04/12/23

Practical freelancing and Beyond

Working for yourself in the Creative Economy

04/12/23

Your Guide Today

Ann ZuccardyCommunications pro: corporate and freelanceAuthor, blogger, Speaker, Entrepreneur

04/12/23

Today’s Topics

-Building your Brand

-Finding and Keeping Customers

- Keeping your Sanity

-Your Questions

04/12/23

What is Freelancing?

For sale: Your time and your talent… and your experience.

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Ann’s Rules of Business

• Rules you must follow

• Rules you can tweak when you freelance – think, create, inspire – the fun part

• Once you think you know the rules, they’ll change

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Building a brand • Business brands• Personal brands• As a freelancer, they are intertwined • What do you want to be known for?

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Finding Clients• In person

• Social media

• Creative networking (the stuff you may not have thought of)

• Cold calling

• An important distinction: always promoting vs. always selling

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The Non PIA* Approach to Promoting Yourself

• Give (volunteer, mentor, help)

• Active listening

• Be human

• Sell yourself, but don’t sell your soul

• Laugh (especially at yourself)

*pain in the ass

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Client Care and Feeding• How can I help? • Communication – do it their way, not yours• Understand generational communication differences• Active listening (What I heard you say…)• When problems arise, be honest – provide options for solution• Get testimonials/recommendations• Thank you, thank you, thank you…and thank you again

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Dealing w/ Unhappy Clients• Document everything• Never respond in the heat of anger• Offer discount or freebie• Never speak negatively of any client (even if they badmouth you!)• The bright side: use the experience to verbalize what you don’t

want and to help hone the vision of your perfect client.

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Who is my perfect client? • Industry?

• Small/big business?

• Personality?

• Communication style?

• Local/national/international?

• Type of work?

• Tell your perfect clients what you love about them.

• Write it out – visualize it every day – tweak. Lather, rinse, repeat.

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What am I worth? • Evaluating jobs – what’s in it for me? (may not

be $)

• Industry/geographic standards/experience

• Expenses

• It’s okay to say no even when you’re financially afraid

• Ask questions on social media and locally

• Trading/barter: when to say yes and when to run away as fast as you can

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Keeping Your Sanity: Freelancing vs. working for others• No judgment• One or the other (or a combo of both) may work at different times in your life• Find mentors/coaches – surround yourself w/ honest support (other than mom/dad/friends)• Hang around w/ people who do it better than you, but be yourself• Be open and flexible. Embrace failure. Be awesome.

"Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.“~ Sir Winston Churchill

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Keeping Your Sanity: Self care

• 24/7 (social media and email vacations)• Family first• Exercise• Coaching/mentoring• Focus/willingness to branch out or change direction

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Questions and discussion