Monthly Archives: June 2013

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Early Birds Rule the Worlds

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I am a morning person.  One of the ways that I generate the predictable cash flow that most Freelance consultants need as we wait for contracts to come in and invoices to be paid is teach fitness.  Five mornings a week,  I teach fitness and on three of those mornings I teach at 6:30 AM.  On the weekends I teach at 9:00 AM.

I despise getting out of bed at 5:00 AM when it is pitch black,  which unfortunately is the story of my life for about eight months of the year.  Yet I enjoy waking early to the bright dawns that the Summer Solstice brings.  At this time of year,  I have no need for the alarm clock.  Once I’ve taught my fitness class,  I am free to do my  “real”  work.  Pulling myself out of bed in early morning darkness is torture,  but getting an early start on the day is well worth the sacrifice.

Christoph Randler,  professor of biology at the University of Education in Heidelberg,  Germany says that people whose performance peaks in the morning are more proactive and more productive than those whose performance peaks in the evening.  As a result,  early risers typically excel in school and often do well in business.  “When it comes to business success,  morning people hold the important cards”,  says Professor Randler.

His research indicates that because morning people are more proactive,  they are more successful in their professionals lives.  Early risers are better at anticipating problems and devising solutions to minimize them.  The larks in Randler’s studies mostly agreed with the statements  “I feel in charge of making things happen”  and  “I spend time making long-range goals for myself”.  Morning types are more likely to take action and change a situation to their advantage.

Night owls who wake up when the sun has long since risen are not necessarily life’s losers,  however.  Some studies show that they’re smarter and more creative.  Still,  since ancient times,  early risers have been closely associated with higher productivity and success.  Aristotle said  “It is well to be up before daybreak,  for such habits contribute to health,  wealth and wisdom”.   I will add that we larks are a highly disciplined lot and as evidence I point not to myself,  who is paid to show up,  but to the fitness center members who take my 6:30 AM classes and also to those who arrive at 5:30 AM,  regardless of the weather.

Is it possible for an evening person to successfully become a morning person?  “Somewhat”,  says Professor Randler.  Much of the lark or owl tendency is genetic.  Before I began teaching fitness,  I was a fitness center member who for 15 years worked out in the evenings.  When a favorite instructor began teaching at 7:00 AM,  I decided to give it a try.  Lucky for me,  the change was made during the Spring schedule.  The days were getting longer and that eased my transition.  It would have been much more difficult to make the change if the days were getting shorter.

As I noted I’m a natural morning person,  but let me tell you that there is morning and then there is early  morning and the two are not interchangeable.  For those who claim that you “get used to it”  after a while,  I reply that for three months of the year,  when it is bright at 5:00 AM,  I prize the early morning.   But for most of the year,  waking up in darkness remains as difficult now as it was 12 years ago,  when I switched to early morning workouts.

But like the classic lark,  I am disciplined and I make long-range goals for myself.  The feeling I have when walking to the showers at 7:35 AM,  knowing that my moonlighting job  has been completed for that day,  is great.  The energy boost I get from the work-out puts me in the frame of mind to charge into the day and do business.  Together,  these  value-added benefits outweigh the unpleasantness of leaving my warm,  soft bed,  even on cold January mornings and give me the resolve to do it all over again the next day,  whatever the weather.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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The Millennial Client

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The Millennial Generation has arrived and they are hotly pursued.  Millennials represent the future and everyone wants a piece of the 21 – 35 year-old market segment.  While prospecting,  you may have encountered a Millennial gatekeeper,  the boss’s young assistant.  Those in their early thirties will also be decision-makers,  so it’s time to make sure that your marketing message and sales strategy are appropriately tailored.

Millennials have been even more heavily chased by Corporate America than Baby Boomers.  They grew up in the age of product tie-ins to books and movies,  video games,  24 hour television,  music videos,  social media and cell phones.  They have been on the receiving end of 360 degree media bombardment for their entire lives.  As a result,  they excel at picking apart a marketing message.  They respond to what they feel is an authentic story about a product and they do not want a slick marketing message.

Michele Serro,  former associate partner at IDEO,  a design and innovation firm and founder of Doorsteps,  a New York City-based online tool for prospective homeowners that targets Millennials,  has done extensive research on this generation.  Serro found that for Millennials,  the marketing message is nearly inseparable from the product itself.

She found that to influence this cohort,  a holistic marketing approach is necessary and authenticity is essential.  “Millennials can sense when they’re being marketed to or told a story”,  Serro says,  “and they are extremely impatient with irrelevant information.”  A  “canned”  sales spiel will get you nowhere with Millennial decision-makers.  If they feel that your message is false,  you will be labeled as untrustworthy and that will be a deal breaker.

Your sales pitch should be the story of your product: a believable narrative that explains what your product does,  who your service is meant to benefit and how what you’re selling will help your Millennial decision-maker resolve or avoid a problem,  make the organization look good,  or service their organizations’ customers more effectively.

Because they’ve been forever immersed in social media,  Millennials are accustomed to interacting directly with the purveyors of the products and services that they use.  Facilitate that expectation of engagement:

1.  Make the text on your website read like a conversation and design your ads to reflect the content marketing style,  which is also conversational in tone.  Your message will be somewhat personal and casual.  It will allow your Millennial client to connect with,  understand and trust what you’re selling.

2.  Respect their intelligence and never dumb-down your message.  Millennials are ambitious,  as evidenced by their heroes Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.  Present your information in a fast-paced way that has some whimsy.  You can be sincere or you can be clever.

3.  Work with their short attention spans and spread your message via tweets,  a constantly updated interactive website,  regularly updated blog posts,  YouTube and podcasts and content marketing type ads.  Make all postings smart phone friendly.

4.  Give them the opportunity to engage with your brand.  Start a dialogue that facilitates a conversation and set the stage for product loyalty.  Ask questions they’ll want to answer.  Create meaningful content that focuses on building community.  Not everything should be a sales pitch.

Nancy Robinson,  Vice President at Iconoculture,  a Minneapolis consumer research and advisory firm,  says that Millennials can become your loyal clients. “They’re loyal,  but that loyalty has to be earned and renewed.  They expect customer service,  they expect the product to be good,  they expect the product to work.”

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Adding to Your Value-Added

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If you want to bill clients at premium prices,  you need to establish and present a brand that communicates your value-added as perceived by prospective clients.  In plain English,  you must make clients feel that you are worth the money.

A good brand is very seductive.  Brand loyalty leads people to pay $5.00 for coffee when they could buy perhaps higher-quality brew for $2.00.  It makes women covet $1000.00 + handbags so they can flash a certain designer label,  when handbags of similar quality and attractiveness,  but without the logo,  are available at less than half  that price.

As we continue to explore strategies to expand business,  let’s give some thought to building on authenticity  (see the May 28 post),  using it to strengthen perceived value-added and power of  the brand.  Increases in perceived value are generally more profitable than increases in the quality of services delivered.  Clients are known to pay more for what they think is worth more before they’ll pay for service upgrades.

Successful Freelance consultants deliver first-rate expertise and customer service.  As a marketing strategy,  we can attempt to make ourselves appear worthwhile to prospective clients in a number of ways.  One strategy can be to package ourselves rather lavishly,  handing out expensive business cards,  renting office space in the high-rent district and paying big registration fees to attend prestige conferences.  The premise is,  in order to attract big fish clients,  one must swim in the same waters.

Alternatively,  one may choose the high visibility route and invest scads of time on social media sites,  posting frequently, earning a high Klout score and showing up in the top ten of a Google search.  The premise is,  if one’s name is all over the internet,  then prospective clients will see it and one will then be considered the obvious choice when it is time to hire,  through the power of notoriety and perceived expertise.

Teaching,  speaking engagements and visible involvement in business and professional groups are a third strategy.  The premise here is that professional expertise is demonstrated through these activities and that builds trust and gives prospective clients the incentive to not only hire,  but pay a premium for services rendered.

Whichever strategy you find most attractive,  be mindful that your perceived value will be enhanced when you establish links with individuals and organizations that are admired and respected by your clients.  If you can arrange to be photographed with the mayor or governor,  it will raise your perceived value because you will be seen in the company of movers and shakers.  Membership in certain professional associations or social clubs may also confer significant value.

Professional certifications can do the same,  which is why a Certified Public Accountant can charge two or three times what an accountant with a degree but no special piece of paper can charge for providing nearly identical services.  The CPA designation allows a trust factor to kick in and it’s worth money.   According to Martin Reimann,  professor of Psychology at University of Southern California, the “right” affiliations and relationships bolster one’s perceived value.  They are endorsements of value-added.

My parents often told me when I was growing up that we are judged by the company that we keep.  I took that admonition to heart and picked my friends with care,  especially as I got older and there was more on the line.  The advice applies equally to our professional lives.  If it appears that we have the confidence of those whom prospective clients and referral sources respect,  we are more likely to be hired or referred and better able to charge premium prices for our services.  But it all starts with being authentic.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Getting Good PR

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Every Freelance consultant and business owner has an eye open for good publicity opportunities.  Articles written about one’s business are far more effective than paid advertisements,  because they are considered objective opinions.  Other than word of mouth by satisfied clients who sing your praises,  there is nothing better than good PR to help build the buzz that makes you look credible and successful and worthy of still more business.  So what are the best ways to get good publicity?

If you have the kind of business that can potentially attract more than sporadic media attention,  then building relationships with editors and writers whose publications and stories focus on your category of business is a good use of your time.  Once you’ve identified good media prospects by reading their articles,  send a press release that details an event that would interest.  In your email,  reference an article or two of theirs that you’ve read.  Follow up with a telephone call.  Offer to take that person to lunch or coffee.  Even if your press release doesn’t get you any editorial space,   you may be called to provide comments as an expert when other stories are written.  Check in periodically,  to maintain the relationship.  Meeting for coffee every once in a while can pay off.

Bloggers have lots of influence and it is sometimes a challenge to reach them.  Blog Dash is a site I recently found that helps you connect with bloggers whom you can hire to spread the good word about your business.  Fifteen categories of business are represented,  from arts to travel,  and numerous bloggers within each category can be reached.  There is a free option,  which will give you no real access to bloggers  (but they will see your business and may comment),  or you can pay up to $50.00/month and be able to pitch bloggers directly and build relationships.  http://blogdash.com

Write a good press release  (see my post Press Release Primer,  3.1.11)  to encourage traditional journalists and bloggers to give your story some editorial space.   They are considered old school in some quarters,  but a press release is still the way to get the word out to journalists and bloggers,  whether or not they know you.   But you have to provide good content and 95%  of the time what a Freelancer or other business person has to say is not considered relevant.  Hint:  when one advertises,  one generally receives editorial space.

Solicitations to provide expert opinion or commentary showcase you to look like the go-to in your field.   Help a Reporter Out HARO  http://helpareporter.com and Seek or Shout  http://sos.cision.com  allow you to respond to requests for quotes on any subject,  from big data to the medical device industry.  Three or four years ago I signed up with HARO but I quickly shut this free service off.  I was nearly buried in emails and I couldn’t take it.

It is obvious that the adage  “There’s no such thing as bad publicity”  was created before the dawn of social media.  Social media can cause a minor PR hiccup,  or negative customer review made by a spiteful customer (or maybe a competitor),  to blow up out of proportion and do you some damage.  Resist the temptation to hand over your social media functions to some 22 year old.  In theory,  social media updates ought to be a great responsibility for a young person who lives this stuff anyway, understands how to get the word out and works cheap.   The problem is,  that young person may not have the wherewithal to give the right answer when something challenging is written.

Creating good buzz about your business is part of the Freelance consultant or business owner’s job.  How to get that done in the most effective manner requires a strategic approach,  like all of your other business activities.  If sporadic PR is what your business attracts,  it is best to engage in a variety of activities to ensure that you appear viable and relevant to clients and colleagues.  You may not get written up,  but you will build a good reputation.   If your business is the type that would attract more press,  then spend the time and money to advertise in the relevant publications and build relationships with journalists who cover your kind of business.   Subscribe to have the ability to reach out to bloggers and see what that does for you.  Budget for a year and then evaluate.  Learn to write a good press release  (see my post  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE,  3.19.13).

Thanks for reading,

Kim