Rob Perkins tells freelancers to stop taking every job and instead focus on quality work and relationships. Help other departments on set, post a behind-the-scenes photo after, and send a friendly follow-up email to the producer. This generates referrals and repeat business without raising your rates.
Does this sound familiar? It does to me. You're taking every job you can get. Indie shorts, low-budget commercials, gigs that barely cover your gear rental or gas. You tell yourself it's all about staying busy, staying booked, staying seen. But deep down, you're burning out. And honestly, it's not sustainable. Now, imagine this. On set, instead of just doing your role, you step in to help another department. Maybe it's bringing some water to the camera team. You know they rarely get to leave set. Or taking something off someone's hands who whose hands are full. Or simply holding the door for those coming in behind you. People notice. Clients notice. I notice. After the shoot, you post a quick behind-the-scenes shot on Instagram. Nothing fancy, just a little "great day on set" moment. And then you send a short, friendly email to the producer, just checking in, maybe mentioning a new piece of gear that you picked up that could save time, and money of course, on their next shoot. And here's what happens. Within a couple months, you're not chasing work anymore. You're getting calls, referrals, repeat clients. You start turning down the projects that used to drain your time and creativity. And the wild part? Your income jumps, not because you raised your rate, but because you stopped saying yes to everything. Now you're choosing the right projects, the ones that pay well and actually fire you up.
