do. But if you’re in a team, you can move mountains and make dreams come true.
When asked what’d she say to freelancers who are still undecided whether the Tribe is the right fit, here’s what Aiza has to say:
“Find a mentor. Pick John. Kung naghahanap ka ng course about freelancing, wag ka na tumingin sa iba, kay John na. Kasi lahat “nan-John” na talaga. Hindi lang sa freelancing, applicable din siya sa lahat ng bagay.”
Like what Aiza did, reflect on your journey.
Correct your mindset.
And start the journey again.
This time, have hope it’ll work out for you.
Be ready for an outpour of good things that’re coming your way.
Build the life you want.
YOU DESERVE IT.
And when things start going in your favor, don’t be afraid.
Stop yourself from thinking that something bad will happen next.
Instead, think: “If things are going well, then it can get better.”
If you’re reading this and you want to get to the next level in your freelancing business…
And discover how to start getting premium fees and clients who treat you as family (and not just a service provider)…
Then apply to become part of the Freelance Movement Tribe by clicking the button below.
