Feast or famine cycle, really? What are you talking about, Jim? Well, for most independent consultants or freelancers (some people even call us solo-
Most of the freelancers I talked with
Executive search is as close to pure marketing as I have seen. There may be better examples, like direct mail marketing or network marketing but
How does one break the feast or famine cycle? First, let’s understand that the cause is a failure to budget time to promote your business. When on assignment, the focus is 100% on the project to the exclusion of selling new assignments. Most freelancers will freely admit to this. It is natural to assume that business will fall off when the selling activity stops. The first step to breaking the cycle is to devote a certain amount of time every week to pitch your business. Make a commitment and put it on the calendar. I will discuss specific selling techniques to consider later in Part 2 of this article, but the first point to remember is that promoting your business must be a regular part of your schedule.
Let’s face it, selling is not easy and for many freelancers, it is dreaded, especially dealing with the rejection that comes from pitching your product or service. Rejection can be painful, so naturally, people will avoid the pain and devote less time to selling. Cold calling is the worst. Forget about it! But we must sell to avoid the famine!
How does one sell their services if they dread the selling process and are busy working on a project? The good news is that for most of us selling our services, we are not so much selling a product as we are building relationships. We are not selling commodities that are easily evaluated, we are selling trust, an intangible. The prospective client must become comfortable that we will get the job done for her and that problems will be resolved in a predictable way. Isn’t that what solid relationships are about, really? In effect, our sales efforts are about making friends.
If you have made it to the point where you are ready to become a freelancer you have already established many relationships, your network. That is your principle asset base. The goal is to leverage those relationships into business, both immediately and into the future. It is about maintaining top-of-mind awareness for your brand that will lead to referrals to build your network and client base. By growing and managing your network you are in fact, building a Business Development Department for your brand. Freelancers I know have good networks which they tap during the famine. My point is about minimizing or eliminating the famine!
Sounds easy enough, right? I like the idea of making new friends without cold calling, and leveraging my network, but how do I do that? I will discuss some tools and techniques in Part 2. For now, the key point to remember is that you must budget time every week to build your brand and promote your business.