Use Liebig’s Law to Transform Your Freelance Career

Charge higher rates, find better clients, and achieve deeper creative fulfillment

Every so often, I come across an idea that changes my whole approach to work.

Liebig’s law is one of those ideas. It enabled me to triple my earnings as a freelance writer in a matter of weeks. And it continues to shape everything from my strategy for finding clients to the way I structure my typical day.

And I believe that any freelancer, irrespective of their profession, can benefit in the same way. It’s intuitive, easy to implement, and requires very little investment in terms of time and money.

What Is Liebig’s Law?

Liebig’s law, which was popularized by Justus von Liebig in the 1800s, is a principle from agricultural science. It’s since been applied to many other fields.

In a nutshell, Liebig’s law states that an organism’s growth is dictated not by the most abundant resources in its environment, but by the scarcest. Scarce resources are called “limiting factors.”

Imagine a plant in a forest. Plants typically require around eighteen nutrients to achieve optimal growth. Now suppose that this particular plant has access to an abundant supply of seventeen of the eighteen nutrients it needs, with just one in short supply. Liebig’s law stipulates that this single nutrient will determine how much the plant can grow and whether or not it achieves its genetic potential.

Now, you’re probably thinking, “What the hell has this got to do with freelancing?” Stick with me for a second.

What Are Your Limiting Factors?

The cool thing about Liebig’s law is that, with a bit of creative adaptation, you can apply it to your situation.

Let’s take your earnings as a measure of your success. You might be of the opinion that achievements like reputation, helping others, creative output, and so on are more important. Ultimately, it’s for you to determine what constitutes a worthy ambition. But for the time being, let’s stick with hard cash.

If you’re like most freelancers — in reasonable health and living in an advanced economy — your outcomes are likely the result of three factors:

• Your proficiency in your craft
• Your marketing skills
• Personal discipline

These are your core “limiting factors.” Your competency in these areas either accelerates or constrains your success.

Crucially, it’s the skills in the shortest supply that hold you back. If you neglect just one limiting factor, you’ll hit an invisible barrier that prevents you from moving forward.

For example, you could be the most outstanding craftsman in your field and have the self-discipline of an Olympic athlete. But if you don’t know how to market yourself, you’re unlikely to reach the highest-paying clients. Equally, you might be a sales expert with a genius-level IQ. But if you can’t get yourself out of bed in the morning…well, nothing’s going to happen.

So the real key to success as a freelancer lies in identifying your limiting factors and incrementally working on them. As you do this, you’ll start to see better results.

How Can You Boost Your Growth as a Freelancer?

You might disagree with the factors I’ve identified. You might think, for example, that connections or formal qualifications are crucial limiting factors.

Whatever factors you uncover, however, the underlying principle remains the same.

So how can you apply Liebig’s law practically? How can you prevent limiting factors from stalling your growth?

I recommend a simple, one-size-fits-all strategy:

Commit one hour, every week, to the individual tasks of developing your craft, your marketing skills, and your personal discipline. That’s three hours a week in total. Or half an hour a day, with Sunday off.

Follow this simple approach of “thirty minutes a day” and you’ll slowly begin to grow as a freelancer. And your earnings, or whatever measure of success you deem important, will increase as you do.

So Is the Sky the Limit?

How much can you achieve? Is the sky really the limit?

In just the same way that a plant can’t grow beyond its genetically determined height, you can’t exceed what the market will allow when it comes to earnings.

However, there’s some good news. You’re almost certainly nowhere near your maximum income potential as a freelancer. I’ve found this to be true in the vast majority of cases of freelancers I’ve worked with.

The likelihood is that you could probably charge two, five, or even ten times what you’re currently asking for, if not more.

So here’s one final tip. If you’re in any doubt, reach out to some of the top people in your space and ask them what you can hope to charge one day.

Then you’ll know exactly what you’re aiming for. And, courtesy of Justus von Liebig, you’ll know how to get there.

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