Guest Post: Michael Martine is the world’s #1 ranked blog consultant. In addition to the tons of free content at Remarkablogger, you can also take a free course valued at $49 on how to grow your blog traffic. You’ll find Michael on Twitter a lot (probably too much).

Do Freelancers Need to Have a Blog?

In a word, yes.

But of course, you want to know why freelancers need to blog. Blogging is a serious commitment of time and a little money (for a good design if you’re not a blog designer already). Freelancers need to blog for the same reasons any business does: to market their services. Can this be done without a blog? Yes, but not very well. All the other freelancers with blogs are going to clobber you: they will get more qualified traffic than you to their sites, they will rank higher in search than you, and their prospects will be more likely to trust and want to do business with them.

The truth is, it’s become something of an arms race. You’ve got to have a blog simply to play on par with your competition. But the reason this arms race began is because is blogs confer real advantages, and more and more freelancers (the web developers and designers first) wanted to have those advantages for themselves. Myself personally, I don’t know of a single successful freelancer who does not have a blog, period. 

What Can a Blog do for Freelancers?

What advantages can blogging give the freelancer? Many, and they’re interrelated and they compound each other for even greater “emergent” or network effects.

• Blogs serve as living portfolios for your work. If you’re a writer, blog posts are mostly writing. If you’re an illustrator or developer, blog posts can showcase your latest creations and experiments. Because blog posts are frequent and recent, prospective clients know you’re active and that they’re seeing your very latest work.
• Blogs convey your personality to prospective clients far better than “normal” websites do. Blog posts are usually written in a casual voice. We write blog posts like how we talk, not like academic papers. It’s been shown in sales situations over the decades that people like to do business with those they like and who they perceive as being like them. This leads to trust, and trust leads to freelance gigs that pay the bills. This is why it’s perfectly fine to let a little bit of the “real you” out on your blog. Regular websites just don’t have this dynamic: they’re lifeless, and blogs are full of life.
• Blogs help clients find you. In a very basic, brute-force sort of way, the more content about a particular subject there is on a website, the better that site ranks in search for its topic keywords. Keywords are what people type into the search box at Google or Bing. The more blog posts you write, the more of a “search magnet” your blog becomes. A blog vs. a non-blog site is no contest in this regard, because the blog dwarfs a “normal” website with the volume of its content. And more gets created every week. Not only that, but from a technical standpoint, blogs provide better search engine optimization right “out of the box.” The very built-in features and structure of the blog give it better SEO than a “regular” website.
• Blogs make it easier for prospective clients to hire you. How? In two ways: one, by being technically easy to work with. A WordPress blog allows you add functionality in the form of plugins, which can provide you with contact forms for your clients to get in touch with you. You can create your services pages and portfolio pages easily. The second way has to do with the conversational nature of blogs. Blogs are a dialogue, not a monologue. Prospective clients can ask questions and interact with you easily, allowing you to handle objections, answer questions, and build up trust which precedes hiring.
• Blogs are easy to use. I’ve been able to teach the most technophobic old writers how to blog, and if they can learn it, anyone can. Writing a blog post is hardly any different (technically) than writing an email. Instead of a subject line, you have a headline. Instead of an email message body, you have the post content. Instead of a bunch of replies, you have blog comments. Instead of attaching a file, you upload a picture (if you want your post to have a picture). That part is easy-peasy.

A Word of Warning

The benefits listed above are very real and are enjoyed by countless successful freelancers. However, we’re not operating under any illusions, here. There are some warnings you should heed.

• If you’re not clear on your freelancing business, your blog won’t be clear, either. It’s not good enough these days to “just” be a writer or an illustrator. You have to specialize, and your particular client base needs to recognize instantly that you’re the person for them when they hit your site. But if you’re vague about what you do and who you serve, potential clients will just bounce right off you because they don’t see anything that speaks directly to them and their needs.
• Getting your blog set up right requires an investment. Whatever it is you don’t do, you’ll need to hire out for your blog. If you’re not a professional blog designer (and notice I said blog designer, not web designer), you need to hire someone who is to design and set up your blog for you correctly. Professional blogs nowadays are self-hosted WordPress blogs, not free blogs on Blogger or free blogs hosted on WordPress.com.
• A blog that’s never updated is worse than no blog at all. Nothing screams “I’m lazy and don’t care” like a blog that hasn’t been updated in months. Maybe you were swamped with client work, but that’s not what prospective clients are going to think when they hit your ghost town. They’re going to wonder if anybody’s home.
• Don’t fall into the trap of writing for your peers. The people most likely to leave comments on your blog won’t be prospective clients, it will be your peers. It’s great to have strong relationships with others in your field, don’t get me wrong. But those people are not your customers and they’re not going to give you any money to heat your house and feed your family. Remember who you’re writing to, and why: you are writing to appeal to your target market so they will want to do business with you.

Do you have a blog? How’s that working for you? Any concerns or issues? Let us know in the comments!

Photo courtesy KatieKrueger on Flickr

We’re doing an exciting promotion this week for our new book, The Wealthy Freelancer. So in keeping with the spirit of things, I decided to make today’s post an excerpt from the book. Enjoy!

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Take Time To Incubate

Before I sat down to write this chapter, I made some notes about the topics I wanted to cover. I planned out the stories and examples I wanted to use to reinforce the points I was going to make and mapped out my general approach to the subject matter. This is typical planning stuff. And you probably do something similar for the types of projects you handle as a freelancer. But then I did something you may not do. I stuck my notes in the project file folder and didn’t look at them again for a couple days. Why didn’t I just get started on the next step in the process — writing the darned thing — right away? Because I knew I would get this chapter done a lot faster if I gave it time to incubate.

I know what you’re thinking. “Take time off from a project to get it done sooner?” But giving a project some incubation time — especially between natural steps in the process such as planning and writing or writing and polishing — makes the work go much smoother and faster.

Of course, you know this already. Think of the last time you got stuck on a project. You’re working on a new computer program for a client and, no matter how much you rack your brain, you just can’t seem to make any progress. So you take a break, perhaps out of frustration, and go work on something else. Or take a walk. Or sleep on it. Then, when you return to the project again, what happens? Voilà! Things just seem to flow again. That’s incubation at work.

Marketing consultant Marcia Yudkin is a master of using incubation to work more productively. In her booklet, No More Writer’s Block! she describes being able to write a press release in about 45 minutes when most other professionals take at least two hours or more. “I gather all the information I need,” she says, “then wait a day or two [incubation] until I feel like the press release is itching to come out of me. And that’s when I write it, quickly and easily.”

I’m not going to get into the science of how incubation works here. (As if I understood it!) Just know that when you take a physical break from a project, some part of your brain is still working on it. Your subconscious is churning away: generating new ideas, trying out different approaches to the problem, asking new questions, dreaming up inventive new approaches.

Do I hear someone balking, “I don’t have time to stick a project in a drawer for a couple days. I have tight deadlines to meet!” Well, if you have tight deadlines to meet, you need incubation more than ever. Think about it. Which would you rather do? Struggle with a project for six hours straight until you stumble, exhausted, to the finish line? Or spend a couple hours reviewing and absorbing the information, then taking a break for a few hours, then finishing the piece in another hour or two, feeling refreshed and energized? Ah …. I’d choose number two.

And by the way, incubation doesn’t have to take days or even hours. Sometimes all that’s required is a walk around the block.

–Steve Slaunwhite is the co-author of The Wealthy Freelancer. Grab your copy this week from Amazon.com and get up to $321 in free instructional materials. Details here >>

Photo Courtesy planetschwa on Flickr

Imagine that you’re having a tough day. Things aren’t going well. You’re feeling drained and unmotivated. It’s hard to paint a smile on your face. And when you do, it looks more like a grimace.

Of course, we all have days like these from time to time.

The problem is, as a freelance professional, feeling unmotivated can seriously affect your ability to do all the things you need to do that day.

You may not feel like starting work on that new client project, (you know, the one that’s due in just a few days), or making those follow-up calls, or getting those pitch letters in the mail, or updating your website.

That’s one of the challenges of being a freelancer. When you feel unmotivated, often
there’s no one else around to give you a lift. No colleagues to commiserate with. No boss to kick your you-know-what. You’re on your own.

So what do you do when you’re down in the dumps?

According to Steve Chandler, author of 100 Ways To Motivate Yourself, we all have personal motivation “ON” buttons that we can push at any time. We just have to know where those buttons are — and have them at our fingertips when we
need them the most.

Do you feel inspired when you read a favorite columnist or blog? (Like The Wealthy Freelancer!) Or upbeat when you hear a certain song on your iPod? Or less stressed when you sip tea at a favorite cafe? Or energized when you listen to a particular coach or speaker on a CD recording?

“Make it a personal commitment to notice everything that pushes your buttons,” says Chandler. “Make a note of everything that inspires you.” Once you do, you’ll have a repertoire of ways to feel motivated anytime you want to.

For example, if you’re working on a particularly tough freelance gig, and you’re feeling, well — let’s say less than enthusiastic — plug in a CD of your favorite music, pat your dog, or pick up the phone and chat with a close friend.

The point is to figure out what motivates you and then learn how to quickly turn that button on when you need it the most.

For example, I get a lift from reading inspiring passages from certain books. So I make sure I keep these within arms reach. I also have a few close colleagues I speak to (okay, bitch to) by phone from time to time.

What are YOUR motivation buttons? If you don’t know, find them. You can probably come up with a dozens ways to give yourself a boost anytime you need it.

And, as freelance professionals, we often need it. A lot.

———–
Steve Slaunwhite is the author of The Wealthy Freelancer, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Starting a Web Based Business, and 5 other books. You can find him here, at Starbucks, or at www.SteveSlaunwhite.com.

photo courtesy Flickr

I’ve tried a number of goal-setting programs and approaches over the years.

Some have been complex and required lots of coordination. Others were overly simplistic or lacked accountability elements that helped me stay on track.

But over the last few months I’ve been experimenting with a homegrown approach that so far has yielded far better results than anything else I’ve tried.

I call it the “Rule of 3” goal-setting program. Here’s how it works…

First, you need to identify the key goal-setting areas of your life. In my case, those areas are, in no particular order:

o    Health
o    Family
o    Business
o    Spiritual
o    Mind
o    Personal
o    Fun

From there, you then decide on only ONE goal for this year in each of these areas.

Why just one? While it may feel great to have 4 or 5 goals this year in each category, I’ve found that the more you have, the lower the chance of achieving ANY of them.

In the example above, even if I set only 3 goals in each area, I would end up with 21 goals to work toward this year.

Here’s the problem. Before you know it, life gets in the way. You get busy. The list begins to feel overwhelming. You’re not sure where to start. So you fail to act on any of the goals. Or you put in a half-hearted effort toward a few. It’s happened to me over and over again.

So this year, I’m down to 7 goals only. One for each of these key areas. Fewer goals means more focus. Which means I have a higher chance of accomplishing them all.

The Rule of 3

Next step, go through each goal and identify 3 things you’ll have to do this year to reach it.

Why 3? Because 1 or 2 is not enough. In most cases, it won’t give you the diversity you need (in terms of strategies and activities) to get significant results. And here again, having more than 3 can start becoming overwhelming and difficult to track.

There’s another reason. I’ve found that in life and in business, you can achieve great success by taking massive action on just a handful of activities or strategies. Seldom does real success in any aspect of your life require impeccable performance with more than 3 or 4 strategies.

Force Yourself to Choose

Now, when it comes to narrowing down your options, think long and hard about each one. Don’t guess. Ask yourself: If I could only work on 3 things to accomplish that goal this year, what would they be? Force yourself to choose!

For example, one of my goals this year is to lose 10% of body fat. I’ve struggled with my weight for a few years. And this year, I’m determined to get back on track. So I asked myself: What 3 things do I need to focus on in order to reach that goal?

There are dozens of things I could focus on. But I decided to work on the following:

1)    Exercise: Start a smart and highly effective cardio program
2)    Weight Training: Start an intensive weight training program
3)    Diet: Cut back on refined carbs and eat better-quality lean protein

I won’t get into the details of why I chose each of these. But the point is that forcing myself to narrow down my strategies to only 3 is helping me stay focused. And the improved focus is making it easier to stay disciplined.

Will I do other things? Sure. But I’ve decided that these are the 3 things I’ll concentrate on the most.

If one of your goals is to increase your annual freelance income from $50,000 to $75,000, maybe you decide to narrow your options to:

1)    Implement a recurring direct mail strategy
2)    Become actively involved in planning committees of 2 local organizations that are rich with potential prospects
3)    Implement a steady lead nurturing effort to stay in touch with long-term prospects

Here again, this doesn’t mean you limit your efforts to only these 3 things. It only means that these are the strategies you’ll work on first. They’ll be the things to which you give the most energy.

To ensure you keep these strategies front and center, continually refer back to them often. Use them to create your monthly goals, weekly objectives and daily activities. Use them as your compass when making daily decisions. And if you find that one or more of them are not working as well as you hoped, make adjustments as needed. Or replace them with other strategies.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this approach.

Have you tried a similar approach with better success?

————–

Ed Gandia is the co-founder of TheWealthyFreelancer.com and co-creator of The “Launch Email” Technique: The Fastest Way to Attract Good-Paying Clients as a New Freelancer.

photo courtesy: Stewart Dawson on Flickr

Editor’s Note: If you’ve ever been told a freelancing horror story by a well-meaning friend or relative, this post is for you.

Professor MacDougall was an old marketing professor of mine.

He had a favourite catch phrase. And he was deadly, sometimes even menacing, with it. What I remember was the way he used to use it. Not really as a teaching aide, but rather like a weapon, which is why I remember this catch phrase, some 14 years after hearing it for the first time.

“NEVER a sample of one!” Professor MacDougall would scream, usually directly at a student, and always in response to the student’s attempt to support his or her argument, theory or idea with an anecdote; a story about a personal experience.

What Professor MacDougall was trying to teach us was, in marketing, it’s dangerous to let your own isolated experience (or the experience of any other one person) lead you to draw a general, sweeping conclusion about the subject matter.

Instead you should look around a little. Do some research. Get more info.

Ol’ MacDougall was right, of course. Relying solely on a “sample of one” is unwise. In marketing, it rarely serves us well. And in real life, it can be downright debilitating.

However, in real life, we allow a “sample of one” to sway us all the time…

The movie rental store employee says to us, “Actually, that movie was disappointing.” So we put the DVD back on the shelf, or decide to rent a second, different movie, just as a backup.

Your friend says, “Oh, Jeff and Allison went to that new place and the service was terrible.” So you decide not to take a chance, and make dinner reservations at your old stand-by instead.

Of course, the repercussions of movie or restaurant choices are rarely severe, but what happens when you start listening to a sample of one when it comes to bigger issues, like your career?

Perhaps you once told a friend or relative about your interest in becoming a freelancer, only to hear this motivating response…

“Oh, Susan’s brother tried to be a freelance photographer, I think, and he starved. Now he works at a camera store.”

How unfortunate for Susan’s brother… but who says that also has to be your fate?

Yes, there are examples of people who, when they encountered failure, decided to give up and go work in a camera store. And many well-meaning friends and family have no shortage of these examples to share with you when you express to them your desire to “join the circus” as Chris Brogan calls it. (Read: start your own solo-business.)

But know this. There are plenty of examples of successful solo professionals out there. People who tried, failed, maybe failed again, maybe even went into debt (and perhaps more than once) and decided not to give up but instead to persevere. (You’ll find some of them have written for, or commented throughout, this blog.)

Forget about Susan’s brother, the freelancer who failed and gave up. That isn’t you. That poor sap’s story is merely a sample of one. Instead, set your sights on your own vision of freelancing success.

Look for people who have done what you want to do. Find out how they got there and learn from them. Do what they did to make their business successful, and then, count yourself among them… the serious, dedicated, shining examples of solo professionals who are, right now, enjoying success and living the freelance life.

Photo courtesy of: dullhunk on Flickr

—–
Pete Savage is the co-founder of TheWealthyFreelancer.com and co-creator of The “Launch Email” Technique: The Fastest Way to Attract Good-Paying Clients as a New Freelancer.

During the past three years or so, I’ve been getting the royal treatment from a consultant who I nicknamed the “Queen of Follow-up”.

Her follow-up and stay-in-touch strategies are so effective that, in a short period of time, I went from not knowing who she was . . . to hiring her for several projects . . . to recommending her to many of my clients.

Here’s the story.



I first met “the Queen” when she phoned me to introduce her PR consulting services. She was polite and friendly, asked about my PR needs, and then offered to send me a complimentary copy of her special report.



I said I didn’t have time to talk but, sure, send me the report. I was probably the most disinterested-sounding prospect she had called that day!

Yet, a few minutes after hanging up, I received her email with the special report attached. Frankly, I expected that email to be written from a basic template she uses over and over again. (Hey. I’m not above doing that myself!) Instead, her email seemed like it was written just for me, referring to specific details of our brief phone conversation. Nothing “cut and paste” about it.

A few days later, I received a thank-you card from her in the mail. The message inside, and even the envelope, were handwritten.

A couple of weeks after that, she called again. For a fleeting moment, I was concerned that she was going to pester me to use her services. (“Do you need a PR consultant yet?”) Instead, she simply asked if I found the special report helpful, and then offered to send me an article she had come across with related information.

Over the subsequent months, she would check in regularly by phone, email, and even snail mail. Never a pest, she always seemed to have something valuable to offer — a tip, a helpful article, a new resource.

Slowly, but surely, through her consistent follow-up, I started to get to know — and like — this consultant!

Finally, after about nine months, I needed the kind of PR help she provided. Guess who I called? Well, the “Queen”, of course!

And since that time she has done several projects for me. I’m now a regular client.

The thing is, during that same period, I was contacted by dozens of other consultants who offer a similar type of service. But she took the time to follow-up and stay in touch. And, as a result, she was clearly on my radar screen when I finally needed the type of services she offers.

Take a close look at your own follow-up habits. Do you follow up regularly with prospects and others who could help your business? Could you do a better job in this area?

If not, make some improvements.

My consultant isn’t the only one entitled to the throne. Be the queen — or king — of follow-up. You’ll attract more clients and referrals if you do.

——————-
Steve Slaunwhite is a regular columnist for this blog and the author of several popular books. His latest is The Wealthy Freelancer, which is available March 2nd. You can find Steve here or at his main website at www.SteveSlaunwhite.com.

Photo courtesy of T’eresa (Flickr)

If you follow the advice in this blog and our upcoming book, and if you craft and consistently execute a smart marketing plan, it won’t be long before you have more work than you can handle.

I realize this may sound like a pipe dream. It seemed like an impossible goal when I was starting out and was desperately looking for work. And a couple of times since then, when I lost big clients, I wondered if I’d ever be super-busy again.

But I’ve seen too many freelancers turn their businesses completely around in a matter of weeks to know that being booked solid is very achievable. And I’ve done it myself more than once.

So the issue is NOT whether or not it’s possible. The issue is what the heck you’re going to do once you have more work than you can take on.

Here are some ideas on how you can do that effectively.

1. See if client can wait. Sounds obvious, but sometimes we’re afraid to ask. You don’t want to upset the client, especially if you have a great relationship with them. However, it’s surprising how many clients will be OK with waiting a few weeks for the needed deliverables. They understand that most of us are a company of one, and if you’re good and they really like you, many will be willing to wait a bit.

 

2. Take it on…and just figure it out. If you’re starting out and maybe even moonlighting as a freelancer, your schedule is already going to be pretty tight. But when you’re trying to build a business, you’re going to have to make some sacrifices and say “yes,” even if it means pulling in a couple of late nights or working through the weekend. Just make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons and for the right clients.

 

3. Outsource some of the mechanics. Can you outsource certain elements of the project? For instance, if you’re a writer, you can often hire someone to help you with research, editing and proofreading for a reasonable fee. Don’t get hung up on the costs. If it means the difference between bringing on a great new client and passing on the opportunity, it may be well worth it.

 

4. Outsource some of your administrative duties. Can you find someone to do your billing and/or bookkeeping? Trips to the post office or office-supply store? Lawn maintenance or housecleaning? I know, I know. Some of you find enjoyment in these activities. If you do, fine. But if you hate them—and if you can find a pro who can do them faster and better (and help free up some of your time)…well, you know my answer.

 

5. Find and train a potential partner. Consider partnering up with a junior-level practitioner in your field. Someone you can train in your processes, systems, approaches, formulas. This takes time, energy and patience. But in the long-run, you may be able to scale your business and add to your income by marking-up someone else’s efforts. And when you want to go on vacation, this individual can help keep your business humming.

 

6. Refer the business to a trusted colleague. Why not create a network of trusted colleagues whom you can send work to? You can either form a reciprocal arrangement (where they in turn send work your way when they’re slammed). Or you can agree on a finder’s fee to be paid out upon final payment.

 

7. Form a small freelancer group. I’ve talked with freelancers who have successfully created small, informal groups of pros with complementary skills. The idea is to work as a team on projects for a select group of clients. Each member of the team takes on a different part of the project. Or in some cases, only one or two of the team members work on the entire project (depending on the availability of the team members). If structured properly, such an arrangement can give your business a little more diversity. And it can help you channel work to others that you can’t take on by yourself.

 

8. Revisit your “ideal client” description. I’ve written before about the importance of having a detailed description of your “ideal client.” Such a description allows you to make better decisions—especially when you have too much work. If you find yourself in this situation, make sure to revisit your ideal client profile. And when an opportunity comes up, ask yourself, “How closely does this client and project match my ideal profile?” The answer to that question will very likely help you make the right decision.

—————–
Ed Gandia is the co-founder of TheWealthyFreelancer.com and co-creator of The “Launch Email” Technique: The Fastest Way to Attract Good-Paying Clients as a New Freelancer.

Photo, Squirrel Heaven,  courtesy Dawn on Flickr

I’m really digging Twitter now. To me, it’s become a great place to exchange ideas, advice, questions and answers.

I’m enjoying being able to disseminate advice and information to freelancers in real time, it’s also helping me stay sane while Steve, Ed and I wait patiently for the The Wealthy Freelancer book to come out in March.

I’m just bursting with anticipation for you to read that book! So lately I’ve been tweeting bits and pieces of advice right from the pages of the book, and the other odd gem from the “cutting room floor”.

Some of these tips get retweeted too, which is always nice…

And it’s very nice to hear from freelancers on Twitter who like what we’re doing here at TheWealthyFreelancer.com…

And sometimes I just have a little fun…

Other Reasons Why I Like Twitter
Thanks to Twitter, we found an amazing Virtual Assistant who will become a key part of all we do here at TheWealthyFreelancer. com. (Hi Crystal!)

I haven’t used Twitter for lead generation myself, however, I did initiate a Twitter-only conversation with the editor of a high profile publication, and that conversation ended in me being asked to write an article for them.

I’ve also been answering questions that come my way via Twitter too, and I’ve seen Ed and Steve doing the same.

So for us, Twitter has become a way to reach out with more and more of the rapidly exploding freelance community, sharing our message that YES, you can be a wealthy freelancer and not a struggling one. And that is very cool.

Which is better? Twitter? Facebook? LinkedIn?
The Wealthy Freelancer has a facebook fan page but, I gotta admit, it’s totally bare bones at the moment. Something we’re going to look at more in 2010 but, at the moment, Twitter is the shiny new toy that’s getting most of our attention here.

Despite the tongue-in-cheek title of this blog post, I’m not actually advising you to forsake Facebook. In fact, last week our friends over at SocialMediaExaminer.com reported on a MarketingProfs study that found Facebook is better than Twitter for marketers.

What about you? What’s your favorite social media site? Is it making a noticeable impact on your business? Are you getting more leads, more sales? Or are you enjoying them for some other reason? Share you thoughts with us below.

Pete Savage is, obviously, on Twitter. You can follow him there at http://twitter.com/petesavage

As you stumble into the hospital emergency room, you try your best not to panic. At the check-in, the nurse notices you and asks, “What’s the problem?”

You reply, “Business is slow. My bank account is dropping faster than a thermometer in Kapuskasing. I need more clients and projects. And I need them now!”

The nurse responds sympathetically, “I’ll have a doctor see you as soon as possible.”

Fortunately, you don’t have to wait long. Within a few minutes you are guided to the physician’s cubicle where she examines your situation and then, finally, writes you a prescription. “Get this filled right away,” she says reassuringly as she hands you the piece of paper. “Follow the instructions and your business will start improving soon.”

What did the good doctor write on that prescription form? Let’s take a look:

1. Contact your past clients.

Phone, mail a letter or send an email to every client you’ve ever worked with, even if that was several years ago.

Say hello. Update them on any additional qualifications and project expertise you’ve acquired. Let them know that, schedule permitting, you’d be delighted to work with them again.

(A friend of mine did this last year and filled her schedule in just two weeks.)

2. Contact your past leads.

Dig into your email inbox or contact management system. Pull out every “lead” that didn’t go anywhere — quotes you didn’t win, projects that didn’t materialize, etc.

Although these prospects never did give you any paying work they did, at the very least, have a modicum of interest in your services. Contact them again. Situations change and a dead-end lead from last year could very well become a new client for you today.

3. Contact your referral sources.

Contact everyone who has ever sent potential work your way. Those “referral sources” could include consultants, suppliers, virtual assistants or even other freelancers.

Phone or email and say hello. Thank them for their support in the past and let them know that you’re available should they know anyone else who needs the type of service you provide.

Compared to any other type of lead, a referral has the highest chance of becoming a new client.

4. Do what you did before.

The biggest mistake that freelance professionals make when business is slow is to try something new. “Direct mail letters worked for me before but I want to give Google advertising a try now.”

Huh? If business is slow you can’t afford to experiment. Do something you already know works for you, whether that’s letters, calls, networking or some other marketing action.

Even in a down economy the above strategies are the quickest ways to generate new business. So if things are slow for you, try the above four-step prescription for fast relief from a dearth of good-paying projects. Doctor’s orders!

————————–

Steve Slaunwhite is the co-founder of this blog and author of Pricing Your Writing Services.

Tell me if you’ve ever been in this situation.

You’re in the early stages of building a full-time freelance business. Or maybe you’re trying to take your existing freelance business to a new level.

Either way, you have a big goal.

But you’re so far away from reaching it that you begin to question whether or not it’s even possible.

Maybe the income level you’re trying to reach sounds unbelievable.

Or perhaps the level of performance you’re trying to reach sounds impossible.

Or maybe you’re trying to maintain a high income but want to cut back on your hours by 30 percent.

It sounded like a good goal a few weeks ago when you wrote it down. But now that “reality” has set in, you’re wondering why you ever thought such a goal was possible.

So you either give up on the goal altogether. Or you shelve it for another time.

Sound familiar? I know I’ve done this countless times.

What’s the problem here? Why the self-sabotage? Why would we do this to ourselves?

Here’s my take: Most of us are obsessed with the “How.”

• HOW the heck am I going to reach that income level as a freelancer?
• HOW am I going to learn that new skill and promote it credibly to clients and prospects?
• HOW in the world am I going to sustain my current income level if I cut back my hours by 30 percent?

Well, I’m here to tell you that you need to chill out and forget about the “How.”

I don’t have all the answers. But here’s what I’ve learned over the last year:

Yes, you need goals. And yes, you need to craft a plan. That’s all critically important. But you need to be flexible. Because life doesn’t always work out exactly as you script it.

By setting a goal and drafting a plan for its accomplishment, you’re feeding your subconscious mind with a goal and a set of instructions. From there, your main job is simply to take “inspired action.”

Inspired Action is any action you take based on an inside nudge. In the words of marketing guru and coach Dr. Joe Vitale:

“…An Inspired Action is when you suddenly get a desire to drive to the store. You may have no idea why you need to go to the store right now. But something within you is urging you out the door. Follow that hunch. It may lead you to your goal. At the store, you may meet the right person. Or find the right product. Or pick up the right magazine that will lead you to completing your dream.”

Looking back at every major goal I’ve accomplished in life, I now realize that I achieved them using this very formula:

• I wrote down the goal
• I created a plan for its accomplishment
• I tried not to obsess too much about the plan’s details and instead…
• I took inspired action

For instance, I spent a little more than two years moonlighting as a freelancer before I finally quit my day job. I was earning a six-figure income as a sales professional, And I didn’t want to sacrifice that income when I went solo.

So I set a goal to earn at least $100,000 during my first year as a full-time freelancer. I had a plan. But frankly, that was a lofty goal. I had no idea what all the moving parts were going to look like. I just trusted that everything would all come together somehow.

And it did! Mostly in unexpected ways. For instance…

•    A chance encounter with a friend led her to recommend me to a friend of hers…who then recommended me to her boss…who hired me on the spot for a series of projects (and who’s still a great client, 5 years later).

•    An old boss got in touch with me and offered me a retainer agreement with his new company.

•    I volunteered to be part of a judging panel for a marketing executive awards event — something I almost didn’t get involved in because I was so busy at the time. But I did it. And after it was all over, one of the executives I interviewed called me about my services and hired me to work on a series of projects for his company.

Looking back, most of this happened very differently from my initial vision. Everything from the way I’d get clients to the type of writing I’d be doing. All the way to the type of business I ended up creating.

But I still reached my goal.

I tell you all this for a couple of reasons. First, if you have a big goal for this year, you need to write it down and draft a plan. But accept the fact that it may not materialize exactly the way you envision it.

Also, if you become too obsessed with the “how,” you may end up thinking that your plan didn’t work…just because it didn’t exactly follow your imagined script. Ironically, you’ll feel that way even if you DO accomplish your goal.

Just remember: at the end of the day, it’s not about how accurately your plan worked out. It’s about reaching your goal…and growing personally and professionally in the process.

How about you? Have you set a big goal but still have no idea how it will happen?

Have you accomplished something worthwhile that materialized in a way you could have never conceived?

As always, I’d love to hear from you in the comments area below.