Posted in Marketing Your Freelance Consultancy at 9:53 am by andy

I’m sure you get calls all the time asking for a “ballpark price” for some service based on a limited amount of information.  Do you immediately try to answer the question?  Don’t!

The best salespeople don’t lead off the conversation with a price, just because that’s not what they’re selling.  The best salespeople weave a narrative about their offering and how that offering is going to dramatically improve the client’s business.  Once the relationship between the customer’s business and the salesperson’s offering is established and the customer completely understands the value of the salesperson’s offering as it relates to the customer’s business, then — and only then — the salesperson will talk price.

Why?  Without establishing a business value in the customer’s mind, the price is just like the price of any commodity product.  Do you sell the same exact thing everyone else does? Of course not!  Well, how is the customer supposed to know this if you don’t talk about what you offer and how it’s going to make the customer’s business “better”?

If you lead with a number as an answer to the question “What’s your ballpark price for…?”, then you’re stuck defending your price instead of selling your business value.  So your price had better be your strongest point when compared to everyone else.  And how likely is that?

Posted in Marketing Your Freelance Consultancy at 9:06 am by andy

I had a professor who told this story:

Let’s say you’re a beer manufacturer and you make pretty good beer and sell it 12-pack cases that sit in your grocer’s refigerated beer section. 12-packs are packaged using something called “coated paperboard” which is thicker than paper, but not as thick as cardboard.

Let’s say you pay someone a lot of money to design the picture you put on the outside of the coated paperboard as well as on each can. You have pretty good beer, a really enticing design on the carton, everything’s great!

Now coated paperboard is basically thick paper. It absorbs water (albeit slower than regular paper). Read more…

Posted in Starting Out as a Freelance Consultant, Marketing Your Freelance Consultancy, General Freelance Info at 6:03 am by andy

I have a policy for CustomBytes: all of my new clients are going to become references to any new clients that come along after them.  I tell my new clients that, so they understand that they’re going to be treated just as wonderfully as all my past clients.

Some consultants collect testimonials for their web site and other marketing materials.  They do that so that potential clients can see at least a brief amount of feedback from their past clients.

Why have references or testimonials?  Read more…

Posted in Starting Out as a Freelance Consultant, Marketing Your Freelance Consultancy at 1:55 am by andy

I just got laid off and want to start freelance consulting.  Where do I start my marketing?

1. Create a real marketing site for your services. Your question didn’t say what you do, so you’re possibly not doing a good job telling people what you do and why they should hire you. The site does not have to look perfect, but it must quickly capture the client’s attention and convey what you do and why you’re different/better.
2. Once the web site is at least functional as a marketing site for a professional services firm, spend between $200 and $300 on Google Pay-Per-Click ads targeting your local market (because those are cheaper ads and will be quicker to see results).  By “targeting your local market”, I mean to include your city name along (or the name of any other large city near you) in the search terms you buy. E.g., “Paris web design” if that’s what you do, etc.

Read more…

Posted in Starting Out as a Freelance Consultant, Marketing Your Freelance Consultancy at 6:28 am by andy

What should you include on your freelancer web site?

1. Make sure every single page has a way to contact you without viewing any additional pages.  You just never know how many clicks you can get a person to do on your site.

2. Never include pricing unless you plan to offer products or packages that are the same every time.  It’s just distracting and — since the customer wants to know the price anyway — provides an excellent reason for customers to contact you.

3. Don’t be too verbose.  This is especially hard for non-writers, so it might be worth having someone who is a good writer look over your text when you’re done to see what you can pull out to “tighten” your message.  If you want to be verbose, add a blog to your site and do it there.  Your marketing text must get to the point quickly to keep the client’s attention.

4. Include the latest news about jobs you just landed.  You don’t have to have more than one sentence on each job and aren’t required to even list the client name, but it’ll give customers a sense that you regularly land new business.

5. Make sure your site includes specifics on why choosing your business is a smarter choice than some of the alternatives that get a lot of press time (like outsourcing to Elbonia).  What’s your hook that makes you different/better?

Remember: you likely have one minute of eyeballing time to impress the client with your web site.  Don’t waste that time with things that aren’t going to convince the client to contact you.

Posted in Starting Out as a Freelance Consultant, Marketing Your Freelance Consultancy at 10:00 pm by andy

I recently got laid off from my programming job, but the company hired me back as a contractor for 15 hours per week.  I love the freedom freelancing brings me, but 15 hours isn’t enough to live on.  I’ve tried eLance and GetAFreelancer, but haven’t won a job yet — even bidding $25/hour for my efforts, which is far below what I was making when I was employed.  What do I do?

How do you jump-start a new freelance business?

1. Forget bidding against the global market.  If you live in an emerging economy, the bidding sites are perfect, because the clients from mature economies are happy to pay you double what anyone local would be able to pay you.  But if you want to build your business and live in a mature economy, forget the bidding sites and focus on developing your business with clients closer to home.

2. Create a Web Site.  Even if your marketing strategy doesn’t involve using the Internet to drive sales, you need a web site to lend your freelance business instant credibility.  I’ve seen this in many other industries: when you cold-call a customer on the phone, the first question they have if they’re at all interested in what you’re saying is “Can I take a look at your web site?” Read more…

Posted in MicroBusiness Musings, Starting Out as a Freelance Consultant, Marketing Your Freelance Consultancy at 5:13 am by andy

Are you a “WE” or are you an “I”?  As a freelancer, do you represent yourself to clients as something larger than yourself?

Some freelancers consider it “dishonest” to represent themselves as being an entity larger than one person.  They figure that the client can see through your BS and see that you’re a “one man band”.

My view is that you present yourself the way you want your client to see you.  Read more…

Posted in Marketing Your Freelance Consultancy at 2:08 pm by andy

I’ve used Google Adwords to generate leads for my consulting business (CustomBytes) for 4 years. I’ve spent thousands with them. Here’s what I’ve found:

• It works. I get calls regularly, although the best calls seem to come in Jan-Feb and June-Aug. Not sure why.
• If you’re priced properly for your industry, you can get the costs of those ads back 10x easily.

Read more…

Posted in Marketing Your Freelance Consultancy at 10:21 am by andy

Last month, we posted an article on how to write a good consulting ad for an online directory.  Now let’s flip it over and look at five ways to write a sucky ad:

1. Post your résumé.  Jeezzzzz, people, this is an online directory, not Monster.com.  Post your résumé on Monster (and on your web site); for an online directory, clients want a summary.  Clients don’t want to know everywhere you’ve worked.  And they don’t want to read your résumé cover letter.  They want to know how you’re going to help them. Read more…

Posted in Marketing Your Freelance Consultancy, General Freelance Info at 7:56 pm by andy

I was reading another blogger’s  fawning comments about eLance yesterday.  So fawning that it had to be a paid-for article.  Annoyingly fawning, you know what I’m saying?  I posted a response, but he declined to permit it to be published (go figure!), (it took him a long time to accept the comments, but he finally did it), and I’m also including it here with some minor edits so that you get the context a bit better:

My perspective on job bidding sites is entirely different. If you’re having trouble finding clients, focus all your energy and spare time learning to market yourself!

Examples: are you priced incorrectly for your market? Does your website look cheap and unprofessional (or is it non-existent)? Do you clearly explain how you are different than other freelancers? Do you meet with clients in a suit or in jeans? The answers to all of these questions are part of your marketing message.

eLance, Guru, and the other project-bidding sites have nothing to do with finding clients. Read more…