Build a Freelance Biz

Are You Letting Information Overload Kill Your Business?

Getting started with a business, even a tiny one-person operation, involves a lot of learning.

Often, you’re making a career switch that puts you in entirely unknown territory.

And there are loads of people out there trying to sell you on their brand of snake oil.

They’re telling you that you need a blog, you need a twitter account, you need to produce video, you need infographics, you need this magical system that will manifest clients with gold-lined pockets.

It’s really easy to get paralyzed by all of the possibilities. It’s really easy to end up doing nothing as a result.

If you want to be a freelancer, you’re going to have to get used to the fact that you are the head of all departments in your business. You’re the marketer, you’re the creative director, you’re the sales manager. Oh, and you also have to do work for clients.

But you don’t have to succumb to the idea that you have to do everysinglethingrightnow.

I want to share with you some things I’ve learned about keeping a cap on the crazy in my work life.

Do One Thing at a Time

The idea that multitasking is productive has been thoroughly demolished. Humans need to concentrate to do something really well. If you’re trying to do more than one thing at a time, your creative energy is definitely leaving out the back door. You’ve got to turn some stuff off.

Pick a Few Marketing Channels, and Forget the Rest

You do not have to be on top of every self-promotion trend. No, really, you don’t. My main channels are email, in-person networking, and the telephone. Yes, these are decidedly old-school. But you know what? They are proven techniques that get me clients. That’s right, I mainly use Twitter to post pictures of my cats.

Find a Work Process that Works for You

Take a really close inventory of your daily rhythms and routines. Note your high-points and low-points. Many of us have been so conditioned by the standard workday, that we have no idea what our natural rhythms are. If you find you are an early bird, don’t try to schedule your work time at midnight, because you’ll too easily ditch it to get to bed. Set yourself up for success instead.

I personally need lots of routine in my life to get anything done. And I’ve set everything up so that my work process supports that need.

Developing a real work process is part of demonstrating to yourself and the world that your work is serious. If you want to get stuff done, start here.

Whittle Down Your Reading to a Trusted Resource List

You have to carefully choose whose advice you’re going to follow. If you try to follow every guru in the blogosphere, you’re going to get stuck. (Trust me on that.) Pick a program and work it. My own trusted advisers are Mary Jaksch of A-List Blogging Bootcamps and Carol Tice of Freelance Writer’s Den. I do read other people, of course, but I don’t really follow other people. Find your trusted resources and stick with them so you get somewhere.

Once you stop the information surplus you’ve been subjecting yourself to, you’ll find some clarity and focus. When you have clarity and focus, you’ll be able to make real progress on your business.

What’s your experience with this? Have you kicked overload’s butt, or are you still struggling? Please share in the comments below.

Photo Credit: Don Foy

Freelancer's Guide To Starting A Business

Start your business today. It isn't as hard as it seems!

You will learn to:

Conquer your fears by setting up you very own business (the easy way!)
Save on your taxes by incorporating the right way
Get started on the right foot with a business bank account

Just enter your email below to get your free copy of the eBook The Freelance's Guide To Starting A Business - The Easy Way

Filed Under: Build Your Business

I’m an Info-Product Addict

By Rebecca Leave a Comment

I can’t stop myself.

I need someone to tell me how to work, how to live, how to be happy.

They say that the road to recovery depends on being honest, and that is why I am here confessing that I have a problem.

I’m addicted to info-products and books.

In theory, I’ve been buying all of this stuff to help me make my business better. In reality, buying the book or product has all too often been a substitute for action.

And there is no substitute for action.

Obviously, since you’re here reading this, I have managed to get some stuff done. As a matter of fact, the past year has involved a lot of growth and change for me and the way I do business.

But what if I had channeled more of my fear and uncertainty into doing instead of buying?

Where would I be now?

There is no way to know that, of course. The time is gone, and the money I spent is gone too.

What I can do is make a plan for how I want to deal with unpleasant fears in the future. Here’s my plan – I’m sharing it with you to help me stay honest and keep my focus on action instead of fear.

Be Mindful of My Purchases

For me this means making it harder to make impulse buys. I’ve made an agreement with my husband to discuss all non-essential purchases. This puts some brakes on my actions and means that there is a built-in waiting period before buying.

Write When I Feel Like Buying

I’m always griping about how I don’t have time to write, but mostly I think this is bullshit. It’s a little bit scary to make this commitment, because it almost certainly means confronting some nasty feelings head on. What I can say though, is that avoiding these feelings has not been working for me.

Stay on a Budget

I’ve done budgeting before and fell of the wagon — which led to ruin. This time, I’m going to go the full monty with an envelope system. I hope that by making what I spend very tangible, it will give me time to pause before I buy another goddamn book. Not to mention that it is pretty hard to spend cash online.

Reduce Overwhelm

This past year has been thrilling and … exhausting. I need to create more focus and flow for my work-life. I’m working on productive daily routines and building a super-solid sales process to level out some of those crazy freelancing ups and downs. Hopefully when I’ve got my own system hammered out, I won’t be so desperate for someone else to tell me what to do!

So there it is, in black and white. I know my experience with e-books and guru-products is not unique among people trying to start up a blog or business. Have you ever fallen into this trap? I’d love to hear from other folks struggling with info-overload!

Photo Credit: D Sharon Pruitt

Start your business today. It isn't as hard as it seems!

You will learn to:

Conquer your fears by setting up you very own business (the easy way!)
Save on your taxes by incorporating the right way
Get started on the right foot with a business bank account

Just enter your email below to get your free copy of the eBook The Freelance's Guide To Starting A Business - The Easy Way

Filed Under: Workhacks

How To Deal With Crippling Fear When Nothing Else Works

By David 2 Comments

How will he ever push that rock?

I happen to be the biggest worrier I know. I was aware of the problems this trait might pose before I started my own business. However, I plunged in head first, determined to take whatever life and business had to offer. Unsurprisingly, the world of self-employment tested my limits immediately, and can still knock me around now. In fact, I had little choice to accept that dealing with fear and worry was just as much a part of business as dealing with taxes. Tweet this

I might be a little on the extreme side, but I don’t think I’m unusual.

Many people, self-employed or otherwise, at one time or another, fall into a type of thinking known as “Magnification” or “Catastrophizing”:

Focusing on the worst possible outcome, however unlikely, or thinking that a situation is unbearable when it is really just uncomfortable.

This is one of the ten thought “distortions” taught in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

Sometimes there are serious risks, but what many people do is minimize the risks – sometimes ignoring real issues that should be cause for concern. A preferable alternative for those who don’t automatically minimize perceived risk, is to cut off the worrying, then take deliberate steps to eliminate as much real risk as possible.

What is real risk? It’s not what will possibly happen. That is virtually anything. Real risk concerns itself with what will probably happen. You can take specific action to deal with real risk.

You see ominous grey clouds.

What’s possible? Hippos falling from the sky (anything is possible and you can’t prevent anything)
What’s probable? Rain falling from the sky (take an umbrella to stay dry)

My tendency is to take anything that arouses fear and anxiety and think about it until driven to distraction. Sometimes I don’t realize I’m doing this until it’s too late. After I have spent thirty minutes drilling down into how the loss of one client is the beginning of an inevitable fall into poverty and homelessness, it takes a while to get motivated again. Something like this can kill an entire day. You might think that a fear of homelessness would cause me to work harder, but it actually causes me to freeze up entirely – dear caught in the headlights.

I have a strategy to deal with this type of anxiety and worry.

Are you ready for what it’s called?

Okay…

It’s called “nothing”.

Or at least it looks like nothing. Actually, what I do is give my brain a “timeout”, just like the kind my kids sometimes get. I basically say to myself, “Okay brain, you don’t handle this worry stuff very well, and there is a whole bunch of it at the moment. So instead of your usual flailing about, go on ahead and just take a seat on the bench for a little while.”

You may have been expecting me to add “Of course, I don’t say this out loud”, but sometimes I do say it out loud. The point is that I want to stop the dizzying thoughts that are bombarding me. Saying that little command out loud isn’t just another thought. It activates my sense of hearing. That means I to think about the sound of my words, even if the thought is “I can’t believe I have to do this ridiculous stuff”.

It’s abrupt and it forces me change course.

If I did nothing else, it wouldn’t work. When you give your brain (really just the part that does the worrying) a timeout, then you have to do something else. In my case, I do something physical. Sometimes I do yard work. Sometimes I clean around the house or take on a project that I have been meaning to do, but just didn’t get to yet. For instance, I resurfaced the driveway this weekend instead of worrying. The attention I must give to the physical task at hand is what replaces the worry. This gives me a break before I take on the next mental task – what to actually do about what I stopped my brain from worrying about.

When dealing with real risk, instead of either magnifying it (and getting scared to death) or minimizing it (and acting foolishly), seek to eliminate the unknown. Learn as much about what is real as possible. This means getting very specific about what you are afraid of. Then devise strategies to prepare for the actual amount of risk you face. The enemy of fear is knowledge. Tweet this

It’s good for mental health and success in business.

This is the time to make plans and think strategically. You don’t want to make plans while you are actively worrying about something. That’s the worst time for problem-solving. Instead of solving the problem, you are more likely to do whatever it takes to make the problem go away. That’s why I give my brain a timeout and do something else for a while.

One of the things I decided to do was “make a flow chart based on copywriting book”. This addressed one of my concerns. Another action item was “Email Mary”. These are simple things that can be done and they were both better than worrying, and neither would have occurred to me, or seemed useful, had I not given myself a mental timeout.

How do you deal with stress and anxiety? Tell me in the comments section.

Start your business today. It isn't as hard as it seems!

You will learn to:

Conquer your fears by setting up you very own business (the easy way!)
Save on your taxes by incorporating the right way
Get started on the right foot with a business bank account

Just enter your email below to get your free copy of the eBook The Freelance's Guide To Starting A Business - The Easy Way

Filed Under: Workhacks

This Amazing Shortcut Can Get You More Clients Than You Can Handle

By David Leave a Comment

The trick is talking to people!

Many freelancers place ads in the yellow pages, newspapers, and on the web, then wait for the business to come rolling in. This might work, but as you probably know, it’s very unreliable. On some days you might get four calls. Or you might go an entire week without any calls. Is there anything you can do to really kickstart your cashflow?

There really is a shortcut to getting more business. It’s so obvious, that almost everyone takes it for granted. You can nurture new clients whenever you want – just going about your day.

The most effective thing you can do as a freelancer is to go out and talk to other business owners.

When I started my first business I received this advice from my business coach and I was extremely resistant. I thought it would be scary and that I would be perceived as just another slimy sales person. The first time I did it was just as an experiment – just to see if I could do it. I’ll be honest, it didn’t go very well. However, within a week, I got used to the process, and I started getting new clients almost immediately.

Here is the key to making this work: You aren’t trying to sell anything. You simply want to talk to other business owners about their business and what needs they have. You should ask questions and then listen. Don’t do a lot of talking. You want to learn as much about the business owner’s needs as possible.

Eventually, once you have a good understanding of the business owner’s concerns, you can suggest how the services you provide may be able to help. However, don’t start by saying “I could do this or that”.

Instead suggest “This or that might work”.

It might take several suggestions, but when you come up with something the owner seems interested in; use his interest as an opportunity to transition to doing business.

You can say “I could put you in touch you someone I know who could do the work”. Then briefly pause and say “Actually, my business has helped some clients with that in the past. I could probably do it”.

This is very low key. You aren’t applying pressure.

The scenario I described above may, in reality, happen over the course of a few conversations. This is what you want. You want to build rapport. This disarms the business owner. By the time you get around to talking business, it will seem like a favor (that you get paid to do!), instead of a hard sell. My wife and I did this hundreds of times are we have been amazed at how effective it is.

Instead of endlessly debating the perfect text for a newspaper ad, we simply talk to people.

Which businesses should you approach?

This depends on the type of work you do, of course. Generally, you should approach business owners you already know and where you are spending money.

Why does this work?

If you spend money at the owner’s business, they are predisposed to trust you because you are familiar. Plus, they appreciate all the business you’ve given them.
You are expressing interest in their livelihood. It’s quite likely that you are the only person the business owner has talked to in weeks or months who has expressed an interest in his or her needs.
You are offering ideas for how to help their business. No else is doing this.

Objections you may have	Why you should try it anyway
Talking to business owners won’t work	It may not work every time, but you won’t know for sure until you try it. It has worked very well for others.
I’ll make a fool of myself	This is prediction many people make, but it probably won’t happen. Even if you actually do “make a fool of yourself”, so what? First, you’ll get over it. Second, you’ll get better with practice
The business owner will see right through me	This assumes that you have bad intentions. Your intention is to build rapport by talking to the business owner. You will then be offering a solution to a problem. There is nothing wrong with that. What will the owner think? That you have a business? That’s good.
I won’t know what to say	Maybe you don’t know what to say now. The important thing is that you remember you are merely having a conversation. No selling allowed! If you aren’t sure what to say, work out some questions to ask in advance. If you don’t know the business owner at all, you can start with simple questions like “How did you get started in this business”?

Start your business today. It isn't as hard as it seems!

You will learn to:

Conquer your fears by setting up you very own business (the easy way!)
Save on your taxes by incorporating the right way
Get started on the right foot with a business bank account

Just enter your email below to get your free copy of the eBook The Freelance's Guide To Starting A Business - The Easy Way

Filed Under: Earn A (better) Living Tagged With: getting clients

Supercharge Your Referrals With These 5 Steps

By David Leave a Comment

He just gave her an awesome referral!

The best way to get new clients is to get a referral from either someone you know. This is a shortcut to establishing trust between you and your prospective client because both of you already trust with the person making the referral. In geometry, this is known as the “transitive property”: if A = B, and B = C, then A = C. In your freelance business, this is simply good common sense!

You must be proactive in your pursuit of referrals. You can’t simply ask for referrals and then wait for an avalanche of new business. You will most likely be waiting for a long time, while everyone else has already forgotten. Don’t feel bad. People are busy. Your friends probably want to help, but they may not know how, particularly if they have never given a referral before (which is likely).

Do the following to maximize your referrals:

Make a list of everyone you know (friends, family, clients): Don’t leave out anybody. Don’t assume that one person or another may not know anyone. You have no idea. Plus, even if they don’t know anyone today, that doesn’t mean they won’t meet someone the following week.
Call or meet with each person on your list: Explain that what your business does and tell them you’d like to meet with a few business owners to see if you might be able to help them. It is important to be low key. The people on your list are your friends. If you want them to help you, be sure to take a casual approach.
Jog their memory: It is likely that when you initially talk to people, they won’t be able to think of anyone. This is normal, so you need to go one extra step. In order to jog the memory of the people on your list, you need to see the list of the people they know. Ask if they wouldn’t mind reviewing their contact list for people who might need your services.
Place a call now: When you find someone on their contact list, ask if they wouldn’t mind placing a call right now. You may be able to book appointments right on the spot.
Offer a free consultation: Help make the phone call easier for you contact by telling them you wish to offer a free consultation. Your first goal is to talk to the business owner. That is all you are trying to do with the referral. Once you are talking to your prospective client you can shift the conversation toward doing business.

Keep a list of everyone you meet and who referred you. When you first talk to business owners, you will likely begin by discussing how you both know the person who made the referral. You may trust that you’ll always remember who made the referral, but after you get a couple dozen referrals, it is very easy to forget.

Why you may not want to try this approach:

You probably think it’s too forward or too aggressive. Perhaps the idea of asking your friends to review their contact list seems invasive. Or maybe you are worried you won’t be able to do it, or that it simply won’t work.

Why you should do it anyway:

This approach is aggressive only if you act aggressive. Be casual and low-key. Don’t force anything on anyone. Remember, these are your friends. Not only should you always treat them respect, but they want you to succeed. They simply need a little guidance in how to help you. Plus, you aren’t asking your friends to sell anything. In fact, you are giving something away for free – your valuable time and expert advice in a free consultation.
Asking to review someone else’s contact list is invasive if you don’t know the person, or if you nag them about it. You are asking for permission. It is a suggestion in order to jog their memory. If they say no, then you should simply accept it.
If you fear that you can’t go through the process of asking and getting referrals, consider the alternative: you have no business. Keep in mind, you can make mistakes. You can even apologize to your friends if you feel the conversation didn’t go well.
If you believe the process won’t work, you have two choices: either do nothing, or try it and find out for yourself. If you don’t try this approach to getting referrals, you won’t get any new business. If you try and it doesn’t work, then you won’t get any new business. At least you gained experience. On the other hand, what if you get in touch with the people on your list and get 10 new clients, each paying $2000 for your services? You won’t know if you don’t try.