marketing

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

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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.

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Build a better freelance business, and love your message.

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love your messageBased on my experience as a freelancer over the last 30 years, and as a coach, I believe there are two key elements that separate freelancers who do OK from those who are hugely successful.

For a start, you need to get in the driver’s seat of your freelance business, take control and be assertive about the companies you work with, the work you do, and the fees you charge.

In other words, replace your freelancer mindset with a business-building mindset.

Second, you need to market your freelance business with absolute focus and confidence. This is where so many freelancers fail. They have too little confidence in themselves, and don’t know how to market themselves effectively.

I address both of these issues in what is essentially a combination of two of my programs – Profitable Freelancing and How to Love Marketing Your Freelance Business.

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Monday Spark: Build your marketing around the very best version of You.

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be your very bestOne of my frustrations as a coach is that many of my clients fail to present the very best versions of themselves to their clients.

I know freelancers who have exceptional talent, but create websites for their freelance businesses that make them look ordinary.

I know freelancers who suffer from “imposter syndrome” and constantly worry they aren’t good enough to work for large clients.

I know freelancers who start their business day with a snapshot of their very worst selves in their minds.

This is all about self-confidence and self-esteem.

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To take charge of your freelance business, you have to love promoting it.

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freelancer arm wrestling with clientA few days ago one of my coaching clients told me, “I don’t feel in charge.”

And I know she isn’t alone in feeling that way.

As a freelancer it’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling you are simply at the beck and call of your clients. It’s easy to feel powerless when negotiating with prospective clients. It’s easy to feel you have no choice when clients impose crazy deadlines.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

A couple of years back I published a program called Profitable Freelancing. It’s all about getting back in the driver’s seat of you freelance business. It’s about being in control and being in charge.

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Aim – more or less – then Fire, and then get Ready.

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ready aim fire confusionWhen freelancers are starting out and preparing to launch their new businesses, they generally take forever to get ready.

Me: I thought you were going to start calling some prospects last week.

Them: I know, but I’m not quite ready.

I get the same answer one week later, and then the week after that.

(If you think I’m talking about you in particular as you read this, I’m not. I’m thinking of dozens of freelancers I have spoken with or coached.)

What’s happening here?

Two things, I think.

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How to love marketing your freelance business [VIDEO]

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love marketing

I know a lot of freelancers, and I think it is fair to say that most of them don’t much like marketing themselves.

They enjoy their craft – writing or copywriting. But they don’t like promoting their services to prospective clients. In fact, the whole process of finding prospects and then trying to turn them into paying clients is the part of being a freelancer they like least.

I get that.

A few freelancers are natural salespeople. Many of these are extroverts, and happy to jump in front of a prospect and start selling.

But what about the rest of us?

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