Something you hear as common advice for new freelancers is “Don’t work for free.”

That’s true, for the most part, but there’s an exception. And it’s a big one. Give away your advice for free, and you can grow your business and make much more money in the long run.

I don’t recommend that you take on jobs for no money – that’s just devaluing your services and your profession. Your work is worth money, and you need to be sure to get paid. Giving away services is a bad idea in general.

But if you can give away your advice … which is really a service … and not charge a dime, that’s a great strategy. If your advice is good, giving it away can result in amazing growth and lots of new business. Continue Reading

There’s nothing like thanking someone to make them want to be nice to you. It’s positive feedback, just like Pavlov would have used and works on anyone and everyone, including your clients. Saying thank you for their work, time and effort, during the holiday season is a great way to leave a good impression on them to ensure you are remembered when it comes time to hire someone in the new year.

And not only will it leave a good mark, but saying thank you is a great opportunity for giving your clients notice about when you’ll be closed for business, any specials you might have and when you’ll be back at work. With 2007 fast fading into the rear view mirror, it’s time to think about ways you can say thank you to your clients. Here are seven innovative ideas you might like to try:

1. Buy a Sheep … on Their Behalf

Do something good for the world on your client’s behalf and purchase something from Oxfam’s Unwrapped service. You can pay to have a poor farmer’s land irrigated, buy books for school children or invest in a fair trade coffee coop. Last year Cyan and I bought cows on behalf of our clients and named them after major projects we’d worked on. It was amusing, heart warming and something that gets your clients talking and mentioning your name at every christmas and new year party they go to. Continue Reading

This week’s column is the second installment in my Ask Jonathan marketing series. Please send questions for future columns to me at jonathan AT jonathanfields DOT com

This week’s column takes us squarely into “nobody takes me seriously” land. Our letter comes from Chris Ryman, a principal in the two year-old IT consultancy, Engineerity LLC.:

Dear Jonathan,

I am a partner in a small IT/computer consulting business. My business partner and I have been building the business for about two years, and I just quit my full time job to work full time for myself.

…our marketing strategy is different, mostly word of mouth with a touch of sales. Here’s where our problem comes in. Although my business partner and I have 15 years combine experience, and have worked on numerous projects together, etc, most people ignore, or otherwise don’t care about us when we try and speak with them about their IT and how we may be able to supplement or help their current IT situation. We believe this is because we are so young, I am 22, and my business partner is 24. If a company does give us a chance, they are almost immediately sold on our services.

My question is how can I market myself/my company in such a way that people will take me seriously and even more so, just give us the one chance we need to impress them?

Okay, we’re going to drill down a few levels, here. But, for those looking for the short and sweet answer, it’s not about age, it’s about credibility and value and, Chris, somewhere in your materials, your conversations, your pitch and your service, there’s a need that is not being filled.

Is age really a factor?

In some professions, age is definitely a major factor in the sales process. I don’t want a 25 year-old whiz-kid neurosurgeon operating on me any more than I want the barista at my local Starbucks doing my taxes (no offense to any CPA baristas). And, at the older end of the spectrum, as much as corporate-culture denies it, ageism is very much alive and well. In fact, it even tends of be tied to certain specific industries and career-paths.

But, of all the industries I know of, IT has got to be amongst the most youth-friendly cultures around.

In fact, youth is largely a badge of honor in IT.
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When it comes to writing your business website, you may not be in the position financially to hire a professional. That’s okay—I’ve got some great tips to help you put your ideas into words, and to make those words effectively sell your services.

Just write. Last week, I told you that it was good to map out your concepts and jot down the messages you want to convey for each individual page. Now it’s time to formulate paragraphs. Some people may be good at starting from the top with a killer intro section—if so, write on. If you’re not, that’s okay. For instance, if you’re going to write about three things for your home page that are your main points, write the “meat” first. Some people get a better idea for their lead-in paragraph after they see the page content laid out before them. If you go that way, you can throw on the opening paragraph next. The main part of this section is just to do your best and get your concepts into words. We can work on making them sizzle later.
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Wish I had backed up
All that I wrote, deleted
I’ll start it again
- Benjamin Spencer

As more and more of our lives are converted into tiny 0′s and 1′s, we become increasingly dependent on the data we create. But how many of us, especially in the freelance world, have a plan or procedure in place to avoid the bane of our electronic existence: data loss. The excuses for this lack of disaster preparedness range from pure laziness, to inexperience (with the backup method or storage material), or just plain backup failure. There are solutions, and with the technology of today, no excuse should be valid anymore. Mozy, newly acquired by EMC, with their MozyHome and MozyPro backup solutions, hope to help you on the path to recovery. Let’s take a closer look at the options, and how well their products performed.

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If you’re like most freelancers—especially those starting out—you don’t have the money to hire someone to create content for your website.

Like all the hats you’ll have to wear as a solo agent—accountant, manager, business developer—you’ll need to add writer to the list. While freelance copywriters may have it easier than other self-employed professionals when it comes to writing, anyone can learn how to create content for their business website with a few helpful tips. But before you start typing, here are some things you’ll need to do.

Map Your Work. First, come up with the pages that your website needs. Creative freelancers, for example, will probably want to have a portfolio, where they can refer people to see their work. But most websites have similar pages: a home page, information about your business, a listing of your services and testimonials bout your services. Think about the pages that you need for your particular website. A freelance event coordinator may want case studies of the events, while a freelance designer would want a gallery of his or her work.

Devise a Message. Before you write, think about the concepts you want to convey. Your home page, for example, probably gives an overview of your business. But what do you want it to focus on? My website discusses the importance of hiring a copywriter. I also let the prospective client know that they don’t have to hire a marketing agency to get dynamic copy. I end with my slogan, which emphasizes that my services are affordable.
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Editor’s note: Thanks to Shane for this fantastic post. I have to say that this is one of my favourite articles in the history of FSw, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did

According to the Webster Dictionary, a practice is:

• to follow or observe habitually or customarily
• to exercise or pursue as a profession, art, or occupation
• to perform or do repeatedly in order to acquire skill or proficiency

Five years ago, John Maxwell, the author of every leadership book conceivable, told a group of us at a conference: “I can predict the long term outcome of your success if you show me your daily habits.” I have often heard that most business is 90% science (or how to) and 10% art (which is about you). None of the practices below are technical / how to’s for one simple reason – you should already be good at what you do. After all, you are selling your services as an expert, and if you truly suck at your specialty, then god help you and those who hire you. It’s those vital practices that you may NOT be good at that creep up behind you and then take you out.
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Editor’s Note: This post is a sponsored review. You can purchase an impartial review through Sponsored Reviews. We only take on reviews which we think the FreelanceSwitch audience will enjoy and benefit from.

It’s easy to think that branding is something reserved solely for big companies, but the reality is it’s just as important for freelancers. And if you think branding just means having a logo and cards, think again. For freelancers, just as for large companies, branding should extend out to your reputation and people’s knowledge and perception of you. This post is a review of a blog about personal branding called QuickSprout. It’s written by Neil Patel but before I get to that, let me just give you an example worth thinking about.

Hollywood and what branding can do for you?

Consider for a moment the world of acting. Think about the highest paid actors and actresses (you can see a list here at Forbes). These people make millions of dollars where their fellow actors earn a tiny fraction of that amount. Is it because the highest paid actors and actresses are the best actors? No doubt there are equally talented actors around who haven’t ‘made it’. Are they the best looking? Probably not. Is it just luck and coincidence that gets them to the top? Nope.

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The customer is always right, right? Wrong. Clients can make insistent requests that would actually be detrimental to their business or intention. This usually happens if the client is inexperienced or misinformed in your field of work. Sometimes the cause is simply bad taste. Most of us have probably encountered more than our share of these clients. You can recognize this type of client easily, especially when they’re telling you the following things:

“Can we put frames and flashing images on my website? I like the way they look.”

“I want my business press release to start with a poem my 5 year old son wrote.”

Sounds familiar, right? Due to the destructive nature of these requests, I’ve learned to call these types of clients “Self-Destructing Clients”. They want us to deliver the best results, but their requests are preventing their own success. My experience with these clients taught me so many lessons that I now know how to nip the problem in the bud, fix existing problems, and communicate better. Hopefully, you can learn from my own experiences rather than going through that difficult road yourself.
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Want help solving your unique freelance marketing problems? Starting today, Along with my regular Thursday column, I will be rotating marketing case-studies and advice into the mix.

If you would like to be considered for a future marketing breakout column, please feel free to e-mail me at jonathan@jonathanfields.com and include a few paragraphs about who you are, what you want to do and what help you’d like. If it is a good fit, I will publish your request along with a detailed analysis and marketing advice in a future column.

Our first Ask Jonathan Marketing Breakout letter comes from blog-consultant, Michael Martine at Remarkablogger.com. He writes:

Dear Jonathan,

Thanks, Jonathan, for making the offer and for taking the time to read this. I look forward to hearing back from you.

Dear Michael,

Thanks for your e-mail. Sounds like you’re off to a good start, the blog looks nice and clean and is easy to navigate. And, I like that you added in a box on the front-page to promote your blog consulting services and articles for beginning bloggers. You’ve got some great content there.

So let’s figure out how to make some simple changes designed to kick-start your blog consulting business. Let’s start with your on-blog efforts.
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It’s a hot topic: Should freelancers use a contract? And if so, how do you go about creating one?

By now, you have probably gotten the idea that if you want to be in serious business as a freelancer, you’ve got to get things in writing. So, where do you start? How do you face the legalese demons? Relax and read on—I promise it’s not that hard if you keep an open mind. Remember, half the things we do in our businesses (for me, accounting and marketing) aren’t things we necessarily like. This is probably one of them for you. But it’s also a vital step in ensuring a professional business that runs smoothly.

First, decide what you need out of a contract. The basic contract includes information on your pay rate, payment timeline and a deadline for the project to be submitted. If you look at my contract, I have a clause in there about being able to use work on my Web portfolio because that was important to me. Whatever else you want to stipulate, it’s good to make a list highlighting the points you need covered.

Now it’s time to create the document. This will not be enjoyable or easy in most cases, but it’s a must. My contract is a good place to start, but you may want to scour the Internet and look at other freelancers’ sites to get an idea of what common agreements say. It’s okay if the copy–paster in you wants to come out here, but don’t solely rely on that to originate a document. You want the agreement to be customized to suit the specific needs of your business.
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Some time ago I put up a post here on the ‘Switch about Taking Payment with PayPal, Escrow and other Online Options in which I mentioned that it was relatively easy to create a form on your regular website that allows you to accept credit card payments. Here is an example that Cyan and I used to use on our portfolio/agency site.

This is a pretty neat thing to do because it’s both very simple and it’s kinda nice to be able to say “Oh yes you can pay by credit card on our website” which to most offline people sounds rather like “I am an uber-freelancer and I should be charging you six squillion dollars an hour, but you’re getting me for a steal”. In actual fact when Cyan and I had the form on our site, we only actually took payment through it maybe a dozen times, but just having it on the site made us look that much more professional.

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