Sep252020 by Jyssica SchwartzNo Comments

Freelance Business Coaching — What is it & why should you care?

I get so many questions from new and aspiring freelancers — especially surrounding how to find and get clients, how to determine or raise prices, and how to “break up” with clients. Typically, I take the time to thoroughly write out an answer for each one, whether it’s on Quora, Facebook writing/freelancing groups, comments on my blog, or through email.

While I do still intend to write a guidebook of sorts for beginning freelancers with pitch examples, writing samples, scripts, contract templates, etc., I think doing one-on-one freelance business coaching is really helpful for people who want one-on-one help, advice, and accountability with a real person.

After all, having someone to answer questions, give direction and actionable steps to take, and hold you accountable may help you get more done!

I’ve been doing book coaching and free freelancing mentoring for several years now, and this felt like the perfect next step.

What is freelance coaching?

Great question! It’s basically interchangeable with career or business coaching — just focused specifically on freelancing.

It’s me as an expert, coach, and mentor to someone looking to start freelancing or for freelancers who want to level up and streamline their business.

Basically, if you want to start a side hustle as a freelancer selling your services or create a full-time freelance career, I can help!

Services include:

Deciding if you need a niche, and if so refining your niche
Marketing yourself and finding clients
Helping you pitch yourself to potential clients
How to determine your pricing/rates
How to negotiate rates with potential clients
How to raise your rates with existing clients
Time management and organization
Learning to identify “bad” clients/red flags and say no before ever starting to work with them
How to “break up” with a client you no longer want to work with
Helping you come up with copy for your website and write a bio
Free access to a contract template
Recommending free or low-cost tools and software that make your job easier (no affiliate links, no kickbacks, not required to use — just recommendations)

And more!

What do you think?

Are there services missing that you would find useful? Drop them in the comments and I can add them to the list!

Questions for YOU

Have you ever worked with a coach? What were your biggest positives and negatives when working with one?

Was there something that REALLY worked for you — or something that really, really didn’t and disappointed you?

I’d love to hear about YOUR experiences with coaches as the client and whether the coaching was “worth it” for you — or what would MAKE it worth it.

Thank you for your help!

Check out my book Concept to Conclusion: How to Write a Bookand learn everything you need to know to conceive of, outline, write, publish, and market a book!

Sign up for my mailing list for writing and freelancing news and information.

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May202020 by Jyssica SchwartzNo Comments

How to Expand Your Work With Existing Clients

Copywriting, Entrepreneur, JS, Medium, Sales & Marketing

Marketing and looking for new clients is extremely important for small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. It’s how you grow and expand, right?

When you’re looking for ways to expand your business, the first thing most people do is look for new clients.

This is not a bad thing! In fact, I know that effective marketing and sales is imperative to the success of any freelancer.

But there are two key things many freelancers and entrepreneurs overlook when they are wanting new/expanded business and more money.

#1: Expand your work with existing clients.

It is easier and less expensive to keep a client than it is to get a new one. Both in terms of money (such as any marketing spending or other customer acquisition costs) and time (time spent maintaining a current client versus the time it takes to market and talk to and retain a new one).

That’s why strong customer service is so important for small businesses and freelancers. People want to work with freelancers who do a great job, stay organized, and are easy to work with. They continue working with you because you get stuff done and make it easy for them to keep the relationship going.

Price and rates are not generally the deciding factor in maintaining a client/freelancer relationship — or not usually the main factor (after all, they already agreed to your rates and hired you).

So, you have great customer service, are easy to work with, and your client likes you. What’s next?

Now, it’s time to expand the work you do for them. You already have a foot in the door — why not blow the door wide open?

Consider your offerings and what the client is currently getting and send them an email or, as I prefer to do for this, have a casual conversation.

I don’t make it into a big thing or make some formal announcement, I just take every opportunity to expand what I do with my clients.

For Example:

If I am already writing the text and story of a Kickstarter/Indiegogo campaign, I ask them if they also want me to write a script for the demo video, a press release, and/or an email marketing campaign, too.

Or if I am already ghostwriting blogs/articles for a client, I always ask if they want me to come up with topic ideas, source photos, upload the blogs to their site, and if they want me to write a couple of social media posts for each one (but not post, I do not like doing social media management).

Or if I am editing a book manuscript, I’ll ask if they are also interested in having me upload it to Amazon for them (if self-publishing) or help them write a query letter (if looking for a literary agent).

And when they are interested or if they have questions, I let them know what my new/additional rate will be to add that service onto my existing contract.

“I’m happy to do that. It’s going to be $xx per month/total on top of your existing payment. I can just add it to the same invoice. Want me to get started on that now or wait until next month/billing cycle?”

If YOU make it into a big deal or sound nervous or you over-explain or you don’t sound confident, then the client may not want to expand your services with them — even if they love working with you already.

For me, it is always a super casual conversation. “Hey, I was thinking about how you’re going to market your blog/you said yesterday you were thinking about how to market your blog. I am happy to write up 3 social media posts for each blog post I write and include hashtags for you. It would be about $50 more. Let me know which social media platforms you get the most traction on and I’ll research appropriate keywords and hashtags.”

Or something like “I know you plan to do a marketing campaign for this. What’s the plan? [listen to plan] Sounds great. I can definitely do a press release and a series of marketing emails for that. Yes, it’ll be $xx and I’ll just add it to the next invoice.”

I try to not wait for a client to ASK if I do an additional service or specific thing. I bring it up as soon as I notice they need something and offer it to them before they even need to ask.

If they have to ask then they likely are already thinking about/pricing out/considering someone for the service. Part of my customer service and relationship management strategy is anticipating their needs.

This way, when I offer myself to expand my services, I am clearly looking out for their best interests, anticipating their next need, and proving my value over and over again. I know what comes next and am experienced enough to understand their upcoming needs sometimes before they’ve started thinking about them.

As the expert, this should be something you can do, too, and it will absolutely benefit you to verbalize it to the client as soon as you notice they’ll have another need soon. The longer you wait, the more likely they will find someone else or do it themselves.

It comes back to confidence and customer service. You must be confident in your own skills and that the work you do benefits and helps and is good for the client. And then sell it to them!

#2: Ask for referrals.

It might seem like a no-brainer, but you might be surprised at how many freelancers either forget to ask for referrals, feel it is too intrusive, and/or don’t follow up.

Here are the steps you should be following:

Every single time your wrap up a project, ask your client if they know of anyone who may need similar services. It can be as simple as: “Hey, it’s been great working with you! I currently have availability for 1–2 new clients, so if you know of anyone who needs writing or editing work please let me know.”
For monthly/retainer (not project-specific) clients, I just ask that same thing after the first month or so and again at the third and sixth month, and so on. Just every now and then mention that if anyone needs anything, I am happy to work with them.
Every 6 months or so, check in with former clients to ask how they are doing and if they need any work now AND if they know anyone who might need something. Try another simple/easy check-in like the above: “[name], Hi, I just wanted to check in briefly and see how you’re doing. I hope you’re well and that business is booming! It was great working with you on [XYZ] last year. Are you in need of any writing or editing services now? Or do you know of anyone who may need my services? Oh, and here are a couple of recent articles I wrote that you may find interesting — [link1] [linke2]. Thank you and have a great day!”

If a client had a good experience working with you, they will generally be happy to refer you to others. Plus, no minds a brief check-in to see how they’re doing. It keeps your name at the forefront of their mind and reminds them of the work you do. Plus you provided a couple of free resources or articles they might find interesting — heck, they might even share one of them with their network, giving you new exposure to their audience.

If you’re worried it is somehow intrusive to ask for referrals, then you are not thinking with the business in mind. Have you ever in your life felt intruded upon or offended by someone saying “Great working with you! If you know of anyone who could use my services please let me know.”?

It is not intrusive to ask for referrals. It is incredibly common and even expected to a certain degree. Besides, if a client enjoyed working with you and had a good experience, why wouldn’t they be open to referring others to work with you?

Referrals are the #1 way I get new clients these days. In the last 2 years, 90% of my new clients have been referrals from others.

Those are my two best tips for expanding services with current and former clients.

Are you already doing these two things? Or one of them? If not, do you plan to incorporate them into your process?

And if you do NOT do these things — why not? What is the block or why does it feel like you “shouldn’t” or “can’t”?

Check out my new book Concept to Conclusion: How to Write a Book and learn everything you need to know to conceive of, outline, write, publish, and market a book!

Sign up for my mailing list for writing and freelancing news and information.

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Feb62020 by Jyssica SchwartzNo Comments

The #1 Thing You Must Do to Be a Successful Entrepreneur

Entrepreneur, JS

When people ask me how I became profitable immediately when I started my business, I always answer the same way:

“I didn’t spend ANY money on websites, business cards, marketing, or software/tools. I started by going out and FINDING CLIENTS first. That was my top and only priority. I had to prove there was a viable market for my skills before investing in anything.”

I started by being proactive and marketing myself and directly messaging potential clients. I answered job ads, messaged people via Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook, and offered my services. My message told them I could provide value with updating their website copy/blogging for them/writing marketing copy/editing books, etc.

I attached 2–3 PDFs of writing samples I’d previously written and gave a link to my free online blog.

My first 4 clients: 1 was from a direct marketing email. 1 was from Reddit’s ForHire sub, I responded to a posted ad. 1 was a response to a free ad I’d posted on Craigslist looking for clients/work, and 1 was from LinkedIn, where I directly messaged some of my contacts who are business owners/founders/CEOs, etc.

And I still get clients via social media! (Here is an article showing how I use social media to find clients with examples!)

So, getting and having clients is obviously important to having a successful business. That makes sense. But this post is NOT about marketing, this is just background info.

So, what’s the #1 tip?

Sure, marketing yourself is really the top way to be finding and gaining new clients, but what is the tip I was talking about for being a successful entrepreneur?

The #1 thing you need to do to be successful in ANY business is to have GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I know I am a decent, even a good writer. Am I the best writer in the world? Heck NO.

BUT I am extremely easy to work with.

People LIKE me, and they like working with me.

I ask questions and dig in to really understand what they need and want. I take copious notes and remember their needs and questions. I am honest; if I don’t know the answer to something, I’ll always say “I’m not sure, let me find out and let you know.” I DELIVER on my promises. Overdeliver whenever possible (getting things done before a deadline, offering extra advice, sharing ideas, etc.). I update them on my progress on their projects, so they never wonder what I’m doing or if their work is getting done. I don’t charge extra fees on top of my stated and agreed-upon rates. I make sure I have a pretty flexible schedule so I can be available to jump on a call or respond to emailed questions. I RESPOND to emails and calls quickly.

I have made it my mission to be easy to work with.

And it has made a huge impact on my business. I get a ton of client referrals, more than some other writers and editors I know. I get clients who come back to ask to work with me on different projects or different types of work. They’ll say, “Hey, do you do XYZ? I know it’s not what you usually do but…”

I make sure to give them information for free on our first call. If they are an author, I talk about publishing options and comparisons and offer to introduce them to my cover designer, if they’d like (I get no kickback or referral fee from doing so). If they are a company looking for a blogger, I offer some free ideas for topics and ways we can use calls to action.

This is what makes ANY business successful, but especially an entrepreneur.

You don’t have to be the best, most perfect expert in the world.

You have to be good at what you do, of course.

But most of all, you have to be someone people WANT to work with.

Check out my brand new book Concept to Conclusion: How to Write a Bookand learn everything you need to know to conceive of, outline, write, publish, and market a book!

Sign up for my mailing list for writing and freelancing news and information.