The Trick To Starting A Freelance Business Successfully Is To Pickup The Phone
The most important criteria to success when a new freelancer is starting a freelance business, is how frequently and enthusiastically the new freelancer reaches out to introduce themself to prospect customers.
You may not be naturally outgoing. Introductions may not come naturally to you, but there is no skipping this step, and it's easy once you know a few simple tricks.
I am constantly surprised at the number of new freelancers who spend their early days developing brochures or websites about their services.
There's nothing wrong with websites or brochures. In fact, both will have a positive impact on your business in the long run. But if your objective is to start a freelance business successfully - to find clients, win assignments and reach profitability in 30 days or less - there's no room for websites or brochures. You won't need them to introduce yourself to prospects, and you certainly won't need them to get prospects talking during an introductory meeting.
Websites, brochures, and sales collateral are great for reputation building or confidence building in the long run, but you don't need any of them to start a freelance business successfully.
In fact, if you spend all your time in the early days working on a website, brochure, or other marketing collateral instead of introducing yourself to prospect customers, it will absolutely detract from your success. Some people get so wrapped up in the development of these materials while starting a freelance business that they never get around to picking up the phone.
One of the other problems with developing sales collateral, a website or a brochure early on is that it locks you into an inflexible approach. When you first meet with a prospective customer, you are free to play the angles and adjust your approach according to the prospect's needs. If you've already rigidly defined your service offerings or approach in a brochure or on a website, you may have locked yourself into a single perspective that may or may not match the needs or desires of your prospect.
So if you're new to freelancing, if you're just starting your freelance business, stick to the basics. If your objective is to find clients, win assignments, and achieve profitability almost immediately, you'll need: a professional phone number with voicemail, and a professional email address with your own domain name. Once you have those setup, you're ready to begin introducing yourself to prospective customers!
You may not be naturally outgoing. Introductions may not come naturally to you, but there is no skipping this step, and it's easy once you know a few simple tricks.
I am constantly surprised at the number of new freelancers who spend their early days developing brochures or websites about their services.
There's nothing wrong with websites or brochures. In fact, both will have a positive impact on your business in the long run. But if your objective is to start a freelance business successfully - to find clients, win assignments and reach profitability in 30 days or less - there's no room for websites or brochures. You won't need them to introduce yourself to prospects, and you certainly won't need them to get prospects talking during an introductory meeting.
Websites, brochures, and sales collateral are great for reputation building or confidence building in the long run, but you don't need any of them to start a freelance business successfully.
In fact, if you spend all your time in the early days working on a website, brochure, or other marketing collateral instead of introducing yourself to prospect customers, it will absolutely detract from your success. Some people get so wrapped up in the development of these materials while starting a freelance business that they never get around to picking up the phone.
One of the other problems with developing sales collateral, a website or a brochure early on is that it locks you into an inflexible approach. When you first meet with a prospective customer, you are free to play the angles and adjust your approach according to the prospect's needs. If you've already rigidly defined your service offerings or approach in a brochure or on a website, you may have locked yourself into a single perspective that may or may not match the needs or desires of your prospect.
So if you're new to freelancing, if you're just starting your freelance business, stick to the basics. If your objective is to find clients, win assignments, and achieve profitability almost immediately, you'll need: a professional phone number with voicemail, and a professional email address with your own domain name. Once you have those setup, you're ready to begin introducing yourself to prospective customers!