On the Creative Freelancer Blog lately, Dyana Valentine, who will be conducting the workshop on creative collaboration on the first day of the Creative Freelancer Conference, has been offering up some tips on how to prep so you do the best connecting you can at this conference — or any conference for that matter. First, she suggests taking a...
How can you, an enthusiastic, creative solopreneur, not give away all your ideas in the first meeting with a potential client? 1. Listen more than you speak. That will help you restrain your enthusiasm (or desperation) PLUS you’ll get more information, which you’ll need to do the project. 2. Offer a paid, 1-hour brainstorming meeting instead of a free...
As we get ready for the Creative Freelancer Conference in Chicago, August 27-29, we are simultaneously building a resource web site for freelancers that will live well beyond this first event. (BTW, early bird deadline was extended to July 31st. You can still get $60 off the registration.) So even if you can’t make it to Chicago, take advantage...
Time management is a big challenge for most creative freelancers. You want to slow down and enjoy the season (or life in general) but you’re afraid that if you appear “unavailable” to clients, you’ll lose them or if you don’t take every one that comes along, you’ll never get another one. What to do? Here’s one suggestion from Tracey...
It’s already 3rd quarter—do you know how close you are to your 2008 year-end goals. What are your top 3 goals for 2008? Have they changed since January? Have you already reached them? Are you halfway there? What? You can’t remember what your goals are? It’s true, that was a whole six months ago, but here we are mid-year...
1. How can you make time for marketing? 2. Should you have an e-mail newsletter? 3. Are proposals best presented in person? These are just a few of the pressing questions that will be answered by creative business experts at the Creative Freelancer Conference in Chicago, August 27-29, hosted by HOW Magazine and Marketing Mentor.
By Ilise Benun At Marketing-Mentor.com, we see too many creative freelancers working their butts off for small potatoes clients who don’t appreciate or value their work — being paid peanuts for it to boot! And all because you haven’t learned the basic business skills you need to get the projects you want, from the clients you want, at the...
Last Friday, I was speaking with a Marketing Mentor client about two proposals she was about to spend the weekend writing. She was very excited about these new projects, but when I asked her what the budgets were, she said she didn’t know. It wasn’t that she had neglected to ask that all important question. In fact, she had,...
In my last Marketing Mentor Tip, How to Dominate Your Market, I focused on what you get if you decide to specialize — namely higher fees because clients are willing to pay for expertise. But how do you choose which market to focus on? This is the question that stumps many designers. So here are a few questions to...
Many designers believe that marketing the widest range of services to the largest possible group is the path to success. You’d rather be a generalist because you think you’ll get more business. And on one level it makes sense: the more opportunities you have to make a sale, the more sales you are likely to make. But in reality...
