May162023 by Jyssica SchwartzNo Comments

9 Easy & FREE Marketing Ideas for People Who Hate Marketing

Books, Copywriting, Editing, JS, LinkedIn, Medium, Sales & Marketing, writing

I get it, I am a weirdo.

Perhaps an anomaly.

But I…(shhh, don’t tell anyone!) like marketing myself and my business.

No, no, don’t run away!

I know most people hate marketing themselves.

It can feel “braggy” to talk about yourself. There is anxiety when approaching strangers. What if the person/company doesn’t like your work? And, hey, marketing takes time away from other (paid) work.

“I’m just not good at it.”

“I don’t see the point.”

I have HEARD IT ALL.

And I still know it to be 100% true that if you market yourself, even a little bit, you will get back SO MUCH return and will be more profitable and successful FASTER.

So, instead of a lecture on why marketing is super important and why you really just need to do it, full stop, I am going to give you a few quick tips you can implement starting right now to do some marketing with minimal work or effort on your part.

None of the below ideas require you to spend hours researching or scrolling through social media or emailing individual companies and people. They are all free. And even just picking a couple and trying them will show you how useful this kind of marketing can be.

I CHALLENGE YOU:

Do just a couple of these things consistently for 60–90 days and see if you are getting more leads, more money, and better clients.

Just see if it works for you.

You may find that some things work better than others. Great! Drop the ones that don’t work after the first 30-60 days and focus on the things that are producing results. Maybe replace it with another item on the list if you have time to incorporate it.

You may be surprised that some of these end up being things you actually enjoy doing. Yes, I blog for my business — but I genuinely enjoy blogging!

1. Add your blog, books, and links to your email signature (and social bios).

Time it takes: 10 minutes (max)

Cost: Free

This is a super simple one. Add the links for your company, website, books, courses, etc. into your email signature and also into all of your social media bios.

It takes basically no time, and then they are there forever.

Here is my Gmail email signature:

2. Ask for referrals.

Time it takes: 10–20 minutes

Cost: Free

This is something you SHOULD be doing with every client, but it’s easy to forget.

Go through your spreadsheet or email folders or wherever and gather the list of previous clients you’ve worked with over the past, say two years.

Shoot them a super quick email saying hello and checking in, and letting them know you enjoyed working with them previously. Mention any exciting developments (you launched a new course, have new services, got married, etc.). And end it by saying, “If you or anyone you know anyone who needs _____ services, please let me know! I am currently looking to add 2 new clients to my roster. Thank you!”

You can even create a referral program where you give an old client $100 or a percentage of the first project you do with any client they refer.

If you decide to create a referral program, mention it in the same email!

Then, moving forward, every time you work with a client, ask for referrals. You don’t have to wait until you’re done working with someone. Once you’ve done some work for anyone, they have enough information to know they like working with you.

Always ask for referrals!

3. Upsell your existing clients for more services.

Time it takes: 10 minutes of conversation (or a REALLY good email)

Cost: Free

As a writer/editor, most first-time or prospective clients assume that writing or editing is all I do. They ask me about the cost of website copy, blogging, or editing a book, and that’s it.

However, I use the conversation to let them know about my other skills and other ways I can bring value to their business.

For example, instead of ONLY writing the blog post, I offer to source images, upload the post to their site (if they want), and create a social media post with the link, a quote from the article, and hashtags.

This takes a lot off their plate — uploading, scheduling posts, grabbing images, etc.

They then get excited when they realize I can do the entire process, which also helps them understand why my prices are what they are — because I’m worth it.

Or if I am editing for a client, I like to also offer my writing, fact-checking, research, and formatting services.

So, think about additional things you can do to make your existing services bigger. It is the easiest and fastest way to make more money!

If you offer graphic design and are brought on to update the website, talk about your logo creation services, too.

In most cases (in my experience), the client didn’t even think to ask if you also did these other things and are excited you can take more off their plate.

The result is more money from each client.

4. Create a free one-pager, article, infographic, 3-minute video, or other informational item related to your business.

Time it takes: 1–2 hours one time (+ long-term returns)

Cost: Free

This one and #5 work hand in hand.

You can offer a free opt-in item to anyone who is interested.

I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of popups on websites and blogs that say, “Get a FREE ____ workbook!” or “Click here to download a free 10-day meal plan!”

Those are free opt-ins.

You can create ANYTHING to be a free promo item. It could be a PDF of an article you wrote that is particularly valuable for your industry, a one-video short webinar on the topic you get asked about the most, a listicle of paid opportunities in your field, an infographic, a free ebook you’ve written — anything.

But having a free promo item helps you build your email list AND gets your name and work to a wider audience with basically no additional work from you.

Then you can add the link to your free promo item in your email signature and bios, at the end of blog posts, as a popup on your website. There are plugins for that OR you can do it via your mailing list site (see #5), and every time someone signs up for your free item, they are added to a mailing list and become leads.

5. Build an email list and send out newsletters.

Time it takes: 20 minutes to get started, then ongoing, maybe 30 minutes per newsletter

Cost: Free (depending on what resource you use)

I use a free MailChimp account for my email list and to send newsletters. If you choose a different service, this might not be free.

But MailChimp (and other email services) have free signup forms you can create and add to your website or blog to encourage people to sign up for your mailing list. In my MailChimp account, I can go to any audience and click on “Create a signup form” to get their form builder.

This is mine for my main mailing list, Schwartz Freelancer News

I have the link to my mailing list form (that “eepurl” URL at the top left) at the bottom of blog posts and on my website. You can also add it to your email signature, social media bios, and more.

Once I put it at the bottom of my blog posts, I started getting new signups every week!

Once you have a few signups, start sending out newsletters to your list. You choose how often you want to send them out and what they say. Do it consistently, similar to how you might create a blogging schedule.

I tend to only send out newsletters about once a month. I usually feature a recent (useful) blog post and mention what I am working on next and any announcements about my work or business.

Yours could be anything. They could be valuable resources you’ve found for people in your industry, a list of websites that pay for contributor articles, a recommended reading list, a recent blog post or video you posted, or anything!

But sending out newsletters keeps your name in peoples’ minds, engages with leads, and shows them the value you provide for free. They will be certain your paid services are worth your price.

6. Write and post blogs consistently.

Time it takes: 1–2 hours per blog

Cost: Free

Content marketing is super important, but all you need to know is that you should post more on your blog, whether that is on your website or on an independent platform like Medium.

Blogging consistently (I recommend at least once per week) will grow your audience and get you ranked higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Original content is huge for search engines.

And if more people find you from the SERPs, you’ll continue growing your audience and your credibility with useful content.

Bonus tip: Do some guest blogging! If you have a piece of content that could be a good fit on another site, shoot them an email and ask if they accept guest posts. Whether they pay or not, you’re widening your audience base and getting your name further afield.

7. Post on social media more often (& not necessarily work stuff!).

Time it takes: 5–10 minutes a couple of days a week

Cost: Free

You have an online business. You KNOW you should be using social media, even just a little bit every week.

Start making a point to post on social media 2–3 times per week. The posts do not need to be only about your business. In fact, most consumers prefer to see the humanity and authenticity behind the brand. Post about yourself, a cute photo of your pet, a challenge you are working through, anything.

Posting more often widens your reach and expands who sees you. And then, when they check your bio, they see all the stuff you do! It all works together.

Make sure to use hashtags when posting so that the people who follow those tags see your posts, and remember it doesn’t even have to be original content — you can retweet and share other people’s content. Tag them so their audience sees you, too.

Finally, don’t sleep on LinkedIn. I’ve gotten a bunch of clients through LinkedIn. Grab the post you just made on Facebook or Twitter and paste it into LinkedIn to share. Throw up a blog post from your blog onto LinkedIn’s platform occasionally. Just use it; there are so many business owners on that platform!

8. Get involved in a couple of Facebook or LinkedIn groups in your field of expertise and answer a few questions.

Time it takes: 10 minutes a couple of times per week

Cost: Free

You’re probably already in a few groups here and there for your industry. I am in a couple of writing groups on Facebook and LinkedIn. While I don’t check them every day, I do like to go in once or twice each week and answer some questions.

I have gotten new clients who told me they saw my comments in the FB/LI group and wanted to work with me.

I just answer questions with a few sentences. Not every day and not every question, but I go in and clearly answer a few things weekly to show my authority and continue to brand myself as a thought leader.

I am also not afraid to ask a question or two myself in the group and get some info from others.

It’s a great way to engage with people and get your name out without having to actively market yourself. It also shows off your knowledge and expertise. Win-win!

9. Join HARO & PodcastGuests to get featured in articles and podcasts.

Time it takes: 2–3 minutes to scroll through the list. 3-5 minutes per answer

Cost: Free

I’ve talked about HARO before, and I’m saying it here because it’s a great way to get free publicity and market yourself by getting quoted by other websites for free.

HARO stands for Help A Reporter Out and is at www.HelpAReporter.com. Go to the website and sign up as a “source.” It’s free and quick.

You will receive 3 emails per day from HARO with a list of all the writers and reporters looking for information and quotes for their articles. They always list out what they are looking for and the information they need, and in most cases, they list the publication.

If they like your response, they’ll quote you in the article and usually send you a link once it is published.

In case they don’t, I do a Google search of my name about once a month to see if anything new has been posted with my name.

If you’re interested in getting on podcasts, a similar free resource to HARO for podcasts is podcastguests.com. Sign up and you’ll receive daily emails about podcasts actively looking for people to interview on their show. You can very quickly fill out a Google form for each one you’re interested in.

Not only is this a great free way to get your name even further out there and pops up when people search your name, but it ALSO is a great addition to the Media page on your website. My media page lists everywhere I have been featured or directly interviewed, including podcasts. It just adds to my credibility when people look at my website and search for me online.

Here’s my media page: https://jyssicaschwartz.com/media/

An Important Note:

James M. Ranson, a close friend of mine who is also a successful freelancer, wants to add his thoughts to this post. This comes directly from his own experience:

If you look at these 9 marketing tips and just don’t want to do any of them or don’t see the point in doing them, you may not have a marketing issue — you may have a business problem. Take some time to reflect and make sure that you are happy with what you do and offer and the work you produce. Revisit what you do, why you do it, who you do it for, and how you feel about doing it.

If you aren’t excited to share it, you may not be doing the thing that is right for you. And that’s ok! It’s totally fine — even encouraged — to reassess and pivot to a new offering or work that you like more.

Be ruthlessly honest with yourself about what’s working for you around those things and what isn’t. Then use what you find to tweak, refine, pivot, or even completely revamp your business into something you’re excited to do at least SOME of these 9 marketing tasks for.

May32023 by Jyssica Schwartz1 Comment

Branding vs. Marketing vs. Sales

Copywriting, Entrepreneur, Medium, Sales & Marketing

When it comes to branding and entrepreneurship as a whole, authenticity is often far more important than any “sales tactics” or marketing plans.

Those things are also incredibly important — essential for businesses to thrive, in fact.

Let’s first take a look at the concepts

Branding

Branding is “the promotion of a particular product or company by means of advertising and distinctive design.”

Basically, branding is how you and your company are presented to the world. Your name, logo, color choices, fonts, banners, mascots, etc.

Your branding is a marketing tool and is what allows your company to stand out from the competition. When done right, it helps build trust and even support your mission and vision as a business.

Think about the Nike swoosh — I don’t have to put an image; you know exactly what I’m talking about. No matter where you see it or if it has text with it, you know exactly what brand it represents.

Marketing

Marketing “refers to activities a company undertakes to promote the buying or selling of a product, service, or good.”

In other words, marketing is really what you’re using the branding FOR. For example, doing a paid ad campaign on social media or sending an email blast to your list.

You use your branding to make your marketing strategies cohesive and recognizable.

Almost anything can be a marketing tool, a driver of traffic to your product or service.

As an example, (some of) the books I’ve written are marketing tools for my writing and editing business. I write about freelancing and books and writing, therefore, people who read them understand that I am knowledgeable about the subject and might reach out to me to hire me.

Your social media accounts, especially those tied directly to your business, are marketing tools. You use them to announce new products, give information, and engage with your audience.

Sales

Sales is “a transaction between two or more parties in which the buyer receives tangible or intangible goods, services, or assets in exchange for money. … Regardless of the context, a sale is essentially a contract between the buyer and the seller of the particular good or service in question.”

Essentially, a sale is a short-term, sometimes one-time interaction. It is transactional in nature.

But marketing is a longer-term, more relationship-based activity. Sure, it exists to drive sales, but that is not its only purpose. It is meant to engage with your target market, promote the company, build relationships, and advertise the services/goods.

How does authenticity come into play?

Authenticity is imperative in today’s world.

With the advent of the internet and how connected we are, the world has become a smaller place. Customers can easily look up any company and learn about its business practices, mission, social impact, how they treat employees, and so much more.

Customers are smart — and they have more options than ever before.

If customers don’t like how you do business, there are a dozen other companies they can turn to.

And if they don’t trust you, they will not buy from you.

Authenticity is being real and genuine. For businesses, it often goes hand-in-hand with transparency, integrity, sincerity, and building genuine relationships with your customers.

No matter how beautiful your branding or masterful your marketing, without authenticity, you cannot reach the success you want.

If you want to stand out, you must figure out how to be authentic.

And it needs to be real.

Customers will see through fake authenticity.

Think about it — do you trust Facebook?

Probably not. They have had too many issues with data, privacy, and gobbling up the competition.

Sure, you might still use it, but you’re not an advocate of the brand, and it’s all too easy for you to bash it, even on its own platform!

What are some signs of fake authenticity?

Not delivering on promises your business makes. If your customers are not getting the quality they expect, are missing pieces of the product, or are unable to get a promised refund, etc., how can they believe you care about your product or your customers?
Pretending you/your business is perfect. Perfection is highly overrated — most customers would rather see reality than an airbrushed image of perfection. And since most people don’t trust perfection, you will lose customers.
Companies that claim they have a social mission but are unable to prove it.
Companies that only support certain groups or say they are allies during the month it is celebrated — Black History Month, Pride Month, etc. If you only post a picture of a rainbow cookie in June but never support LGBTQIA+ the rest of the year, we notice. Allyship shouldn’t be just a marketing tool or performative.
The same goes for gender and minority equality. You can say you support it, but if you have 2% female or POC leadership and a wage gap — then you don’t.
Fake before and after shots or dramatically photoshopped images.

Authenticity in Marketing

Those were some ways companies come off as not genuine or real. But how do you show your authenticity in marketing and on social media?

The answer is both simple and complex: be yourself, be honest, and have fun.

Companies are neither perfect nor relatable. PEOPLE are relatable and real.

Instead of going for polished perfection, aim for human and genuine.

Look at the way some major corporations have let their social media managers have fun and be human and silly.

Take a look at some of the small business creators on TikTok that have gained huge followings just by being themselves — they talk about the highs and lows of owning a business, share trials and triumphs, and above all, show themselves as human.

@ktscanvases, @jenonajetplane, @lindatongplanners, @belexieshoppe, @modernyarn, and genuinely so many more.

Larger businesses can follow the same template: show your work, show yourself, and be honest.

Highlight employees, show any social impact projects you’re involved in, and discuss the challenges and successes of your business.

When it comes to authenticity, it is NOT a “fake it ’til you make it” process. It’s the opposite — be real ’til you grow.

Be authentic, and success will follow.

Jun142021 by Jyssica Schwartz1 Comment

24 Ways To Market & Sell Your Book

Books, JS, Sales & Marketing

Use your book as a marketing tool to grow your business!

Few authors make a livable income from selling their books alone (including me!). However, there are many ways having written a book allows you to make more money, by attracting new clients, growing your business or brand, and positioning yourself as an authority — which will lead to you raising your prices for your services.

You may come to see that writing your book is the easy part, and it’s the marketing and selling it which can be difficult and sometimes frustrating.

Using your book as a marketing tool to serve yourself and your business, and marketing your book to sell copies are two separate things and you should approach them differently.

An example of using your book as a marketing tool is if you use the fact that you’re a published author in the industry as a selling point or credential to land a speaking engagement.

An example of marketing your book for sales is bringing copies of your book to a conference, book fair, or speaking engagement and selling copies to attendees while there.

Marketing your book can sometimes feel like a second job, but it’s an important aspect in book publishing, no matter how you choose to publish! If you go with traditional publishing, the publisher will have ways to market your book, but it will still be up to you to do a lot of your own marketing, too.

Having written a book allows you to:

Launch or further your personal brand (or that of your company).
Position yourself as a thought leader and an expert in your field.
Give yourself an immediate perception of authority, credibility, and legitimacy.
Attract clients and act as a lead generator, which helps you sell more products or services.
Provide a straightforward way to educate people on your industry or topic.
Create a passive income stream.
Launch or grow a business.
Provide more opportunities for media and publicity.
Open doors for getting into public speaking or consulting.

24 Book Marketing Ideas

Here is a list of 24 marketing ideas. Hopefully, this list will spark some ideas and inspiration in you and you may come up with new ideas I’d never think of!

Create an opt-in within your book to add to your mailing list (see chapter six for more on this).
Use HARO and PodcastGuests to be featured in articles and podcasts.
Run a preorder campaign before you launch.
Create a Goodreads account and connect your book to your name there.
Write an article on LinkedIn.
Write a blog post on your personal blog.
Do some guest posts on other people’s blogs.
Announce your book to your email lists.
Update your website with your new book and a link to purchase.
Create targeted ads on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Run a Google AdWords campaign.
Write and distribute a press release.
Do livestreams on Facebook or YouTube with Q&As and talk about your book and the writing process
Do a Reddit AMA (“Ask Me Anything”).
Host a book launch party.
Do book signings at local bookstores or libraries.
Make simple graphics on sites like Canva to post on various social media platforms.
Submit your book to websites that do editorial reviews.
Send your book to individual reviewers who post on their own platforms.
Put an excerpt of a chapter or two on Wattpad and include a link to purchase the rest.
Do a giveaway.
Try a Kindle Countdown deal (price promotion) or use other Amazon promotional tools available to you through KDP (if you enrolled in KDP Select).
Be a speaker at an event or conference (and bring copies of your book to sell).
Attend book fairs, festivals, and conferences (you can even purchase a booth and bring plenty of copies to sell).

Get creative and think about how you can get your book or information about you in front of a wider audience. These are only some of the ways you can market and advertise your book, and I know you’ll be able to come up with many more.

It’s up to you whether you choose to use your book as a marketing tool or market your book at all. Just know that being a published author can serve you well in your life and business.

Check out my 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! Or check out my first-ever beautifully illustrated kid’s book I Love You Bigger Than All The Stars In The Sky.

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

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3 Steps You Must Take After Publishing Your Book

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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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Jan172018 by Jyssica SchwartzNo Comments

8 Lessons I Learned in My First Year of Freelancing

Entrepreneur, JS, Medium, Sales & Marketing, writing

I got my first freelancing clients almost on a whim, on October 31st, 2016. I began working with clients in the evenings and weekends for November, December, and January.

Once I realized that being a writer was a viable career for me and people were willing to pay me, I made plans to quit my day job as a Director of Business Development at a recruiting firm.

Friday, January 27, 2017 was my last full-time day at my day job.

I was a freelancer.

Though I did a lot of research and asked many questions, I had a lot to learn. Now that I am at a year of freelancing, here are some things I have learned. Use this and make new mistakes and learn new lessons, instead of the ones I’ve made for you.

1. If someone is willing to pay you, then you are skilled enough.

When it comes to freelancing, especially something as subjective as writing, many potential freelancers question their abilities and whether or not their writing is “good enough” for them to be a writer as a full-time career.

Instead of trying to find a way to judge your writing, use your clients as a barometer. If people look at your writing samples and are willing to pay you, then you are definitely good enough.

Pack away the insecurity and focus on improving and on the work for your clients. There is no point in questioning yourself so much, and that insecurity can lead you to not marketing yourself or not having the confidence to attract new clients.

2. You are definitely not charging enough.

Pricing yourself is an exercise in frustration sometimes. You do tons of research on what other people are charging, you try to undercut them, but then you may find that the lower price makes it not worth your time.

As a freelancer, time is your commodity.

Whatever you’re charging, it’s too low. I have seen it time and again from freelancers, including myself, where we are charging one price, but then the actual time the project takes is more than we thought, or there is more research involved or the project is longer, and suddenly your “decent prices” are only getting you $20 an hour.

Charge more. The good clients will pay you for your skills.

And remember: Just because writing comes easily to you does not mean it should be cheap. If clients could do it themselves, they wouldn’t need to hire you. Your skill is valuable.

3. Learn to identify “bad” clients.

The clients who email you at 3 am expecting an immediate response, or who are constantly changing the specs of the project. The ones who are never happy.

The ones who harass you about your prices over and over until you offer a discount.

Just say no. It’s difficult to turn away clients, especially when you are new to freelancing, but the hassle and difficulty in dealing with them and the extra time it takes for you, on top of the lower rate, will bring you down. Not only that, but they take away from the clients who would be paying your regular rate and be great to work with and appreciate you.

Here is a piece I recently wrote about how to identify the bad or negative clients before you start work.

4. Your business will continue to evolve.

When I first started freelancing, I was doing almost entirely one-off articles and blogs for clients and charging per-word prices.

A year later, I have evolved and changed the work I do as I learned more what I enjoyed and how it makes sense for me. Now, I focus on monthly retainer clients and having long-term relationships with them instead of one-time projects, have developed a book coaching service, and have been able to try things I never thought I would — like writing a comic book!

Be open to new experiences and allow yourself to evolve and grow and change as the work you enjoy evolves. Do not force yourself to stick to just one type of work. Try new things, get creative, stay interested.

5. You don’t HAVE to have a niche.

One piece of advice I saw a lot of at the beginning of freelancing was to “just pick a niche and specialize!”

I prefer significant diversity in what I work on, so instead of focusing on one industry or type of client, I chose to be a generalist. This has allowed me to have a ton of experiences and learn new things.

I have blogged for law firms, medical cannabis companies, business consultants, life coaches, real estate investors, cryptocurrency and blockchain companies, professional speakers, and more. I’ve edited fiction, nonfiction, and even a children’s book.

As a self-described jack of all trades, I have gotten to explore opportunities I would never have if I’d just stuck to sales, marketing, and career coaching, which my 10 years of corporate experience prepared me for.

Don’t be afraid to try something new and to be a generalist! It’s so much fun having a diverse client base and getting to work on something different each day!

6. Building good relationships is the backbone of my business.

I like to know my clients. Who are they? Why do they love what they do? What are they hoping to get out of the writing services?

Creating a monthly retainer business model has allowed me to have longer relationships and really get to know my clients as people.

I have weekly calls with each of my clients to manage expectations, discuss the tasks and work for the week, and stay connected.

Having been in corporate business development for so long, I deeply acknowledge and understand the strength and use of a great relationship with the people you’re selling to.

Really make a point to get to know your clients as people. Ask questions and be kind and genuine. That relationship is so important! Nurture it!

7. You don’t need a portfolio.

Portfolios are not a bad thing, you CAN have one. But you don’t NEED one to get started as a writer.

As long as you have writing samples, you are good to go. You can publish those samples on a blog or site, or you can just have them as PDFs you attach to emails.

Much of my work is ghostwritten, so even though I have tons of published blogs and articles, none of them would be able to go into a portfolio.

When I first started, I grabbed pieces from my personal blog and wrote a couple samples, and that is all I had to show. These days I direct people here to my Medium blog!

8. Just write. Get started now.

The best thing I learned through my freelancing journey so far is that you don’t need to be super prepared or have a website and business cards and a fancy briefcase.

You can just go out and find ONE client. As soon as you have one, find another.

Figure out the rest as you go. You can research contracts and build a WordPress site later. For now, go out with your writing samples and find a client. The rest will come after.

Dec182017 by Jyssica SchwartzNo Comments

Relationship Building for Freelancers: How to Get & Keep Clients

Entrepreneur, JS, Medium, Sales & Marketing

Apparently, most writers aren’t good at marketing and many salespeople aren’t the best at writing. Or at least that is what people keep telling me.

I am lucky enough to be both, which has been extremely successful for me. It has truly been my superpower, which allowed me to be my own boss and get my business up and running very quickly.

Relationship building is an extremely important skill. Many people who consider themselves extroverted or a ‘people person’ may also find that they are strong at job interviews and good at networking in group settings.

However, more introverted people may find themselves at a surprising advantage in the one-on-one relationships and phone calls which freelancing often requires.

95% of my work and communication is done via email, text, slack, Facebook messenger, etc. And while I am an outgoing, talkative person, this mode of communication is fast, easy, and best of all — does not require pants. But there are ways to be great at phone calls and written communication.

Phone Calls & Relationships

When it comes to winning over potential clients, I believe in the power of a great conversation.

When a prospect is asking me about pricing and information, I don’t just shove my website in their face and tra-la-la away to my next task.

I ask them for a time to jump on a phone call. Instead of giving them a straight-up price, I explain that prices depend on needs and scope of projects, and that monthly retainers are often less expensive than paying per project, per word, or per hour. I say:

“The price depends on your exact needs and can also be impacted by how long we plan to work together. Are you available this afternoon or tomorrow to jump on a short call with me? I can do 3pm EST today or 1pm-4pm tomorrow.”

What I have done here is set them up to expect individual, customized attention and pricing for their needs, and after mentioning the call, instead of leaving it open-ended, I have provided specific time frames.

People are psychologically more likely to respond to the specific timeframes than just a general request for a phone call. It also shows my professionalism. I am available right away, but at specific times. I know my schedule and keep it. I am also punctual.

Once I get them on the phone, I’m golden. I love talking to people and it shows. I smile while I talk to them, I ask and answer questions. I show them my value by giving free information. For example, if we are discussing blogging, I’ll throw out a couple of facts and statistics about SEO and content marketing. If they want book coaching, I tell them what the process looks like and give them information on general lengths of books in different genres and discuss pros and cons of traditional versus self-publishing.

Another thing I do is weekly phone calls with each of my clients. It is a chance for us to check in, update them on my work and progress, and sets and manages expectations on both sides for the week ahead. It also serves to continue to build and solidify our working relationship.

Email & Relationships

Because most communication is done over email, I make sure to let them know what I am up to or ask questions when I need. I am professional but personable over email, saying “hey” and using their first name, unless they have specified not to or are much more formal.

My clients never need to ask what I am working on or where I am at with their work because I make sure to let them know.

I offer free email support to my book coaching clients and make sure to respond to people in a timely manner.

Once they are my clients, I stop selling them. They know what my services are and if they want additional ones, they always let me know. I don’t try to promote my other services or upsell them anymore unless they ask. I might say offhandedly, “Hey, you may not have thought about it, but some social media management would work really well with what we are doing now and would promote your company faster and better. Here are a couple of examples ___. Let me know if you want to discuss it further, and I am also happy to recommend a couple of other fantastic people.”

Because that shows it’s not about ME. It is about what is best for THEM and their company. I’m not saying it just to make more money, I even offered to refer them to someone else!

That is because honesty, trustworthiness, and transparency are the pillars on which I have built my business. I am not afraid to say “I don’t know,” and then go find the answer. I am not so self-centered as to think I’m the only person who can do what I do or even the best at it.

I am selling prospects on working with me, specifically, not with a writer in general. They don’t only need to know the benefits of writing, they need to see what working with me will be like. How well do I communicate? Do I remember information from previous conversations (I do, I take notes)? Do I listen to them and understand their pain points and have ways to solve those problems? Do I talk more about them than myself?

Clients & Relationships

You should be approaching a client relationship in a similar way to a new friendship. You want them to like you and you don’t want to scare them off.

Sales is not about just getting that dollar amount. It is about getting someone who WANTS to work with you and KEEP paying you that dollar amount.

But it’s more than sales. As a solo entrepreneur, how I represent myself to anyone is literally the face of my business. I am myself, but professional. I am knowledgeable, able to show strong writing samples, and deeply understand the process and the business of writing.

Being nice, kind, a good listener, asking the right questions, showing your value — that is how you get and KEEP a client.

Jun142017 by Jyssica Schwartz3 Comments

Where Do Freelance Writers Find Clients?

Medium, Sales & Marketing, writing

One of the questions that I get asked the most and see on writing forums all the time is “where do you find clients?”

I’ve talked about this before, discussing ways to start making money right away as a writer.

But something I keep seeing even more of recently is this: “I got my first client! The pay is terrible, but it’ll be a professional piece for my portfolio!”

It’s awesome that you got your first paying client, but you have to get out of the mentality of doing something for low to no money just for your “portfolio.”

I am a full-time professional writer and editor, and I do not have a portfolio. I have writing samples and links I can send people, and even PDFs.

Instead of focusing on needing pieces for a professional portfolio and spending the time and energy even making a portfolio, start with having a couple of articles completely written, edited, and finished. Even if you’re just posting them on your blog, or your Medium page, or holding on to them as PDFs.

Write a couple of samples. That is IT. Once you have a couple articles, you can use those as samples when marketing yourself to new clients.

Things that are a waste of time before you have any clients: a professional website, a fancy portfolio, a marketing budget, and professional headshots.

I spent exactly $0 before getting my first 4 clients.

I spent $0 before getting the next several clients after that. In fact, the first money spent on being a writer was getting a new laptop once it was clear that I could make money as a writer. And I only got a new laptop because I was using my husband’s computer and he wanted it back.

Marketing and a professional website are useless at first because no one is searching for you or knows who you are. Don’t spend your time (or money) on that yet. Eventually, you’ll want a website, I’m not saying it’s useless! You just don’t need it to get started.

Respond to ads on Craigslist and Reddit. Give them your writing samples. Same goes for reaching out to people on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or other social media.

Here is a message I was sending:

“Hi, I’m Jyssica and I am a professional writer and editor! I am located in NYC and am available for new projects immediately. My 10 years of sales experience means I write well-suited-for-marketing copy and can work with you to create website or ad copy, blogs, and more. I also edit books! I noticed your website’s blog has not been updated in 6 months. Would you be interested in a couple of blog posts? I can provide writing samples. When are you available to talk?”

Bam. I have introduced myself, given an example of why I am an expert, identified a specific area I can help them with, offered writing samples, and asked to set up a call.

Sales 101. Identify a specific need and offer a solution.

I sent variations of that message directly to businesses over social media, especially LinkedIn and Instagram, and got a good response rate. Most people answered, “what are your rates?”

My response was ALWAYS that the rate depends on their needs, as I can charge per word, per project, or monthly rates, and they depended on the scope of the work and their budget. My next sentence was always “Do you have 15 minutes today to talk? I can get an idea of your needs and we can discuss prices.”

By giving people individual attention and focusing on their needs, I found new clients quickly. And for free.

Don’t undervalue yourself just to make $10. Spend an extra few days finding clients and marketing yourself and make more money.

Market yourself. Most writers don’t make their salary from content mills. Instead of signing up for a content mill and calling it done, do that as only one tiny part of an overall strategy for finding clients.

Making money as a freelance writer is absolutely possible, and it can be a sustainable career choice. But if you decide not to market yourself or try to find clients, you will find that it will be a much slower process to making a decent living.

I’m not just throwing words around for no reason. This strategy worked for me.

I was making just about the same salary from when I was in corporate sales by my fourth month of being a freelance writer.

Photo Credit: http://bsnscb.com/money-wallpapers.html

Jan242017 by Jyssica SchwartzNo Comments

Social Media Marketing

JS, Sales & Marketing

Social media is extremely important these days. If you don’t have social media accounts and a website, how will people find you, ask questions, learn about you, and buy your product?

With more and more business and commerce happening online, you MUST have an online presence to compete.

More than that, social media is a fun, free marketing tool. It’s a great way to engage directly with your audience, talk back and forth to individuals, look for new products, services, and clients, and share fun pictures and content that show you off in a great way.

Since you control the posts, you’re able to have fun with what you’re sharing. Share work content, fun behind the scenes pictures, pictures of your office, and more. Share personal anecdotes and moments, and really connect with your audience.

Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and more are ways that really allow you to show off your brand and grow in an organic way, creating a loyal fanbase and a way to share things on multiple platforms, to different audience and target audience members, and allows you to interact in a very real way with people.

As our economy has recovered and as technology has progressed, it is clear that online shopping has become the norm. From clothes, to groceries, to office supplies and books, the trend is only moving further towards an all-online life.

You must use social media to stay relevant, so why not enjoy it? I love using Instagram and connecting with people, posting pictures of my work and my cat, pictures I find online that make me laugh, and pictures of my real life. Who I am on social media is no different than who I am in real life. I represent myself as accurately as possible.

I also post links to my articles and posts, and market my writing and editing business. As odd as it may sound to some, Instagram specifically has been amazing, and I have gotten many clients from meeting and talking to people on there. Others from referrals, and classic sales emails and calls.

When using social media for marketing, try to follow the 80/20 rule, where 80% of your posts are either informative or fun, and only 20% are your products or services and “sales-y.” If you come off as only a salesperson, people aren’t going to want to engage with you.

While social media isn’t the only tool in my sales and marketing kit, it is a major one, and one that I enjoy utilizing. It’s also something I do for my clients, helping with expanding social media, and social media management. Posting and sharing and hashtagging and engaging with people.
If you’re interested in checking out my social media, here is my Instagram, Twitter, and Linkedin!