All Freelance Work is a Community for Freelance Workers Including Free Portfolios, Job Search, Job Posting, Helpful Articles, Forums, & More for the Self Employed.
Self-Employed Freelancers & Home-Based Businesses:Attracting
New Business on a Shoestring Budget for Your Small Business
by Kelley Robertson
In
a recent marketing workshop I attended, I discovered that
most business owners rely on just two or three strategies
to attract new business. Even well-established companies tend
to rely on one or two strategies. However, there is a multitude
of ways to drive new business to your door. Here are a few:
Networking. Perhaps the most commonly used approach by small
business owners.
However, it is often poorly executed. Many
people attend a networking function and take the wrong approach
by trying to meet as many people as they can. They bounce
from person to person, handing out business cards like it
is an Olympic event and they are vying for the gold medal.
They fail to realize that the most effective way to network
is to cultivate relationships and give referrals to other
members first.
Freelancers, Home-Based, & Small Businesses Fail to Network to Cultivate Meaningful Small Business Relationships
Networking is Important to Find Small Business Customer Referrals.
This marketing strategy places a close second in preferred
methods of generating new business leads. The key here is
to develop a systematic approach to ensure that you take proactive
approach instead than a passive one. Rather than assuming
that satisfied client will refer someone to you, ask for that
referral. Tell people who your ideal client is and ask for
their help in finding these types of clients. The real estate
agent who represented the seller when we bought our house,
sends us a card every year and reminds us that she loves referrals.
It is not pushy, does not sound like she’s begging,
and I’m confident it helps generate new leads.
Writing Articles & Tutorials is an Important Way for Customers to Find You and Your Freelance or Small Business.
This often under-utilized strategy is an excellent way to
become recognized as an industry expert. Every industry has
trade magazines and most are hungry for good content. The
Internet is also filled with websites and e-zines looking
for material to send to their subscribers and customers. I
now write at least one article every month and send it to
more than two hundred publications. This strategy alone has
helped drive more traffic to my website more than anything
else. It is sometimes challenging to come up with ideas and
to write an 800 word article but the investment of time and
effort is definitely worth it.
Send Out Newsletters to Help Your Clients Solve Problems...This will Remind Them About You & it is a Good Form of Viral Marketing for Your Home-Based or Small Business.
This is another powerful technique to keep your name in front
of your customers and prospects. Provide key insight into
business challenges and offer solutions to them. In other
words, help your prospects and customers solve problems. Some
newsletters are nothing more than advertising so be sure to
provide valuable information to your customer. Although it
is less expensive to send a newsletter electronically you
can issue it in paper format. A local real estate agent regularly
sends out a one-page update of the housing market in our neighborhood.
Cold
calling is Challenging and Tough, however, you might uncover customer leads for your freelance or small business.
Without a doubt, this is usually the most
challenging way to market a business - I know very few people
who actually enjoy cold calling. However, it can be a good
way to uncover qualified prospects in a relatively short period
of time. Be sure to start your conversation with a good opening
to capture the other person’s attention.
Giving out
free information is a good way to market your services. You are Showing Prospects that you are knowledgeable in your niche service area and you will earn their respect for your home-based or small business.
At the marketing workshop I attended,
the facilitator suggested to give information to interested
prospects. I have used this approach on my website and have
quadrupled the number of subscribers to my newsletter in the
last year. You do not need to give away ALL the information
relevant to your product or service. Instead, offer information
that will help your target market with their problems. For
example, when people sign up to my e-zine, they receive a
report that outlines 100 tips they can use to increase their
sales.
Offer
a guarantee to assure prospective customers that you will satisfy them and if not, they will get what they paid you back.
A concern many people have when changing
suppliers is the risk associated with the change. They may
not be completely satisfied with their existing supplier but
the risk of choosing a supplier who may be worse can prevent
them from changing. Eliminate this concern and offer a guarantee.
Advertising your freelance, home-based, or small business is a good way to find prospective clients.
This can be a great strategy if you know how to create
a good ad. The best marketers know that great sales copy is
what makes the difference; I have experienced this first-hand.
When I began selling my book on my website, I generated mediocre
results for the first two years. I eventually changed the
copy on my site and sales have soared every since. Glance
through the ads in your trade magazine and you will quickly
notice that most ads focus on the company’s product
features instead of on the customer’s problem. Create
a great ad by concentrating on the problem you can solve.
There
are many other ways to market your business and generate new
business leads.
However, the ideas I mentioned in this article
are effective low- or no-cost options. Use them consistently
and watch your sales grow.
Kelley Robertson is a professional speaker
on sales, sales management, and employee motivation. He is
also the author of, “Stop, Ask & Listen - Proven
sales techniques to turn browsers into buyers.” Receive
a FREE copy of "100 Ways to Increase Your Sales"
by subscribing to his free e-zine at www.robertsontraininggroup.com.
For information on Kelley's programs contact him at 905-633-7750
or visit his website.
HOW TO SET YOUR FREELANCE RATES - A GUIDE FOR FREELANCERS & CONSULTANTSThere are many factors which business owners must consider on a daily basis as it relates to the running of their business. Things such as how to find good help, where to acquire supplies and how much to pay one’s employees are all pertinent matters which must be addressed. There are a few ways to go about figuring out your rates when it comes to how much to charge the customers.
BUSINESS PLANS: Business Plan Examples, Samples, Templates, Software and ToolsIn any type of the business including those people that perform freelance work, the proper tools are necessary to become a success. The following links consist of selected online tools for the freelancer to develop an effective business plan.
FREELANCING AND FINDING WORK AT HOME JOBSThe difficulty lies not in the fact that there aren’t plenty of work at home jobs available but rather in the fact that genuine, quality, money-earning work at home jobs are all mixed up with work at home scams. This makes finding a work at home job that’s legitimate a not-so-easy task for people who are just breaking in to the freelancing business. But don’t worry; once you learn the lingo and know the basics, finding a work at home job gets a lot easier!
Business plans are necessary in all types of businesses … and this also includes freelancers. Writing an effective business plan will help you plan out the success of your future business. Factors such as customer base, profit potential, as well as many other factors will be placed in this document. The business plan will help you, the freelancer, think through every aspect of your future successful business. We found the following business plan articles to be very helpful and we hope that you will find them to be useful too.
HOW FREELANCER WRITERS CAN DEFEAT WRITER'S BLOCKHelpful hints and tips to overcome the dreaded White Page Syndrome - There is probably nothing more dreadful and problematic for a writer than not being able to get going, being stuck on a menacingly white page. Read on for more ideas on how freelance writers can overcome Writer's Block.
WAYS TO GET MORE CUSTOMER REFERRALS FOR YOUR FREELANCE BUSINESSThe amount of customer referrals will often determine how successful one’s freelance business can really be. As word spreads quickly, having customers refer others to you and your services is a wonderful way of gaining new freelance business and making more money. There are a few distinct ways to get more client referrals for your business.
FREELANCE HOME OFFICE DISTRACTIONS VS DISTRACTIONS WHEN WORKING IN AN OFFICEOf course, distractions are different depending on whether you are freelancing from home or working in an office. Both kinds have their pros and cons so let’s take a look at some of the basic ones so that you can start getting a grasp on good vs. bad distraction behaviors for freelancers.
WORKING FULL TIME WHILE RUNNING YOUR FREELANCE BUSINESSThe key to being able to make the transition to full time freelancing is in setting goals that allow you to focus on moving away from working full time for someone else and towards putting more hours in to your freelance business.
60+ UNIQUE LOCAL & OFFLINE MARKETING IDEAS FOR YOUR CONSULTING BUSINESS Although online promotion is important for your freelance business, it’s crucial to remember to go back to your basics and do offline promoting as well locally, nationwide, and worldwide depending on who you are marketing to. Here are over 60 ideas to market your consulting services locally. Let Freelance work find you.
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE GOOGLING INFORMATION ON YOUThis can be an issue for freelancers whose customers google them and try to find out information relating to them and their business. The following is a list of what to do when your customers are googling information on you.
26 THINGS TO DO WHEN BUSINESS IS SLOW AND IN DOWNTIME MODESome freelancers are anxious to work day in and day out which may present a problem for them when business is slow. However, there are many things which freelancers can do to bide their time while waiting for new freelance work to come in. Here are 26 ideas for staying productive during your consulting business downtime.
ONLINE CUSTOMER SERVICE TIPS FOR FREELANCERS & THE SELF EMPLOYEDThere is a casual attitude about communication that takes place online and that creates an environment in which customers sometimes don’t take your work seriously, leading to problems with projects and payments. In order to avoid those problems, you need to make sure that you are conducting all of your online work in as professional a manner as possible. Here are some tips on how to do that.
TOP 150 PLACES TO TRAVEL WITH YOUR FAMILY WHEN YOU STILL NEED TO GET WORK DONEWhen you are self-employed, there is no vacation time to save up, and there is no one to cover for you when you’re away. For many that mean giving up on vacations altogether, and this is what I have been doing for awhile. Most of These All-Inclusive Family Resorts Have Kids Clubs in Which Your Child can enjoy supervised and fun activities while you and your spouse can have fun or get freelance work done. Take a look below and enjoy!
DECIDING WHETHER OR NOT TO FREELANCE OFFSITE OR ONSITE Deciding to work onsite or offsite sounds like a relatively simple decision, but it’s actually one which isn’t easy to make. Sure, when you’re lying in bed just after the alarm has gone off and you see that it’s raining outside and all you wish was that you could go back to bed for ten minutes and then do your freelance work from home, working offsite sounds ideal. But there are as many cons to the offsite work job as there are pros and you need to weigh them carefully when making the decision about whether to work onsite or offsite.
IS FREELANCING RIGHT FOR YOU? Freelancing, a term introduced by Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), is when you work without being committed to an employer. With development of internet and communication technology, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of people going their own way and leaving behind the cubicles. You are reading this book, so you must be contemplating becoming a freelancer, but before you make your move there are a few things to consider.
FREELANCER'S GUIDE TO TIME MANAGEMENT The most common problem that freelancers face is figuring out the balance between work and the rest of life. While there are a few freelancers out there who don’t work as much as they need to in order to pay their bills and improve their business, most freelancers have the opposite problem – they work ALL the time. And that’s why there are a great number of freelancers who “burn out” after a short (or if they’re lucky, a long) time. In order to make sure that you aren’t one of those people who “used to freelance but got burned out”, you need to set limits on how much you work. Then you need to stick to those limits.
SHOULD I TURN DOWN FREELANCE PROJECTS? As freelancers, we often feel as if we have to say ‘Yes’ to every single job out there. However, we as freelancers are in a position where we can choose to say ‘No’ if we want to. Believe it or not, there are certain projects that you probably shouldn’t accept. Turning down work is probably the hardest decision you will need to make when running your business, but sometimes turning down a gig is necessary. In this article I will explain to you the details that you need to consider when you aren’t sure which route to take. Consider the following:
COOL IDEAS FOR YOUR BUSINESS CARDS As freelancers, we need to promote ourselves with business cards. How about putting yourself ahead of the rest of them by designing and printing completely unique business cards? You are about to take a look at the coolest and most innovative business cards that you have ever seen.
LIST OF FREELANCE FORUMS & MESSAGE BOARDS Looking to get together with other freelancers? Want to network? Want to ask questions about freelancing that you can’t find the answer to anywhere else? Look no further than the freelance forums that we have listed below. Feel free to let us know about forums that we have missed.
The followup to Brendan Sinclairs successful Web Design Business kit is a comprehensive look at all the business aspects of working as a web designer. It's thorough and has some excellent advice in it.
A complete, secure, online billing application that maintains hourly service billing, flat fee billing and recurring charges. Integration with Authorize.Net and other leading payment gateways provides hands-free recurring billing with a sophisticated CRM system.
Browse through our extensive list of free Business, Computer, Engineering and Trade magazines, white papers, downloads and podcasts to find the titles that best match your skills and interests; topics include management, marketing, operations, sales, and technology. Simply complete the application form and submit it. All are absolutely free to freelance professionals who qualify.
All Freelance Work is a Community for Freelance Workers Including Free Portfolios, Job Search, Job Posting, Helpful Articles, Forums, & More for the Self Employed.
