Posts Tagged ‘blog’

Hey guys, and welcome to Part four of this series!

I’m really happy with the feedback and response I’ve gotten so far with this series. The first three parts have generated 22 comments! That’s pretty darn good for a new blog. (In my opinion at least)

So without further adieu, let’s introduce Part Four.

In this part of the series “The Freelancer’s Guide”, we are going to discuss How To Deal With Clients, basically just some tips to deal with clients.

This is extremely important when freelancing. One thing I should mention though, is don’t be too nice. Now, I’m not a mean person by any means, but hear me out.

In some cases, when you are too nice, and too giving with a client, they may try and walk all over you. They might try and get you to work cheaper than you can, and don’t let this happen. If you decide you can’t work for less than a certain price, than stick to it!

With that said, on with part four.

When dealing with clients, once you already have the job, (Part two ) you need to deal with your clients in a respectful manner.

Slang

This is so unprofessional in my opinion. When your speaking with a client, be it over the phone, through email, or on instant messenger, you should never use words like “yo” or “dogg” or “omg”, “lol” or whatnot. Speak with good English, and have good grammar, as well as put stress on your spelling.

Attitude

When dealing with a client, you need to have a good attitude about the job you are doing. Don’t be a “You get what you get” freelancer, and work with the client to achieve the best results.

If your a jerk, and don’t reply to emails, don’t work with the client, you’ll do two things.

1. You won’t satisfy exactly what they need/want.
2. You will most likely never work with them again.

These are just a few things that you need to remember when working with a client. It’s important because not only does decide whether you will ever work with a client again, it will also trash your reputation, and that will only hurt you.

Well, that’s pretty much it for this part, it’s a short one, but it’s full of some great information that as a freelancer you need to use. Stick around for the last (but not least) part in this series, where we’ll cover How to Create a Workflow when you have multiple clients.

Ok guys, this is a little contest just to foreshadow the upcoming one.

All you need to do to enter in this one is subscribe to the rss via email and comment on this post. Then all entrants will be placed in a randomizer on May 14th, (the blog’s one month anniversary) and a the winner will receive a one month 125×125 advertisement and a free review. (Total worth: $45) I know it’s a small contest, just something to foreshadow the huge one coming up, and keep my readers satisfied and rewarded for being so loyal.

In regards to that contest, we have over $4000 in sponsored prizes and growing every day.

So just comment on this post + subscribe to the feed via email and you’ll be all set.

In other news, Part Four of my series “The Freelancer’s Guide” will be out tomorrow and coming up this week we will have a very special review from a well known and respected internet entrepreneur, so stay tuned for that as well. Have a great evening my friends!

Well, part three is finally here. (Yay!) In this section of the series, “The Freelancer’s Guide, we’ll speak about how to gain repeat clients, or “regulars” as you might call them.

When your in a position where you have a client or two, (or three! ) that come to you with work every month, every other week, or even five or 6 times a month, you are greatly benefiting from this “relationship”. Why? Well, it’s not only because you have a lot of work, equaling a lot of revenue, but it’s due to the fact that you now have a steady income. Everyone knows that freelancing is a risky business, due to the fact that you may have too many jobs to take on one month, and absolutely nothing the next three months. This makes it tough and stressful, because you never, ever know when you will have work.

This is where having regular clients comes in handy.

When you have these repeat clients, you have something to fall back on really. It gives you more “job security” if you will, as you know, “Well, I haven’t had a job in three weeks, but I know Bill has that project I’ll be working on.” In some situations, a repeat client won’t help you. So what if you get one $50 banner job each month from them, you still need more to live off of. Right? Well that’s the beauty of having “regulars”, not a “regular”.

You see, when your in a situation where you have, say, five clients that bring you 3 jobs a month, each worth, $125 on average, that’s $375 per client, times five, equaling $1875. Now imagine you have 10 clients bringing you the same quantity of work each month, and you are making $3750 per month, and that’s just from the clients you know will bring you work. Then factor in a few other jobs, and your looking at around $4,000 a month if you play your cards right. That’s how having repeat clients will help you.

But enough about why you should have repeat clients, let’s talk about how to get repeat clients.

Gaining a repeat Client

I’m going to be honest with you, it’s not easy.

If a client can find someone who will work $5 cheaper, and their work is of similar quality, your off the MSN list.

So how can you achieve being a clients “go to” man, and their only choice? How do you get a client to only turn to you, and not even get price quotes from other freelancers? Let’s talk about how.

When you have a client that you see is bringing you fairly steady work, speak to them about it. Mention to them that you would like form a better business relationship with them.

Something that I have done that brings in more and more work is this.

Tell them that you have a pricing chart, and that if they bring 5 jobs or more to you a month, they get, say a 5% discount, and if they bring 10 or more, a 10% discount.

Do things like this, and maybe doing them a favor here and there, and bam!, you’ve got a repeat client.

It’s a pretty simple thing, but it will really help you, as I spoke about above.

Also, what you can do is be real friendly with them, always giving them “special treatment” if you will, and you will form a trust. This trust is extremely beneficial, as they will start viewing you as “their” graphic designer, not just some graphics dude that does my banners. When you reach this point, your pretty much locked in, and you will have a much more steady stream of jobs, therefore creating a steady income.

Well, that will conclude Part Three of the series, “The Freelancer’s Guide” and I hope you really liked it, and will use the tips. Any suggestions you have, I would love to see them in the comments, so feel free. Also, stick around for Part Four, in which I will be bringing out how to deal with clients. Audios!

*NOTE* I know that I speak more specifically about graphic design, and not other freelancing work. But please try to keep in mind that these techniques apply in all aspects of freelance work, not just graphic design. My reason for speaking more of graphic design is that designing is my strong point, and what I do the most when I freelance. *NOTE*

“Content before Cash.” This is a phrase I use quite often for my own motivation, and it’s something I’d like to pass on to my readers as well.

Right now, blogging is huge, and it’s only growing. Everyone sees John Chow and Shoemoney making thousands per month off their blogs, and people wonder, “Why the heck can’t I do that?”, and they see no reason why they can’t, so they start blogging.

The problem with this mind set is that from the get go, they are only thinking about the money.

Now granted, there’s no reason to doubt anyone can make something off their blog, but the problem lies in putting the making money part of your blog before the content.

Content before Cash

Like I mentioned before, I use this phrase quite often, as it’s catchy and fitting.

When blogging, if you are only looking to make some quick cash off your blog, it will fail. Why is that? Simple. The passion, or desire to write, to interact with your readers, and to help people gain knowledge in whatever niche your in is just not there. Why? Because all you care about is “How much did I make this month?”

Now, I know it’s hard not to think just about the money your making, and granted, I think about the money I make off this blog. But it’s not my focus. My focus is to help bloggers, freelancers, and webmasters in their internet ventures. I only speak from experience, and I only try to help. I know that it’s tough to believe that I actually do want to help people, and not just make money, but it’s true.

Keeping Content before Cash

There are a couple ways you can keep content before cash when blogging, and I’ll cover them.

1. Don’t spend time reading blogger’s income reports

I know it seems quite silly, but it’s 100% true. As soon as I stopped reading John Chow’s income reports, and stopped gazing at Shoemoney’s giant Adsense check, I realized that when blogging, money is not everything.

2. Be Passionate about your niche

When blogging, if your only in a certain niche because it’s profitable, or because you have some connections, it’s going to fail. Why? Because you don’t really care. Your just in it for the money, and eventually, blogging about a 5 karat gold ring every day is going to get old. Real old, real fast. That’s why you have to make sure your niche is one you actually know about, and are passionate about.

3. Spend more time writing, not looking at the empty ad spots on your homepage

This is one reason why I love OIOPublisher, because it allows you to “set and forget“. I no longer have to deal with advertisers, talk with them, or anything. It’s all automated, which allows me to not even think about the advertisements, and just focus on my writing.

In other news, I will be posting part three to the series “The Freelancer’s Guide” tomorrow, so stay tuned for that.

Today we’re going to talk about something that a lot of bloggers forget about, but in my opinion is absolutely essential when starting a blog: Creating a community.

This is something I feel very strongly about, and I will always feel that way.

When reading a blog, someone may casually read the content, and maybe even apply it, but unless they feel welcomed to do so, or are urged to participate, they will not comment. Why? Because commenting takes time and effort, time that most people will not take unless it will really benefit them.

This is where creating a community comes into play. If you really get involved with your readers, and respond to their comments, take to heart their suggestions, and mention them in your blog, they will comment for you, they will subscribe, and they will possibly even post about you on their own blog! This creates a welcoming community, and builds strong relationships between the blog owner and readers, creating loyal readers, and there’s nothing better than that.

Here are some ways you can create a community feel to your blog

• Comment on similar blogs and mention your own blog, and get involved in their community, as this makes them twice as likely to get involved in yours.
• Respond to comments left on your blog, answering questions or keeping the conversation going with your readers.
• Have a weekly roundup post mentioning (and linking to) maybe your top 10 commentators websites, or some of your favorite articles written by blogs owned by your readers.
• Be personable and funny in your posts, as this inclines readers to comment.
• Give an incentive! Maybe offer free advertising or a prize each month to the top commenter of that particular month.
• Run a contest where commenting gains entries.
• Offer spots for guest posts, allowing your readers to really get involved with the blog.
• Ask your readers questions, ask for suggestions, or even ask their opinions on the given subject in your post.

All these things will raise your comment count which will in turn create a stronger, better community in your blog. I hope you can apply these tips in your own blogs.

And don’t forget to Subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss a beat!

PS. On a side note, I’d like to thank Shannon Lilly over at Infected by Bugs for the great review, and I want to welcome all new visitors, and hopefully readers.