Here's an environmentally-incorrect confession: I love paper. I live in a little house, we have one car, I ride my bike to work, I'm a vegetarian, and we don't have a clothes dryer. But I'm clinging to paper with all I've got: the little house is full of paper magazines and books, I take meeting … [Read more...] about Handwritten notes: a secret business weapon
freelance marketing
Selling the result
Here's a basic but critical mistake that lots of freelancers make when marketing to direct clients. When the client asks, for example, "Why should we hire you?," the freelancer's answer promotes a) their life story, or b) their process. Don't do this (we'll talk about why). Instead, sell the result … [Read more...] about Selling the result
Yelp, Craigslist, Upwork: should you be there?
When it comes to marketing your freelance business, it's important to cast a wide net. Taking an "if you build it, they will come" approach, for example by putting up a website and waiting for the work to start flowing in, is definitely not the way to go. But how wide should that marketing net be? … [Read more...] about Yelp, Craigslist, Upwork: should you be there?
Marketing: as a daily effort or toward a specific goal?
Here's a common question from other freelancers: How much time should I spend on marketing? A percentage of my time? A certain amount per day? Should I market even when I have tons of work? The easy answer would be to say: spend 15% of your time on marketing, and you'll always have just the right … [Read more...] about Marketing: as a daily effort or toward a specific goal?
Marketing by e-mail, on paper, or both
In marketing your freelance services, you may wonder (or at least I do!) whether it's better to market to direct clients by e-mail, on paper, or both. I don't have a succinct answer to that, but here are a few thoughts. For a long time, I was a devotée of marketing on paper: writing out a full-page … [Read more...] about Marketing by e-mail, on paper, or both