How To Freelance With Little Experience

All too often people are discouraged by the idea of freelancing. Freelancing can be stressful regarding not knowing when your next pay check will come in, but the task itself is anything but difficult to accomplish when putting your best foot forth. Here are some tips to keep in mind when entering the realm of freelance work.

Make yourself stand out

The reality of competing against other applicants is that you both may be able to produce the same results, but the client wants someone they feel they can trust to get the job done on time and meets the client’s standards. Differentiation is key!

Update your resumé regularly and make sure the most up-to-date version is uploaded to your profile. Completely fill our your profile on job sites for freelancers, as well as professional networks like LinkedIn. Take the time to verify your account. Provide examples, references, and any credits applicable to illustrate you have not only actually completed the project listed in your profile, but that client was happy with what they received! Provide examples of your projects to illustrate your greatness beyond references and credits. Lastly, have a catchy tagline associated with your name so people can see how capable you are of offering something different.

Where to find work

There are endless websites to find work! Websites like: Elance, Fiverr, Freelancer.com, Guru and oDesk are some of the more popular ones, but work can be found even on sites like Craigslist and the Facebook Marketplace. Make sure to check the websites and your email daily for notifications and updates regarding a job you applied. Check daily rather than every other day so the client does not opt to give the job to another applicant over you due to lack of response time.

Highlight your qualities

Do not fall into the category “jack of all trades, master of none.” Define what you are good at to a specific skillset; about 5 to 7 skills will be fine. Try to have your skills correlate together in some aspect. For instance, copywriting, social media, and content marketing can all work together. Clients will be more inclined to award you with a job if they feel your skills align, as well as possibly persuaded to hire you for more than one job.

Keep your clients happy

This does not change from the salary world to the freelance realm. If your client is happy, they will hire you again over posting, finding, and hiring another … it is simply easier and more efficient on the client’s part. Simplicity goes far!

Send an initial job confirmation email to your client highlighting the expected completion time for the project you will be working on for the amount of money you will be receiving. This will further confirm you and your client are on the same page before getting half way through the project to realize something was miscommunicated. Proofread everything, and cross-reference information if accessible. Make sure to save your file by a simple to read title and the format (PDF, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.) you save will open on the client’s end. List your name, company (if you have one), word count, target market (demographics), and title at the top of your project.

After you have completed your assignment, sent the project over to the client, and received full payment from client for your work, follow-up with the client saying thank you for the opportunity to work together and if there is anything else they need completed in the future be sure to let you know. You can even take that final step and say you will put their work first before other clients, or some other benefit to reel them back in for more work.

If you have not already gathered, freelance work is far from scary, just time consuming. Fill out one profile and start from there to see who responds to your work. The worst that will happen is nothing if you don’t try!

Your Reputation Is Everything, But Why?

All anyone ever truly holds as their own is their name and reputation. A name determines your self-worth by representing who you are. Once a rotten connotation is associated to your person, all may be lost if recovery isn’t accomplished right away. Never let someone wrongfully slander or dismantle your reputation, always be on the alert for potential attacks.

People will always judge what they can see to make an opinion. It doesn’t matter if you are the sweetest person in the world … what people don’t know they don’t care about. Think about it this way … we make someone out to be a certain way just by what he or she wears. If we see someone in all black they must be depressed and if we see someone in all pink they must be an airhead. How did we get this way? By making assumptions that a person is a certain way based on an appearance that ultimately associates a type of person to that individual.

So what can you do to prevent destruction before riding into war?

·       Ignore bad comments on social media outlets. It is better to delete a negative comment and block someone rather than comment back. Trolls develop and people will never back down from a comment battle.

·       Not sure what to do? Do nothing at all. Making a move you are not 100% sure about could hurt you more than it would help.

·       Do what you say you are going to do. If you know you cannot follow through, revert back to elementary school rules and don’t make promises you can’t keep.

·       Take the extra step and go beyond what is expected of you.

·       Be likeable. Watch your body language when around others as you may not be aware of how you come off. Don’t cross your arms. Dress the part. Smile!

·       Be involved with your community and what is going on around you. This will not only be easy networking but reflect back upon you with clear and brilliant lighting!

Unfortunately, we live in a society where the opinion of others matters. If you happen to attach yourself to a bad personality, use it to your advantage like Oscar Wilde did with his reputation making him seem arrogant and isolated. He became unapproachable and feared even. You are the master of your fate, so decide where you want your future to be.

Content Marketing Trends For 2015

The Internet has been an evolutionary tool for user content since the start and especially since the social networking takeover of 2002. Since then, companies have worked hard to create a welcoming online presence for both everyday followers and its clientele.

Follow examples of Fortune 500 companies that make it a point of adding social media and online marketing content into their yearly budget. Why do the big companies care about online marketing? People don’t simply experience a company from an image splashed on the page of a magazine, a billboard, or hear a name or slogan on the radio on the way to work. A company’s reach and exposure frequency is strongly related to its social media and content marketing strategy.

Follow these online strategies to ensure a positive effect for your company’s content marketing and social media strategies:

Content Creation

Storytelling is a tool that has been used to influence and educate for centuries. This is how people pass on information and facts from one to the other overtime. Nothing should change for online content.

There is a need for good journalists, editors, and broadcasters in every business sector since most business graduates today lack grammar rules and writing techniques. This is so important to connect the consumer to a product or service. Consumers want to know what a product or service can do for them. The best way to do this is to create an image or relationship in the consumer’s mind. The artists of gab are best to do this as they sculpt the perfect persona of goodwill for a particular product or service that consumer will appreciate moving him or her along in the buying process.

Keep It Brief

Don’t be so vague not enough information is given, but don’t run on endlessly your viewers lose interest quickly. Keep in mind that most people are pressed for time. Keep it short and sweet with enough information alleviating further questions. Cut the clutter and leave the knowledge behind.

Bring Your Work(s) To Life

Use infographics, animations, images, and other call-to-action elements to pull the reader in for that “wow” effect. Link your image(s) to a website or blog. Not only will this boost impressions, it will give the viewer more information and let your viewer wander online.

Keywords Count

Basically, SEO focuses on the technical elements you are specifically searching for, whereas content marketing will drive the search rankings. Prior to the social media takeover in 2002, social media and content marketing were one in the same. Presently however, social media is the social interaction online and content marketing is the literal verbal or visible substance used to market the company, like the information you see on a company’s website.

Be consistent in your articles. As you write, use the same words throughout your article to boost the relevancy of that article, in turn boosting your article’s ranking in Google’s search. For example, if your article is covering how to roast the perfect turkey, use the words “roast”, “turkey”, and “Thanksgiving” or “holidays” consistently in your article so when someone searches “how to roast a turkey” in Google, your article will have a better chance of being discovered by the person searching the web for that how-to article.

Keep Your Viewers/Readers In Mind

Remember whom you are writing to. Be mindful of your language and the information you cover in your articles. Some things might be better left unsaid depending who might be offended by what you say. If there is potential for damage, just leave that part out.

This is a new era for marketing and its strategists giving even the smallest players a chance at the big win in the game of business takeover. New ways for businesses to grow are being discovered allowing an equal playing field for all businesses at any profit level. The making for a stable and elongated online presence is at the disposal of the company. Make your marketing content count!

Retro Logo Attracts Home Buyers

Branding is all about imagery. The colors, the shape, texture, even the layout of the images all have cognitive induced responses influencing customer’s reactions. There are certain logos that appeal to the building family more so than others. Triggers that work well for building companies are images that evoke a feeling for strong relationships, reliability, and personal interactions.

An old-school theme shows results. The new “grandpa graphic” has a 1940’s retro-styled feel and construction companies are taking advantage of how much their clients love the new look. The building and home improvement audiences like to see a logo they are familiar with.

This greatly improves upon the diversification of a construction company, as it is difficult to emerge against competitors when rivaling on a platform with the only real differences is between the products available and prices offered. The image your companies see should align with your services as well though. Do not commit to a visual upgrade if the services you provide lack in quality. Make an overall change if you are going to pledge to the change.

There are 5 prime ways to successfully brand yourself:

Know your audience

The construction industry is middle-aged. These people like what is easy, familiar, and low-cost-friendly. Look into the demographics of your customers. Know if they watch television for the news, or listen to the radio more. Are they conservative or like to live on the edge? Where your company is based will also be a factor to consider.

Uniqueness

Stand out! Even if this is giving away a free wrench with every service provided. The roofing and construction industry is a niche market since it is so technical. What is your unique product or service? What makes you different from the next contractor? If you are speechless, than some branding strategy may be in order.

Passion

Passionate people are educated people. If you are not passionate or educated learn to fake it. Make sure you can fake it for the long-run though as customers might lose interest if the short-run flair fades quickly. Think about influencers like Steve Jobs who are very passionate about their products and services. They don’t just tell you what the product or service does but describes it and will sell you on it on the simple fact that Steve Jobs is passionate.

Consistency

When customers receive a service and come back for more, they expect the same service when they return. With the saturation of the industry being filled with so many competitors consistency is something the customer can rely on. Take McDonald’s for instance … the customer knows he or she will receive the same Big Mac in Florida as in China.

Exposure

Posting on social networks helps, but posting to the right social networks has a greater effect. This relates back to the demographics of your customers. Know if he or she spends more time on Linkedin and Pinterest than Twitter and Facebook. Offer deals for customers who share your page. And remember, interacting with people is the social aspect of social networking … talk back to your patrons!

The retro logo speaks to a generation of people as well as gives light to a company in a niche market. Find a way to stand out in such a memorable way someone will have to fall through a roof to remember!