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When people tell me that their freelancing business has been slow, I suggest that they pick up the phone and start making calls. Reason: Since cold calls have worked well for me, I encourage others to try them as well.

Talk about kicking the proverbial hornet’s nest. I’m often treated to a diatribe on how much the person hates being cold called.

And I can’t help but agreeing. Why? Because cold calling has a much-deserved bad reputation.

You’ve probably had a family dinner interrupted by those telemarketers who call households between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. They know you’ll be home. And that you’re probably trying to enjoy a meal with your family. The fact that they’re calling at a bad time just doesn’t seem to register. Continue Reading

In this issue of Ask FreelanceSwitch, Travis King and Thursday Bram look at free work and taxes and how to pitch to restaurants.

Ask FreelanceSwitch is a regular column here that aims to help beginners get a grip on freelancing. If you have a question about freelancing that you want answered, send an email to askfreelanceswitch@gmail.com.

Whose cuisine reigns supreme?
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Creative freelancers suffer from a peculiar form of procrastination. For lack of a better name, I’ll call it the “I must get all of my ducks in a row before I start promoting my business” syndrome.

We all know people who’ve spent weeks and months perfecting their marketing materials, searching for the right office space, poring over purchases large and small, while all sorts of business opportunities are flying by.

The solution is to become like Jim Koch, founder of the Boston Beer Company. Shortly after the company started, Koch was talking with a wealthy relative who also was one of his investors. Koch was waxing ecstatic about the computer system that would track the company’s sales. The relative stopped him short with a simple question: Do you have any sales yet?

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Photo by Michel Filion.

I’m one of those heretics who believes that selling is much more important than marketing. Why? Because, a few years ago, I fell into the marketing trap, and my business almost failed as a result.

What was I doing? Well, I spent a lot of time going to various networking groups, and just didn’t find that many viable clients. What I found were a lot of other people looking for (you guessed it) clients for their own businesses.

I also did a lot of direct mail marketing, and lookie-lookie! It worked wonderfully. For a while. Then I noticed that the people on my carefully crafted mailing list had become immune to my oh-so-stylishly designed and cleverly written postcards.

I might as well confess to all the time I spent on getting those postcards ju-u-ust right. Not just the Photoshop and Illustrator time, but the time spent in running them by other people. Carefully crafting that mailing list ate some hours too.

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Photo by miss pupik.

This past July, I outlined a five-step process that I’m using to turn my business around.

My July article covered cold calls and e-mails, and I suggest having it open in a separate browser window while you read this one. The same five-step process can be used for warm calls and e-mails. To recap, here’s the process:

1. Create your Ideal Client Profile
2. Find leads lists
3. Script your calls
4. Make the calls
5. Have a follow-up system

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Photo by Khedara.

Okay, admit it: Business has been slow. And you’re wondering how you can turn things around.

A quick Internet search will reveal an abundance of business turnaround advice. Quite often, you’ll find a checklist of things to do. But, trouble is, some of those to-dos won’t show results for years. I’m referring to things like joining and getting active in business organizations, speaking to groups, seeking publicity, and cultivating others for referrals.

In addition to the not-so-helpful checklists, there’s the Perfectionist Trap. You know you’ve been snared when you’re spending hours, if not days, on creating the ultimate advertisement, postcard, flyer, website, or anything else that you think will improve your business.

I know the Perfectionist Trap very well. And I’ve learned is that it’s a luxury I can’t afford. It takes too much time away from finding new clients.

But what kind of new clients? If you’re feeling as desperate as I was a year ago, you may be tempted to open the phone book to the letter “A” and start dialing the first business name you see. And Martha’s Voice of Experience is here to say,“Not so fast! You have some planning to do first.”

I’m going to take you through a five-step process that I’m using to turn my business around. We’ll do some planning in the first step, and then we’ll take action. Continue Reading