The freelance space is getting more and more crowded by the day.
It used to be that all you needed to do was to show up, deliver, and then support to stand out. But nowadays it’s a bit different.
I wrote a blog post titled How to Stand Out As a Freelancer in a Saturated Market a little over a year and a half ago with 10 tips.
I want to share with you something that I’ve found that can make you stand out that isn’t in that article.
But before I do, I want to highlight those tips and if you want to get more in-depth with them, have a look at that article.
- Setup a regularly scheduled time to email or talk with a client
- Be selective about your clients
- Focus on Customer Service as much as one getting a customer
- Be positive
- Remember why you started your business
- Look at other freelancers and agencies and see what they aren’t doing
- Be organized
- Invest vs Expense
- Share your expertise & experiences
- Be the “Go-To” person
All those still apply, don’t get me wrong, but since writing that article, I’ve found a few more things that can have you stand out from other freelancers.
As the industry of freelancing grows and more and more people flood the market, the more it becomes a commodity.
Which basically means that you are competing on price.
If you want to stand out from the crowd, you have to not compete on price. You have to create an experience with your leads and clients. And you have to fully understand the business of who you serve.
How do you serve your freelance clients better?
This comes in the form of specializing your business and really understanding who it is that you are talking with, their problems, and how to build the solution they desire.
By asking tons of questions of your clients, by listening and using the words that they use to describe themselves and their businesses, you start to be able to state their problems before they do.
Albert Einstein said “If I were given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute resolving it.”
As a freelancer, you are presented with and often jump at opportunities, like creating a new website or designing a logo.
If you dive deep on defining the problems those businesses are attempting to solve and articulating why those issues are important, that’s how you stand out as a freelancer.
Without that deep dive you’ll miss out on opportunities and potentially waste valuable time and resources pushing out projects that aren’t aligned with your clients’ strategies.
You will elevate yourself above the commoditization of freelancing and become an integral partner with your clients and their business when you provide solutions that align with their overall strategy.
Running your freelance business
More episodes in this topic:
17
What do you do when a crisis hits?
18
How to start building an email list as a freelancer?
20
How do you manage time wearing so many hats as a freelancer?
28
What software tools do you use for business? What is best?
32
How do you prevent, manage scope creep in your projects?
34
Do you schedule in time for exploring or reading articles online?
38
What is the best way to get income fast?
40
What happens if you can’t define a scope of work on a call?
41
What do I do first thing Monday morning?
47
How can I focus on my business when I’ve got a ton client work?
53
Do I have to be concerned with GDPR?
65
What are the tools and services that you use and would recommend to freelancers?
70
How do you have time for all that you do?
74
What podcasting gear do I use?
78
Does live chat bring you in business?
81
How do you followup with a lead after a proposal?
84
Did hiring a mentor really help you with starting up your business or your career?
87
What is my writing process
88
What is the easiest way to get a remote testimonial?
91
How do you determine a quality prospect?
115
How do you step away and actually take a vacation?
116
Are job boards reliable?
123
How to decrease the sales cycle or time to close?
127
How would you write a cold outreach email?
130
How to present different services that could potentially diminish your abilities in the minds of clients?
132
Should I bundle projects for clients or keep projects separate per client?
133
What product do you use for your business that you can’t live without?
135
What makes you stand out from other freelancers?
136
Do I drop this client?
142
How do I set a goal?
143
Do you meet leads and clients face-to-face?
144
How do I work “ON” my business and not “IN” my business?
147
What is the best structure for setting a goal?
152
How do you do a review of your week?
156
What do I say when a potential client says I’m too expensive?
159
What is activity based selling?
165
How to get more clients?
167
How to have a productive week?
168
Do you use a CRM for your business?
171
How do you choose the technology for your clients?
180
What is the structure of a weekly review?
181
What is the structure of a monthly review?
191
What are lead generation techniques to get me out of the feast and famine revenue cycle?
193
How do I know if I should buy a course?
198
What’s a polite way to tell existing clients you are raising your rates? And what is a reasonable percentage to go up?
199
How many email follow-ups should I send to a lead?
201
What do I do? I’m afraid to filter the tire kickers coming into my business because they are the only leads I have.
202
How to take the next step from contracting resource to solo business owner?
205
What do you think about Gutenberg? Schmutenberg!
206
How do I get better at sales?
207
How to overcome objections in sales?
208
How do I respond to an RFP?
209
How to respond to “I don’t need strategy, can you just do…”?
210
If you don’t have experience, how to you prove the quality without the education/experience?
212
How do you handle a client that has ghosted?
218
What do you ask during a sales call?
219
How to improve your sales process as a freelancer?
222
How to charge more as a freelancer?
225
How do you push past the imposter syndrome?
229
How do you segment your email list?
236
What to say when a client insists on adding something new?
257
What kind of content should I promote to potential clients?
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