With the holidays fast approaching, one of which here in the U.S. just passed, there are bound to be parties to go to. Ones where you will meet folks who haven’t a clue as to what you do.
Don’t you love those folks who find out that you are a designer or developer and automatically want you to solve their home Wifi issues or their printer problems?
Well let’s solve that by coming to the table with something that helps them understand what specifically you do.
In episode 146 - Should I call myself a “freelancer”? I shared my thoughts on this topic (or debate really) and that it’s really about how you conduct yourself that matters.
This though is how you present yourself to the industry and market, not while holding a drink with holiday music in the background.
This is often called the elevator pitch.
I have a template for this that is:
“I help
get . So they can .”
Here’s the thing, when you ask someone what it is that they do and they respond with “I’m a divorce attorney” you don’t ask them to look over your contract do you?
If they say “I’m a contractor” do you ask them to come hang some frames on the wall.
Of course not, you know that they don’t do that.
When you share these 2 sentences, there’s no question who you help and what you do.
To be honest, they may not even understand you. Only recently when I say “I help established online businesses increase revenue through repeat buyers and decreasing the time to the first purchase. So that they can focus on what they are great at and not get stuck in the weeds of technology” have I been getting any sort of followup.
When I said “I’m a web developer” I would get half of the people asking some followup about their own site or own computer problems. Or some crazy idea of a new website they had.
There are 3 key aspects to this 2 sentence reply:
- By stating who you work for, they immediately know whether it’s them or not.
- They identify (or don’t) with the last bit which is the pain point that you are solving.
- When you state the results of what you do, that sticks in their minds as you being referable.
Point 3 is an interesting point here.
As a web developer, the next time this person hears someone, anyone, who needs work on their site, they will mention you and hand over a bad lead.
Now as someone who increases repeat buyers for the online business, or increases appointments to the practice, or creates a batter client onboarding for SaaS products, when that person hears any of these, then they will refer to you and give you a more qualified lead.
Start a Freelance Business
More episodes in this topic:
2
What are the costs involved in becoming a freelancer?
26
Is the income from freelancing reliable?
43
What payment structure should I do?
46
How do you build a good freelancing profile in the field of web development considering the competition?
48
What are skills you can learn fast and have high freelancer value?
50
How to start freelancing?
55
Should you do free work to build a portfolio?
61
What is freelance?
66
How can I start freelancing without experience?
73
What does it take to be a freelancer?
85
Why did you start freelancing?
96
What is the very first step to work as a freelancer?
99
How do you set the boundary of work you do and work you don't do?
105
What are your client red flags?
106
What should you be able to create as a web developer before starting in your freelance career?
108
When starting out freelance, should I just be a generalist to get my feet wet, or should I go for that niche?
128
As a developer, should I throw my projects on Github or build a site from scratch to grab attention?
134
What can I use for social proof when starting as a freelancer?
140
How can I start freelancing as a web developer?
141
Should I use my name or create a business name when starting?
146
Should I call myself a “freelancer” (definitive answer)?
148
Why should you not be a freelancer?
155
How do you collect online payments as a freelancer
158
How much money do I need to make?
172
Why is hourly billing bad?
173
Why is hourly billing good?
178
What are the biggest mistakes a freelancer can make?
179
How to adapt and change to the WordPress climate?
184
How to budget as a freelancer?
186
What is your marketing plan?
187
What is your sales process?
188
What do you do to position yourself as an expert to leads?
189
How do you balance your time for sales and marketing?
190
How do you get high-quality clients?
192
Should I offer my services as a web designer/developer or specialize first?
196
What do you do again?
200
What is the best freelancing website?
220
What do you do for a follow-up sequence for leads?
221
How to attract clients with big budgets?
230
How not to be annoying in sales?
237
How do you convince someone to sign a contract?
238
What to say when a client is late on a payment?
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