Monthly Archives: March 2024

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Your Business Needs Referrals

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Whether your business is B2B or B2C, getting referrals is hands-down the best way to bring in new customers. When someone you’ve done business with recommends your company to their colleagues, friends, or family, your chance of getting the project or sale is greatly improved. Referrals demonstrate trust—they’re a big vote of confidence and one of the the greatest compliments your company can receive.

Most businesses receive referrals at least occasionally and for some, nearly all customers are referred, but the importance of referrals should not be underestimated. Savvy Freelancers and business owners are proactive and develop strategies to encourage a steady intake of referrals. The objective is to identify and motivate high-quality referrers and persuade them to recommend your products or services to those in their network who are in search of a solution your company provides.

Leverage your network

Keep in mind, BTW, that a degree of finesse is necessary when looking to stimulate referrals; you must be sensitive to the fact that referrals are earned and not an entitlement. That said, Freelancers and business owners who’ve been operating for maybe just a year or two will probably not be seen as pushy when reaching out to friends, family, or even former co-workers to let them know that referrals of prospective customers would be appreciated.

Those in your network surely know business owners, decision-makers and other professionals; some will be happy to make introductions that allow you to expand your network and, if possible, will also make a referral for you. Make it easy for those who know you best and are motivated to help you succeed by sharing basic facts about your business:

  • Explain what you do using terms they will understand
  • Create a professional looking website and LinkedIn profile
  • Concisely and clearly describe projects you’re qualified for and interested in
  • Give examples of the industries you typically work with, if that is a relevant factor (e.g., hospitality, defense industry, higher education, publishing) and the job titles of those who typically hire or interview you (e.g., CEO, Executive Director, Marketing Director, VP Human Resources)

Invite new relationships

Good referrals can also be made by people you’re not especially close with; meeting new colleagues at conferences and other professional settings can present opportunities to grow your network. When networking, do yourself (and everyone!) a favor and squelch the temptation to push your business card onto all you encounter as you “work the room.” Instead, show a genuine interest in those you meet, as demonstrated by asking questions and listening to those you chat with. Adopt a mind-set that includes generosity along with self-interest. Be willing to help others as you would like to be helped. Try these relationship-building tactics to expand your network and potentially generate referrals:

  • Invite certain of your LinkedIn connections to in-person or virtual coffee dates to learn more about them and discuss how the two of you might help each other’s business.
  • Explore local organizations related to your industry and/or the business community. Chambers of commerce are a good starting point. Attend business education programs, meet & greets, and/or virtual events and introduce yourself.
  • If you listen to podcasts or webinars, start building a relationship with the host(s) by commenting or asking questions. If you especially enjoyed the program, invite the host(s) into your LinkedIn network. If a program attendee or guest stands out to you, get his/her name and introduce yourself in a private chat and propose follow-up.

Social media promotes referrals

Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X (Twitter) enable you to nurture relationships with both your new and long-lasting contacts and make it easy to occasionally say hello and also remind them that you’re on the lookout for referrals. Periodically revisit and update your social media profiles, to ensure that your online presence will inspire confidence when new connections check out your organization as they consider referring you to one of their contacts.

As noted above, pave the way for contacts to refer you by clarifying the work you do and the job titles of those with the authority to green light your projects. You might also provide samples of your work, when appropriate. Create profile-enhancing posts that have the potential to cultivate your standing as an expert and encourage referrals:

  • Share industry news and thought leadership articles to establish yourself as an authority in your space
  • Participate in discussions that relate to your work and industry
  • Add customer testimonials or recommendations to your sites (and offer to make recommendations for others in return)

Exceed expectations

Referrals are 100 percent dependent on your ability to fulfill (or exceed) the expectations of customers. Whether your business occupies the B2B or B2C sector, you must ensure that the buyer’s journey, the quality and delivery of the products or services purchased and all touchpoints please the customers. Taken together, these elements comprise the customer experience; the customer’s perception of that experience determines whether referrals on your behalf will be made.

It is in the interest of business owners and Freelance consultants to both provide an exceptional end-to-end customer experience and also cultivate good relationships with customers. At stake are the potential for repeat business and referrals—important sources of revenue. You have ample motivation to keep lapsed customers on your mailing list, to give business updates when appropriate and to send December holiday cards to customers you’ve worked with (maybe within the past five years).

Remind customers that you welcome referrals

Once you have customers who are happy with your services or products, they may be willing to become a referral source when opportunities arise. Because they have direct experience working with you, they can speak with authority about the quality of work you produce and customer experience that you provide. Do you have a customer who’s told you they’re thrilled with the outcomes of a recent project? That’s the perfect time to ask for a referral!

  • Ask customers to write a LinkedIn recommendation for you (and offer to return the favor).
  • Ask customers to give you a written or verbal testimonial or participate in a case study that will appear on your website. Offer to include their company logo and website link, as a way to increase awareness of their company brand and provide a quality backlink for their company website
  • Tell happy customers that you’re thrilled they’re pleased with your products or services. Let them know that you’re open to performing similar work and that you’d appreciate their referrals if they know of anyone with a need for the products or services you provide.

Make referrals for others

If you are aware of an upcoming project for which you are not a fit, or that current commitments prevent you from accepting, there may be someone in your network for whom that project would be ideal. That’s why forming relationships with other Freelancers and business owners and leaders is essential. When you refer a project or customer to a colleague, it reflects well on you—enhances your professional reputation and portrays you as a true professional. Furthermore, When you refer work to others, you’ll be at top of mind the next time a project comes along that you’d be a good fit for.

Avoid a mindset that’s based in scarcity, envy, or other negative feelings toward business colleagues, including direct competitors. It’s draining and does not insulate your entity from competition. Instead, be cordial and cooperative with business colleagues. Get to know what they specialize in and the types of customers they work with. Become the business owner who colleagues and contacts enjoy referring.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©Natee Meepian

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AI 2024: Freelancers and SMB Think Marketing

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So much of operating a successful business centers on marketing. Generating revenue is about customers: bringing them in and keeping who you have, all the while doing what you can to outmaneuver competitors and work around business climate challenges. To slip through the obstacle course and achieve those objectives, you must think and execute strategically and that includes making use of resources available to you. Among the most powerful and most discussed resources can be found in the many groundbreaking technological developments that have so radically reshaped our lives over the past hundred years.

Some of these useful and exciting tools are capable of delivering significant advantages to your organization—quick access to relevant data, the analysis and interpretation of that data and automation of routine functions such as email marketing and social media posting among them—all can be yours with just a few taps on your keypad. Your task is to stay abreast of the fast pace of emerging technologies and recognize the tools that will give you operational efficiencies you need most at a price you can afford.

The tool that’s got everybody talking is, tah dah, Artificial Intelligence. Open AI/Microsoft (Chat GPT), Google AI, Nvidia AI and Amazon (AWS machine learning) are among the leaders in the race to dominate AI technology. It’s imperative to start your learning curve and figure out the right way to use AI in your business. Maybe you’ve already started and have a chat bot on your website? That’s a great tool to enhance customer service and there are more marketing functions that AI can successfully support.

More than a trend

AI’s gift to marketing rests on its data-driven insights that help you personalize the customer experiences your company provides. Freelancers and small business owners are able to affordably access AI generated data that is actionable, meaning you can convert whatever insights you’ve gleaned into marketing strategies that can be expected to move the needle and set your organization apart in a highly competitive marketplace.

Personalization builds relationships

Marketing thought leaders have already pointed out that the future of effective marketing is personalization. Creating a memorably satisfying customer experience has replaced the hard sell. Now, the task is to lead customers to develop a connection with your business and give them reasons to continue doing business with you. Promoting connection through the inclusion of personalized marketing tactics is how to build relationships now, as you discourage churn and encourage repeat business.

New technologies, AI and otherwise, enable you to precisely personalize your company’s marketing strategies and tactics. The data that AI et al. delivers enables you to deepen your understanding of the customer persona by amassing demographic info that, among other insights, gives you actionable data about their buying habits and preferred experiences that you can use to make them feel valued. You can use recently developed technological tools, including AI, to create a more trusting and mutually beneficial relationship between your company and customers that ultimately leads them to give your marketing content more responses and followers that result in more sales, donations and growth for your organization.

Personalize and optimize AI prompts to personalize and optimize marketing content

The good news about AI technology is that it enables users to create both text and visual content. The downside, if you want to call it that, is you must “tell” your AI tool the result you want; to make it happen, you must learn to write instructions known as prompts. AI prompts can be divided into two categories: text prompting and image prompting. The prompt is how users communicate with the chosen AI tool—think key words and long-tail phrases. With prompts, you “tell” the AI what you want and how you want it to be done. You must describe what you want to see as a result.  

In text prompting, you’re “talking” to a natural language processor like ChatGPT. If your prompt is a general query, e.g., “how do you bake bread?”, you’ll be given a generic answer. But if your prompt is a more specific query or statement, e.g., “explain in simple terms how to bake whole wheat bread”, then you’ll likely end up with an acceptable recipe. When your goal is to create an image, you’ll use image prompting words to describe that image. The AI image generator is a text-to-image tool that was designed to make it easier for digital marketers and content creators to create images online. The text-to-image models you’ll use will include DALL-E2, Google’s Deep Dream Generator, Jasper.ai, or Stable Diffusion.

Incidentally, know that while AI tools are designed to process language, they have a different way of understanding than your average human. When using a natural language text prompting tool, you may receive outcomes that are incorrect or downright nonsensical, so it may take several tries, using different phrases to develop the prompt, to arrive at the outcome that you want. 

A cheat sheet of prompts written by someone else most likely will not produce optimal results. Your own words, perfected through a process of trial and error, in the end will breed success. Before you get started with AI prompts, here are a few things to keep in mind:

  1. There’s no magic prompt. The Internet is flooded with AI prompts, but it might take some trial and error before you figure out which type is most effective for your particular use case. 
  2. Clarify your desired outcome. A good rule of thumb: the response will generally be as broad or specific as its prompt. In some cases, it might actually be preferable to skimp on the details—like if you’re brainstorming blog post topics and want more varied and diverse answers. Something more complex, like a sales playbook or chatbot script, will almost always require more details.
  3. Garbage in, garbage out. The quality of the output depends entirely on the input. AI enables teams to move a lot faster, but it’s still important to take the time to flesh out your prompts. Otherwise, you could find yourself drowning in responses that are unclear, inaccurate, irrelevant or just wildly off-base.  

Marketing copy text prompts

Ramp up your creativity with prompts like “craft a brief, captivating story of a summer trip” or “compose a social post introducing a new skincare product for winters.” The suggestions that you get for these prompts can inspire imaginative content. Another strategy is to tailor your content based on audience preferences — from short-form copy to artwork, music and videos. This can help generate more tailored, engaging content for social media posts or emails. 

Informational text prompts

Hone in on the most relevant metrics and other info that’s buried in big data by using prompts like “provide a brief overview of Adidas’ top-performing footwear collection.” This is perfect for informed decision-making and finding out what’s still trending. 

Reasoning text prompts  

These prompts go beyond facts. They help AI provide thoughtful conclusions about a subject, adding depth and insight to your content. This includes prompts like “what is the impact of sustainable practices on corporate profitability?” Such lines of questioning can go a long way in helping you with industry knowledge and competitive analysis questions. 

List text prompts

Compile lists effortlessly by using prompts like “create a list of engaging podcast topics in the realm of artificial intelligence.” They’re ideal for generating concise, bulleted options, be it for email subject lines or blog titles. These prompts help structure your thoughts in a more systematic way. 

Instructional text prompts  

Guide your content creation with prompts like “detail the process of setting up a home automation system from scratch.” Utilize them to provide step-by-step guidance, which is incredibly useful for creating how-to guides or informative content. 

Interactive text prompts  

Interactive prompts initiate conversations. This includes prompts like “imagine you’re a travel guide giving recommendations for a solo trip to an exotic destination.” They create engaging scenarios, which are ideal for training sessions or interactive content. 

Keyword text prompts  

Keyword prompts pinpoint words or phrases. They are used for tasks like drawing insights from data or aiding in image and video creation. Take the example of this prompt: “Generate creative ideas for nutritious meal options that are easy to prepare at home. Focus on incorporating fresh ingredients and simple cooking techniques.” This keyword prompt guides the AI by specifying terms like “nutritious,” “easy-to-make,” “fresh ingredients” and “simple cooking techniques,” providing a clear direction for content generation related to healthy and easy-to-make meals. 

Image prompts

Use a phrase to describe what you’re looking for. A few specific details about the object or character, including a description of the character or object that will be in the foreground or background and the setting you’d like to see in your preferred image design.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

 

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Trending: Traditional Media Outlets

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Freelancers and all business owners and leaders are well aware that promoting and enhancing their entity’s products, services and the company brand is a prime and ongoing responsibility. To accomplish that important objective, you’re always on the lookout for marketing opportunities and channels that are a good fit for your brand and also allow you to effectively broadcast your marketing message and/or brand story. As you consider which marketing channels are most appropriate, it would be no surprise that in addition to your company’s website social media, whose active users number in the billions, likely take precedence in your hierarchy of preferred marketing options.

But think for a minute. Facebook et al. do not completely dominate all influential marketing channels; your hometown newspapers and magazines still wield influence in the communities where you operate. Although their number and reach have probably diminished over the years and have never attained audience numbers that rival social media, you may nevertheless find it beneficial to periodically reach out to certain local media to share a newsworthy update about you and your business. Local media outlets and the stories they feature continue to get noticed and command respect. Their readers and listeners could easily include your customers and prospects. Getting yourself and your company featured (positively!) in traditional media outlets, however modest the audience reach, is a marketing win. Consider outreach to local media as part of your personalized marketing strategy.

Getting started

The various social media platforms, as you know, have made it possible for nearly anyone to build an audience if the topic is attractive to readers or viewers and they’re willing to create and post content. There’s no need for today’s aspiring Influencers to work toward a degree in journalism or media communications as a steppingstone to earning credibility and acceptance as a thought leader or style setter.

In stark contrast, traditional media outlets—print, radio, television—have gatekeepers, that is, publishers, editors, or reporters, who control all content that is featured. So, just because you call yourself an expert in your professional field, it will take some convincing to persuade the gatekeepers to quote or feature you in their publication, especially if you lack examples of previous media coverage to validate the expert status you claim. However, if you create an effective pitch in your press release https://freelancetheconsultantsdiary.wordpress.com/2020/02/25/press-release-to-send-or-not-to-send/ that concisely and enticingly explains how your topic (story) is relevant to the outlet’s audience and describe your professional experience and educational background in language that supports your position as an expert on the subject, you could receive a positive response to your media outreach and be on your way to being quoted as an expert source, if not a spotlighted subject of a feature article.

Build your media list

Before you can send a press release, you’ll need a current list of media contacts. Sending a well-crafted pitch that’s tailored to a small but select group of gatekeepers who may be interested in your story and have the power to green light it will always yield better results than sending a pitch to every email address you can find.

Begin building your media list with a visit to the mastheads or websites of media outlets you feel will be appropriate for your story; in many cases, the name and contact info of the editor who manages your story’s category, and/or reporters who cover your topic, will be listed there. You might also search back issues of your preferred publications to find and skim articles by reporters who cover topics relevant to your story and/or your business.

If there is insufficient info listed on the outlet’s website or masthead, search for reporters on X (Twitter), Facebook, or LinkedIn. You can direct message on those platforms, but it may be better to make your media pitch via email; it can be more effective to first telephone the reporter or editor and verify potential interest in your story before blindly sending a press release. Initiating a conversation with an editor or reporter is a better way to build a relationship. Be sure to mention that you’ve read one or two of that reporter’s articles if you get him/her on the phone.

Eye-catching subject line

Regardless of how you make initial contact, if you receive an invitation to provide some details in writing, the quality of your email subject line is the starting point of your media pitch. Whether you DM or chat on the phone, the email subject line will be the first (official) info the reporter or editor sees and even if interest in your story was expressed while on the phone, a riveting subject line will remind the journalist of your story’s relevance. Your subject line may determine whether or not your email gets opened. The viability of your story is at stake.

Devise an eye-catching subject line that contains maximum seven to nine words, if possible. Incorporating relevant current events, using an unexpected statistic or statement, or promising a unique solution to a common problem have been known to capture a journalist’s attention.

Surprisingly, it may be easier to create a good subject line after you’ve written the body of your pitch email. Reversing the usual custom will allow you to see your entire message and the big picture perspective may lead you to create a more powerful subject line. Finally, create a draft version of your pitch and open it on your mobile devices, to confirm that your subject line will always display fully.

An intriguing intro

Because you more than likely have had no previous contact with the journalist, there is no need for friendly overtures. Politely get down to business. If your subject line has held your journalist’s attention, you have just a second or two to keep that attention and a compelling intro is how you do it. You might repeat your subject line and add two or three additional sentences or bullet points to strengthen your case. The examples below may be helpful:

  • The Chief Information Officer at workwear manufacturer Carhartt reported that the company currently utilizes 121 software-as-a-service subscriptions, up from 59 subscriptions five years ago. The number of SaaS subscriptions now exceeds the number of IT employees at the company. “We don’t have enough resources to manage the administrative aspects of the platforms,” says company Chief Information Officer Katrina Agusti.
  • In response to a suit brought by the National Small Business Association against the Treasury Department, the U.S. Federal District Court for the District of Alabama ruled on March 1, 2024 that the Corporate Transparency Act is unconstitutional. More than 32 million U.S. business entities are estimated to be affected by CTA and were required to comply and submit company documentation. While it is likely that litigation will continue to play out in the federal court system, the initial victory has gone to small business and that means compliance with this now unconstitutional regulatory regime can be set aside for the time being.

Identify the problem and its impact on their audience

If the journalist is still reading at this point, congratulations, you’ve captured his/her interest in what you have to say, so it’s up to you to keep them interested with the pitch itself. Most stories in the media are based on some type of conflict—a problem that affects their audience in some significant way.

Succinctly describe the event or challenge and concisely explain how it impacts the media outlet’s audience. Avoid using technical jargon unless you’re pitching to an industry publication and you’re in the field. Your pitch will resonate with the journalist only if s/he feels it will resonate with the audience, so keep readers and/or viewers in mind as you craft your pitch. Keep it simple and clear, expressed in a few brief sentences or better yet, a few bullet points. Statistics and quantifiable data are especially powerful.

What makes you an expert

Compose a simple one or two sentence statement that establishes your expertise and authority to understand and address the topic, for example CPA, CFA, MD, or PhD. Trust and credibility are important to your clients and prospects and also important to journalists and editors. Even if the media outlets you approach are small and local, they must be confident that anyone interviewed is reputable and knowledgeable.

  • (you) are a serial entrepreneur turned investor in start-ups launched by retired professionals
  • (you) own the largest bridal shop in your state and have operated the business for 30 years
  • (you) are a Freelance cybersecurity expert who’s received extensive training in private industry and at government agencies including the U.S. Air Force

What makes you and your story of special interest?

Arbiters of the media are perpetually in search of what will stand out and grab the attention of their audience. Audiences are sometimes interested in what they feel is “better”, but they more often give their attention to what is different. Keep that truism in mind as you create your media pitch because you must possess one or more attributes that make you stand out and capture the interest of a media gatekeeper. Otherwise, journalists will just cite the already well-recognized experts instead of you. You may have a unique perspective on, or solution for, a particular challenge but what is it about you that gives you a special authority to present yourself as a thought leader or expert?

Sell you story by highlighting how you do things differently and why your approach is better for their audience. If you and your 11-year-old daughter have figured out how to sell 5,000 boxes a week of Girl Scout cookies, by all means send a press release to your local newspaper!

Close with a call-to-action

A well-worded call-to-action will serve as a bridge or a well-lit path that encourages the recipient of your media pitch to take action and contact you to learn more about you and your story. For that reason, it is in your interest to conclude your media pitch email by telling its recipient what you’d like him/her to do next—contact you by phone or email as soon as possible to discuss how your quote or story might be featured in his/her media outlet.

A polite, yet unambiguous call-to-action works best. A statement as simple as, “If this sounds like a story you may be interested in covering, please email or contact me directly at (your preferred phone number and email address). It’s been said that failing to request follow-up action on a press release decreases the likelihood of the story being featured.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Photo by Marion S. Trikosko (public domain). White House correspondent Helen Thomas (R) with President Gerald Ford and White House Chief of Staff Dick Cheney (far left) during a 1976 White House press conference.

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Differentiate and Dominate

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Here’s a question—what’s the recipe for a secret sauce that will persuade a prospect to become your next client? How wonderful it would be if you could walk into your pantry and pull those ingredients off the shelf. Lived experience tells me that the X-factor of the secret sauce is the client’s gut feeling of your ability to do the job. The interview questions, info in your resume and bio, the references submitted on your behalf by colleagues you’ve worked with have but one purpose and that is, to convince decision-makers you are uniquely qualified to seamlessly produce the project deliverables needed.

That may not seem like a steep hill to climb but in our increasingly competitive marketplace, search committees regularly meet with candidates who appear to be highly capable and able to produce the deliverables. Some may even seem as if they’d also be a joy to work with. The good fortune of being presented with a group of extraordinary candidates ought to make a search committee’s job easier but oftentimes, the abundance of talent only complicates matters. When everyone looks like a winner, how does the committee recognize who deserves the blue-ribbon?

That this is a problem may not be immediately obvious because risk is always inherent in independent employment. Still, the Freelancers and other business owners among you may have become uncomfortably aware of the need to be more resourceful, resilient and agile than seemed necessary just a few years ago. Could it be that while many candidates are impressive, they are for some reason seen by prospects as a commodity and more or less interchangeable?

The topic has captured the attention of researchers at top consulting companies, including Accenture https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/song/accenture-life-trends . Differentiation emerged as a viable strategy to distinguish you and your company from competitors and help increasingly jaded search committees to see you as an expert who, if nothing else, can be trusted to make them look good by hiring you. So your task is to find a niche expertise that fits your brand, is adjacent to your current offerings and that prospects value enough to pay for.

The right niche expertise can make you stand out from competitors and sidestep the dreaded commodity label. If you choose well, your niche expertise will generate enough billable hours to enable you to become a big fish in a small yet lucrative pond. So, the next question is, how can you differentiate your skill set to become more valuable and positioned to dominate a money-making niche market and simultaneously remain true to your brand identity?

Know the customer, know the brand


As always, comprehensive knowledge of your target customers and deep understanding of your brand and its impact on customers will make you feel confident enough to:

  • Recognize a market-worthy expertise that both fits your brand and will persuade prospects to pay you to provide
  • Create and carry out the strategies that entering the niche market entails

Whatever you choose, you’ll be most successful by making a data-driven decision that is based on relevant metrics. Most of all, you must verify that the niche you’d like to enter is capable of grabbing the attention of prospects, making you seem like a more worthy and exceptional candidate and also has the ability to let you generate sufficient revenue to make it worth the work it takes to enter that market.

Also, be sure to research the need for professional experience and/or educational credentials that will allow you to be seen as a credible and trustworthy expert in your new field. Make a plan to acquire whatever certification is needed. Moreover, if there are upcoming conferences or other programs that pertain to your niche expertise, plan to attend and network with colleagues and prospects (if in attendance).

Finally, update your website, social media platforms, business card, inbound and outbound marketing strategies and tactics to announce and support the introduction of your niche expertise to current and prospective buyers and other stakeholders and begin to build trust in what may be perceived as a new competency for you. Competitive intel as regards key words and messaging should be helpful.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Living Color Garden Center Fort Lauderdale FL