Thereās so much to learn and as business owners, we love to absorb as much as humanly possible.
But thatās where the pitfall happens. We consume and consume and consume. If we applied half of the actionable information that we consume, we would have zero time in the next 10 years for anything else. (And yes, that figure is statistically backed by science ;) ).
Seriously though, like myself, I would assume that you have had periods where you are reading, watching, listening to amazing and valuable information, taking notes and making countless todos for days on end.
Especially around the end of the year when all the sales and marketing kicks into overdrive we get teased with all these shiny objects that seem to be the answer to all our questions.
Financial Aspect to think about
If you havenāt already listened to A184 - How to budget as a freelancer? where you will learn that if you are buying something for $100 and you bring in 20% profit, you need to bring in $500 of revenue, not get another $100.
Marketing tricks
Letās evaluate another thing here for a second.
Most products and apps serve a purpose, not all purposes.
Most of the marketing around these products, if you look, market to a specific audience with a specific problem.
Itās us that say āOh I need that!ā or āThis has to be better than what Iām using right now.ā
This goes for courses and education as well.
I want to share with you, 5 questions to ask yourself when evaluating an educational product.
Has the person/company selling the information done it in the past? Are they still doing it?
Not everyone does what they say to do. They preach things that theyāve never tried.
The business world moves fast. Sales, marketing, and client management are the fastest movers.
The specific strategies and tactics that worked last year, 5 years, and 10 years ago, especially in client services, most likely will not work today.
Sure the methodology may apply still in some capacity, but collecting leads via a popup on your homepage saying āJoin for updatesā worked 8 years ago, but not today.
If the person no longer does what they are teaching, then for me, they arenāt up-to-date. I want to have the best possible information and strategies that are going to keep me out in front.
Am I getting the team or the individual and are they engaged?
Iāve purchased programs before thinking that I was getting the individual, but then didnāt even once see the individual. You know, the one that actually knows the thing being taught and sold me on buying.
Donāt get me wrong, there isnāt anything wrong with working with the team. Itās just that if thatās not conveyed up front, I feel a bit duped.
My thought too is that if the teacher is the one Iām looking to sign up with that has that āthingā I want, working with someone else, I may only get 80% of the āthingā.
What is available for free?
Do the research! Read some of the other content, listen to podcasts, watch videos of the instructor. Make sure that you can see yourself hanging out with that person.
If thereās just not a fit from a personality perspective, how likely are you to learn something from them.
Think back on the teachers in school that you didnāt like at all vs those that you still remember how awesome they were.
The other side of this is does their free content deliver value? Or is everything they put out lead you to buy something?
Their teaching ability can be explored here as well. If they donāt explain the steps or answer objections in an insightful way, maybe they arenāt the best teacher.āØ
Where does this fit in with me?
Am I buying this for the āsomeday listā or is it something that will help me accomplish something today?
The āsomeday listā is great, but my experience with buying products that go in with this is that they collect that digital dust. It also falls into that trap of point 1.
By the time I get around to it, has a year passed?
If Iām working on something today or in the very near future and the program can help me accelerate learning and get to implementation faster, then Iām more likely to buy.
Can I find out about the course from someone whoās been there?
No doubt there are all sorts of testimonials and social proof being displayed about how awesome the program is.
Find those people on Twitter, FB, wherever and ask them what they liked and didnāt like about the program. That will help you in the evaluation department. Chances are that they bought it for a different reason than you would.
After evaluating the purchase for 24 hours and it still makes sense to go ahead and buy, then do it. But if not then donāt. If itās good and worth it, itāll be there when you are ready to buy.
If itās not there, then you saved yourself a lot of wasted time and money.
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 canāt 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 Iāve 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 canāt 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 āONā my business and not āINā 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 Iām 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
Whatās 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? Iām 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 āI donāt need strategy, can you just doā¦ā?
210
If you donāt 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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