Hello again, it’s that time again.
No, not your birthday. (Unless it is, then Happy Birthday you!)
In this week’s issue of Freelance Chi you’ve got some marketing, some service strategy, some process, and lots of advice.
Let’s get right into it.
Listen to the Freelance Chi podcast #4
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How I Marketed My Agency so Well I Turn Clients Away Daily (and You Can Too) (kurtelster.com)
Kurt Elster posted a great article on the tactics he used over the past six months to build a client pipeline. You might have heard of all of these tactics before but I haven’t seen them combined in this way.
(If you only read one article in this issue, make it Kurt’s. Seriously.)
How Freelancers Can Break Free From Billing by the Hour (mashable.com)
Brian Casel outlines three alternative business models freelancers can use to complement, supplement, or replace time-based work.
The Freelancer’s Guide to Long-Term Contracts (theadmin.org) SPONSOR
Long-term contracts have been the one technique that really made my freelance business a success. So successful in fact that I’m able to work one week each month, taking the rest of the month off, and still make enough to live off of. This training teaches you how.
5 Unconventional Ways To Attract More Clients (bidsketch.com)
Mark wrote up five marketing tactics that are different than what you normally hear about. Doing “Pro Bono” work through open source built my business early on (and continues to pay off).
When the client won’t tell you their budget (freshbooks.com)
It’s important to qualify every potential client with a question about their budget to see if they are even in the right range for you. I’ve had a lot of success with: “Do you have a budget you’ve set aside for this project? And is it over $X?” where X is the regular amount my clients spend.
A Freelancer Guide to “Calling in Sick” (bidsketch.com)
Heading into winter means we’re going to be stuck indoors more, which means getting sick more often. Christina Gillick writes about what to do to prepare for sick days as well as what do actually do when they happen.
The most useful business advice you’ll ever get from me (pjrvs.com)
If you don’t see the value in building actual connections with people, Paul Jarvis’s article might change your mind.
How to discover who’s going to be a terrible client (theadmin.org)
Bad clients suck but terrible clients can ruin your month (or year, or entire business if you let them).
Thanks, I’ll see you next week.
Eric Davis (@edavis10)
P.S. If you have a favorite freelancing or consulting blog that you get a lot of value out of, please let me know because I’m looking for more sources to share with everyone. Thanks.