Nick Usborne

Monday Spark: You don’t have to be suave, super-confident and charismatic to succeed [VIDEO]

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confidentYou may have noticed the same trend that I have been watching.

In fact, I have written about this before, a few months ago.

What I’m noticing is that the marketing of freelancers and solopreneurs is becoming more and more about looks, sound bites and high production values.

It used to be that we just took a headshot with our web cams and used those on our sites and as avatars. And when we made videos, we would just set up a camera in our office or dining room (which I still do).

But more and more, I’m seeing high-priced professional photos being used as avatars. I read a post on Google+ the other day about someone flying down to Los Angeles to test a studio setup for his upcoming series of videos. I’m also seeing a lot of work being done on grooming, lighting and makeup, to make good-looking entrepreneurs, male and female, look their best.

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Live or die by the first 5 words of your headlines.

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writing headlinesI have written before about the importance of writing strong headlines for your web pages and posts, here and here.

Content headlines have always been important, but with the rise of social media, they are now more important than ever before.

Why? Because when people tweet or retweet your content, or share it through Facebook and Google+, it’s your headline that will either hook them or not.

When people come to your site or blog, you already have their attention or interest. Those readers are yours to lose. And your headline can work in conjunction with images and the rest of the text alone.

But when those headlines are simply one of many within a fast-moving flow of tweets, or on a social bookmarking site like Reddit, they stand alone. Headlines are important, not just on your sales pages, but on all your content pages.

But why am I putting so much emphasis on the first 5 words?

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Get in the driver’s seat of your freelance business, or fail [VIDEO]

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freelance business controlMost freelancers fail to achieve the level of success they deserve simply because they don’t take control of their own freelance business.

They follow the old model of being in the “service” of their clients. They take a subservient role, feeling grateful for every crumb of work that comes their way. In fee negotiations, they cede power to their clients, and buckle under when pressured to charge less.

The new and better model is to be the freelancer who sits firmly in the driver’s seat.

This freelancer has a plan for his or her freelance business. She sets goals and chooses her clients carefully. She markets herself in a way that associates a high level of value with her business.

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Monday Spark: Surprise…you can lift your spirits with structure and self-discipline.

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work scheduleOne of the benefits of being a freelancer is our ability to set our own schedules.

We can do what we want when we want. We can works days, or nights. We can take days off during the week. We are at home for our families. And so on.

Cheerleaders for freelancing spend a lot of time pumping up this aspect of the freelance life. Hey, we can even take our laptops to the beach if we want!

The problem is, being the boss of setting our own schedule and work structure is not the same thing as having NO schedule or work structure.

In fact, floating around without any kind of schedule or discipline usually translates into low productivity and disappointment.

Put another way, having a “good day” and feeling great about ourselves is not driven by having the freedom to do nothing with our time. It’s driven by being productive, doing good work and feeling we have achieved something worthwhile.

So let me repeat…

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The fewer the choices you offer, the more you will sell.

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paradox of choice in supermarketWe like choices.

In fact, one of the cornerstones of a democracy is our right and our freedom to make choices. We vote for the leaders we want. We choose where to live. We choose the church we go to. Or we choose not to go to church at all.

We also like all the choices we have as consumers.

We like to be able to go to a 16-screen movie theatre, so we can choose the movie we want to see. We like to have hundreds of TV channels to choose form, instead of just three or four.

As marketers and copywriters, we could be forgiven for believing that our prospects and customers will respond positively if we offer them as many choices as possible.

And up to a certain point, people do like choices when they decide to buy something.

But all is not as it seems. More choice doesn’t actually lead to increased sales. In fact, we can easily become confused and even irritated when faced with too many choices.

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Monday Spark: Happiness drives success, not the other way around [VIDEO]

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shawn achor success and happinessAt some point you might have said something like, “Oh man, I’d be happy if I could just pull in an extra $1,000 this month.”

Would that really make you happy? Yes and no. Yes, you would be happy to have achieved your goal. But that state of happiness would pass quickly. By the next day, or week, you’d be worrying about your income for the month ahead.

In other words, the successes you felt when you made the extra $1,000 might have brought you transitory happiness, but didn’t transform you into a happier person.

This is just as true with bigger successes. You might be deliriously happy about bringing in a huge new client. But a week later that state of happiness will likely be replaced with worries about getting all that work done, and how you are going to fit it into your schedule.

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