It’s hard for freelancers to maintain a high level of visibility.
For the most part, our clients and prospects think about us only when they need us.
Day-to-day, their attention is more likely to be focused internally, on their own company and colleagues.
How do we get around this? What steps can we take to become more visible? How can we stay top of mind?
This is something of a mantra for me: Find the gap!
Too many freelancers build up a body of expertise in a particular area and then dive straight in.
Maybe they decide to be a writer or copywriter in the alternative health industry. Or the financial industry. Or the software industry.
They choose those industries because they are interested in them.
But there is a problem here. If you jump into an industry or industry niche without first figuring out whether there is a gap for you to work in, then you’ll be competing head-to-head with dozens, hundreds or even thousands of other freelancers.
You don’t want to do that. You don’t want to have to compete with other freelancers for every job that comes up.
I’ve been using ChatGPT a lot recently. But for the most part, I haven’t been using it to write content or copy.
I’ve been using it as a brainstorming buddy and an information-cruncher.
As an example, here’s how I’ve been using ChatGPT to help me update the coaching page on my website.
I used to do a lot of one-on-one coaching with freelancers. Then I paused for a while. This year I’m going to start again. But before I do any promotion, I wanted to update my information page.
First, I thought I’d do a little brainstorming.
Every two or three years I create a new course for digital copywriters and content writers.
Next up is a course for writers who want to take advantage of the huge growth in the area of Web 3.
Hang on, you ask… what the heck is Web 3?
And what happened to Web 1 and 2?
Imagine walking into someone’s home, looking around and seeing a family photo on the wall.
Not a posed family portrait. More of a goofy shot. Not terribly well composed. Maybe even a little bit out of focus.
Seeing you study the picture, your host comes over and says, “Oh my goodness, let me tell you the story behind that photo!”
It isn’t the photo that has the true power… it’s the story behind the photo.
It’s the story that carries the true emotional punch.
It’s tricky making predictions.
But I’m pretty sure there’s going to be a lot more short-form copywriting in the future.
I believe this to be true for two reasons… one is physical, and the other is more connected to our changing lifestyles.
Let’s start with the physical reason.