The World Economic Forum is calling it ‘Industry 4.0’. Meanwhile, Forbes journalists pen pieces on the ‘digital transformation’ as sociologists investigate the shift to a ‘liquid’, or ‘network’, society; regardless of the terms we use to describe the phenomenon, automation through code and algorithms is fundamentally reshaping society and social cooperation.
Unsurprisingly, as the ways we collaborate and communicate continue to evolve, so does our approach to work: How we do it, where we do it from, and how we view and measure our contributions are all up for renegotiation in ways that would have been unthinkable just a couple of generations ago.
What if, in the midst of such upheaval, we – as freelancers – got to define how we work based on the value we create? What if, rather than tying our livelihood to our (limited and non-refundable) time, there was another way?
These are exactly the questions that Chris Mason, dad, serial entrepreneur and songwriter, has been grappling with since 2015, when he traded in the golden handcuffs of Corporate America for a life designed on his own terms.
Chris’ ‘profit-sharing’ model of freelancing provides a compelling invitation to explore new avenues of collaborative work and wealth distribution – a vision that chimes with the aligned incentives of the Web3 community.
With “global on-chain identity”, and the “common database” of blockchain opening up more precise means of attribution – as well as more equitable mechanisms for rewarding contributors – it has perhaps never been a more promising time to explore profit-sharing (or, as Direct Response legend, Brian Kurtz, would like to have called it, ‘lifetime value collaboration’).
To demystify profit-sharing and turn it into an actionable framework, Chris has launched the Profit Partner Implementation Sprint; a six-week live learning experience that equips consultants with the systems, tools and know-how that he used to go from clocking in to revving up revenue engines and becoming a freelance business partner.
Find out more about the Profit Partner Implementation Sprint Chris is hosting alongside Brian Kurtz here. But move fast! – the sprint is already a week in, and, while there’s still time to catch up, you want to get in before the second session kicks off and doors close on ❤Wednesday February 14th❤.
Inspired by the overlap, and echoes, with Web3’s distributed ownership economy, I caught up with Chris to find out more about his journey and how he made freelancing work for him through profit-sharing. Enjoy!
Thank you so much for sharing your insights with us today, Chris. I'd love to dive into your journey and how you got started with profit-sharing. Can you tell us a bit about your background and what made you start exploring this alternative approach to freelancing?
So, I'm a songwriter. It’s what I started doing right after college, and still do to this day. That gave me my first insight into this profit-sharing kind of model. Because, when you write a song, and then you have somebody cover or cut it, you earn royalties on that.
Fast forward a few years, and I realised that the music industry – as a full-time thing – wasn't for me. And so, at that point, I went into the corporate world.
Not long after, around 2012, I discovered copywriting. Copywriting clicked for me because I had this deep interest in psychology and persuasion. And I found there were fascinating parallels between writing sales copy and crafting song lyrics - either way, you're always on the lookout for those emotional hooks.
The main difference is, with a song, you've got a limited amount of space, whereas, with copywriting, I was like, ‘oh, I've got a lot of room to explore’. I loved it.
During my corporate job, I learned about kind of a similar royalty structure for copywriters.
If you were with one of the big publishers, you could get paid on how sales performed, or on the number of times that they mailed your promotion.
At the time, I was working with smaller publishers. So, it didn't apply to me but I was paying attention to what else was going on and seeing that it was possible to do deals that were also tied to performance.
It was then I figured out that I could charge a monthly retainer or a one-time fee as a freelancer. But I could also structure some kind of deal where, if I hit certain numbers in sales, I could participate in the upside of what I helped produce.
After that, it was a case of working up the courage to present that idea to a client.
And it didn’t happen overnight. I had to learn the ropes and build my skills.
So, I stepped out on my own and started working with clients on nights and weekends while holding down my day job. And those were all just straight ‘fee for service’ deals.
Eventually, I realised that - I had a family - and if I was serious about figuring out how to make this online business thing work, I needed to no longer be beholden to selling time for money. That's what I had been doing in the corporate job.
So, I started presenting these structures to clients. And what I found was that, if you position yourself as a partner, and make it clear that you understand their concerns as a business owner, you can get to a place where you’re exploring some pretty exciting opportunities together. It completely shifts the dynamic.
Was there a moment when you realized you could extend this model to benefit other freelancers and business owners?
The realisation came after I got involved in mentoring other freelancers through the Titans Xcelerator Group – which is one of the products that I launched with Brian Kurtz.
That experience put me in a new position of having some responsibility for contributing and helping other freelancers and business owners. It tunes your mind to, ‘Well, these are now my customers. How can I serve them and help them grow their businesses?’
Reflecting on my own experiences since 2015, I saw an opportunity to empower freelancers by providing a roadmap for negotiating profit-based deals with clients.
I wanted to develop a way to encourage freelancers to shift their mindset towards value creation and ownership.
Mine is not the only roadmap, but it's at least a starting point for somebody who wants to know how you actually reach out to past clients, or start the conversation and set expectations with new clients.
It’s really about a mindset shift towards being compensated for the value that you bring and not just the time that you put in.
It's inspiring to hear how you've evolved from implementing profit sharing for yourself to empowering others to do the same. Let's delve into the concept of "win-win models". Could you unpack this idea and how it aligns with the profit-sharing framework?
At the heart of it, it’s about starting off with what is going to make the client really excited to do this kind of deal and not have them feel like ‘oh, this is somebody that's just trying to skim off the top and make claims on revenue that they didn't actually contribute to.’
So, one thing we cover at the start of the sprint is how important it is to talk about ‘profit’ and not ‘revenue’, because that’s the number that business owners care about.
That kind of thinking shows them that you’re attuned to which metrics matter to them; that's the number you want to help grow for them. And then, if you can do that, can you have some extra incentive to continue growing that number?
This way, you get your financial incentives in line and, suddenly, you’re not just another glorified employee.
And so, I'm thinking in terms of ‘revenue engines’, and these are offerings that we can continue to grow and build on over time. That’s going to be a win for the client.
I’m coming in and offering to create new revenue that didn't exist before - and that's really important to me – I want to be able to point to something and say, ‘this exists because I came into your world and made this exist, and it created revenue.’ I feel really good about that.
Creating brand new revenue could come in the form of a new product, or it could be adding something to an existing funnel. And then you're just saying, ‘hey, I don't need to share in all the revenue you're already generating. I just want to participate in this new revenue that I'm helping create.’ It's a fair way to approach it, I think.
That makes a lot of sense. It's about fostering a collaborative mindset and establishing clear expectations to ensure everyone benefits from the partnership. Speaking of mindset, could you elaborate on the mindset shift required for freelancers transitioning from the traditional time-for-money model to profit sharing?
Just to be explicit, my whole thing is not to say ‘don't do time for money freelancing’, or to make it seem like there's anything wrong with that. There isn’t. It's more like, ‘if you're interested in this other way to earn and be compensated, then I just want to share that with you and share what's worked for me.’
But, yeah, the mindset around leverage and taking ownership back, for me, is all tied into wanting to exit a system where, because you’re working with multiple clients, it can suddenly feel like you have multiple bosses.
Personally, I found myself getting looped into different meetings or processes that didn’t pertain to the work that I was doing. I didn't really feel like I was in a position to say ‘no’ because they were the client. It felt like they had all the leverage and all the power over me.
Maybe that’s me projecting. I suppose you could say, ‘Chris, you could do some internal work, and come to a place where you have different judgments about that’, and that would be a fair critique.
But for me, it changed everything when I could say, ‘You're not paying me to do ‘work’, you're paying me to achieve this specific result.’ And I got there by tying part, or even all, of my pay to achieving that result.
In terms of mindset, that's the shift that I needed. And this was the framework that helped me get there. Thinking in terms of ownership of time, energy management and looking for leverage points.
What does it take to make that leap, in your opinion?
Shifting from a ‘time-for-money’ mindset to one focused on value creation and ownership requires a few key adjustments.
Firstly, you need to define boundaries and expectations with clients to avoid becoming beholden to their demands.
Secondly, freelancers must cultivate clarity and confidence in their ability to deliver results.
By tying compensation to specific outcomes rather than hours worked, freelancers gain autonomy and agency in their client relationships.
Lastly, embracing a mindset of continuous improvement and innovation enables freelancers to identify new opportunities for growth and collaboration.
Love that, Chris! Finally, for those interested in learning more or joining your Profit-Sharing Implementation Sprint, how can they get involved?
The implementation sprint is a six-week experience designed to guide freelancers through the process of implementing profit-sharing models in their businesses.
The sprint has already begun, but if interested individuals want to jump on board before our next session on February 14th, there’s still time to catch up!
Otherwise, there are three, what I call, ‘dead simple’ profit-sharing opportunities that you can check out through my website – chrismason.net.
