Freelancing

When you’re lost in the forest, and a digital marketing expert offers to help…

by

If you have a business, or you advise or write for business, the web can be an amazing, but thoroughly confusing place.

Whether you want to learn more about email marketing, sales funnels, social media or chatbot marketing, there are a thousand experts ready and waiting to help you.

The trouble is, which experts should you follow? Which one teaches or offers the approach that will work best for your audience?

And, of course, you have to figure out which are the true experts, and which are the weekend gurus who likely know less than you do.

Here is my take on this, in three steps.

Read the full post…

Focus on long-term goals, and choose some scary ones.

by

At this time of year, I always spend a few days reflecting on the year that just passed, and thinking about the year to come.

This year, before thinking too much about what’s to come in 2021, I looked back further than just last year.

In fact, I looked back at the last 10 years.

In particular, I wanted to take a look at the new ventures and projects I had embarked on, and see which of them worked out the best.

Two main takeaways…

Read the full post…

Adjacent possibilities for freelancers who want more.

by

 

This post is based on a one-hour presentation I have given a couple of times this year.

I won’t try to include the full hour of information, or the 29 slides.

But… I hope to communicate the value and power of adjacent possibilities for freelancers.

To start with… what does that even mean?

Read the full post…

It’s not always easy finding the sweet spot for your freelance business.

by

Truth in freelancing

I get into conversations with a lot of freelancers, many of them just starting out.

And one thing I notice again and again is that freshly-minted freelancers often struggle to articulate exactly what their specialty should be.

  • B2C or B2B?
  • Which industry niche, if any? Financial, health, industrial, travel, other?
  • What kind of writing specialty, if any… sales copy, email, content marketing, social media writing?

It’s important to have answers to these questions. Without answers, you’ll often feel you have no real foundation. It becomes hard to articulate your position and your value to prospective clients.

In other words, if you aren’t completely clear about where you stand, and what you stand for as a freelancer, you going to have a lot more trouble marketing yourself and finding good work.

Read the full post…

Good news for freelancers: The gig economy is evolving in your favor.

by

Gig economy for freelancers

The only upside to living a full hour away from my dentist is that I have plenty of time to listen to podcasts in the car.

Two pieces of good news from today’s trip.

First, no cavities.

Second, I listened to an episode of Jacob Morgan’s podcast in which he interviews Steve King.

Jacob Morgan is a best-selling author, speaker and futurist, focusing on the future of work.

Steve King is co-founder of Emergent Research, which tracks the future of small business and independent work.

During the podcast they have a wide-ranging discussion about the state of the gig economy and its future.

Read the full post…

If you don’t believe a new story can dramatically change your future as a freelancer…

by

People write to me with gentle challenges like, “Hey Nick, I love your enthusiasm for stories. But honestly, I don’t see how simply changing the story I tell can improve my future as a freelancer.”

OK… so you doubt the power of stories to influence your life?

You don’t think stories have the power to create change?

Let’s try a short experiment…

Read the full post…