Freelancing

Monday Spark: To be happy, work on what you do best.

by

doing something wellCompetence makes you feel good.

The task can be fairly ordinary, like making coffee. If you are good at making coffee – gourmet coffee, that is – the simple act of brewing a great pot of coffee will make you feel good.

Conversely, if this isn’t something you do well, and your dinner guest are all coffee snobs, the act of making coffee will probably make you feel anxious.

It’s not much different if you are an employee at a company. If you are good at what you do, you will likely enjoy your work. But when a colleague takes a sick day, and you have to take on her tasks, which you are not so good at, that sense of satisfaction quickly evaporates.

All this is a preamble to suggesting that in your freelance life you should pay more attention to what you do best.

Read the full post…

How to stop wasting time on learning new stuff.

by

learning too muchIf I look back over the last 10 years, I can’t even imagine the number of things I have learned. For the sake of argument, let’s say I have learned 10,000 different things that might be useful to my work.

I have learned from articles and posts, from books I have read, from conversations I have had, and so on.

Now let’s say, out of those 10,000 things I have learned, I was smart enough to identify10 things which, if I applied them, could actually have a significant impact on my success. Those were 10 moments of learning that had the potential to transform my business in some meaningful way.

But out of those 10, how many did I actually apply? And of those lessons I have applied, did I work at them hard enough to achieve some positive change?

Read the full post…

Monday Spark: Overcome fear with practice and preparation [VIDEO]

by

hadfield on fearA lot of freelancers find their forward momentum is slowed down by fear. Fear of making a cold call. Fear of reaching out to get work from a large or well-known company. Fear of charging more for their services. And so on.

And that’s perfectly natural. It’s normal to feel fear when facing an uncertain outcome.

But you don’t have to let it stop you.

One way to address fear is described really well by astronaut Chris Hadfield in the video below.

He is having a conversation with William Shatner. Hadfield is in the International Space Station and Shatner is at his home in California. And it seems they are big fans of each other’s work.

At one point in the interview, Shatner asks Hadfield how he manages to handle the fear he feels at dangerous moments, like when blasting off from earth.

Read the full post…

The cake baker’s guide to marketing your freelance business.

by

freelancer cakeLet’s take part in a simple thought experiment…

Imagine we have a mutual friend, called Jane, who wants to start a home-based business…baking cakes.

First she goes to evening school and learns some professional-grade baking skills. Once she feels she has the level of skill she needs, she builds a beautiful website and opens her doors for business.

How do you think Jane will do?

Although we both want her business to thrive, in all honesty she probably won’t have much success. Perhaps she could sell enough cakes to call what she does a hobby, but she almost certainly won’t make a decent living.

How come?

Read the full post…

Monday Spark: The pleasure of doing something really badly…courtesy of the Z-Eleven.

by

doing something badlyA couple of weeks ago I wrote about our culture’s obsession with being the best…being a winner at all costs.

My message was that you don’t need to be the best in order to be successful in your work as a freelancer.

This week I want to talk about the extraordinary pleasure that can be found in doing something really, really badly.

To explain what I mean by that, I need to take you back to 1965 when, as a shy and socially awkward 8-year old, I was sent off to an English boarding school.

And yes, private boarding schools in England back then were not so very far from the stereotypes that might be popping into your mind right now. In a word, it was quite tough.

Academic performance was a big part of our lives, and our abilities were tested on a frequent basis. You soon learned whether you were one of the brainy kids, or one of the “thick” kids.

Read the full post…

Every aspect of your freelance business is about marketing. At least, it should be.

by

get clients freelancerI have coached a lot of freelancers, and I often hear the same question, “How can I get more clients?”

When they ask this question, many freelancers are hoping I can provide a simple answer. They want me to provide the “secret” to marketing a freelance business.

To put it a little less kindly, many are looking for the easy button. “Nick, please just tell me which button to press so I can quickly get more clients.”

Then I tell them the truth….that there is no easy button.

I also tell them that even after 30 years as a freelancer, I am still marketing my services and products. I’m marketing myself every day. Marketing isn’t just something you do three or four times a year.

Next they might ask me what my best marketing tactics are. Cold calls? Direct mail? Event marketing? Content marketing? Video marketing?

Well, one or more of the above might be part of one’s marketing mix. But that’s just a small part of what marketing a freelance business is all about.

Read the full post…