Social Selling: Myth or Magic? (Guest Blog by Sam Bessant)

I’m thrilled to welcome back guest blogger Sam Bessant. Her first contribution to the Bennis Inc Blog, “Success Versus the Work-Life Balance” continues to receive top hits! Learn more about Sam in her bio following this post and be sure and visit her personal blog here.

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Social selling is a relatively new concept to the world as its dawn has only come through the dramatic shift we’ve all made to living our lives through social media in the last few years. The whole networking game has changed and we now have easier access to more people and more information than we’ve ever had before. But what are we doing with all this information and what impact does it have on our working lives?

The term “social selling” is being banded around left, right and centre by people who consider themselves forward thinkers in the field but few seem to understand what it really means and whether it really involves any actual selling. A new pothole for salespeople to stumble into is the idea that stalking prospects on LinkedIn and sending them a half-arsed message constitutes selling. Similarly, there is the idea that following an event on Twitter is just as good as being at the event; reading a blog about how to sell is the same as mastering the technique yourself…the list goes on. The problem is that actions taken by your “virtual” presence in the online world are just that – virtual and intangible. And the results will be too. At some point, that world of Web 2.0 needs to meet with more old fashioned actions because we aren’t living in a fully virtual society yet. People still rate people and personal relationships built up through phone calls and meetings; some people aren’t even part of this huge social network, preferring to remain aloof and test your persistence in reaching them.

So we circle back to the question of “what is social selling?” and is it something that has been created by the very people whose advertising revenue relies on us using their social networks? I would suggest not. Social selling is actually very powerful but it needs to be thought of as a tool; one singular tool in a whole toolbox of potential sales techniques. What social media allows us is the opportunity to understand more about the people we want to engage, more about the companies they work for and more about what other salespeople are doing to win themselves success. It gives us an “in” and helps to reduce the awkwardness of the initial contact because we have enough information to make contact with purpose. We don’t have to spend ages battling with switchboards to get hold of a name and we can send messages directly to C-level contacts we’d have spent months trying to target previously, but this is only the beginning.

As with more traditional sales methods, social selling takes time. You still need to qualify your prospects and build a relationship. The social media piece simply allows you to do some of the legwork before you make contact so that you can wow them with a compelling story tailored just for them. A mistake commonly made is thinking that all of the information a salesperson needs can be found online. This is not the case. What you can find is a great foundation to hop over the initial hurdles so you can spend your valuable time working on real sales opportunities rather than arguing with gatekeepers. So social selling isn’t a myth; it’s a real thing and there are real opportunities being found through social media. However, it isn’t magic either. Nobody will do the hard work for you and you’ll still need to be creative in the way you approach people and ensure you deliver the service you’d expect yourself. Social selling is a valuable tool which you can’t afford to overlook but remember…it is only a single tool and cannot replace your entire tool set.

Sam Bessant lives in Reading, UK. She currently works the standard office 9-6 while trying to finalize the direction she will take to start her own business. Sam’s blog, 20somethingfreak was created to help Sam and others understand what it is to be in your 20s and for Sam to share some of the millions of daydreams she has every day! Be sure and visit Sam’s personal blog: www.20somethingfreak.wordpress.com.

 

D’oh! The 5 Most Common Public Relations Mistakes

Even as a professional in the field, the term “Public Relations” can sometimes feel ambiguous and is easily misused. I often hear phrases like “All you need is some good PR to boost your business” or “Wow, that’s a terrible PR move.” But what does any of this really mean? I suppose like any word, the meaning is all in how you define it and the way I define Public Relations is the way you communicate, interact and serve your customers (aka or your public). So really, I’m in the business of managing and building good customer relationships and there’s a ton of vehicles which can be used to achieve this.

Most usually the businesses I step in and help simply have no public relations focus whatsoever. I like this. It’s a blank slate, people are usually open to trying anything and the things we do try tend to make an immediate impact. But what’s a bit more cumbersome is stepping in and fixing mistakes – especially easily avoidable ones. I always think that it’s so unfortunate that the business simply didn’t know what not to do and have now wound up in a mess because of it. So instead of just thinking, I got to writing. For this blog post I decided it’s about time that I express the 5 most common PR mistakes I see weekly if not daily to hopefully help even just one business owner avoid them. The good news is that for the most part, these mistakes are easy fixes that can be implemented in your own business almost immediately – or simply avoided altogether:

Mistake 1: You have no core values statement

When a customer does business with you, very rarely did they make this decision based solely off of the product or service they’ll receive. It’s a much deeper emotional decision than that – even if they’re not aware of all these factors that ultimately influenced them. As a business you never just sell a tangible item, you sell your values, your level of quality, your years of experience and your expertise along with it. This is what customers are really paying for after all and highlighting these core values is a critical way to helping your business stand out among competitors.

So what’s the best way to clearly and succinctly highlight these values? Have a defined core values statement for your business. This can be as short as a tag line below your logo or as much as a small paragraph on your web site, but it needs to be used. One of the biggest mistakes I see in Public Relations is businesses who overlook the power of creating this type of statement. The majority of customers will never take the time to read your full business biography and compile this for themselves – so do it for them! Make this statement your go-to description when introducing your business to someone. What do you offer beyond your product or service that makes you different? Maybe you’re a 5^th generation family-owned business, maybe you use only locally grown and manufactured products or maybe you donate 10% of proceeds to a charity. This unique statement is what customers will remember and what will resonate with them emotionally. And I’m not sure much else can compete with the powerful role emotions play in decision making.

Mistake 2: You have no distribution of your message

Once you’ve developed your core values statement, this should be a message that you communicate consistently throughout all of your channels. Website content, social media profiles, monthly newsletters, business cards and promotional materials should all include this message somewhere. Sure your customers will become used to seeing this message and when they do they will subconsciously associate it with your business name, logo and brand. Also, by keeping these channels updated and in use, you will build a community and create a platform to distribute future messages – like a special announcement, promotion or opportunity to your customers. Another one of the biggest mistakes I see in PR is not taking the time to create and build your communication channels until you really need them – and by then it’s too late to broadcast your message to everyone you want to.

But more than just distributing your message externally, there is also the internal distribution of your message which is equally important. Your employees can act as ambassadors for your business if you empower them with the right information to do so. Every employee should be able to tell you the core values statement of the business and demonstrate it with their actions every day. If you know what you’re working for and what makes your business special, it makes you want to work harder and better. Also, the internal distribution of your message will help guide you whenever a tough decision must be made. Do you need to raise your prices? Are you considering merging with another business? These both have pros and cons, but the key to which decision is right for your business lies in your core values. With the regular distribution of this message, you and your employees will understand the foundation of the business and these decisions can be made methodically to preserve this foundation. For example: if your core value is to offer the absolute best quality of service, raising your prices might be necessary. But if your core value is to offer the absolute lowest price, a merger might better help you to continue to offer this to your customers. No matter the decision, a well-known core values statement will help guide you toward the right answer.

Mistake 3: You have no crisis plan

Plain and simple – bad stuff happens to even the best businesses, regardless of product, service, size or industry. And when it does, it’s too late to begin outlining your crisis plan. “By the time you hear the thunder, it’s too late to build the ark.” This is why one of the biggest PR mistakes is not having the faintest idea of your crisis plan until the flood waters have raised well over your head. The good news is that this is completely avoidably with just a little effort right now. A crisis plan does not need to be as intensive or consuming as a business strategy or marketing plan (though it could be). This is just a part of your overall Public Relations plan, but if you ask me it’s by far the most important since it could be the plan that saves your business entirely. A crisis plan can be as simple as answering the question, “Who will be my point person in overseeing a crisis?” And the best answer is not always “me.” Think of the other responsibilities that will likely fall on you during the time of a crisis. If it’s due to a break down in internal operations, you’ll need to focus on correcting this right away. You won’t have the time or capacity to deal with social media, customer service calls/emails or the press. Also, are you the best communicator in the business? Just because you have the most insight, doesn’t mean you’re the best person to communicate this insight and make it relatable to your customers. Think of the most professional and responsible communicator you have in your business and have that direct conversation with them about their role in a potential crisis – now.

Another highly confusing, but critical part to your crisis plan is the timing of your communication. There have been disastrous examples of people speaking too soon or not soon enough and both scenarios have the power to produce equally damaging consequences. You want to be the first to speak and tell your story, but this should not be the result of a knee-jerk response. My rule of thumb is to speak as quickly as accurate information is available. There are three components to the initial message you should communicate in response to a crisis. First, admit to the mistake (if it was indeed a mistake in any part related to your business). Second, express how you are working to fix it quickly and fully (are you offering a recall, refund or changing your operations). Third, let your customers know exactly what they can do to avoid feeling any further impact from this error (should they return a product or discontinue use).

By having a solid crisis management plan in place before a crisis strikes, you are in a much better position to recover quicker and stronger than otherwise. The bottom line is that you don’t want customers to remember the crisis; you want them to remember how well you handled it.

Mistake 4: You attempt to erase mistakes

It’s a common analogy for a commonly made PR mistake, “Deleting a comment on social media is like hanging up the phone in the middle of a customer service call.” Social media is a powerful tool that businesses have openly embraced all across the globe, but as soon as a comment turns negative, the first reaction always seems to be to hit delete and make it all go away. The truth is that it won’t go away. Once it’s live out there in cyberspace, you can rest assured that at least one other person has seen it or shared it. Because of this, it will never fully disappear and so deleting this feedback is only going to flame the fire. Whether the negative comment is the result of a crisis or a single unhappy customer, it’s an opportunity to communicate your side of the story and show how much you do appreciate your customers. Much like the crisis communication plan, this is your critical moment to turn a negative into a positive.

Some businesses have even taken this mistake one step beyond just erasing the error or deleting the comment. They have deleted the entire communication channel (for example their Facebook fan page). If a comment goes viral or your business is being bombarded with questions regarding a concern or crisis, the task of managing all of your communication channels may be overwhelming. But it couldn’t be more important to keep it active. Don’t delete any communication channel solely as the result of a negative comment or mistake. Just as you wouldn’t discontinue your customer service call center or shut off your email account, don’t tune out and turn off thousands of customers by shutting off an important means of communication.

Mistake 5: You use too much “fluff”

So often Public Relations is associated with fluff, flack and spin. All these words – in my mind at least – conjure up a negative and even dishonest connotation. It’s certainly acceptable to toot your own horn, but you must keep a level of honesty and believability in your content to prevent the risk of having customers simply tune you out. A big PR mistake I see made in web site content, social media statuses and press releases is the use of too much “fluff” language. This makes the business look and sound like an infomercial, stuffed to the gills with buzzwords and hype. There’s nothing relatable or memorable about this type of content and people tune it out just like they would flip the channel from an annoying commercial. Most distressing is that some people think this is an example of very effective Public Relations strategy. “Hey, doesn’t our business sound awesome? This here says we’re the best at everything so you know it’s true!” Just because you plug a bunch of sugary sweet phrases into your content doesn’t mean your customers will eat it up or even enjoy the taste. Instead, engage your customers through content that is more relatable, more human and maybe even a little bit vulnerable in the right places. Public Relations should tell an interesting, honest story and build meaningful relationships with your customers. Aim to engage your customers with your content, not put them into a sugar coma.

So, which of these 5 common Public Relations mistakes would you say is the most detrimental to a business? Or maybe you have a few other examples that should be included on this list. Be sure and share your comments below so we can all benefit from being aware of these mistakes and make the effort now to avoid them in the future!

 

Turning Freelance into Fulltime: Taking the Leap

This blog completes a series of 5 posts which outline and address a very valuable lesson for any industry or any career – how to turn your freelancing into a fulltime business. If you’re currently contracting out a set of skills or have at least thought about it, this can be the critical first step toward starting your own business. I invite you to join me each week as I share the 5 most important components needed to prepare for a successful transition from freelance to fulltime.

In case you missed it, read:

Establishing Professionalism

Getting Your Name Out There

Moving Away From One-Time Clients

Building a Client Base

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Taking the Leap

Last December when I wrote the post “Entrepreneurial Survival Mode,” I talked about how sometimes you have to give yourself no option but to sink or swim in order to find that inner fire to make your business a success. I still believe this. But during my own journey from freelance to fulltime, I didn’t tie a blind fold and allow myself to walk off a cliff. Instead, I carefully calculated the jump before I ultimately made the leap into entrepreneurship. The most important concept I want you to take away from that previous post and now this one is that when you can take the leap – do it without hesitation and get ready to work for all you’re worth. It’s a bold and risky move, but it holds the possibility of the most rewarding career experience…creating something that’s all your own.

Here are the key steps I recommend to every almost-entrepreneur contemplating a leap of faith:

Crunch the numbers.

I still have the first spreadsheet I created with all of my expenses versus the meager income I would make if I turned my freelance business into my sole income. It’s a great reminder of where I started and where I’m never too far from to return. But most importantly, it was the assurance I needed to know that I could make ends meet even if everything about my business stayed the same (which of course I hoped that it would improve). When I reflect on this spreadsheet now, it still offers that same assurance that if all came crashing down, I could stay afloat. At this point in my entrepreneurial journey, I learned the skill of minimizing costs. On my spreadsheet I listed all of my current expenses with my fulltime job. I was paying for internet I never used, far too big of a Comcast package and a reserved parking spot at my apartment. Before I took the leap, I really crunched these numbers. I cancelled internet and began sharing with my neighbor for a fraction of the cost. I downgraded my TV (anticipating 80+ hours a week of work on my new business didn’t leave me much time for such luxuries anyhow). I discontinued my parking spot and as a city resident was able to get a parking pass right across the street for just $5 a year. I wasn’t as surprised with my ability to minimize costs as I was shocked with why I was ever throwing this money out the window to begin with.

When you first start your own business, don’t let anyone convince you that you immediately need to rent an office space, pay for a separate phone line or upgrade the speed of your internet. There are many ways to achieve the same results for little to no cost. Separate business needs from business wants. Later down the road when money comes, so will the corner office, fancy business cards and personal assistant. You simply don’t need these things for the first year…or first five years. How much money you have in the bank isn’t just about how much money you made, it’s about how much money you didn’t spend. Minimizing your expenses will help supplement a smaller income and make your leap less of a stretch.

Consider everything that will be affected.

A salaried, fulltime position has many benefits beyond the stable paycheck. Remember that as an entrepreneur your healthcare, 401K and taxes will become something you actively worry about. These will take research and a critical eye to determine the best option for you. For healthcare, I got lucky with my age. Until 26 I’m able to stay on my parents’ insurance plan for a very minimal cost each month. After that dreaded birthday, I’m not sure what I’ll do next but I do know there are more and more options every day for entrepreneurs and small business owners. I will likely talk to a local independent healthcare provider and outline my options. For retirement, I rolled my existing 401K into a Roth IRA. Again, it made the most sense for me for a variety of reasons, but do your research and talk to several people before landing on a plan. Finally there are taxes. I dread them more and more every year as what I pay goes up in proportion to my income. As a business owner, it’s your responsibility to claim your earnings and pay taxes on them accordingly. For the first several years you may be able to get away with claiming your business as a loss or have enough deductions that you still get money back. But that can only last so long. Eventually you should consider paying taxes on a quarterly basis to lessen the blow come March  (which is by the way when business owners must file taxes—note this now and avoid a nasty letter from the IRS later).

My dad gave me the best advice when I first started making freelance money, “Spend only what you need and keep the rest in savings.” He meant this so I would always have enough to cover my taxes, but wouldn’t it be great if we all handled our money like this all of the time?

Have an emergency backup plan.

For some, a backup plan may seem like a way out. I’ve heard, and at times agree, with the theory that a safety net is only an excuse to fall. But for large enough leaps where you are risking your income, career and possibly all of your worldly possessions (not to mention sanity), a safety net is warranted. For me, my emergency backup plan came from solid relationships with past employers and key contacts who said that if I should ever decide to be available for fulltime hire, I have a standing offer for a position with them. This verbal reassurance from people who believed in my skill set was the emergency backup plan I am grateful to have never used. More than just the ability to find fulltime work should I need it, I also keep a financial “runway” of at least 3 months. By this, I mean I aim to keep enough funds in savings and in my business that if one day absolutely all income should go to zero, I would be able to continue living and spending in exactly the same way for 3 months. This is a substantial amount of time to find additional income, cut back on spending and make other adjustments to prevent depleting this runway, but it’s a comfort to know it exists.

The idea of having an emergency backup plan in place reminds me of the quote by Robert H. Schuller. “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?”  This plan is not to give you an easy way out should things get too hard; it’s to give you the confidence to move forward fiercely and passionately. When you know your next step is not doomed to be your last, you can keep moving forward with courage.

Do it right – and don’t look back.

Once you outline a tight budget, decide how you’ll handle your healthcare, retirement and taxes and setup and emergency backup plan, you’re ready. As tempting as it may be to go out with bang, scream “I quit!” and throw everything off your desk onto the floor, resist the temptation. Your grand finale should be one with grace and professionalism that demonstrates to your employer and everyone else that you are destined to become a great entrepreneur. First, speak directly to your boss. Give them the honor of being the first to know your passion for your side business and plans to take it fulltime. Whether you hate them, don’t want to disappoint them or have no relationship with them, they deserve this respect. Once they’re on board, they can become your advocate and guide you through the process of leaving. Depending on the structure of your business, you may need to speak with the Human Resources Director to place your 2-weeks’ notice. For me, I was also required to write a resignation letter (which felt absolutely wonderful to sign). Going through the proper process of resigning from your job allows everyone to be aware of why you’re leaving and to celebrate with you. It also allows you to take advantage of things like using vacation days, selling back sick days and getting that final pay check 2 weeks after you finished working. By leaving on the right foot, you’ll also start your new business on the right foot. And if you haven’t learned already, this world is a small place and you never know who you’ll see (or have to work with) again.

Once you properly end your fulltime job, that’s it. It’s all you now. During your first year it’s natural to be reminded of your old job by every season, holiday or co-worker’s birthday that would have been a special mile marker. But you have new mile markers now. Don’t look back or keep track of where you might have been had you not taken the leap. The fact is, you did take the leap and every ounce of you should be focused on sticking that landing rather than trying to backpedal mid-air.

Have you enjoyed the 5-part series, “Turning Freelance Into Fulltime?” If so, share this with a freelancer or entrepreneur you know! This wisdom was gained through my own rough and wild personal experiences and I only wish to use it to help others navigate their similar journey. Thank you for reading along.

 

Turning Freelance into Fulltime: Building a Client Base

This blog continues a series of 5 posts which outline and address a very valuable lesson for any industry or any career – how to turn your freelancing into a fulltime business. If you’re currently contracting out a set of skills or have at least thought about it, this can be the critical first step toward starting your own business. I invite you to join me each week as I share the 5 most important components needed to prepare for a successful transition from freelance to fulltime.

In case you missed it, read:

Establishing Professionalism

Getting Your Name Out There

Moving Away From One-Time Clients

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Building A Client Base

The two previous posts, “Getting Your Name Out There” and “Moving Away From One-Time Projects” are both aimed toward the ultimate goal of building a solid client base. Reaching this goal is more than just having your business known in the local community; it’s taking it to that next critical level of getting people to actually hire you. While many aspects about taking your business from freelance to fulltime will be about building a professional brand, this particular component will most directly affect your business’s bottom line – or more accurately, its “life line.” You need to have a core client base which can provide you with a stable income while so many other aspects of your business are fluid and ever-changing. So how do you begin to build this base of paying clients? It only needs to begin with one. From there you can implement these following steps to turn this single brick into a solid foundation for your business.

Ask your existing client(s) for leads.

Your first one or two clients are much more than a desperately needed paycheck. They are a source of potential leads for new clients. Not only can they speak to your business from a firsthand experience, they are also likely to have connections in similar situations where your services could be of great value. If you are a freelance writer and one of your clients is a commercial video production company that often hires you for script writing, they are likely also connected to other video production companies that could use a freelance writer. My own client base was built in a similar way – through word-of-mouth recommendations from current and past clients. Because of my background in political campaigns, I secured my first freelance political client who I helped with public relations and planning fundraisers. At the fundraiser, many of his fellow colleagues who are also elected officials were fascinated with the services they could contract out to me. This single client helped me break into a unique area that has consistently grown my business ever since. I am also lucky that it’s an area I truly enjoy. When I first began my freelance Public Relations business during my senior year in college, I knew little to nothing about political campaigns nor did I have an interest in them. Yet with a single client, I established a whole new branch of my business. When looking to build your own client base, don’t overlook the obvious or easy. Ask your existing clients for leads from their own network who might be interested in your services. Better yet, ask them to connect you directly by personal email. If the initial introduction to your business is made by someone that the lead knows and trusts, it won’t be as easy to brush it off as a cold sales call and will speak volumes for the quality of your work.

Identify your niche.

When using existing clients as a building block for new clients, it’s natural that a pattern of businesses with whom you work most frequently will emerge. Allow this to build organically for some time before taking a critical look at what these patterns mean for the direction of your business. Essentially, you will now need to identify your niche and embrace it. Identifying your niche is not a limitation or a blinder for future business. You can and should seek out projects from all directions as you never know when this could tap into a new reservoir of work. But a niche will allow you to target many aspects of your business’s branding and marketing to appeal to this niche and establish your expertise within it. Say you make custom invitations to sell on Esty and begin to track that the most orders you receive are for wedding invitations. You can focus your web site content, social media and portfolio on wedding-related stationary. You may also choose to attend more bridal shows and advertise in bridal publications or on wedding web sites. This focus will allow you to place your time and effort in the area in which you are most likely to secure future clients. In the client building process your focus may form a spotlight on your niche, but don’t completely turn out the lights on all other categories of services. Remember that the bride you created invitations for will someday be interested in birthday and baby show invites or holiday cards. Make sure even current clients are aware of the full scope of services you offer.

Introduce and incentivize.

Once you’ve reached out to your existing clients for recommendations and have focused on your niches, next comes strategically introducing your business to potential clients. There are various ways in which you can accomplish this and the method will depend upon your type of business and the clients you’re trying to reach. One common method is a letter written to the business owner which serves as a friendly introduction to you are and what you do. This should go out to all businesses which fall within your niche or with whom you’d like to work. The letter should close with a realistic call to action. This can be as simple as inviting them to visit your web site or alerting them that you will be following up by phone in the coming weeks. If you’re in the position to do so, including an incentive such as a discount or free trial for one of your services is a very effective way to get a response. I’ve written such letters for several clients and we’ve seen some amazing results. The more personal you can make it (add in details specific to the person or their business) the more likely you are to receive a response. People want to feel that it’s genuine and not a form letter sent to hundreds of other businesses. Finally, by providing an incentive to try out your services, you reduce the risk of the unknown and take one step closer toward gaining a new client.

Stay tuned as the “Turning Freelance Into Fulltime” blog series continues with: Taking The Leap

 

Turning Freelance into Fulltime: Moving Away From One-Time Projects

This blog continues a series of 5 posts which outline and address a very valuable lesson for any industry or any career – how to turn your freelancing into a fulltime business. If you’re currently contracting out a set of skills or have at least thought about it, this can be the critical first step toward starting your own business. I invite you to join me each week as I share the 5 most important components needed to prepare for a successful transition from freelance to fulltime.

In case you missed it, read:

Establishing Professionalism

Getting Your Name Out There

———————————————————————————————————————————–

Moving Away From One-Time Projects

Often freelancers are hired for a single project that is pre-defined in both scope and pay. If the project was ongoing or needed regular maintenance, that business would just hire a fulltime in-house employee instead, right? Not always. Some businesses still have the need for a fulltime employee but may lack the office space or sizeable pay to do so. This is where being able to offer a contracted service is so valuable. You can provide as much time and skill as a salaried employee, but at a much lower cost because you don’t require a workspace, benefits or consistent 40 hours a week of work. To turn a freelance business into a fulltime career, you need consistent pay or in other words, consistent work. Instead of living on a hope and prayer from one project to the next, begin building a reoccurring client list to add stability to your income.

Identify An Ongoing Need.

When you want to move away from a pay-per-project basis, sometimes you need to be one to identify an ongoing need in which you can address. Essentially, you need to put yourself in the position of that business owner. Ask, “What are their long term goals, reoccurring problems or limitations?” Once you’ve uncovered these valuable issues, look for areas in which the services you offer can align with resolving them. For example, a graphic design artist doesn’t have to wait around for the next client who needs a logo or promotional material put together – these tend to be isolated, one-time projects. With some creative thinking and researching you might discover that the client also updates their website homepage graphic on a monthly basis or regularly includes infographics in their weekly blog posts. This presents the opportunity for an ongoing contract in which you can provide these services on a reoccurring basis. No matter what your freelance business offers, there’s almost always the opportunity to become a regular contractor if you look closely.

Create Your Own Position.

Once you’ve identified a client’s ongoing need, you’ll next need to package your services in such a way that they create a valuable position that your client will want to fill – and do so by hiring you. Start organizing your ideas by writing them down. What can you offer on a regular basis? If you’re a freelance writer, this could be weekly blog posts, website content writing and formatting a monthly email newsletter. Be specific in what you’ll bring to the table and remember to include things like monthly client conference calls, unlimited email communication and projects guaranteed to be completed by a certain deadline every month. These will help to make the position look less like a freelancer and more like a real employee. By doing this, you will have essentially created a proposal in which you will need to pitch. For any freelancer, the first time you pitch to a client can be role reversal that takes some getting used to. Often you’re the one being pursued for work, now you’re the one pursuing a client for work.

Learn to Pitch.

You identified a need, you created a job proposal, now you need to pitch it – and hope you hit it out of the park. First, be sure your client is expecting a proposal for your work. If you’ve worked with them on several projects before, you can easily initiate a conversation in which you explain what you’d like to do. You want to offer them your services on a reoccurring basis to maximize their business goals. Once they’re aware of your intentions and are expecting your proposal, schedule a time to meet with them in person (if feasible) or a time you can connect for a conference call. In either scenario, email them a PDF of your proposal before your meeting so they can review what you’re offering and bring up any questions they may have at that time. This simply removes the back and forth that can often occur later. After your meeting, set a time frame for follow-up that works for both of you. This can be another call or just an email. This follow-up should confirm whether or not they are interested in hiring you as a regular contractor. During the whole pitching process, answer any phone calls or email within one business day. This sets the first standard for how responsive you would be if hired and clients will take this into consideration. Once you’re comfortable with the proposal and pitching process, you’ll be well on your way to securing more ongoing projects and this will also become a very useful skill once you take your business fulltime. Want more information? Click here to read the popular Bennis Inc Blog post, “Protecting Your Pitch.”

Think “Value Added.”

When turning one-time projects into reoccurring clients, your energy is best spent answering the question “What can I gain by hiring you on a regular basis?” Depending on your services and the situation, the possibilities are endless. Most commonly your answers will be among the following. A client will be able to focus more time on running their business by not always looking for freelancers every time a new project should arise. They will save money by using multiple services from one person. You will both develop a working relationship that will allow you to understand each other’s communication style and work together most effectively. I refer to this as “value added” or the value that is above and beyond the services in which you’re being paid to perform. If a client can understand the value you bring to the table that is at no extra charge to them – but can often become invaluable – then you are far more likely to secure them as a reoccurring client. Because there really isn’t a place to emphasize the value added services in a proposal, they’re best communicated when you’re pitching to your client. Make a strong case for yourself! Think of every client as one step toward taking your freelance business fulltime and put this passion into your proposal.

Stay tuned as the “Turning Freelance Into Fulltime” blog series continues with: Building a Client Base

 

Turning Freelance into Fulltime: Getting Your Name Out There

This blog continues a series of 5 posts which outline and address a very valuable lesson for any industry or any career – how to turn your freelancing into a fulltime business. If you’re currently contracting out a set of skills or have at least thought about it, this can be the critical first step toward starting your own business. I invite you to join me each week as I share the 5 most important components needed to prepare for a successful transition from freelance to fulltime.

In case you missed it, read:

Establishing Professionalism

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Getting Your Name Out There

Getting comfortable with confidently talking about your freelance business can be awkward and challenging, but is an essential part of getting your name out there. Often this also means opening yourself up for rejection or dismissal – after all, you’re not yet a “real business” in the eyes of many. If you wait to build a network, you’re only putting yourself months or years behind when you do take your business fulltime. It’s never too early to begin. So how can a freelance business establish a name and a reputation strong enough to compete among the best? The following steps are what I stumbled upon as the most effective way to establish my name in the local market when I was still freelancing:

1. Weave it naturally into any conversation you can.

People can’t know what you don’t tell them, so don’t be shy about sharing the skills you offer on the side. Whether you’re at a dinner, the bar or the bank, if you see an opportunity to connect with someone who could be a potential client or put you in contact with some, it’s worth mentioning what you do – even on the side. You never know who is listening or what you’re saying that could resonate with someone. Be sure to practice a smooth 1-2 sentence explanation as to what you do that you can delivery clearly and confidently. Also, think of adding in a unique or memorable tidbit like, “I first began my side business in college and have since worked with clients from several different states,” or “I just opened a shop on Etsy and custom-make every product.” This not only qualifies your business, but makes you stand out. As a note of caution, be sure to look for natural segways in the conversation that allow for the topic to be brought up. An unnatural insertion can make you look desperate or unprofessional. Start with asking them what they do and when they ask you in return, there’s your green light.

2. Join local networking groups, but limit them to ones that best serve your business.

There a myriad of networking and business development groups at the local, state and national level. Don’t be tempted to join every single one. Think quality over quantity. As a freelancer your time is more valuable than ever – trying to juggle a fulltime job, side business, family life and everything in between. The time you can dedicate to joining networking groups is best spent divided between 2-3 groups maximum. If you pay the dues but are spread too thin to attend any of the meetings, this is a waste of money and potentially a bad reflection on your business. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to category-specific networking group in my area right around the time I went fulltime. This type of networking group is unique in that only one business can represent a category. What this does is create a small “community” of businesses who feed clients to each other. Without competing businesses in the same networking group there’s no conflict of who gets what recommendations. These are often non-dues paying with the idea that you earn your membership by sharing leads. This group meets weekly and has better turnout than most monthly groups with a membership 4 times its size. It’s a large time commitment but also produces consistent results for my business. Because of this, I am only a member of one networking group – and I give it my all. Depending upon your business and what’s offered in your area, a different combination of networking groups might make more sense. The bottom line is to do your research, give each of them a try and know when to stay or when to leave.

3. Ask close family and friends to spread the word.

This may seem overly obvious, but often the best ideas are. Your family and friends have a vested interest in seeing you and your business succeed. They can also speak intimately about your character and skill set. Let them be your mouthpiece and plug your business for you. Even just 4-5 people talking to their networks, increases your network exponentially. I remember creating a little half-page handout for my mom to share about my business. She knew a lot of fellow business owners back in my hometown that could benefit from my consulting work and she did as any mother word – she promoted it. Also, whenever anyone asked what I was doing or where I was working, she remembered to mention that I was also running a side business. Prompting your family and friends to do the same will help the word spread in many different directions and to many potential clients.

Stay tuned as the “Turning Freelance Into Fulltime” blog series continues with: Moving Away From One-Time Projects

 

Turning Freelance into Fulltime: Establishing Professionalism

This blog begins a series of 5 posts which will attempt to outline and address a very valuable lesson for any industry or any career. To say I’m excited to share this information is a gross understatement. Reading any post on my blog, you will see I’m passionate about sharing my life experiences with as many other entrepreneurial hopefuls as I can. This special series “Turning Freelance Into Fulltime” could very well one day become a best-selling book or feature article in Fortune (we can all dream, right?), but for now it’s solely for your benefit and inspiration.

If you’re currently freelancing a set of skills or have at least thought about it, this can be the critical first step toward starting your own business. I invite you to join me each week as I share the 5 most important components needed to prepare for a successful transition from freelance to fulltime.

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Establishing Professionalism

Launch a web site.

As a freelancer, you’re often caught in the awkward limbo of working a fulltime job while living this second life on the side. How much time and energy should you spend on creating a professional image for your freelancing work when it’s not yet your bread and butter? My advice is – a great deal. When a prospective client asks for more information or a sampling of your work, it’s easy and convenient for you to send them a link to your web site. When I first started, I used an extremely clean and simple template on Weebly.com. The web templates are as easy to create as a word document and Weebly hosts your site completely free (which was right in my price range when I first started). Although I’ve since outgrown Weebly as my business grew, I highly recommend it as a starting point for any other freelancers. When you’re ready, you can purchase a domain name to personalize your site further. The bottom line is that a web site shows prospective clients that you’re serious about your side business and the quality of work you put into fostering this business is a good indicator of the level of work you’ll also put into their projects. Once you’re ready to take the leap into fulltime entrepreneurship, you’ll be that much further along in your process of developing a business web site.

Create business cards.

It’s never too soon to have a professional looking business card for your freelance business. When you have the opportunity to talk to someone about your business and they show an interest, you want to be able to give them something that allows them to be immediately in touch with you or to find out more about your work. A business card does just that. It’s also discrete in that you can easily slip someone your card and shift the conversation so you’re not stuck feeling like all you do is talk about this “side job” you have. I remember the first business cards I created. I ordered the minimum amount from VistaPrint.com using one of their pre-made designs. When they arrived in the mail and I saw my name alongside my business’s name on that little card, I felt that first jolt of energy that entrepreneurs live the rest of their life for.

Designate a professional email.

Once equipped with a web site and business cards, you’re now in need of a professional email designated for your freelance work. I still encounter many well-established businesses that skip this step and it’s noticeable. If you bought a domain name for your web site, you can usually create an email at this same address such as John@JSmithDesigns.com. First, this type of email address is both neutral and easy to share in that it uses your name and your business and not something awkward like 2Hot2Handlexoxo@yahoo.com. I can’t imagine a perspective client could overlook this red flag and not question the professionalism and legitimacy of your work as well. Second, a professional email is a nice accompaniment to your business cards. Finally, if someone misspells or misplaces your web site URL, they can easily find it by following what’s listed after the @ (I use this technique quite often to verify web addresses even now).

Include freelancing on your resume and Linkedin.

Even though your freelancing business is only a side job at the moment, there’s no reason to exclude it from your work experience. It says many valuable things about you. First, you have a specific skill set of a high enough level that multiple people are interested in contracting you just for this work. Second, you are organized and proficient with time management to be able to juggle a side business along with a fulltime job. Finally, you’re a leader and an entrepreneur to not only get a side job, but make a side job – which could very well become your sole business with enough time. Be sure to include this wherever relevant. I added my freelancing Public Relations work to Linkedin profile and my resume and received quite a few connections who were intrigued by this work. They key is to find the balance between promoting your work but not in such a way that it becomes a conflict of interest with your fulltime job. I assure you, there is a balance that can be reached!

An Extra Snippet: Do you need to incorporate?

While we’re at the very beginning of how to turn your freelance business into a fulltime career, now is an important time to cover the issue of how and when to incorporate. I waited about a year and a half into my own freelancing before I woke up and did this. And it was only after a brutal tax return that I saw the value in doing so. Once you start bringing in frequent income from clients that averages over several hundred dollars for each project, I suggest talking with a CPA or a tax attorney in your area. I was connected with a very sharp tax attorney who saved me from a bad tax year and set me up right away as an S-Corp. There is a cost associated with incorporating your business (especially if you do it the right way) but you easily earn that back the first year you file this side income as a corporation rather than an individual. Yes, there are online programs like LegalZoom.com that can get you started, but it can be a complicated process and I wouldn’t mess around with the IRS. Talk in person with a local professional who can advise you and apprise you of all of the decisions that will come your way as a new business owner. Never once did I hear of someone who regretted this extra effort!

Stay tuned as the “Turning Freelance Into Fulltime” blog series continues with: Getting Your Name Out There

 

WordPress, Why’d You Go And Change?

This past spring, WordPress.com made some critical changes to the organization of its website and I’m certain I can’t be the only one who has caught on. The changes most noticeable to us, the bloggers, are the ones which impact the content non-subscribers are able to view as well as how easily our blog can be found when browsing the site. Ultimately these changes have altered the interaction of the community WordPress.com is built upon and your comments and page views have likely taken a hit as a result. If you’re like me, you may have been wondering why you blog has been receiving substantially fewer visitors even with the same frequency of posts and quality of content. Well, it’s not you – It’s WordPress.

As a creature of habit, I’m slow to warm to unsolicited change and so I didn’t want to form an opinion without first giving myself some time to adjust. I didn’t know if the changes would be permanent or if their impact would be decidedly negative. Now, nearly 6 months later, I’m concluding both to be true.

If you’ve joined WordPress in the last 6 months – feel lucky, you’ll never know the difference. If you’re a veteran WordPress user and haven’t noticed these changes, your personal impact may have been too subtle to notice (Warning: You may become acutely aware of these changes after reading the rest of this post). But if you’re a fellow blogger working hard for every new subscriber you earn, you may feel just as confused and agitated as I do with the blogging platform you’ve loved and supported above any other. So what happened, WordPress – Why’d you go and change?

Isolation of Non-Subscribers – Before I was ever a blogger or even a registered user of WordPress, I enjoyed visiting WordPress.com to browse through the day’s blogs. I was in awe of the chosen few who were featured on the “Freshly Pressed” section of the homepage that immediately greeted you with big pictures and intriguing article titles. As a loyal WordPress blogger for more than a year and half, I only recently noticed the different welcome page non-subscribers are now being greeted with when my computer decided to log me out one morning. Without logging in I could only access limited pages that resembled more of a commercial for WordPress than a blogging community. I get it, WordPress – you want new subscribers just as much as I do! But you have to give people a preview of the incredible content this community shares everyday to make someone want to join in. What first brought me, and as a result many of my clients, to WordPress (over other blogging platforms) was the way it openly shared blogs, allowed for easy browsing and even showcased a select few with the honor of being “Freshly Pressed” adding incentive for quality content. Now a wall has been built around the outside world and though the entrance inside only comes at the cost of an email address, this is enough to deter those who aren’t yet ready for their own blog or who want to remain an anonymous (though loyal) blog browser for right now.

For logged-out users, the OLD WordPress.com homepage used to greet you with its Freshly Pressed articles of the day and the option to browse more blogs under those topics. Note: this is without needing to sign in.

Now logged-out users are only able to get as far as “Get Started.” They’re denied any interaction with the community until they agree to create an account.

Freshly UnimPressed – I still believe being chosen as Freshly Pressed by WordPress is one of the most exciting honors for a new blogger. I was chosen two months after starting my blog and received nearly 3,000 blog hits in a single day and a large residual of hits and subscribers for months after. Truly this experience alone can launch a blog to stardom! Since the changes, I’m no longer as impressed with the publicity of Freshly Pressed – and it breaks my heart to say this. This stems from two main reasons. First, Freshly Pressed articles used to be featured on the homepage of WordPress.com and this produced far greater traffic for the featured blogs. Now that it’s no longer the default landing, users have to actively select the Freshly Pressed tab to view the blogs. Though even a minor additional step, this still creates a substantial roadblock that users won’t take the effort to do. I know I’m guilty of not visiting the Freshly Pressed page every day, whereas it used to be my starting point when visiting WordPress.com. Second, only registered users/subscribers can view Freshly Pressed blogs. This option no longer appears on the homepage for users who aren’t logged in. This change alone blocks out a substantial portion of potential web traffic to these blogs.

Not-So-Hot Topics – Do you remember when there used to be an option to browse by “tags” from the WordPress.com homepage? I do and it drove a great deal of new and random visitors to my blog (the best kind!). You can track how people find your blog  by checking your stats under “referrers.” Don’t be surprised if you can’t find a recent referral from a tag used in your blog, because the new organization of the site has all but brought this perk to a halt. Again the culprit is that to browse by topics (aka tags) you must go through several different steps to get there. Each additional step decreases the number of people who actually make the effort to do so. Take a look here:

This is currently the homepage I’m greeted with when I’m logged into WordPress.com. I see a blog feed of only the blogs to which I am subscribed. While there’s a column of topics/tags on the left-hand side, I have to choose to see these topics and again they only appear as a slow-loading and single-listed news feed.

Furthermore, WordPress.com seems to randomly generate the topics listed in the left-hand column by pulling from topics/tags I’ve used in my own posts. But what if I want to browse blogs on a new subject? I tried once to clean-up and customize my topic list only to have it reset the next time I logged in. I’ll still hoping to get that half-hour of my life back somehow…

Remeber when browsing by tags/topics was easy and attractive like this:

Now the only way I can figure out how to achieve this browsing capability on the new WordPress is to click “Explore Topics” and type in the topic I want to sift through. But instead of the attractively laid out format as above, the topics read more like a newsfeed and load at a terribly slow rate. Instead of simply clicking Homepage–>Tags, I now have to go to Homepage–>Reader–>Explore Topics–>Type in and Search Topic–>Wait for page to load and scroll through single-listed blog feed. To any less-motivated of a blogger, this process isn’t happening and it’s likely your blog hits from new or random visitors have declined as a result.

Segmenting a Community – The ostracizing of non-subscribers, devaluing the honor of being Freshly Pressed and creating yet one more roadblock for new visitors to reach your blog are all unfortunate results of the changes made to the new organization of WordPress.com over the past several months. But my biggest concern isn’t with any of these individually. Rather, it’s the concern that the WordPress community which I have blogged and bragged very openly about is at risk for disengagement. Together these changes produce a WordPress in which it’s harder for fellow bloggers and visitors to find your blog and for you to find theirs. If an interactive blogging community is indeed one of the major points of differentiation for WordPress.com – and I’ve always thought it to be – then it should be made a priority above all else (i.e. more subscribers and up-selling bloggers on customized domains and blog templates). I’m disheartened by what appears to be permanent changes, but it’s not just because of the decrease in blog hits, comments or subscribers. It’s because of the time and effort I put into learning and adapting to the WordPress community and interacting with new blogs daily. If future changes continue in this direction, I’m worried my single efforts to encourage engagement won’t be enough to preserve the WordPress community for what it once was.

If anyone has had a similar or different experience with the impact of WordPress.com’s recent changes, please share! I’m very aware it’s possible I could have overlooked a benefit of these changes and would gladly welcome knowing if they exist.

 

Technology & Honesty: Hiding Behind A Mask?

Oscar Wilde was once quoted as saying, “Man is least himself when he walks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth.” It seems that even back when “text” was what made up a novel and a “tweet” was the sound of a bird; we have always felt most comfortable fully expressing ourselves, truthfully and confidently, behind a mask. The masks we have to choose from today are aplenty. Some of us find masks to wear for only a few hours a day, for others its part of our job, but with the ever increasing use of technology and social media—the most interesting masks are the ones in which people choose to wear every time they communicate with the online world.

More and more I prefer email communication over any other. I like the shield it creates between direct communication like a phone call or a face-to-face meeting where immediate responses are expected. Email provides me with the luxury of answering requests at my own pace and on my own time. It also gives me a paper trail of conversations that is much easier to search and recall than anything merely spoken. I don’t argue that there are times where a quick phone call can clear up what would have become a lengthy email chain of confusion or that a sit-down meeting can easily knock off a laundry list of tasks in record time. But aside from these particular circumstances, email is my mask – and I feel most confident, professional and organized when working behind this visage.

Email is only the first of many technological masks we can choose to communicate from behind every day. Can you identify yours? Think how much easier it is to write out a difficult conversation over an email than to do it by phone or in person. I admit I still create an outline of a “script” when I have to communicate some difficult news that I know will upset the other person – even when I do it by phone. This mask allows me to say everything I want in the best way possible without forgetting or stumbling. I don’t do it with the intent to be insincere; I do it with the intent to minimize negative feelings and to organize my thoughts.

But what about the most fascinating mask of all – social media? This is where communicating with friends, acquaintances, members of your extended family – and even exes and enemies – is made a lot easier than doing so in “real life.” With this mask we tend to share overly personal information, comment or message people we’d never pick up the phone to call and even develop what can feel like a personal relationship with someone we’ve never met in person. If you don’t believe me, just wait until your next high school reunion where someone you haven’t spoken to in years will come up to you and somehow know your job title, marital status and the last thing you ate. Social media is a masquerade ball after all. Just because you’re wearing a mask, doesn’t mean you’re the only one. People are also sharing more information with you on social media than they might ever feel comfortable repeating to you again in person.

So what’s the incentive to be so confident and honest behind this front? What are we hiding from? The answer to this might be as unique as the person who’s being asked. Introspectively I believe I’m hiding from the fear of appearing disorganized, unprofessional or misinformed. When I can write it out and proof read it before I click send, it gives me time to think through what I’m saying and revise it if I so wish. Real-life, instantaneous responses do not afford me this same luxury. For social media, I think it’s the fear of having to witness a reaction we didn’t expect or having someone reply negatively. We’re not as afraid to be honest because we never have to witness an immediate response. We can say something and walk away and not have to hope that someone laughs at our joke or supports our rant about a bad day at work.

What do these technological masks mean for the welfare of face-to-face communication? I don’t think anything can replace the meaning of a conversation held in person. For the most sensitive topics – whether negative or positive – the ability to look someone in the eye and take in the expression in their eyes, smile and body language is crucial. And while technology can make a person sitting across the world feel like they’re sitting right across the table, it has yet to recreate this important aspect of “real” communication. While Oscar Wilde’s quote rings so very true, I hope that during the key moments in life in which we need to, we can be so bold as to remove our mask and be just as honest walking in our own person.

 

The Essentials for A Successful Blog

This is where I’m blogging from this week–a park on beautiful May day in Pennsylvania!

Almost one year ago, when I first started publishing ramblings about my ambitions, struggles, triumphs and personal philosophies around starting my own business, I had no real idea what I was doing. I wanted a platform to share my ideas, but to also keep me accountable for continuing my creative writing on a regular basis. And for me – this meant blogging. At that time, I had no real plan for where this would go, or if it would go anywhere at all. All I knew was that this was the first time I could really write for myself and not have the pressure to “perform.” This was a wildly new feeling which allowed me to access a whole new level of creativity and improve my own writing over the course of a single year by simply making me do it weekly.

While there is still much for me to learn from some of the Master Bloggers out there, I do feel like I’ve picked up on several tips that allowed me to enjoy the prestigious WordPress honor of being Freshly Pressed and to continue to steadily grow the Bennis Inc blog week after week, month after month. The following are what I consider the prime essentials for my blog’s success:

Consistency. Every Monday morning around 8am you can expect to be greeted by a Bennis Inc blog post in your inbox or blog feed. This takes planning, and sometimes pre-scheduling posts weeks in advance, but I’m a stickler for not leaving my readers hanging. For you, a different day of the week or a different frequency might make more sense, but whether you’re posting weekly, bi-weekly or monthly, loyal readership comes from consistent content.

Tags. Tags are what get your blog before the eyes of potential followers. In WordPress you’ll see that you can browse blogs by an endless number of topics. How do the blogs you see get placed on these topic pages? Tags. I familiarized myself with the most popular, overarching topics such as Life, Business, News, Photography and Writing (you can pick them out by the size of their font on the Topics page). I incorporate these powerhouse tags into my posts as much as relevant. That’s the other key to tags is to keep them relevant to your post. Overtagging is treated like spam to WordPress and that won’t get you any further ahead. Pick just the 10-15 most relevant tags for your content. Tags are also how a lot of search engines pick up on my blog. So when I use a Thomas Edison quote, for example, I’m sure to tag him because his name alone has brought many people to my blog because Google includes it in its search suggestions.

Quality Content. If you’re going to make the time commitment to start a blog, also make the commitment to write to the best of your ability. I can remember one busy week over the holidays when I just knew I couldn’t make my Monday blog deadline with a post to which I was proud to sign my name. Instead, I took just a few minutes and included a photo and a fun message to my readers about how even bloggers need a holiday. First, this kept me consistent with my weekly posts. Second, this allowed me the extra time I needed to come back the following week with quality content. I want to WOW my readers every week – and some weeks I do a better job of this than others – but I never want to take their readership for granted. So by offering you something worth reading I’m letting you know that I value your time!

Make it Genuine. So often blogs that are started by businesses fall into the trap that their posts should focus solely on promoting this business or its services. While a blog is a great opportunity to self-promote, it shouldn’t be a sales pitch. Just as I mentioned about quality content, give your audience something worth reading. Establish yourself as an expert in the field, but be sure to include personal stories, humor and even give people a look into some of your own struggles from time to time. My underlying point is – be human. We have enough social media being run by spammers and software. A successful blog gives readers a window into your life.

Make it visual. Adding a picture, graphic or embedding a video clip into your blog posts creates immediate interest for readers. When you browse through a topic on WordPress you’ll see an entire feed of new posts – too many to fully process. So what stands out? One of two things, an attention grabbing title or a picture to accompany your words. Both should accurately represent your blog with minimal thinking or reading. It’s the 0.5 seconds you have to pull a reader in, so don’t willingly give up this opportunity to grab their attention!

Become a part of the WordPress Community. WordPress is very much a social network; it’s a community of writers and readers made up of every demographic imaginable. But you can’t simply publish a blog, sit back and wait for people to swarm it with likes, comments and 5-star ratings. Most often, you have to actively pursue new readers. I personally comment on 5 other WordPress blog every day with something more meaningful than “Great post!” I show them that I took the time to read what they wrote and I share how it relates to me personally. WordPress is a very interactive community and 4 times out of 5 I get a reply for my comment. Most often, 2 out of 5 times I’ll get a new subscriber to MY blog. Multiple this by 5 days a week over the course of a year and it’s easy to consistently grow your blog. It just takes a few minutes of meaningful interaction every day.

So what are some of your successful blogging essentials? Have you discovered the tips I mentioned to be same as the ones you currently use? Since we are a community after all, share your blogging Do’s and Don’ts with me!