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5 Easy Freelance Marketing Ideas

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Mind Over Matter

Maybe you’ve had this same out-of-body experience too: Sitting in your home office, staring at your computer screen, trying to “will” new clients into your inbox. You. Need. More. Work.

After all, you ARE a writing professional, aren’t you? Of course you are!

And you ARE a pretty darn good writer, are you not? Absolutely!

And don’t forget the vast assortment of LinkedIn accolades and “atta-girl’s” you get when you crank out those stellar literary delights. Un-matchable!

But the truth of it is, once your inbox stops pinging, it may seem like the love for your work has disappeared. No matter how much mind-melding you do at your computer screen, the work just…won’t…come. What to do? How do you keep the work consistently flowing, even when your writer peers are having the same troubles?

Good Times and Bad Times

Having freelanced for over 15 years, I’ve also experienced my fair share of dry spells as well as work over-abundance. I, too, covet those times when the work is plentiful, stacked with waiting list clients who are eager for me to weave my magic with their content.

But for those in-between times, I have to do a little creative marketing not only to acquire work, but also to maintain a steady flow of work. Here I’ve compiled a short list of some things you can try too to beef up your freelance work:

1. Write an eBook or a Guide

Ebooks are fabulous marketing tools, and awesome for dropping knowledge on your audience. Want to show off your smarts? You can do that with ebooks, without sounding obnoxious – – well, maybe you’ll sound just a little bit, but your readers will be so impressed, they won’t even notice. And, if the ebook is f-r-e-e, they won’t care about how obnoxious it is as they share its value with their Facebook friends.

2. Soft pitch to Social Sources

Speaking of Facebook, utilize the social services to the max. With your Twitter friends (TF) and Facebook friends (FF), go ahead and “Like” their status updates and leave tasteful, timely comments. It’s cool because other FF’s will also leave comments and may solicit your advice on stuff. Caution: Nix sounding sales-y.

3. Contact Past Clients 

Try not to sound too desperate when you make contact with them, but very pointedly, state your availability, and ask for their business. Update them on new certifications or skills you’ve acquired, including marketing, social network or list building skills.

4. Join your local Chamber of Commerce offline. 

The Chambers of Commerce meetings not only have the coolest white tablecloth luncheons, but also give you an opportunity to be the business speaker of the month. First, make networking a priority in the months beforehand while you learn names and faces. Start with your fellow luncheon guests, while you’re passing the breadbasket and politely smiling.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

5. Submit to Local News Mediums.

Rantings, ravings and soap-boxing diatribes are allowed here. Submitting opinion pieces to your local newspaper might make you popular! Now since that popularity will be relative, it’s best to find a clever way to connect your business topic with the theme of the news outlet. Ideas? Connect your business style with what the popular blogs or websites are currently discussing these days. Or, discuss a problem in an industry and offer your own solution to that problem. That should definitely get your blog some attention!

While it is true that freelancers enjoy convenience and flexibility, they still have to work pretty hard to acquire and maintain a client base as they wear different hats to keep their business afloat. No doubt that there are many, many perks in working from home, freelancers sometimes experience a work lull where they may wonder where their next gig is coming from.

Apply one or all of these ideas to your freelance business and see what happens. It’s important as a freelancer to have and use several different marketing strategies in your business to ensure a steady workflow.

Now, go put your mind-melding abilities to other uses like levitating the dog or the cat. They’ll get a kick out of that, for sure!

5 Ways to Tweak Your Online Professional Image

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Many online marketers don’t think that it’s important to worry about their online image because they’re hidden behind a website or an email address. But that is not  true. While it’s true that people can’t see you physically, it’s not true that it doesn’t matter because it does. Each and every aspect of your online brand does matter because it affects how customers and clients view you and choose to do business with you. That’s why online marketers should take the time to carve out a professional branding image that adequately reflects them, their business and how they conduct business online.

Each and every aspect of your online brand does matter because it affects how customers and clients view you and choose to do business with you. That’s why online marketers should take the time to carve out a professional branding image that adequately reflects them, their business and how they conduct business online.

Your online image depends on your level of professionalism. I often hear online marketers say how they want to portray a “professional image” but they refuse to take an inventory of their personal images. This is seriously doubtful and questionable about whether or not they really do want to portray a professional image. Perhaps all they want to do is talk about having a professional image or maybe they think that it will just happen without any work. Not so.

I want to share with you a few things you can do to polish your online image and start working towards developing the brand that you want to see:

1. Photos

Have professional photos (headshots) done for your site. I don’t necessarily mean to spend a small fortune to have pictures made, but at least invest in having them done more professionally than just taking a few selfies with your camera phone. Seriously.

2. Content

Edit your online work. Even if you weren’t the best speller in school, that’s no reason for your online content to be riddled with misspelled words, incorrect grammar usage or to be unprofessional. I am all for personality shining through on a site, but p-l-e-a-s-e know and learn the difference usages of they’re, their and there. Even if you can’t afford to hire an editor, there are plenty of online grammar checkers you can use. I like and use Grammarly quite a bit for all of my work. And yes, it’s free.

3. Competition

Check out your competition. Are they missing areas that you can fill with your skills and talents? For instance, using videos and social media may be something that your competitors aren’t doing but could really make your site shine over theirs. By that same token, look at what they’re doing really well and use it to spark even more ideas for your site. Don’t copy though. Just be inspired by what you see.

4. Questions

Respond to questions. All marketers need to do better with this one. It is so frustrating to boast in having an online store and you don’t (or won’t) respond to customer’s inquiries. Failing to do this and seriously harm your online brand. Again, if you can’t afford to do it or don’t have the time to do it, consider scaling back your business and focus more on the customer’s experience versus making the sale.

5. Get Social

If you don’t at least have a business Facebook page or a LinkedIn page, I’m afraid to tell you that you may be losing a lot of potential business because of it. Social networking is what everybody’s doing these days, so definitely take the time to get up to speed on creating those relevant networks for your business.

Building your brand and portraying a successful image takes time to do. Start building it slowly and carefully and you will do well.

How do you portray your professional image to others?

Saying it in Style

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The other day I talked about having professional business cards and how important it is in the business world and in projecting the right image. Well, another point to consider is being able to succinctly say your mission statement in a sentence or two without boring the listener. Think: If someone asked yo what do you do, what would your response be?

Be careful of …uhm’s…aah’s……welllll….seeeee.

That’s an absolute no-no.

Here’s an exercise:
Stand in front of a mirror and say your objective or mission statement to yourself over and over and over until you’re convinced. You should be able to network effectively and successfully by having your mission statement memorized comfortably and accurately.

My mission statement is:

The Daily Exhorter is a communications consulting business designed to facilitate organizations in developing productive and effective communications.

It’s so important to get it right because your brand depends on it. Besides, if you can’t say it to yourself and be sold, why should anyone else believe what you’re saying?

How To Establish Yourself as a Content Expert In Your Niche

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Content experts are literally just that; experts in their respective fields. Content is the most important thing on your site because that’s what helps people decide to become visitors, subscribers, customers or clients. Becoming an authority in your niche solidifies your expert opinion in your field. And while that field can be in any industry, the main factor is that the person is well-versed, full of passion and informative about his or her topic.

Becoming an authority in your niche solidifies your expert opinion in your field. And while that field can be in any industry, the main factor is that the person is well-versed, full of passion and informative about his or her topic.

Marketing content works ideally when you are an established authority or expert in your respective niche. People tend to believe in and follow authoritative content marketers more than general marketers, which is why it is important to tightly focus on the quality of the content that’s being published.

Quality, relatable content is sure to position you as an authority or expert. It helps to be passionate and informed about your topic as well as an ability to create content that matches with the audience that you’re trying to reach.

For good , quality content to reach its audience, it needs to be produced frequently and continuously. That means marketing content in some format on a routine basis. For example:

  • Write a short blog post on your topic and share it on different social media platforms.
  • Create a colorful infographic and include statistics.
  • Create a 15-minute podcast once weekly on your topic.

Once you get into the habit of producing content in some format, it will become easier to design a relatable content platform for your chosen topic. People will start sharing your content on social media sites and will begin to refer to your site for more information. Here are some ways to create shareable content that can establish you as an expert:

Share Different, but Valuable Content

Most content marketing campaigns will focus only on articles or blog posts as the main source of content. But to really stand out from your competitors, give readers something different than standard content if you want to make an impact.

Focus on providing readers with content or information that they will not normally find or see in blogs everywhere. Whether that information consists of reviews, opinions, images or podcasts, just strive to make it different than the usual business-as-usual content. Doing this will quickly establish you as a niche authority.

Prove that You Are an Expert

People have to know that YOU know what you’re talking about in order to establish trust and you as an authority. It’s important that you create trust with readers.

Do this by speaking about your experiences, your background and/or accomplishments. Only do this when and where it is appropriate and necessary.

Be Creative

Although the content that you deliver may be seen in other areas online, by being creative with your delivery, it starts working to establish you and your content as unique authority.

This is going to make your content stand out, simply because it’s different and unique and unlike anything else found on the web. There is an assortment of ways to write good content like blog posts or articles or publish podcasts. The task will be to find creative ways to share it without sounding repetitive or boring.

To become the go-to niche authority for your industry, focus on standing out and being different from your competitors. authority in your niche, you will simply need to stand out. This will be easier than you think because most marketers will often take the easy route and simply repeat what other marketers are saying and publishing.

Simply repeating content is not the best way to establish yourself as an expert authority. Work at developing good, quality content, being consistent, creative and thorough and you can and will make your expert presence known online.

How I Handle the Hard Work of Freelancing

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I’m not gonna lie to you; freelancing is hard work.

As much I enjoy writing, and as much as I enjoy being creative, it is a challenging task to be able to do what I love to do AND find and keep consistent writing work at the same time. That’s because I still have to market myself and bid on different jobs just to make sure that I keep myself busy all of the time and to keep my calendar filled with work. There are days/times when everything is D-R-Y…and then there are times when I’m burning the midnight oil at both ends trying to keep up with my deadlines and client satisfaction. (can you actually burn oil…and where are the ends??)

This past week for me has been one of those frustrating times when I don’t know if I’m going to get a client bid on a job, or if they’re going to offer me peanuts to write for one of their sites. Usually when it’s the latter, I get a foul attitude and I decide to never, ever, ever write for anymore private clients again. That is, until the middle of the month gets here and it’s time to get those bills paid.

Know Your Worth

I’ve come to realize after years of writing that as a writer, you have to know and value your own worth. And I know that I am a very good writer. A VERY good writer. How do I know that? Well, for the past 17 years I’ve stayed busy with my writing and have managed to keep a decent momentum going with steady work and a steady clientele.

I’ve also been told numerous times over the years how good my work is. Clients have retained me as their top writer, their top editor, the 1st choice for big accounts, etc. So why is it that sometimes I would be so frustrated??

Well, my frustration often came from trying to understand people. Sometimes it seemed that no matter how hard I work and how much heart I put into my work, I was often expected to either

1.) work for ridiculously low per word rates, or

2.) do more writing work than what was originally agreed upon before I start a project.

By that second one I mean that once the client discovers my writing caliber and my fast production output, they want more, and more, and more. And More. That wouldn’t be so bad to do but they will sometimes flip the script and want the same productivity level with no pay increase or they decide to pull the project once it gets to a certain level for them. This can come without warning to me, who has by this time determined the project to be long-term and have placed everything else (including other clients and my own blogs) on the back burner to focus on the clients needs.

Once I realized my worth, I stopped allowing that to happen to me. Now, I demand and stand firm on my rates, and I get them. Why? Because I let my work speak for itself.

My Freelancing Answer

Freelancing works great for some, I’m sure. And honestly, it works for me too. But for the things that aggravate me so much, I’ve come up with a different solution and a way to get what I need (income, consistency) without feeling like a computer slave.

I own several blog sites that I write on periodically. Periodically because I’m working on client work. Now I realize that those blogs will never grow if I don’t concentrate on growing them.

They will never get to a sizable traffic if I don’t market them and network them. Well, one of the reasons why I haven’t done so before was because I was always working on someone else’s stuff!

To answer that problem, I’ve decided to continue to write for private clients AND work at my own blogs and on getting them up to speed so that they can give me that income and consistency that I need from my own work. My own creative, professional, full-of-heart work. After all, if 17 years worth of clients think that it’s all that, shouldn’t I think so too??

Absolutely.