How to market yourself without feeling icky

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Marketing Yourself Without Feeling Icky

Shaina RozenAIGA Joust:

The Business of FreelancingMay 12, 2012

http://www.fortyagency.com



Shaina Rozen(@shainarozen)

My name is Shaina Rozen. I’m the Marketing Director at Forty by day and a freelance copywriter and marketing consultant by night and weekend. My experience in the corporate marketing and agency world taught me a lot about how to market businesses, but my recent venture into freelancing has made me realize that, while a lot of the same principles apply, it just feels different when you’re doing it for yourself. Most of us got into freelancing because we love our craft, and it makes work not seem like work. We didn’t start our businesses because we wanted to do hours of sales and marketing or hunt people down for money, but we understand it’s part of the job. With so many day-to-day things to worry about, marketing is often one of the first things to go. It's confusing, it can take up a ton of time, and it feels sleazy to push yourself on other people and try to get them to work with you. Over the past few months, I’ve really had to swallow a dose of my own medicine and practice what I preach. I’m here today to share with you why marketing doesn’t have to be confusing or time-consuming or make you feel like you need a shower, and I’ll share some tips on how to market yourself confidently without feeling icky.




Why are you here today?




What is marketing?




Marketing is the act of promoting

your business.

No marketing, no business.

The old days of "If you build it, they will come." are over. We're constantly bombarded with advertising and marketing messages, which means you have to be proactive and say something different to stand out amongst the noise. Marketing is all about getting inside the mind of your target audience to figure out what to say, how to say it, and where the best places are to reach them.

No one will know about you if you just work from your house or sit in an office with headphones on. In fact there won’t be any work to do if you don’t have marketing. And this isn’t just about traditional marketing, like ads, radio, tv, and all that media that probably doesn’t make sense for your business anyway. It’s about finding creative ways to connect with your customers and starting a conversation, whether that’s online, at a coffee shop, a networking event, or in larger venues.




Ways to Get Business• Direct contact

• Networking

• Press/publicity

• Social media

• Advertising

• Branding

SALES

MARKETING

Now you probably hear sales and marketing used interchangeably, and while they should be intertwined since their goal is the same (the get more customers), the strategies are a bit different. Typically, I think of sales as 1:1 and marketing as 1 to many. That means that sales is usually one on one conversations with one or a small group of people that have a specific problem that you’re trying to solve. Marketing is sharing your message with many people, so while it should be targeted and not too generic, it’s meant to get people interested to make the introduction and get them interested so you can start the more personal conversation about their specific needs.

So marketing is typically big-picture strategies like branding, advertising, social media, and PR, while sales is more about the one-on-one connections like networking and making direct contact with people who you think you could help.




Where does good marketing come from?




If you want fruits, you need roots

Your business is like a tree. You’re thinking about the end result, the fruit of your labors. But if you want fruits, you need roots. You have to get back to basics. That’s where brands come from.

In the book Built to Last, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras studied companies with strong cultures, sense of purpose, and core values. These “rooted” companies outperformed comparison companies by a factor of six to one. This isn’t just touchy-feely stuff. This is practical business. What we’re talking about here makes money. Lots of it.


Your customers are humans, not numbers

It’s easy for business owners to get wrapped up in numbers: quarterly performance, cash flow, balance sheets, conversion rates, clicks, hits, order, Facebook likes, Twitter followers, etc. But your customers are human beings, not numbers. Humans crave human experiences.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/richardstep/6814384406/You can almost think of a brand like a theme park. You define a theme, and your customers come to take part in that experience. The product itself is just a vehicle, an excuse to get involved -- the brand is what provides the actual value to consumers.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/richardstep/6814384406/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/richardstep/6814384406/


The three pillars of a rock-solid brand




1. PurposeThe first pillar is purpose.

The most important question you have to ask yourself is this: why are you in business? It’s not to make money. There are a lot of easier ways to make more money than starting a business. We started freelancing because we believe in something. What is it that you believe in?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/waltstoneburner/6170496511/

When the reality of running your business settles in, we’re tempted to forget our purpose. We compromise, we water it down, we become generic and take projects that aren’t a good fit. Then, we kick ourselves and pay for it later when we’re unhappy, they haven’t paid us, and they’re requesting all of these things that weren’t in the scope or that you just don’t want to deal with. We’ve all been there.

In truth, knowing your purpose -- your reason for existing -- is the one thing most likely you see you through those hard times and keep you focused on the bigger picture.

You should be asking yourself everyday why you’re really in business. And then stick to that answer.




Purpose statementsMary Kay:“Enriching women’s lives”

Walmart:“Save money. Live better.”

Charles Schwab:“To help everyone be financially fit”

DPR Construction:“To build great things”

Southwest Airlines:“Democratize the skies”

Disney:“Using our imaginations to bring happiness”

Google:“Organize the world’s information”

Forty:“Championing humanity”

Here are some examples of other companies with a defining purpose, and how they’ve phrased it. Your purpose statement should be very short, ideally just a few words. (Any longer, and nobody will remember or care about it.)

It should be something you’ve able to rattle off the top of your head. It tells you what you should and shouldn’t be doing, i.e., whether a new opportunity fits or not. If it doesn’t match your purpose, you don’t do it.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/braintoad/1388767373/

If your company were a car, its purpose would be the engine. It’s what keeps you moving forward, even when you have to go uphill.




2. ValuesThe second pillar is your company’s values.

Your values explain what’s important to your company. They typically take the form of an abstract noun, like “boldness” or “independence.” They help you make consistent, intentional choices, accelerating your business and preventing you from getting lost.


Skip the defaults

Most freelancers and larger businesses trying to come up with their core values tend to come up with the same initial answers: service, quality, integrity, excellence, etc. Half of these come from fear that nobody will take them seriously, and the other half come from the illusion that your competitors are all a bunch of lying, cheating, scoundrels. Either way, you should avoid these generic feel-good words.They don’t mean anything to your customers. They’re just basic requirements for being in business. Dig deeper!

Purpose and values work together to accomplish your business goals. If your purpose is the engine of your car, your values are the steering wheel. You need both a clear purpose and well-defined values to get where you want to go.


Style

The third pillar is style, which is how you convey your personality and character to those around you.

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/12/the-evolution-of-the-hipster-2000-2009.html

It’s human nature to use our clothes, our accessories, our vehicles, our hair, etc., to tell the world something about who we are. Take a look around this room. What is everyone wearing? And more importantly, *why* are they wearing it? Why are they trying to tell you?



http://www.flickr.com/photos/popculturegeek/4420668601/

One major problem a lot of us freelancers have, though, is the tendency to look just like everyone else.

Have you ever noticed how every lawyer tries to look even more like a lawyer than other lawyers? The books, the red ties, the scales of justice...all they’re saying is “I’m a lawyer too.” I’m using lawyers as an example, but most of us are guilty of it too. We may think we did something totally cool or innovative with our branding and website, but can our clients really tell the difference? Would they be able to say why we’re different than the guy sitting next to you?

It’s very tempting to develop your style simply by imitating your industry, but all it does is reinforce that you’re inconsequential. You’re the same as everyone else. You’re a commodity.

Branding is about differentiation. It’s about making a mark, and claiming what’s yours. It’s not about fitting in.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/hey__paul/8106410440/

The reason people habituation imitate instead of innovate, though, is that our brains instinctively reject fresh ideas. Uncertainty is uncomfortable, and our brains try to help us reduce that discomfort by biasing us against new ideas. This study found that even people who are intentionally and specifically looking for creative ideas fall back into the trap of choosing familiar, comfortable options.

Designers deal with this all the time. We’ve trained our minds to get around that natural bias, so we can actually create fresh ideas, but then we’re always shot down by clients who say they want something fresh, but are really just looking to comfortably fit in with their competitors. Sound familiar?



So how do you get past this? The key is to develop a style and experience of what it’s like to work with you that’s truly unique and authentic to who you are. Your style is best represented in by simple descriptive words and phrases. These will form the foundation for all the experiential elements of your brand, such as visual design and copywriting.

If you’ve ever played the game Apples to Apples, they have a big deck of descriptive words that’s really helpful for this process. We often use them in client meetings and when brainstorming style characteristics for our clients.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aigle_dore/5952275132/

If your company were a car, your style would be the exterior and interior experience: body contours, paint, upholstery, trim, leather seats, etc. It’s not the most important part of the car, but it’s what people notice and remember first, and they make decisions based on it quickly. When you see a sports car, you assume it’s fast. When you see an SUV, you assume it’s powerful. Your style isn’t just ransom aesthetics -- it sends a strong and clear message to your customers about who you are, and what you’re about.



STYLEVALUESPURPOSE

ROOTS


Positioning for success



Positioning is what you do, who you do it for, and what makes you better or different from all the other guys.


Please everybody, please nobody

Along the same lines, many companies are terrified to focus on specific types of customers because they might lose out on other ones. The truth is: you will. But when you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one. The upside is far greater when you take a chance and have focus. When your messaging and experience is relevant and tailored to what someone is looking, they’re a lot more likely to pay attention. Your customers become more than just numbers. They’re humans with feelings and desires that YOU can fulfill if you talk directly with them instead of a generic mass. That means more customers who are the right fit for you, more purchases or conversions, and more repeat business because you’re giving them exactly what they’re looking for.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25572801@N00/414939826/To build a compelling experience, though, you have to stand for something. You can’t appease the masses. You can’t target the general population. You’ll never be loved if you’re trying so hard to be liked.

Special K and Wheaties are a great example of good positioning. They’re basically the same thing, but intentionally narrowed in focus to appeal to a specific audience. They’re losing customers to win customers. Aim for your ideal customers, and others will come. Get inside their head. Research what they do for a living, what they do on the weekends, how they make decisions, and think about what they’re looking for from you. Don’t tell them what you want to tell them. Tell them what they want to hear. Give them a reason to care.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25572801@N00/414939826/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25572801@N00/414939826/


How to marketyourself without

feeling icky

So now that you have a little bit of background on branding and marketing, let’s talk about how to really make it work for your business.




Choose a unique positionWrite down what you think makes you different, and then look at a few of your main competitors’ website. I’ll bet at least half of them say the exact same thing or something similar. And you’re probably thinking, “They say they do X, but they really don’t. I do!” Guess what, you know that, but your clients don’t. To them, you probably all look the same.

One of our fellow designers, Melissa Balkon, is a great example of this. Melissa owns a freelance design business called Strong Design Studios, where she was doing a lot of design work across the board, from small businesses to insurance agents to other freelancers and everything in between. She was busy and producing amazing work, but there wasn’t a whole lot of focus. So with her recent rebranding and website redesign, she decided to step back and take a look at the clients that were the best fit for her, that she enjoyed working with most, and got the most fulfillment out of. Melissa realized that aside from normal small businesses and startups, she really enjoyed working with churches and other creatives. She also determined that her differentiator was simplicity in her designs, process, and the overall experience for her clients.


So she redesigned her website to reflect this positioning, and it really makes a statement. As a client or new reader, I immediately know what she does, who she does it for, and what makes her different. This is an example of good positioning in action.


Get some fresh airA lot of designers and freelance creatives tend to be introverts. We got into this business for because we love designing or developing or helping clients, not because we wanted to work 100 hours a week in our cave and deal with all the crap that comes along with being a freelancer.

Our nature is to put our heads down and get our work done, but guess what: there isn’t going to be any work to be done if you aren’t out meeting people and getting the word out about your business.

Get out of your office. Go to conferences or events, or just have lunch with somebody when you’re out and about. There’s a book called “Never Eat Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi that’s all about coming out of your cave and building successful relationships one day or lunch at a time.

People won’t know about you unless you put yourself out there, so even though it’s awkward and not your normal nature, make a goal for yourself to go to one event or one lunch a month. At least start somewhere, and work your way up from there.


Go where your customers areOne point of caution when you’re out getting fresh air. Don’t just go to design events or WordCamp or any of the industry conferences. Unless your clients are other designers or developers (which they might be if that’s one of your target audiences or sources of referrals), your clients aren’t there. They’re at events related to their own industry or general business seminars or maybe even just at their office with their head down getting work done.

Wherever that is, go where they are. Get out of your bubble, and meet them in theirs. You’ll find more leads that are a better fit for you, there aren’t 1000 other people who are exactly like you in the room, and they’re going to be more apt to hear what you have to say because you’re on their turf.


Show, don’t tellAs a copywriter, I love words. I play with them all day long, and if I could write from 8 in the morning to midnight, I would probably love it. But I also understand that not all people are methodical and spend time reading every carefully thought out word on my home page like I would. I understand the power of visuals and showing my story, as well as telling it.

Your clients all make decisions in different ways. Some of the will dig into the details, read through all of your paragraphs, and want even more information. Others will scan the headlines, just look at the pretty pictures, and decide in 10 seconds if they want to work with you.

It’s really easy to say, “I design the most beautiful websites, and I’m the easiest designer in the Valley to work with.” But how are they supposed to trust you if you don’t support that and prove it? If you design the most beautiful websites, design your website beautifully and show glamorous pictures of others you’ve worked on. If you’re the easiest person to work with, make sure it’s super simple to get in touch with you, and make every touchpoint you have with a potential client the best it can be.

Make sure you show, don’t just tell.


Create awesome contentPart of showing and not telling is creating awesome content to support your message. Content can be blog posts, videos, portfolio images, examples of past work, testimonials, whatever is appropriate for your business.

Creating helpful content has lots of different benefits, including bumping your search ranking, providing your site visitors and fans with helpful information, and solidifying your credibility as an expert. And it’s not all about having pages and pages of blog posts and content that takes you hours to create. Going back to the different ways people make decisions, some people will comb through every little thing on your website and completely soak it in, while others will just skim it and be done. The interesting thing with content is that for those really fast, competitive decision makers, just the fact that you HAVE a blog or videos or case studies is enough for them. They don’t need to read through all of them, but as long as you HAVE it, you have credibility and know what you’re doing in their mind. That doesn’t necessary mean that you should do a half ass job of writing blog posts and creating really meaningful, quality content. It just means that it works in more than one way.


Get socialGoing along with having awesome content, social media is more than just a way to tweet cool articles that you find or connect with your friends from high school. We all know it can be a powerful tool for your business as well if you put some effort into it. Again, for some clients, just the fact that you have a business page on Facebook and a Twitter profile will be enough for them. Others will want to see that you take the time to regularly post and will be interested in what you have to share.

Who’s ever gotten a mention on Twitter from someone saying, “Oh so and so, you’re looking for a designer? You should talk to Amy, she’s awesome!” That’s the power of connections on social media.

Foster your community online. Be a resource for them, connect with them in a human way, and you’ll find that it produces positive results. You can also use Twitter searches to search for people looking for help with what you do. For example, if I type in designer and Phoenix into the search bar, it’s going to pull up all the tweets with those keywords. A few of them will probably be something like, “Does anyone know a good designer in Phoenix?” or “Are there any Phoenix designers who could help me with a new website?” You can swoop in and make an introduction in two seconds. It shows you’re proactive, you’re listening, and you want to help.

One word of advice though - If your personal and business accounts are one in the same, be careful what you post. Don’t get too personal or share too much information. If people are following you for design tips and advice, they aren’t going to be too thrilled when you start non-stop tweeting about your crazy weekend in Vegas or your puppy throwing up all over the place.


Be kind with referralsOne of the best ways to get new clients is make your current clients, vendors, and friends so pleased with your services that they refer you to others. But don’t be one of those people that beats them over the head asking for referrals. They should come naturally and be rewarded when it happens. There’s nothing wrong with casually mentioning to someone during a work-related conversation, “Well, if you know anyone you think could benefit from my help, I’d love for you to connect us.” Just don’t lead the conversation with that or send annoying emails pleading for referrals. It comes off as spammy and insincere.

Some people have formal referral programs to incite people to send clients their way. I prefer to just mention it here and there when it’s relevant, let my work and process do the talking, and then send a thank you note and small gift when someone does send someone my way. That way, they feel appreciated and will probably refer me again.

For example, I had a fellow freelancer refer a project to me that ended up being pretty significant. She had just had a baby, so I sent her a handwritten thank you note and a $25 gift card to a baby store. It took me 10 minutes, cost next to nothing, but it goes a long way.


Get up on stageThis is another one of those things that feels really awkward and unnecessary, but if you talk to any people who have done public speaking on their expertise, the vast majority will tell you it’s a great way to market yourself and get new business. Before today, 90% of you had no idea who I was or maybe even had the wrong idea. But today, you’ve met met, you’ve learned what I do, and I’ve hopefully gained credibility that I know what I’m talking about, and maybe if you have a need for marketing or copywriting in the future, my name will come to mind.

You can do the same thing. Even if you think, “What do I have to teach people?” But again, if you’re going where you clients are instead of where all the other designers or people in your field are, you know a whole heck of a lot more than anyone else in the room.

Speaking also doesn’t have to mean you up on stage for an hour by yourself. You can tag team with other people to share the presentations, do panels where there is less pressure to do a formal presentation, or even host a private workshop for a small group of people on a topic you’re particularly interested in. Whatever works for you.


Don’t expect to have time.MAKE time.

At this point, you’re probably thinking that this all sounds great, but where on earth am I going to find the time? You can’t expect to have time. You need to MAKE time. Ideally, 20% of your time should be spent on sales and marketing. That may seem like a lot, so work up to it. Start blocking off 2 hours on your calendar twice a week to work on blog posts, proposals, networking, whatever. When you block out time on your calendar to devote to sales and marketing, a few things happen: 1) You stop making excuses, dragging your feet, and pushing it off because you get slammed. 2) You have the opportunity to focus on just sales and marketing without feeling the pressure of doing other billable work. You’re giving yourself permission to think about how to move your business forward. 3) You’ll start to see results. It’s like going to the gym. If you just go once every two months, you can’t be surprised when you don’t lose weight. But when you go twice or 3 times a week for a few months, you start to notice your jeans fit better, you have more energy, and you start to feel it working. If you just block out one afternoon to have lunch with a past client and send off a few proposals, that’s great. But if you can do that consistently over a few weeks, chances are a few of those proposals are going to say yes, and maybe one of your past clients will refer you to their friend who needs some help. When you make time, you can make money.


Caution! Cuidado!

Attenzione!




Don’t just push your crapSocial media, speaking gigs, networking, and other marketing strategies aren’t just another way to push your crap. They’re a way to listen to what your audience is looking for, establish yourself as an expert, and make connections with people you don’t normally meet day to day. If all I’m hearing about is how awesome you are and you’re shoving your business down my throat, I’m going to be totally turned off. Be confident and not afraid to talk about how you can help people, but don’t beat them over the head with it. Just be yourself.


Chill out on the demands“Hire me”“Retweet this”“Refer me to your friends”“Look at my portfolio”

These requests are fine in moderation, but people are more likely to do them when it comes naturally, not when you demand it. Steer clear of coming off as desperate or pushy by letting people know what you do, offering to help them, following up if appropriate, and just let it be.

For example, one of my friends had a guy contact him about designing a website for his business. He told the client all about his process, rates, and what they would need to get started, and the guy said, “Ok thanks, let me think about it for a few days.” My friend followed up a few days later and the guy said he still needed some more time to think about it, so my friend said, “No problem. I know it’s a big decision to make. I’m happy to answer any other questions you might have, so let’s keep in touch and we’ll see if there’s an opportunity to work together.” And that was it. He didn’t call him every two days for the next month. He didn’t pepper his inbox with demanding emails. He followed up every few weeks with an article that made him think of the guy’s business or just a simple hello, but there was never any pressure or questions about when the guy was going to hire him. Eventually he did, and it was probably because of his patience and understanding.


Don’t live by the numbersIt’s important to measure your success, whether that’s by revenue, number of leads or closes, number of engaged followers on Twitter, or whatever you use to gauge how you’re doing. But take the numbers with a grain of salt. Just because you have 1000 followers on Twitter doesn’t mean any of them care about you or have engaged with you. Just because you gave out 20 business cards at that networking event doesn’t mean they were great people to spend time with that are going to result in a sale or advancement of your business.

Focus on quality over quantity.


Focus on the experienceA lot of freelancers focus on the product. The beautiful designs. The clean code. The sound marketing advice. The reality is that the experience of working with you is the product. They could get the product somewhere else, but the experience and the relationship is what makes you different. At the end of the day, if your designs are perfect, but you were super difficult to work with or they were confused the whole time, they probably aren’t going to use you again. You should be putting just as much attention towards making the client’s experience easy and awesome as you do working on their PSDs or code.


Don’t be so generalGoing along with our discussion about positioning, getting as specific as possible about who you are and what you do is key. When someone asks, “So what kind of design do you do?” our first instinct is to say “Oh, I can design just about anything.” We don’t want to put ourselves into a box and make them think we can’t do what they need from us.

But when we’re so general, it can actually be a turn off. When you say, “I can design just about anything” or “I can write in any style” or something like that, you’ve told me nothing about yourself and given me no reason why I should choose you over someone else. You need to be willing to put your stake in the ground or even turn down work that’s not the right fit for you in order to get the work that IS the right fit for you. You’ll find you’re a lot happier and produce better work when you get more of the types of clients that you like and less of the kind you could live without.


Ask for helpThere will also come a point in your business where you think to yourself, “I have no idea what I’m talking about with this” or “I know a lot about this, but I hate doing it.” In those situations, know when to ask for help or outsource. If you’re brainstorming ways to increase your business or do a better job of communicating with your potential clients, ask someone in marketing or sales if you can take them to lunch. If you’ve been doing your own finances for the past few years, and it’s just sucking up your time so that you can’t fit in those couple hours on your calendar for marketing, outsource it.

Do what you’re good at, and don’t be afraid to ask for help from people who are good at what they do.


Nothing beats being humanIf there’s one piece of advice I could give you, it would be just to be human. It’s really easy to get swept up in our technology and automation and putting on a certain facade because that’s what you think your clients are looking for. The reality is that we’re all just people, so nothing beats being human and being yourself. You’re going to do a way better job of being you than you’ll do of trying to be someone that you’re not. If you’re quirky and casual, embrace it. Give your referral a weird, funny gift that you know they’ll love and will make them think of you. If you’re more quiet and meek, that’s great too. Send that referral a short thank you note from the heart.

But whatever your personality is, make sure your branding and marketing reflects that so you attract the right people and they know what they’re getting into.


[email protected]

@shainarozen



mailto:[email protected]

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Education

How to market yourself without feeling icky