FreelancerPro Interview: Laura Roeder, Social Media Hero

She’s got a well-known celebrity client and tons of tricks for getting and retaining clients. And she wants to help entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground.

That’s why I thought we could all get something out of an interview with Laura Roeder of Roeder Studios. This California-based social media and publicity guru has plenty to share about how she’s effectively positioned her company—and how you can do the same with yours.

Tell us how you got into the creative industry. Did you go to school for web design/development?

My degree is in advertising. I actually taught myself basic web development when I was in middle school and then played around with Photoshop and other design software in high school. (Yes I am “showing my age” here!) I’ve taken a few design classes here and there but I’m pretty much self-taught as far as design and development. Although I don’t do a lot of that for clients anymore, I’ll always be a designer at heart! I love interior design as well and actually studied Scandinavian furniture design in Copenhagen one summer.

What is your overall career goal? How do you plan to evolve as a creative professional? What do you want to accomplish that you haven’t already?

I really see my mission as being a business multiplier for other entrepreneurs. I just love “talking shop” and brainstorming about marketing, positioning and promotion especially with small businesses that are just starting out. I want to be a catalyst for thousands of other cool businesses to help them spread their message to the world using the web.

What exactly do you do at Roeder Studios?

Roeder Studios provides online marketing and publicity strategies for entrepreneurs, largely focused around social media. Basically I work with people to figure out how to use the web to get leads, customers, press, buzz, and cashmoney for their business!

I know you work with Brea Grant, an actress starring on NBC’s “Heroes.” Tell us a little bit about how that relationship formed, what you did for her and how you garnered such fantastic results.

People will sometimes ask me how they can break into working with Hollywood. Here’s my advice: pick friends in college that you didn’t even know were into acting and then maybe they will become big Hollywood stars and want to hire you! Brea and I were old friends from college and I had created a simple website for her when she first started acting. When she told me she was going to be a lead on “Heroes” I knew we needed a much larger online strategy so I talked her into getting involved with her fans (and in the process getting a lot MORE fans) using social media. The problem for actors is that people will see you on a show like “Heroes,” be your “biggest fan” but then have no idea what happened to you once you move onto a new project.

With Brea we’ve been able to cultivate an incredibly loyal fanbase that follows everything that Brea does from big roles to brief cameos. As an actor it’s something that makes an enormous impact on your career and it’s not just exclusive to actors. Other types of careers such as authors can suffer the same fate. Maybe people loved your last book but do you have a strategy in place to draw them into your community so that they know when your next book comes out?

So are most of your clients in the entertainment arena?

Actually I get a lot of business inquiries that say “I don’t know if you work with normal businesses like mine but . . .” which is funny to me because I actually don’t even focus on entertainment! I enjoy working with people in the entertainment world but I work with many different types of entrepreneurs and personalities. I do primarily work with services businesses that brand as an individual instead of a company—that can run the gamut from actors to lawyers, designers, stylists, consultants, etc.

You’ve attended some industry-related conferences and events (SXSW). Why do you think getting involved in your industry is vital and how have you leveraged this involvement to boost your own business?

Actually I have a somewhat controversial answer to this one: I think you can be TOO involved in your own industry and get stuck in what everyone else is doing instead of blazing your own trail.

Now don’t get me wrong, you can still be very involved but ignore what everyone else is doing, but it is a difficult temptation to resist. Now for the positive part of my answer – positioning yourself as an industry leader via activities like speaking at important conferences goes a long way towards trust and credibility for potential clients. Also I believe a vital component of success is having other entrepreneurs to lean on. You need a support network of people who understand what you’re going through and that you can turn to for questions and advice, and industry events are a great way to connect with these people. Personally I mostly meet them through social media, then deepen the relationship with real-life events.

I like that. So what is your top method for getting solid clients?

Social media, I practice what I preach baby! I put out a lot of quality free content, which is the main way that people are introduced to my work, then the relationship is furthered through Twitter, Facebook, my video blog, and my newsletters. Usually by the time people contact me they have a pretty solid idea of my philosophy and what it might be like to work with me. It’s important to have a clear marketing and sales funnel, you can’t just get on social media and hope that your phone starts ringing.

Have things ever gotten lean (financially) since you began freelancing? How have you coped?

Oh yeah, definitely, especially when I had my web design business feast or famine was the norm! First of all I ALWAYS save for taxes first, to me that is the #1 most important thing because not having money for taxes can take your business under very quickly and you can’t get out of paying them. Now I’ve learned a few lessons and see some big problems with the way I used to structure my business and the way many freelancers structure.

Pay-per-project makes sense . . . until your project drags on for two years and is never “officially” finished because you’re waiting on feedback or materials from the client. Guess what? That three-month engagement just became a two-year engagement but you aren’t earning a dime more. This is a huge problem for freelancers and I don’t have the perfect solution, but now I draw a very clear line: You’re either actively paying me to work for you or you’re not. If you need help from me and you’re not a client, then pay up baby! Don’t get me wrong — I give away a lot of free advice, a lot of free content. But I also don’t let people get away with stringing me along without pay anymore.

Tell us about The Dash.

The Dash is my free weekly newsletter and online community that offers a quick action item (usually in the form of an instructional video) on something you can do today to market your business online. It gets a great response and has grown incredibly quickly.

Having a weekly email communication has played a huge role in my bottom line. Don’t do monthly, don’t do every other week, do weekly! The difference is night and day and it does not have to be difficult if you plan it correctly. Just offer your audience content that they’re interested in, and the shorter the better. Honestly if you sent people three interesting links every week and NOTHING ELSE that would probably be great for your business. Email marketing is “old school” as far as web tactics but it’s the only one that puts your message in your prospect’s inbox instead of having them come to you.

Describe your typical day.

I wake up at 7 or 8 a.m. (no alarm) and go directly to my desk! Yeah, I’m going to be honest, I work in my PJs and I check my email first thing which is supposed to be the death of productivity. Ooops.

I do that, too. Guilty.

My typical day includes tasks like writing marketing copy for a new concept, recording a video blog or screencast training, and consultation calls with clients. I’m a total homebody, I never work at coffee shops — I have to have my whole set up and silence to get any work done. Of course I include “healthy” dose of Twitter time into every day as well! I take a walk along the beach or just go and watch the ocean around 5 or 6 p.m. and that’s the end of my workday. Sometimes I work a bit in the evening but I’m always asleep by midnight at the VERY latest. I am the most uncool young person ever, basically.

Again, I do that, too. (Going to bed early!) So speaking of Twitter, you’ve effectively used it to promote your business, stay on top of the creative industry and make some pals. How do you balance it?

Honestly all of the things you listed are so much fun for me (especially when I use Twitter to do them!) so it doesn’t really feel like a balance. I have a project manager who helps me stay on top of all the details in my business and make sure nothing slips through the cracks.

You are one organized girl, Laura. All the best to you—thanks for sharing with us today!

Kristen Fischer is a copywriter and author living at the Jersey Shore. For more on Kristen, visit www.KristenFischer.com.