In this post, I answer a question posted by Kelly McCausey on her blog:

Many freelancers are service providers and from my interactions with them I know they find blogging challenging. Do you have any quick tips in advance of our session for freelancers who want to use a blog to grow their businesses?

Hey there, Kelly, here’s my answer:

Up until recently, I wasn’t convinced that blogging was a necessary tool for freelancers to find clients.

Because truth be told, blogging is a lot of work. I mean, it’s one thing to write and publish posts. And then it’s another thing to promote your blog and actually get readers.

And unless you have readers, then you are blogging in vain.

That said, if you can manage to write at least one post a week and spend a few minutes every day to promote it, then blogging is truly worthwhile.

Is Blogging for You?

I say this only because I’ve seen first-hand how effective blogging can be for finding clients.

I can’t promise that blogging will be as effective for other freelancers out there.

You have to know that my freelancing is purely online. I don’t target local businesses. I never have to meet my prospects or clients face-to-face.

They are all small business owners who promote their products or services online. So my freelancing business is very much based on the Internet, which makes blogging an excellent fit as a marketing strategy.

So how can you make blogging easier?

5 Tips to Make Blogging Easier for Freelancers

1. Know what your goal is.

Get clear in your mind why you are blogging. You’re blogging to attract your Ideal Clients. You’re not blogging for fun. You’re not blogging to keep friends and family posted on the latest happenings in your life. You’re not blogging to help other writers, designers, programmers, virtual assistants… etc. do their job better.

You’re blogging so people will hire you, baby! Never forget that!

2. Know who your target readers are.

Now that you know number one, the next question is, who is your Ideal Client? Is it male, female, single, married? What type of business is he in? What kind of income does she make? What topics are they interested? Which blogs do they read?

3. Use an editorial calendar to plan your topics.

The best way to make blog posting easier is to plan out what you’re going to be writing about in advance. Make an editorial calendar and have a schedule of posts.

4. Stick to a schedule.

Decide how often you’re going to publish to your blog and stick to it. Be realistic. If you can manage only one post per week, or one every two weeks, then so be it. The most important thing right now is to be consistent.

Also have a schedule for actually writing the posts. Maybe you can carve out one hour once a week. That’s enough time to draft at least two posts.

Get them written, schedule them for publishing in WordPress (you ARE using WordPress, aren’t you?), and reward yourself with a cupcake. You deserve it!

5. Live and write.

The next best way to make blogging easier is to actually be involved in your field. Be on top of the latest trends. If you’re a website designer, read all the latest blogs, books and magazines. In other words, live, eat and breathe your expertise!

Interact with freelancers in your field. Hang out in forums where your Ideal Clients tend to exchange notes. Find out what they want, what bothers them, how you can help them.

By doing this, you will never run out of ideas for topics to blog about. And you’ll always be relevant and interesting.

There’s a bit more to blogging than what I’ve mentioned here. You do have to know about search engine optimization, backlinking to your site and all that fun stuff.

If you’ve been on the Hot Seminar Series, you know a lot of this already.

Don’t think you have to know everything before you start blogging. You can learn by doing.

And the sooner you get started, the better.

See you at the Hot Seminar Series on Wednesday!

Have you ever submitted a proposal for a prospect… but didn’t want to get the job?

I have.

It may surprise some, but sometimes you just don’t have a good feeling about somebody, know what I mean?

Choices, Choices

When this happens, you have two options:

1. Lie and say you’re not available, or you don’t do the specific assignment they want.

2. Submit a losing proposal.

I’m not a good liar. And besides, that sort of thing just leads to bigger problems later on down the road.

Which leaves us with… writing a proposal we purposely don’t want to get approved.

How NOT To Write A Winning Proposal

This isn’t as easy as simply doing the opposite of writing a winning proposal.

For example, you wouldn’t want to intentionally put a lot of typos, grammatical errors, or misspellings in your proposal. You still have a reputation to protect, after all.

There are more insidious ways of sabotaging your own proposal, without making you look like a bad freelancer.

For example:

1. Quote an unreasonably high price. If you publish fixed rates for your services, then you won’t be able to do this. I publish a starting fee, so I quote a fee for every project. This allows me some flexibility to quote high when necessary.
2. Request a very relaxed time table. Another way you could sabotage your proposal is by requesting to work on a timetable that would probably not work with your prospect’s schedule. For example, three months is usually way too much time for a copywriter to put together a sales page.
3. Make the project sound more complicated than it actually is. Don’t make anything up, but do get into minute details and hope that this gives your prospect a feeling of overwhelm.

Of course, you could always take the high road and go for…

Option Number 3

Go straight out and say you’re not interested in the project. The way I see it, you don’t need to even give a reason for this. Just be clear and straight to the point. I’m thinking, something like:

“Thank you for your interest in working with me. However, I am unable to send you a proposal for this project.”

It would be nice if you could then refer the prospect to a couple of other freelancers who may want to make a pitch for the assignment. That makes the prospect feel that you have their interests in mind, even if you can’t support them yourself.

What Do You Think?

Did I miss any other options for handling a situation like this? Can you think of better ways of responding to a prospect whom you’re not interested in working with? Do share!

photo credit: B Rosen

I know, I know, we only have two weeks left in June!

But I promise, I’ve given you everything you need to carry out this month’s challenge.

It’s the topic of our savvy freelancing webinar this month, and I’ve written several related posts about it. Can you guess what the challenge is?

The June 2010 challenge is: write a marketing plan for your freelancing business.

Make no mistake about it. Freelancing is a business and the success of any business lies in its marketing.

Your marketing plan should be for the next six months, at the very least. If you can make one for until December 2011, or even longer, then all the better.

To help you, check these related resources:

Day 20 of 31 Days to Start Freelancing: Make a Marketing Plan

Watch the replay of our webinars on marketing (we’ve had two). If you haven’t signed up for the savvy freelancing webinars yet, you can do so here. You’ll get access to replays of past webinars as well as upcoming ones.

31 Days to Market Your Freelance Writing by Thursday Bram

If you have questions or suggestions, feel free to post them below.

Let me know how it goes!

PS: This challenge is late because I’ve been on semi-vacation the past month. I had a reunion with my two sisters, and I succeeded in bringing one of them, Vicky, to see the Niagara Falls:

For this month’s savvy freelancing webinar, I’ll be interviewing Thursday Bram, freelance writer and blogger, about different strategies for marketing our freelance services.

Thursday is the author of “Market Your Freelance Writing in 31 Days” and “The Freelance Writer’s Guide to Passive Income.” She is also a regular contributor at FreelanceSwitch.com and blogs about the business of freelance writing at ThursdayBram.com.

The webinar will be on:

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

8:00 pm, EST

If you haven’t signed up yet for access to the free savvy freelancing webinars, you can do so right now by typing in your first name and best email address below:
Ask Thursday your questions about marketing your freelance services by posting them in the comments section below. See you at the webinar!

PS: Even if you can’t make it live to the webinar, do sign up and you’ll get access to the webinar recording. It’s free–forever!

The Savvy Freelancing Webinars are back!

Our next cost-free, pitch-free webinar will be on Wednesday, May 5th 2010, at 8 pm EST.

Blogging for Freelancers

Our topic will be “Blogging for Freelancers,” and we’ll be taking up:

• top reasons why freelancers should blog
• the advantages and disadvantages of blogging
• common mistakes freelancers make with their blog
• the types of blog posts that can help you attract clients
• how to get started blogging, or take your current blog to the next level

There’s no cost to join the webinar, but you need to register to get access to the live webinar, as well as to the webinar handouts, recordings and slides. Type your name and email address below to register:

First Name

Email

Your information is safe with us!

Please post your biggest questions about blogging in the comments below.

My webinar partner, Sharon McMillan, and I will do our best to answer your questions during the webinar.

See you there!

PS: The Savvy Freelancing webinars are pure content. We’re not trying to promote any products or services — even our own. Foolish? Maybe. Sharon and I just want more freelancers to reach their goals and keep having fun along the way. Do join us!

First Name

Email

Your information is safe with us!

Today’s post is a guest post by Chris Anderson, who won a copy of The Wealthy Freelancer in our giveaway last month. Chris is a writer who specializes in content marketing. Since Chris reads faster than I do, I asked him to write a review. I hope you enjoy it!

The Wealthy Freelancer is one of those books that change the way you look at your business. At least it did for me. It may make the difference between a freelancer and a professional freelancer, or in this case a “wealthy” freelancer.

If you’re expecting to read a book about how to become a freelancer and start your own business, then you’ll have to look somewhere else. This is the advanced stuff.

Not the kind of advanced that you need to have something going first but the kind of information that will take your freelance business to the next level.

The authors, Steve Slaunwhite, Pete Savage, and Ed Gandia, are all well known in their field of freelancing. If you have heard of any of these guys then you’ll know what to expect from such high caliber freelancers. And they don’t fail to deliver either.

The Wealthy Freelancer contains 12 secrets to having a highly profitable freelance business all the while enjoying the freedom we all want. These 12 secrets are all tactics and ideals that successful freelancers use one way or another.

As I said before, I’m not talking about advanced in that it’s hard, but advanced in that these 12 secrets will show you have to a professional freelancing business. It shows you how you can have a great life and run your business. But enough about how good the book is, let’s take a peek at the 12 secrets in this fantastic book:

1. Master the Mental Game

One of my favorite chapters in the book, this will help you mentally prepare for a freelancing life and how to keep yourself and the business going. This will help you achieve a mindset for success.

2. Simplify the Process of Getting Clients

Just like it says, this chapter will help you simplify the task of getting clients with a nifty little formula that clears up this daunting task and makes it much easier. I came out of this one with a bunch of ideas.

3. Create Your Amazing Buzz Piece

A lot of marketers do this all the time with their own projects and it’s just as effective for freelancers. It’s kind of like having a salesman for your services. This chapter shows you all about this idea.

4. Employ High Impact Prospecting Tactics

This chapter covers the actual process of finding and attracting clients for your services. It covers a lot too and one of the coolest parts is it includes some great info for offline marketing as well as online. Lots of excellent ideas here.

5. Cultivate Repeat and Referral Business

Some of the best clients you can find are from referral or repeat clients. This chapter will go over the idea of how to attract this kind of client as well as how to ask for it. Follow this secret and clients will be coming to you constantly instead of you searching for them.

6. Nurture Prospects Perpetually

Just because someone doesn’t hire you right away doesn’t mean they aren’t interested. This secret covers that and how to stay in contact without annoying them. A lot of sales and clients come from people that don’t buy right away. Learn how to handle those in this chapter.

7. Price Your Services for Success

Can’t decide what to price your services? Or if you should charge by the hour or by project? Learn about these questions and how get the price you want in this chapter. Very important information.

8. Bring Focus to You Freelance Business

This is a chapter that helps with something every person (freelancer or otherwise) that works for themselves has had to struggle with: Focus. Discover how to narrow down your services so that your business is very focused. And so you are very focused.

9.  Boost Your Productivity – Without Perspiration

This was one of my favorite chapters as well, it’s an area of my business that I need to work on a bit, as I’m sure a lot of other people do. Regardless, everyone can use the tips and ideas in this chapter to help you become more productive, without working harder!

10. Construct Your Own Work-Life Reality

Here we learn how to maintain balance between working and enjoying our life. Whether it’s to spend more time with the family or travel abroad, there has to be a balance. This, chapter covers that and, again, uses a simple idea to solve something that seems complex.

11. Create Alternative Streams of Income

Just as the title suggests, this secret has some suggestions for alternate streams of income to supplement your freelancing business. Some you may already know, others may be right under your nose without realizing it.

12. Live and Work in the Wealthy Triangle

And last but definitely not least is the last secret. Somewhat similar to secret #10, this chapter teaches you how to achieve your financial goals while enjoying your lifestyle, and more importantly, creating your lifestyle.

There is even more content after that as well to add more value to this awesome book. The bottom line is that this book is a must have. I can sit here and list everything that’s good about each chapter and secret but the point is, this book will help you take your freelance business to the next level. Period.

Just for fair warning though, this book isn’t meant as a book to tell you how to start a freelance business.  What it does is teaches you how to take your freelancing and turn it into a successful and profitable business.

As with any self help book this one is full of useful information but only if you put it to use. Take notes while your reading it and implement the information. Use it and it will help your freelance business grow.

To Put it Simply

• Easy to read and well written

• Contains 12 secrets shared by 3 excellent freelancers.

• The info is this book is a must have for all freelancers.

• Contains info about offline marketing as well as online.

• Explains everything very thoroughly and

• Makes overwhelming tasks much easier to handle and see.

• If put to use, the information will take your freelance biz to the next level.

Bottom Line

If you’re a freelancer, pick this up. It’s a must have!

If you’re not a freelancer, you still may want to pick it up anyways, both for your benefit as well as knowing a little more about a good freelancer.

~ Chris

PS: Thanks to Lexi for helping discover this book and for the great content! [You're welcome, Chris!]

PPS: If you don’t have your copy of The Wealthy Freelancer yet, order yours from Amazon.com today.

Since I started TheSavvyFreelancer.com, I’ve become convinced that freelancers should blog. Simply put, blogging can help freelancers attract clients.

I am proof. A couple of weeks ago, I gave up a regular paid blogging job so I could focus on writing for my own blog about online copywriting and marketing.

Since then, I’ve attracted one paying client who hired me for a project where I earned several hundred dollars. I’ve also gotten an inquiry from a potential client.

Not bad for a couple of posts, huh?

Not All Freelancers’ Blogs Are Equal

That said, having a blog will not automatically get you clients. You have to be strategic about it.

For starters, you need to attract the right kind of readers. Your blog won’t serve you if you’re attracting fellow writers, graphic designers, programmers or other freelancers in your field.

Instead, you want to attract your Ideal Client.

With this in mind, you can publish posts that appeal to your Ideal Client, instead of to other freelancers — a common mistake I see in freelancers’ blogs.

To see what I mean, please read a recent post I wrote for Freelance Folder, “5 Kinds of Blog Posts That Attract Clients.”

The key idea is to write posts that showcase your expertise, the results you get for clients, and what solutions you offer.

Let your blog be one long, extended sales letter for your freelancing business, with content that’s slowly dripped to your readers.

How to Run a Profitable Freelance Business Through Your Blog

If you want more detailed guidance for publishing a client-attracting blog, I highly recommend “The Blog Business Funnel” by Skellie.

I first discovered Skellie in 2007 when I started a blog to support UNICEF’s breastfeeding campaign in the Philippines.

Skellie was still a university student back then, but she was already getting known as a smart and effective blogger.

Her blog attracted paid blogging gigs for Skellie, where she charged nothing less than $100 per post and she eventually became the Tuts+ Manager of Envato.

This 93-page ebook is where Skellie shares her own blogging strategies which helped her attract freelancing jobs through her blog alone.

Click here to read more about “The Blog Business Funnel,” including one-page excerpts of each chapter.

There’s only one thing that I don’t agree with in Skellie’s ebook, and that is where she says you can blog about topics for your fellow freelancers.

Other than that, I was pleasantly surprised to discover a number of great ideas to make my blog more profitable — including a chapter on launching or re-launching my freelancing services in the same way that infomarketers launch their information products.

I can’t wait to try it!

PS: If you do purchase or have purchased “The Blog Business Funnel,” I would love to hear your thoughts about it. Do share by posting a comment below.

This post is a continuation of our series on networking. If you’re familiar with Twitter, you know that it’s a micro-blogging service, which allows you to interact with other Twitter users. Today, we’ll be looking at Twitter as a networking tool for freelancers.

In an earlier post, I already discussed the basics of using Twitter for networking. This time I’d like to focus on using Twitter to find prospects and turning them into clients.

Can You Really Find Clients on Twitter?

I tweeted this question myself a number of weeks ago. A handful of freelancers replied to me saying that, yes, they have found clients on Twitter.

In fact, I myself have, too. Or rather, one client has found me on Twitter and continues to hire me on retainer basis. This client alone makes the amount of time I spend on Twitter (up to 1 hour every day) more than worthwhile.

I’ve also had inquiries about my services from people I’ve “met” on Twitter. These inquiries haven’t always resulted in freelancing jobs for me. However, it’s safe to conclude that a freelancer can find leads and clients on Twitter.

Let’s Talk Strategy

Disclosure: I don’t have a Twitter strategy. Certainly, when I joined, I only did it for fun. And the profiles of the people I follow and those who follow me, reflect this. They’re a mish-mash of work at home Moms, parents who practice attachment parenting, breastfeeding lactivists, Internet marketers, coaches, copywriters, writers, graphic designers, artists, Etsy sellers, and spambots.

So how does one go about getting clients through Twitter? Based on my observations of other freelancers on Twitter, as well as how I use it myself, I’ve come to the conclusion that you can do it either actively or passively.

Active Client Getting on Twitter

• Promote your services. I see VAs, writers and other service providers doing this. Several times a day, they’ll tweet something promotional about their services. For example, “A VA can respond to routine emails from your customers. [link]” Or something like “Get a free website installation! Offer good until February 28 only [link]
• Respond to tweets looking for specific services. This is like responding to job board ads. You can open a Tweetdeck column for all tweets that mention, for example, “graphic designer,” and if anybody says they’re looking for one, you respond saying, “I’m a graphic designer and I think I can help you. [link].” Twitter is awesome this way because you can literally send a message to anybody, whether or not they’re following you, with an @ message.

The downside is that these tweets usually get plenty of responses, so you’ll have to differentiate yourself from the competition and pitch your services. Well, as I said, it’s just like bidding on assignments on job boards.

Passive Client Attracting on Twitter

• Tweet about your work tangentially, in a way that subtly puts you in a good light. For example, “My client says the sales page I wrote made her cry.” (Ok, maybe that wasn’t so subtle.)
• Tweet about a blog post about your work, such as: “How I tripled my client’s traffic in 30 days [link]“
• Befriend Twitter users who fit the profile of your Ideal Client. This is way passive and your new Twitter friend may never turn into a client. Nevertheless, I believe strongly in the power of investing in relationships. You never know when that person will become a client, or refer prospects to you, or become a joint venture partner. I see only good things coming out of authentic friendships.

Personally, I prefer the passive client attracting strategies. I don’t like thinking of people, Twitterer or not, as dollar signs. I’d much rather look at Twitter as a forum where I can find people to support and likewise find support myself.

Your Turn

Have you ever found clients through Twitter? Which strategies do you use, active or passive? And please share samples of your client getting/attracting tweets too.

Thank you!

photo credit: respres

]]> http://thesavvyfreelancer.com/marketing/find-clients-on-twitter/feed 5 http://thesavvyfreelancer.com/marketing/february-2010-freelancing-challenge http://thesavvyfreelancer.com/marketing/february-2010-freelancing-challenge#comments Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:56:52 +0000 Alexis http://thesavvyfreelancer.com/?p=806

In the spirit of encouraging you to do whatever it takes to grow your freelancing business even if — no, especially if — it’s hard and uncomfortable, this month’s challenge is for you to network.

If you already network, then the challenge is to find a new venue for networking, or to get more active in your current networks.

If you haven’t been networking, then now is the perfect time to start.

Read Up on Networking

There’s plenty of help right here at The Savvy Freelancer:

Start Networking to Find Clients gives an overview.

Networking Tips for Freelancers is an interview of Ryan Healy on face-to-face networking.

Online Networking contains my tips for online forum networking.

Twitter for Freelancers shows how you can find clients on Twitter.

I have to admit, I already have a headstart. Since I increased my rates in January, I realize that I’d outgrown many of my existing clients so I had to meet new prospects. As a result, I’ve joined a couple of new online forums.

January Challenge Update

Speaking of which, I’d like to share with you some of the results of increasing my rates. In a nutshell:

• I earned about 50% more than my average monthly income in 2009.
• I am working way less.
• I’m working with fewer clients, but getting involved in their businesses more deeply.
• I have more time for my personal projects.
• I am discovering a whole new world of prospects, including what they’re really looking for in terms of copywriting and marketing.
• I’ve found that there are people willing to pay as much as $100 for a video marketing special report I give away, without even requiring an email address.
• I’m still NOT doing as much housework as I should.

Your Turn

Will you take the February challenge? Share your exact plans in the comments below.

And if you took the January 2010 challenge, what were your results? I’d love to read about it.

photo credit: Orin Zebest

Last week, I published an interview I did with Ryan Healy about networking to find clients. Ryan mentioned that, if face-to-face networking is difficult for you, an alternative is networking online.

Online networking is quite different than in-person networking, so I thought I’d share some of my own insights about online networking this week.

As a stay-at-home Mom of 3 children, which includes a 3-year-old, I am pretty much home bound. In-person networking events would require a lot of preparation, reorganization and sacrifice for my family, so that’s out of the question for now. Therefore, I’ve been doing all my networking online.

I have to agree with Ryan, it’s one of the best ways to find clients. This is something I discovered by accident, since I didn’t start networking to find clients. I joined forums because I wanted support and guidance in setting up my home business. However, many of the entrepreneurs I met online became my very first clients.

Without further ado, I’d like to share with you my top tips for online networking:

1. Find the right network.

I’m assuming you have a clear idea of your Ideal Client. If so, then you’ll be able to choose the right online networks to join. One way to do this is to go to Google and type “[industry or other keyword] forum”.

Another way to find the right forums is to identify a few people who fit the profile of your Ideal Client. Maybe you see them on Twitter, or Facebook or a blog. And then find out which groups they belong to. You could ask them point-blank or read around their blogs to find any mention of a mastermind or other group where they’re active.

2. Create an attractive signature line.

Once you’ve joined a forum, fill out your profile and write a nice signature line. This is the equivalent of your business card in face-to-face networking events. Once again, your understanding of your Ideal Client will serve you well here. Craft a signature line that promises your solution to your Ideal Client’s pain. For example, at the Self-Starters Weekly Tips Elite Forum (<=shameless affiliate link), my current signature line is “Helping you attract more buyers without sacrificing your integrity.”

Some key things about your signature line: You should use words that your Ideal Client uses. My signature line for SSWT, for instance, wouldn’t work in a forum where people don’t sell anything or know about integrity online.

If you have a freebie for your Ideal Clients, your signature line could be a call to get that freebie, such as: “Click here to download your free web conversion checklist.”

3. Network with authenticity.

Don’t be an obnoxious client-chaser. Get active in the forum. Introduce yourself, what you do and what your goals are (that are relevant in that particular forum). Read people’s posts and respond anytime you see an opportunity to help out. In my case, I always reply when I see somebody asking for feedback about their sales page or squeeze page.

Get to know the other members. Pretty soon, you’re going to click with certain people in the forum. Connect with them on Twitter and/or Facebook as well. Leave comments on their blog. Invite them to guest post on yours. Be a friend.

4. Make an offer.

Before you do this, double-check the forum’s rules to make sure it’s allowed. Most forums I’ve been to have a space for members to offer their services. If yours does, then by all means post an offer there. Even better: offer a discount to the forum members.

5. Be an asset.

Find ways you can be helpful to the forum members as well as to the one who runs the forum. Offer to do something for free now and then. Hire somebody from the forum, if you need to outsource anything. Give forum members free copies of your paid ebook, or at least a substantial discount.

It may seem like you’re doing nothing but giving, but believe me, it will come back to you a hundredfold — or even more.

The point of online networking is to meet people who are your Ideal Client, and help them get to know you. It’s easier to market your services to those who are already familiar with you and your work. The forum also allows you to give your prospects a taste of your expertise. If they like what they see, then they’ll be likely to hire you.

You’ll also meet people who may never hire you but send referrals and other opportunities your way. This could be to guest blog in a high-traffic site, joint venture partnerships or other ways you can leverage your time and skills.

Online networks also tend to be much cheaper than face-to-face networking events. Getting just one client on a network could more than pay for one year’s membership in that forum. Consider this an investment that will be pay off immensely in terms of growing your business, as well as your professional and personal growth.

What’s your experience?

Have you ever found a client through an online network? What do you think you did correctly to land that project? Do share your insights.

photo credit: theogeo