Master the art of client attraction…
The Four Stages of Freelancing
(And How to Level Up)
There are two types of freelancers: those who proudly call themselves freelancers and those who wouldn't be caught dead using that term and prefer to call themselves entrepreneurs instead (but they're often times still technically freelancers). Because I work with service-based businesses, I've...
Can You Still Find Customers on Social Media in 2020?
When it comes to social media, do you ever think to yourself, "Hello?! Is this thing on?" I have to confess: I have a love/hate relationship with it. As an ex-pat who lives thousands of miles from her family and tribe of friends, I depend on it to stay connected with people I love and to share...
How to Convince Potential Clients They Need Your Services
I know a lot of freelancers and consultants think that in order to win new clients, it's their job to go out into the world and convince people they need whatever it is they're selling. My answer to the question, "How do I convince people they need my services?" is... you can't. Or at least, you...
How to Ditch Custom Proposals & Monetise Your Sales Process
One of the most frustrating aspects of running a creative or consulting business is the amount of time we waste spend courting clients and building custom proposals. For years, I squandered my most valuable business asset (my time) jumping through hoops trying to convince people to hire me. One...
4 Pro Tips for Maintaining the Best Client Relationships
By Marie Johnson, Contributing Author at Enlightened Digital Attracting clients is one thing. Keeping them is another. Creating strong client relationships is critical to the success of any business. Whether you’re part of a large corporation, running a small business, or even dabble in a bit of...
101 Creative Things You Can Do To Get Clients
It's a question all service-based business owners and freelancers have, "How do I get clients?" I've created a list of 101 ideas to get more of the right people lining up to work with you! I've broken it down into 10 areas of focus. You certainly don't need to do them all, but my goal is for you...
The 5 Steps of the Consumer Decision Making Process
One of the most overlooked secret weapons of marketing is understanding the consumer decision making process and meeting people where they are on that journey. It's natural to want people to sign up the instant they see what we have to offer (because it's amazing, right?)... but the truth,...
Brand Storytelling: 5 Rules For Telling A Story That Attracts
Brand storytelling is all the rage these days and it's no wonder: you're competing for your dream clients' attention online with a lot of noise and very few signals are getting through. The way to get their attention is to tell them stories they actually care about. But what is a brand story? A...
3 Clever Ways To Improve Brand Perception
In his famous quote, Jeff Bezos gets to the heart of the definition of brand perception: "Your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room." Branding is the process of influencing the way people perceive you so they'll choose you over the competition; but ultimately, your brand...
How To Find Clients Fast – 8 Free & Easy Ways
Figuring out how to get clients fast is not about blogging, sales funnels, growing your Twitter following, or optimizing your website. All of those things will help you build awareness and even convince and convert your dream customers in the long run, but they don’t work like a magic bullet—slow...
Branding A Small Business: 8 Essential Components
This week in one of my Facebook groups, a fellow branding professional told a story of how a guru business consultant she knows advises people that branding a small business is unnecessary: "It's just a waste of your time and money." I hear that a lot so I told her: "Don't sweat it. Anyone who...
Finding The Confidence To Get Visible Online
As business owners, we want to attract clients we love and that means getting visible with them online. These are all things we think of when we talk about online visibility: 👉Creating a stunning logo and beautiful website 👉Adding content to our blogs 👉Sharing things on social media 👉Networking...
The 5-Step Client Attraction System
Mastering the art of client attraction is no child's play. Tell me if this sounds familiar: You put yourself out there in the biggest way possible and wake up to the sound of crickets chirping in your inbox. If you're not attracting enough of the right people to you, it can feel soul-crushing ......
7 Ways To Make A Great First Impression With Potential Clients
Making a great first impression with potential clients is often the determining factor for whether they'll hire you, and it isn't all about who has the lowest price. A lot comes down to who they think they'd like to work with most and feel they can trust with their business. I'll be honest with...
4 Tips To Find Your Niche When You’re Stuck
This week I caught up with an old friend and we talked about how it used to be so easy to drum up business—there was scarcity in the market. These days the internet is so much noisier and defining your niche market as "anyone who needs what I sell" just doesn't cut it anymore. Whether we want to...
Define Your Niche in 3 Simple Steps
Yesterday I had a meeting with a friend of mine and he said, "When I read your blog posts, I feel like you're speaking directly to me." I replied, "I am speaking directly to you." The reason why it happens that way is because I have a clearly defined niche and target audience. Because I'm clear...
How I Created A Location Independent Business & What It Taught Me About Marketing
Have you ever dreamt of working from your laptop in some exotic location? Having a location independent business that lets you work from anywhere? Our Instagram heroes make it look so easy and glamorous... frolicking about all over the world from the beaches of Bali to the cafés in Tuscany with...
What This Experiment About Murder Teaches Us About Branding
By definition, our brand is what sets us apart. Going back to the historical origins of branding, it was a way for merchants to distinguish their products from other products at the market. Here's the problem: because we're humans, we feel uncomfortable when we appear to be different...
How To Charge More For Your Services
Competition is tough these days and there's always somebody willing to do it cheaper. How can you position your brand in a way that allows you to charge more for your services? A few months back, there was a big, heated discussion debate in one of my Facebook groups about how much a business owner...
How To Stop Working For Shitty Clients
I've never met a B2B service-based business owner who doesn't have at least a billion stories about shitty clients. You know, the ones who... Haggle with you about price. Force you to confront them with yet another conversation about 'scope creep.' Try to manipulate you into doing things for free....
Increase Your Value By Becoming “Known For A Thing”
I've talked with hundreds of business owners and colleagues over the years and they all pretty much have the same big question: "How can I attract clients online?" Why it's always better to get beyond our personal referral network to attract clients We all want to find clients online because...
3 Big Mindset Shifts If Launching Your Business Terrifies You
As a designer, I work with clients during the most FUN and EXCITING stages of launching their businesses: the strategy sessions where we dig soul-deep and the creative process where their ideas become a tangible reality... The "Ohhhhh my god! Squeeeeee! It's real! I'm so excited now!" moments are...
Marketing Your Business When You’re Short On Time
Running a service-based business means we get busy serving others--that's what brings in the cash that pays the bills. Finding the time for marketing very often falls by the wayside. But keeping your client pipeline full and attracting new clients to you is crucial for overcoming the "feast or...
How To Break The Freelance ‘Feast or Famine’ Cycle
Let me just state right up front that "The Shoemaker's Children Have No Shoes" might as well have been my tagline for most of my career. If you don't know the story behind the expression... A shoemaker is really great at what he does, but he's so busy making shoes for other people that he doesn't...
5 Lessons I Learned The Hard Way About Marketing My Service-Based Business Online
I'll get right to it: the biggest marketing mistake I've made as a solopreneur is to not market my business at all. If you're looking to attract clients online, don't be like me. I'm going to share the five biggest lessons I've learned the hard way as I've made strides to up my online marketing...
How I Turned My Insecurity Into A Brand Asset
I believe that deep down inside every entrepreneur there lies some form of insecurity―something about them they're afraid will hurt them in their business if anyone finds out about it. For example, maybe you think... You're too old. You're too inexperienced. Your learning disability is something...
How To Overcome Your Fears & Get Visible Online
Business owners want to be seen by their dream customers. But getting visible -- I mean really visible -- usually means doing things that make us uncomfortable. Scratch that: terrified? Yes, terrified is a better word. There's a lot of subconscious mumbo-jumbo that goes on when we're running our...
8 Reasons Why Your Website Isn’t Winning Clients
You’re brilliant, talented, and hard working … so how come clients aren't signing up? It might not be you that's the problem, it could be that your website is letting you down in some big way. A question for you... Are you spending a lot of energy on traffic but none on your website itself? Your...
5 Conversion Copywriting Hacks To Spice Up Your Website Copy
First a definition: Conversion copywriting is designed to entice a user to take action on your website. Brand copywriting is something different — that’s your story, your unique voice, your personality, your tone. Use these tips to help you punch up your copy wherever you want a site visitor to...
Design For Startups: Should You Use Crowdsourcing Or Hire A Designer?
What's the difference between using a crowdsourcing platform and working directly with a designer? I'm gonna break it down for you and help you decide which option is best for you. Using Crowdsourcing: Design as a Commodity When you're a bootstrapping your new business and you're watching your...
How To Attract Clients You Love To Your Service-Based Business
"Who is your ideal customer?” seems like an easy question, but it’s actually a big, hard, soul-searching question. Surprisingly, most people I ask haven't even given it that much thought. They tilt their head and look at me like I'm crazy and say: "Anybody who needs what I...
How To Define Your Unique Value Proposition
Defining a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) is one of the most difficult tasks an entrepreneur faces. In fact, I recently read an article that made the case that figuring out your unique value proposition is "bad for business": "Don't spend any more time worrying about what makes you different, just...
Overwhelmed by Digital Marketing? Go with the Flow!
Marketing a business online is overwhelming. For everyone. Even marketing experts. One thing I want you to know is that you're not failing if you don't always feel on top of things. It's not just all you need to learn and all you need to do, it's that you're learning and doing it on a digital...
The Solopreneur’s Guide to Taking Advice
If you're running a tiny business (and if you're a human-person), from time to time you'll find yourself a bit stuck―yearning for change and growth, or maybe you need to make an important decision, but you're not exactly sure which direction to go. In these situations, it's natural to ask for...