Author Archives: Kim Clark

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Milestones Are Your Reason for A Reset

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Certain dates on the yearly calendar are noteworthy—birthdays, holidays and anniversaries, a new year or a new season, as well. The dates have meaning; they mark special occasions and hold a certain power. You might call them milestone dates. Some milestones merely mark the passage of time, but others suggest growth and development, an inflection point and the possibility of making a positive change. Those milestones beckon you to consider new options, new experiences, or a new perspective.

A particular milestone date or occasion may motivate you to do better and give yourself an upgrade. You might feel it’s time to press the reset button on some aspect of your life. You’re primed to open the door to new options and opportunities. You recognize that you’ve reached a psychological milestone and life is telling you to reassess and redesign, reinvent, or recharge some part of your life or some part of your business enterprise or career. Think New Year’s Resolutions.

This spark of inspiration is called the “fresh start effect.” It’s a psychological phenomenon that explains why milestones—the arrival of a new year, a birthday, or the first day of a new season—make you inclined to self-reflection. You feel the urge to take on beneficial new habits and drop an old habit that’s outlived its usefulness. You’re ready to attach jumper cables to your personal or professional life, start the ignition and make things come alive.

Because the fresh start effect is universal, your clients are likewise inclined to experience a restless feeling that creates a longing for something new and different. For that reason, milestones are an excellent time to make use of the prevailing zeitgeist and shake up a client-facing sector of your business. The strategy is powerful because you’ll align your company and its solutions with your customers’ existing expectations, rituals and rhythms.

Your mission is to position your brand to align with customs or expectations that your clients and prospects will likely experience when they think of your target milestone occasion. How might your service or product be perceived as part of their fresh start? Your goal is to not only meet their needs and wants, but also portray your brand as a timely, trusted partner during noteworthy moments in their lives. Milestone dates are the right time to stir the pot and offer up—what? An activity or information that aligns with your company and its services or products and simultaneously resonates with your clients and prospects to show them why they trust, relate to and value your brand.

Your potential milestone occasions could be the beginning of a new school year, the arrival of spring or fall, the anniversary of your business launch or getting your first paying client, or even Black Friday (U.S. readers know that’s the fourth Friday in November). This post was inspired by the arrival of the fourth quarter on October 1. 4Q is powerful because it closes on December 31, the end of the calendar year, and business owners and leaders are anxious to have a strong finish to the year.

Commemorate your milestones

The fresh start effect is a golden opportunity you don’t want to miss. Your clients and prospects can be positively influenced by milestone dates, even if the occasion is linked to your business and not a national holiday or change of seasons. It’s not a stretch to persuade your audience to take on a mindset that opens them up to change and new beginnings that happen to align with your company, products or services. In other words, don’t shy away from celebrating the anniversary of your company’s launch as your Founder’s Day and build a promotional campaign to celebrate it—and bring in revenue as you do!

Make your marketing message about a restart and transformation

Marketing messages that include a theme of renewal and transformation often resonate with audiences during fresh start milestone periods because your audience is already in a self-assessment and growth-oriented mindset. For example, presenting a new angle to your brand story to refresh client enthusiasm and promote engagement is among the milestone-themed campaigns you might choose to develop. To tap into this power, invite a client to give a testimonial—audio, video, or written—that describes how your product or service sparked meaningful change in the client’s business operations, whether it’s a small but powerful effect or a game-changer.  

You can get the ball rolling on client testimonials by creating a survey that asks questions such as, “How has our product or service made a difference in how you do business? Can you share a specific example?” These questions will focus testimonial responses on the tangible benefits and transformational power of your products rather than generic praise like, “Your product or service is awesome!” Often, you’ll even uncover surprising ways your product made a difference.

Alternatively, you (and your team, if that applies) can present a backstage story by creating a video of you on your way to give a presentation at a local business association, or to do volunteer work. Your clients may enjoy getting to witness an uncensored, up-close and person look that nevertheless illustrates your business acumen and, if philanthropy is the focus, your values and the importance of corporate social responsibility and giving back to your community.

Good stories are always about transformation. You want to position your service or product as a catalyst for your clients’ positive evolution and so that you can connect with them on a deeper, emotional level so that you will take on the role of guide in their journey. By presenting useful, or fun and always compelling information about your brand you’ll capture the attention and imagination of your audience and strengthen their bond with you.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: A “Sweet 16” birthday party at The Crystal Ballroom in Daytona Beach, FL

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Research Says Soft Skills Outshine AI Expertise

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New research published in February 2025 gives an unexpected vote of confidence to a group of skills that don’t always get headlines—so-called soft skills, behaviors and competencies associated with Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and often ranked by hiring managers and those who report on hiring trends in lucrative professions as second tier and less desirable than the hard skills that dominate the STEM professions, including the golden child knowledge base that comprises Artificial Intelligence. Study authors Moh Hosseinioun, Frank Neffke, Hyejin Youn and Letian Zhang say their data suggests that while proficiency in the use of AI-centric technologies and other hard skills usually has a positive impact on employment prospects, soft skills are more important to cultivate, for both workers and the companies that hire them.

Researcher Hosseinioun is an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Management & Organizations at Kellogg School of Management; Neffke leads the Science of Cities and Transforming Economies research programs at the Complexity Science Hub in Vienna, Austria; Youn is an Associate Professor at Seoul National University and she’s a former associate professor at the Kellogg School of Management /Northwestern University; and Zhang is an Associate Professor at the Kellogg School of Management. The team analyzed millions of data points associated with U.S. job skills from 2005-2019—1000+ occupations, hundreds of skill sets and 70 million job transitions—and came to one elegant conclusion. When comparing how people’s skills changed over time during their careers, they found that having better “foundational” skills—soft skills, e.g., the ability and willingness to collaborate with team members, problem-solving ability and being highly adaptable — is considerably more impactful on one’s career than technical competence in AI models, coding, or other hard skills.

Contrary to the prevailing opinion that assumes developing technical skills is the gateway to steady, lucrative employment, the researchers instead concluded that employers would be wise to recognize the value of EQ-defined skills in addition to hard skills capabilities. The study data revealed that basic logic, big-picture thinking, analytical ability and follow-through are more important for individuals and employers/business owners and that soft skills are likely to become even more relevant as AI becomes more entrenched in the workplace, creating questions around not only the technology’s potential and limitations, but also the ethical and privacy questions it raises.

In the study, the researchers organized job-related competencies into soft skills (including reading comprehension, basic math skills and the ability to work well in teams) and specialized, advanced hard skills (e.g., competency in Blockchain). Then, they examined how people’s skills developed over the course of their careers; they found that those who scored highly on basic skills are more likely to earn higher wages throughout their careers, move into more advanced roles, learn complex, specialized skills more quickly and are more resilient to industry changes.

The development of soft skills enhances the ability to not only make job candidates more competitive for entry level employment, but also determines how far up the career ladder they’ll climb. When Hosseinioun et al. examined how soft skills can impact long-term job performance, adaptability and career advancement, they found that workers who acquire an array of soft skills, including reading comprehension, communication skills and also basic math, tend to learn faster and master more complex capabilities over time.

In other words, business owners and leaders whose growth and expansion strategies have a long-term trajectory and will rely on a solid team to help them build toward their preferred vision of the future, should take notice. When in hiring mode, keep at top of mind that soft skills matter as much as technical skills and sometimes more. Soft skills shape the worker’s skills development path, boost their long-term value to your organization and also enhance their own career advancement potential.

Flexible, adaptable, agile

The study found that workers with a broad range of soft skills are more adaptable to industry changes. This adaptability is especially useful in a volatile marketplace, when demand for highly specialized skills might quickly wax and wane. For example, Adobe Flash was once the gold standard for interactive web content and supported a whole generation of developers. But when Flash was discontinued and browsers phased it out, only those who could pivot to HTML5 and JavaScript remained in demand.  HackerRank’s 2025 Developer Skills Report lists the fastest-declining skills and LinkedIn data shows that once red-hot Blockchain-related job postings and developer activity have dropped by 40+% in just one year as investment and interest shifts toward AI technology.

The findings in this study, however, suggest that survivors of volatility possess soft skills competencies—strong abilities to problem-solve, clear communication styles and the ability to collaborate and work well with teams. These core strengths help workers relearn faster and allow companies to redeploy their current talent without significant rehiring to stabilize operations.

Play nice with others

Hosseinioun also found that one subset of soft skills in particular helped workers to achieve the highest levels of professional attainment—social skills. The rise of cross-functional projects, remote working and corporate mergers and acquisitions makes it imperative for organizations to quickly rally and persuade team members to communicate, share knowledge and collaborate, to keep productivity high and conflicts low.

Previous research reveals why social skills are particularly important today. David Deming’s landmark study of U.S. jobs shows that positions requiring a high level of social interaction grew by almost 12% between 1980 and 2012, while math-intensive, low-interaction roles shrank. Wages followed the same pattern—jobs that blend cognitive ability and social skill pay the highest premiums, according to his study.

The Amazon Upskilling 2025 initiative has invested over a billion dollars to help thousands of their employees attain new skills, from technical training to attaining clearer and stronger language and communication skills, and confirming that soft skills are as integral to professional advancement as technical expertise. Google reached the same conclusion in its Project Oxygen study After analyzing thousands of performance reviews, their study team found that its best managers excel at coaching, communication and collaboration across teams; company leaders now use soft skills competencies as must-haves for promotion eligibility.

Leaders in both of those famously tech-centered organizations eventually realized that as job complexity rises, it is social skills—communication, empathy, conflict resolution and the ability to coordinate diverse expertise—that enhances team work and builds a work force that is resilient and quick to adapt to a constantly evolving business environment. Soft skills are integral components of a dynamic and collaborative work environment that is the engine of business today.

Soft skills are foundational

Hosseinioun and his research team conclusively found that workers who “scored highly on basic skills were more likely to earn higher wages throughout their careers,” and to also “move into more advanced roles, learn specialized skills more quickly, and were more resilient to industry changes.” Those who have a broad base of soft skills, as opposed to a few highly specialized skills like coding, learn new things faster, earn more money, move into more advanced positions and are more resilient despite episodes of uncertainty throughout their careers. Amid massive technological changes, like the arrival of gen AI and its estimated impacts on jobs, the study makes a strong case for the continued development of soft skills—for self-employed professionals, traditional W-2 employees and the organizations with whom they work.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © iStock/stockbyte (1950-1959)

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Meeting Primer: Make Every Minute Matter

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So you’ve decided to call a meeting. Maybe you and your client’s team are due for an update/ check-in; or has an unexpected glitch created a project roadblock that demands a problem-solving strategy? Let’s look at the bright side—-has what appears to be an opportunity revealed itself and the purpose of your meeting is to verify that the opportunity is not a mirage and deciding how to proceed?

Oftentimes, a meeting means a decision must be made. When it comes to meetings one thing is certain—the purpose is always about finding the way forward, where you’re going and how you’ll get there. Moreover, there are always action items to follow-up on.

Meetings have a checkered history; there is an unfortunate tendency to deviate from the agenda and get lost in the weeds. Salvation is within reach, however, when the convener—you!—thinks through the key components of the meeting so that you will enable the meeting to both fulfill its purpose and leave the participants feeling energized, engaged and effective.

Agenda

It is your job as meeting convener to create the conditions for a successful meeting. Begin by identifying the purpose of your meeting—must potential solutions to a problem be explored, or must the team determine strategies that will advance a certain goal? Once the meeting purpose is confirmed, the convener will then consider which information and/or actions will be needed to support the meeting purpose and inform the creation of the meeting agenda—which will be the meeting journey roadmap. To create the agenda, allow yourself to do some some free association thinking to get a mental picture of what must be discussed and resolved.

Attendance

Next, decide who should attend, as well as those who perhaps for political reasons you would be wise to invite. There may be certain stakeholders or power brokers who must be in the room (or in virtual attendance), whether you want them there or not. Those on the must-invite list could be a net-positive, however; you may be able to convince one of the VIP attendees to troubleshoot, green-light, recruit allies, approve funding, or somehow advance your vision of what needs to happen.

Following the list of heavy weights, you’ll be free to draw up a list of those who should attend, who you want to attend, because they have the subject expertise and insight that will benefit the meeting purpose. Finally, there are those you should ask to attend because they know how to get things done and can be trusted to carry out important action items—and just as valuable, if there’s a vote taken, they’re with you!

Bear in mind that there may be stakeholders /VIPs who simply appreciate receiving info regarding the outcome of your meeting, but they do not need or want to attend. If someone doesn’t need to be there, offer them alternatives, such as asking them for pre-meeting input or sending them a follow-up meeting summary. Fewer attendees mean more-focused conversations—and ultimately better outcomes.

Use the “Five W’s”—who, what, where, when, and why—to generate the participant list. Who needs to be there? What, if any, special information should you bring in resources to support the conversation (meeting handouts or presentation slides? What information can drive decision-making and needs to be shared and what is just a distraction and doesn’t need to be included?

You must also consider the most inclusive and welcoming format for the meeting—in person or virtual? It’s entirely likely that your meeting will be hybrid and it will be necessary to design logistics that will make those who attend virtually feel fully present.

Engagement and participation

As you know, the best meeting outcomes are achieved when you bring together participants who have the means and motive to contribute something relevant to the proceedings. Lackluster participation in meetings weakens the result by reducing collaboration, hampering decision-making and eroding team unity. How can you encourage more fruitful engagement? Step One is to create an agenda that directs attention to the core purpose of the meeting, whether check-in, problem-solving, or decision that must be made, or opportunity to exploit.

Start by clarifying expectations for the meeting and participants by outlining some of the supportive behaviors you want to see in your meetings. For example, you might emphasize mutually supportive behaviors such as nonjudgmental communication, collaborating to tackle challenges together, sharing of resources and information. It’s also helpful to offer team members different ways to contribute—for example, allow for written input before, during, or after meetings. Giving those who are typically less vocal a structured role can help empower them to speak. When participants know that their insights and wisdom are valued, they’ll find the motivation and courage to speak up and they have the potential to perhaps bring an unexpected idea or perspective that will greatly improve the outcome and relevance of the meeting.

Finally, make every minute count and don’t run over. Set meetings for the shortest time necessary, not by default increments like 60 minutes. Honoring to the agenda and ending on time helps people sustain focus, reduces frustration and communicates to everyone that your meetings are worth attending.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©Siphosethu Fanti/peopleimages.com for Adobe Stock

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Contract Management Promotes Business Growth

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Congratulations Freelancer colleague, as summer ends and the fourth quarter approaches, you’ve landed a client and have been asked to sign a contract. You are well aware that receiving a contract is the road to revenue but that’s only part of its power. When a contract and the arc of its lifecycle are recognized and utilized, you can initiate a mutually agreeable working relationship with your client and make the possibility of repeat business amenable to the client.

To the best of your ability you, Freelancer friend, should ensure that all contracts you sign advance and protect your interests, as well as the client’s. Keep at top-of-mind that expectations are foundational to contracts. A well-written contract defines and describes what the client expects of you—primarily, to produce the desired outcome or deliverable that also meets the client’s quality control standard and is completed and available by a specified date.

At its core, a contract is a commitment whose purpose is to guarantee that client expectations and your responsibilities are defined and achieved. When you think about it, a contract is potentially more than a method to certify a working agreement. In particular, contracts that pertain to B2B services or products can be considered strategic tools that provide risk management for both you and the client, in addition to revenue generation for you.

Contract management is the process of creating an official document that identifies client expectations and defines the responsibilities of the party that produces the outcome or deliverable and meets the deadlines. Contract management also includes the discussion and negotiation of factors such as payment for work performed and contingencies that, when agreement is reached, are written into the document. Contract management is considered completed after the outcome or deliverable are produced and the document is reviewed and analyzed to assess the execution of the work performed against the terms of the contract. This final step of contract management is of particular interest to B2B service providers, whether the deliverable is a one-off project or an ongoing subscription, as it may reveal where and how you could have utilized your company’s operational processes more efficiently to reduce monetary expenses or time associated with producing the deliverable.

A written agreement

Contracts typically begin with discussion and a verbal agreement, but that process should be viewed as only the first step of new client engagement. It is in the interest of both parties to commit all major business agreements to writing by creating a contract after first discussing client goals and expectations, timeline and budget to attain understanding and mutual agreement and then following-up with the development of a written document that will be signed by the parties involved.

The author of the contract will depend on the client. Corporate and not-for-profit organizations typically have a standard contract that is used for Freelance talent. Small businesses and organizations that engage with few Freelancers may be happy to allow you to author the document. Over time, many Freelancers develop a standard B2B professional services contract template; however, it will be worth your while to investigate contract templates that can streamline and speed up the contract management process, from creating the document, to negotiating terms and facilitating online docu-signing. You will find contract management software available on several platforms.

Regardless of its author, know that you owe it to yourself to carefully review all contracts that you intend to sign, to ensure that both signers will be able to meet the terms. Put questions and answers in writing (email), to provide documentation. When you are not the contract author, diplomatically suggest that you and the prospective client collaborate and negotiate when you find it necessary, to ensure that you can fulfill your responsibilities and please the client. All changes to the agreement should be in the form of written amendments, or at a minimum, an email that documents the changes.

Finally, caveat emptor—a contract is only as good as your ability to enforce it. A written agreement is nearly always useful, but if one of the parties fails to fulfill the agreed-upon terms, the other will be stuck. Even a contract written to anticipate nearly every contingency is only as good as the behavior of the signers. Integrity and trust matter and maintaining complete records is a must.

  • Document changes: If changes are made to the original contract, write them down. Make sure everyone signs off on all changes and attach amendments and signatory approval to the original agreement.
  • Keep original copies: Keep signed copies of all contracts safe and organized, whether they are in hard copy or digital format.
  • Track communications: Keep a record that includes notes and the dates of all contract discussions. This includes emails, letters, meeting notes and phone logs.

Payments

Let your contract specify when, how much and by what payment method you’ll be paid. While W-2 employees receive regular weekly or bi-weekly paychecks, that is not the scenario for Freelance consulting talent. At some organizations, we are the last to get paid and late, sometimes scandalously late, payments can be distressingly common.

Defend yourself by making it clear to the client that you expect to be paid according to the timeline that was discussed and agreed upon. In fact, once you and the client have committed to the amount of your project fee and scheduled the initial payment that you require before commencing work, as well as the milestone or other interim payments, if applicable, plus the timing of the final project payment, be certain to specify the amount and schedule of those payments in the contract. Furthermore, you might also note that all payment amounts and associated dates are non-negotiable. Trust is central to every contract and committing the agreement to writing encourages trustworthy behavior.

Along with a dispute resolution clause in your agreement, also specify how you will handle non-payment. You shouldn’t be expected to continue work if you aren’t getting paid but collecting unpaid debt can be a real challenge. Include a clause about debt collection, either through an agency or a lawyer— and that cost should be on the client, not on you.

Client expectations

Before you enter into a working agreement, you and your client must have similar expectations of one another’s roles. Assume nothing and in particular, ask questions to confirm the project deliverables and timeline—milestones and deadline. Ask also for your client’s description of a successfully achieved milestone and a successfully completed project.

In a Freelance B2B contract for professional services rendered, outline what you agree to do and how it will be done. There must be no ambiguity about the desired outcome or deliverable, or the quality of the work that the client expects. It’s also helpful to make clear what happens if you do not meet the agreed-upon deliverable deadline; usually, it means some portion of your payment is withheld until both parties are satisfied with the progress of the project.

Ensure that the client knows the full spectrum of services you’ll provide to satisfactorily produce the outcome or deliverable and the amount of time you expect will be needed. If there are complicated elements to the project, make sure the client comprehends what is needed to achieve the that vision.

Milestones

Milestones are essential for independent projects, as well as for organizations that hire Freelance talent. By detailing a project’s milestones, you can ensure that you and the client know when to expect key deliverables. If no milestones have been discussed and agreed upon before your hire, you might raise the issue yourself, in order to keep your client apprised of the project’s progress and document your intention and ability to satisfactorily complete all work by the deadline.

Intellectual property

If the assignment you’re hired to complete involves intellectual property of some sort, the contract should describe and define who owns what. Do you exclusively own the intellectual property, or does your client have some rights to it? Be sure that you understand precisely what you’re handing over and what rights you retain to make sure that you identify which party owns what rights and royalties for each product or service made available. It’s a good idea for both parties involved to have their IP attorney review a Freelance contract before signing on. The last thing either of you wants is a misunderstanding over ownership to break out after a project has been completed, especially if a significant amount of money is at stake.

Confidentiality

It is assumed that you will not share any information about your client’s business without written consent. You may be asked to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement and if so, maintain a copy in your records, along with the contract.

Confidentiality includes financial data, proprietary information and other protected details. There should be a clause that prohibits you from releasing any of your client’s personal information without permission. If you feel it necessary to disclose confidential or protected information for legal reasons, make sure that you obtain your client’s explicit permission before doing so.

Support and resources supplied by the client

Identify your client contact either in the contract or in an email and confirm that person’s availability to you and the type of support that will be provided. If on-site access to company resources, equipment, or materials is needed to execute the work you are hired to do, specify in writing what you’ll need to use and document your intention to return it and to whom it will be returned when your work is completed.

An out clause

It can be frustrating if you’ve been led to believe that signing a new client is imminent, only to have the agreement unexpectedly fall apart. In the Freelancing universe, it’s anticipated that some projects might end prematurely, whether the result of an unexpected hire of a W-2 employee or a sudden funding loss. Alternatively, you may face a health crisis or family emergency that will make it extremely difficult to fulfill the contract and forces you to terminate the agreement.

Regardless of the determining factors, a termination for convenience clause allows either party to unilaterally end a B2B contract without cause and without engaging in litigation. The client can simply provide notice that s/he must end the agreement and pay you for any work that’s been done, or you can inform the client in writing, in accordance to a predetermined specific termination notice period (14 to 30 days is common), and agree to certain post-termination obligations.

 Effective communication will be critical to soften negative perceptions and sustain future collaboration. A transparent explanation of the reason for termination is essential to preserving credibility and trust.

Next steps

Once the contract is signed, be certain to send your new client a welcome letter and schedule a face2face or videoconference meeting to begin onboarding and officially inaugurate your new client engagement!

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Treaty of Paris, More Than Meets the Eye, 1783 (Benjamin West, 1738-1820) courtesy of The Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library, Winterthur, DE. The treaty officially ended the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) and marked England’s acknowledgement of the U.S. as an independent sovereign entity with defined borders.

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Public Speaking: A Competitive Advantage You Can Attain

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Communication is essential to professional success and the quality of your communication skills can directly impact the trajectory of your career, whether you occupy a high or humble station on your employer’s organizational chart, or you own and lead a business entity, large or small. Regardless of your status or stature, well-honed communication skills can bring significant benefits to your professional fortunes, whether you’re attempting to network your way into a new employment opportunity, pitching potential investors needed to launch a start-up venture, trying to attract capital to fund the expansion of an existing venture, or searching for future clients. All communication formats, from personal conversations to videoconference meetings, telephone calls to email correspondence and even online social media chats, can help to polish your communication ability and contribute to your advancement in the professional sphere.

There is another communication format that delivers significant benefits and you should not ignore it—public speaking. If you aim to raise your profile in your business community, position yourself as an expert and thought leader and expand your professional network, recognize that public speaking will not only contribute substantively to your business agenda, but also showcase you as a leader. Public speaking enhances professional credibility and trust as it increases business growth potential. Public speaking is a competitive advantage that you can attain.

Step up to the podium

Public speaking is a valuable soft skill that you can make one of our strengths. In the public imagination, public speaking is associated with standing on a big stage and facing an audience of hundreds—a sometimes frightening prospect for many of us. However, public speaking is more often the domain of mere mortals—classroom teachers, speakers or moderators on panels, podcast guests and featured speakers at conferences and other events—and those who introduce those speakers. You can build your public speaking proficiency by taking on any of those public speaking roles.

Strong communication skills build networks and reputations that attract prospective clients, potential business investors or partners and may bring other business opportunities to your door as well. The key to public speaking is to clearly and confidently communicate your vision, value and unique offer to people who matter and whose support and cooperation you need— your team, investors, clients, or community. Developing your public speaking chops can be a game changer. While many skills matter in business, this one may be the most influential.

Public speaking skills suggest leadership ability

Engaging public speakers are perceived as more competent, likable and persuasive by their audiences; exceptional verbal communicators are likely to be perceived as experts and an authority in their field. According to a 2017 study published by the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota, public speaking skills are associated with leadership ability, credibility and influence in professional settings.

Once you’ve demonstrated the ability, and the courage, to stand in front of a group of people and clearly and convincingly present relevant information, that is, tell your story, your plan and your track record, with confidence and passion, you will likely gain the respect and trust of audience members. That respect and trust will establish you as an authority and has the power to persuade many of your audience members to follow your call to action and hire, buy, invest, partner, or support you or your concept. Even now in the age of virtual meetings, to mount the stage and communicate your ideas, thoughts and unique offer in a relatable manner will set you apart from others.

When you speak engagingly and confidently, you naturally attract people. You become memorable and people want to connect with you. A reliable and supportive business network isn’t built by handing out business cards — it’s built by making connections and bringing value. When you speak at conferences or other meetings, the value you deliver to audience members is amplified and you are able to create connections at scale. Each public speaking venture results in a growing network of people who trust you and want to work with you.

Know Your Audience

Enable yourself to deliver clear, valuable and relatable information by ensuring that you are apprised of the audience’s understanding of your topic and what it means to them. For example, avoid using niche acronyms that are acceptable when speaking to those who are highly engaged or have deep knowledge of the subject, but are largely not in the lexicon of those who are interested observers, but not experts. Understanding the perspective of whom you’re speaking to helps you communicate your talking points more effectively.

Furthermore, be mindful that your body language and other forms of non-verbal communication can say more than words. Pay attention to your posture, facial expressions and tone of voice. Refrain from frowning, maintain a pleasant facial expression that communicates your engagement with the topic and the audience and keep good eye contact by looking at audience members seated in different parts of the room. Let your posture communicate your confidence by straightening your spine, relaxing your shoulders and standing with your feet at about hip distance apart, to take on the so-called power stance that radiates both authority and comfort, without appearing aggressive.

Prepare for your speech

Some of you are “natural” public speakers, but most need lots of practice to attain the confidence that makes one effective. Here are some tips to improve your public speaking skills:

  • Be confident – Confidence makes you appear more credible and likable.
  • Be authentic – Speak naturally, don’t over-rehearse or memorize and let the real you be present.
  • Use voice modulation – Vary your tone and pace to stay engaging.
  • Keep it short and digestible – Attention spans drop after 20 minutes.
  • Tell stories – Storytelling creates an emotional connection and makes messages memorable.
  • Use repetition – Reinforce key ideas by repeating them clearly—tell your audience what you’ll say. Tell them what you have to say. Conclude by summing up what you told them.
  • Practice with intention – Rehearse like you’re live to build confidence and flow but do not try to memorize.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © freepik.com. University of Maryland Global Campus

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AI Agent, AI Assistant, or Chatbot?

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New technology continues to come at us fast and furious—wow, what can you do with it all? Does it overwhelm and make you want to hide in bed, under the covers? Maybe that’s not the worse response if it helps you to (eventually) feel safe and calm enough to check out a few things and get an idea of what may be useful for your organization. As it happens, you can consider three new technologies right now—well, two of them you’ve probably been using for a while, but you may not be aware of the full extent of their capabilities and how they’re able to bring operational efficiencies to your Freelance empire. About the third technology on the agenda you may have a vague idea at best and little to no experience using it. The three processes are connected in that they help you, the user, efficiently complete a number of administrative tasks that keep your business operations rolling. The level of functionality you’ll want, that is, the technology you may bring on board will, as expected, depend on what will serve your purpose.

Why AI Assistant?

If you’ve ever picked up your phone and asked Siri (iPhone) or Alexa (Samsung Galaxy, et al.) a question, you’ve used an AI assistant, also known as a virtual assistant, a type of AI-powered technology that can perform simple administrative tasks such as scheduling appointments, retrieving data, giving you directions to where you need to go and controlling smart home devices. AI assistants can also operate transportation systems, schedule calendar software and manage other types of systems that are designed to complete specific tasks. All you have to do is start talking or typing and give the prompt, the more specific the better. Your AI assistant is an intelligent application that understands natural language commands and you are able to use conversational prompts to initiate your tasks. Keep in mind that AI assistants are reactive, so you must request a task to be done.

The technological capability known as large language models (LLMs) specializes in text-related tasks and enables AI assistants to “understand” questions submitted by humans and will respond to those questions with relevant information, suggestions, or next step actions. Your AI assistant /virtual assistant can also help you simplify access to information, automate repetitive tasks and streamline complicated workflows. In business, AI assistants also perform basic data analysis that enables you to efficiently obtain insights that you can factor into decision-making.

Freelancers are happy to know that an AI assistant/virtual assistant can play a role in improving the customer experience you offer by providing real-time support across online chat, voice and email. AI assistants can manage common customer inquiries, guide users through self-service options and manage complex issues when necessary. Using natural language processing (NLP), they’ll answer questions, recommend products/services and help customers complete transactions quickly and accurately. AI assistants provide interactive support, adapt to user needs and learn from feedback and conversation history to enhance the quality of responses. Their 24/7 availability can substantively enhance customer satisfaction and reduce costs, most notably, staffing.

However, AI assistants have limitations. They require specific prompts to produce the best results and their capabilities are limited to predefined functions they have been equipped and trained to handle. For example, an AI assistant can use a spreadsheet to generate a table that compares “x versus y,” but cannot independently take action to create such a comparison without your prompt.

Furthermore, AI assistants do not necessarily have persistent memory and they do not inherently retain information from past user interactions. Some AI assistants can reference prior conversations within a session by storing relevant details in their context window or by using a feature that is called “memory” to recall selected information and use the stored info to improve future responses. In sum, Freelancers can think of an AI assistant as your virtual personal helper and an efficient support system for a busy Freelancer. 

Is AI Agent the way to go?

AI agent refers to a system or program that can independently complete tasks on behalf of users, or another system, by designing its own workflow and using available tools. The AI agent is more autonomous, connected and sophisticated than AI assistants and can encompass a wide range of functions beyond Natural Language Processing, such as decision-making, problem-solving, interacting with external environments and executing actions.

While the AI assistant requires users to provide prompts to initiate every action, AI agents can operate independently after an initial kick-off prompt. AI agents are proactive and able to work independently to achieve a specific goal by collaborating with your other technological tools. They evaluate assigned goals, break tasks into chunks and develop their own workflows to achieve specific objectives for you. AI agents are versatile and can be used for many tasks, from software design and IT automation to code-generation tools and interfacing with your chatbot or AI assistant to provide customer service that enhances the experience. Using advanced NLP from LLMs, AI agents understand and follow user prompts and have the ability to strategize their actions and determine when to call on external tools to complete tasks.

After your initial prompt, the AI agent is off to the races, working without further input and reducing the need for your involvement at every stage. Unlike AI assistants, which will suggest actions for you to review and approve, AI agents have the capability to independently reason, make decisions and problem-solve for you by using external data sets and tools. Their ability to surpass a purely chat-based framework enables proactive decision-making and learning, saving time by handling complex workflows on its own. 

  • Connectivity: AI agents are able to unify various capabilities into a single workflow, thereby eliminating bottlenecks that arise from disconnected systems. By integrating seamlessly with external applications, data sources and other AI models, the AI agent will enhance productivity while reducing friction between different components of a process.
  • Decision-making and action: AI agents go beyond chat to accomplish tasks on their own, based on a specific goal. They analyze problems, break them into chunks and plan next steps autonomously. This makes them effective for handling complex, ambiguous problems. Some AI agents can even demonstrate computer use, where an LLM can click, type and operate a computer to complete tasks.
  • Persistent memory and adaptive learning: Compared to AI assistants, AI agents have a greater capacity to learn. They store previous actions, conversations and experiences, enabling them to refine their approach over time. With persistent memory, AI agents can recall past interactions to improve future responses, while adaptive learning allows them to adjust their behavior based on feedback and outcomes. Because they integrate with external applications and tools, they can act on real-time data rather than relying solely on their initial training. Over repeated interactions, they become more efficient, sensitive to context and better aligned with your needs.
  • Task chaining: AI agents don’t complete tasks on its own; instead, it will they break complex workflows into smaller, manageable steps—chunks. AI agents identify the connections between tasks, which help ensure that each step logically flows into the next. This ability enables structured execution across multi-step processes and makes automation more dynamic.
  • Team play: AI agents often specialize in specific tasks—one may excel at fact-checking, while another is better at research. These agents can collaborate, forming teams that tackle complex challenges together.

AI agents take customer experience and customer support further by adapting to user behavior in real time. Unlike AI assistants, AI agents fully learn and improve interactions, whether it’s simulating job interviews or handling complex support issues autonomously. They work across websites, apps and Internet of Things devices such as smart watches, smart door locks and fitness trackers to create well executed and highly personalized user experiences. AI agents can improve task management and collaboration by interpreting user needs and assigning tasks to AI assistants, for example. Your AI assistant can use agent-generated data to create more intuitive outputs and enhance coordination.

The downside of AI assistants and AI agents

AI agents have a lot of promise and it’s all quite inspiring but–it’s all new and there can be the occasional system fail, as you might expect. There are risks and limitations with AI-powered technologies to consider. LLMs are susceptible to even the smallest prompt changes that can cause “hallucinations,” meaning that AI agents and AI assistants might fail if, for example, the underlying foundation model breaks. They may have trouble creating comprehensive plans, or may not logically analyze their findings. They sometimes get stuck in endless feedback loops.

Furthermore, because AI agents collaborate with external environments and tools, they must deal with the changes to those tools. Over time, those changes might cause the agent set up to break. AI assistants, however, do not use external tools, so the problem can be avoided.

Finally, for complex tasks, AI agents require a great deal of training and completing tasks might take a minute. On top of that, they can often be expensive. The technology is new and we are still in the early days of understanding and observing what AI agents can do. This future of AI might see nearly complete autonomy of AI technology but for now, human intervention is often still necessary to keep things on track.

Where does Chatbot fit?

By now, you’ve probably used a chatbot to get quick answers to basic questions you may have had about a purchase you wanted to make, like “Is curb side delivery available?” or “What are your store hours on Tuesdays?” A chatbot is a computer program that simulates human conversation with the system user. Not all chatbots are equipped with artificial intelligence (AI), but recent configurations increasingly use conversational AI techniques such as NLP to understand user questions and give responses to them.

The earliest chatbots were merely interactive FAQ programs that relied on a limited list of common questions and pre-programmed answers. Unable to interpret natural language, these FAQs generally required users to select from simple keywords and phrases to move the conversation forward. Such rudimentary chatbots are unable to process complex questions, nor answer simple questions that haven’t been predicted by the developers.

The next generation of chatbots with generative AI capabilities offer more desirable functionality with their understanding of common language and complex queries, their ability to adapt to a user’s style of conversation and use of “empathy” when answering user questions. That means FAQ chatbots no longer need to be pre-programmed with answers to predetermined questions; it’s easier and faster to use generative AI in combination with an organization’s’ knowledge base to automatically generate answers to a wider range of questions.

Conversational-style AI chatbots can process user questions or comments and generate a human-like response, but generative AI chatbots have raised the bar and can even generate new content to incorporate into responses. The new content can include high-quality text, images and sound based on the LLMs they are trained on. When supported by generative AI, the newest chatbots can recognize, summarize, translate, predict and create content in response to a user queries without the need for human interaction. Generative AI can bring a whole new world to old-school chatbots that often gave a rocky performance, to put it politely. But today’s generative AI chatbots can become a 24/7 customer service department that plays a key role in delivering the customer experience that fulfills customer expectations of your brand—and it can be a good fit.

Today’s chatbots can seamlessly manage customer interactions 24/7—and every task becomes a lesson that continuously improves the quality of future chatbot responses. A chatbot can provide a capable first responder and provide back-up support during busy seasons and peak hours, or offload tedious repetitive questions so that human (paid) employees can focus on more complex issues. Chatbots can help reduce the number of users requiring human assistance, while ensuring that businesses efficiently meet customer needs, even after business hours.

A chatbot can also eliminate long wait times for phone-based customer support, or even longer wait times for email, chat, or web-based support, because the system is always available immediately to however many users at once. That’s a great user experience that creates satisfied customers who are more likely to exhibit brand loyalty and give your company good word of mouth, repeat business and referrals.

Again, be advised that caution and due diligence must be conducted when using AI-powered technology, that also includes the generative AI chatbot, along with AI assistants and AI agents. Security risks such as data leaks sub-standard confidentiality and liability concerns, incomplete licensing of source data and uncertain privacy and compliance with international laws. With a lack of proper input data, there is the ongoing risk of “hallucinations,” that undermine the relevance or accuracy of responses that may result in the customer finding it necessary to abandon the technology, creating dashed expectations and an unsatisfactory experience.

When choosing a provider, ask questions to determine if the chatbot meets your deployment, scalability and security requirements. Many chatbots are delivered via the cloud to draw on learning and outcomes from other customer conversations, so if this requires an on-premises solution or a single tenant environment, the list of available providers is much shorter.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Electronic Superhighway Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii (1995) created by South Korean artist Nam June Paik (1935-2006)

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Mix Master: Balance Branding, Marketing and PR

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When operating a business, whether that means a boutique, one person Freelance entity or an enterprise company that employs thousands of workers in dozens of locations, encouraging sales of products and services is most often the purpose of information that company leaders share with the public. Sharing specific types of information about the company and its services and products with those that research indicates have significant potential to become customers plays a vital role in building and maintaining a thriving business. The ability of said company’s services and products to capture the attention and inspire the loyalty and trust of prospective customers is reflected in name recognition, feelings of credibility and loyalty among target customers and customer evangelism for the company and its services and products.

The information created to be seen by prospective customers is without question a company’s most important communication initiative and it’s known as the marketing strategy—a comprehensive road map that defines how the company will reach out and appeal to prospective customers and convince them to become paying customers. The public facing components of the marketing strategy are advertising, branding and publicity/public relations, along with campaign-specific marketing activities. Ideally, all the aspects of marketing information will function in tandem and create competitive advantages against the company’s marketplace competitors. To most efficiently and effectively implement a big-picture marketing strategy, it is advantageous to follow a certain “order of operations,” a road map that enables each component to support the others. You may be surprised to learn that the road to a high-functioning marketing campaign begins with public relations and publicity.

The goal of marketing—whether the big-picture marketing strategy that includes branding, advertising and PR/publicity, as well as the campaign-specific activities of marketing initiatives that typically include email marketing, networking, social media and content marketing—is to introduce and create an appetite for your service or product. Many marketers (and that would include me) have been tempted to begin implementation of the big-picture marketing strategy with branding. We tend to assume that presenting an identity, a brand persona, for the company and its services and products will most immediately resonate with prospective customers. We’ve been taught that prospects will more readily understand and value the service or product by getting familiar with the brand, which would make that function the first step in cultivating loyal customers who, we hope, will give good word-of-mouth by making referrals and becoming advocates.

However, in the 2020s era to begin a major marketing campaign with branding is very cart-before-the-horse. Today, PR/publicity exacts considerable influence on the perception of product or service credibility. Maybe it’s the inevitable result of Instagram and TikTok? In the here and now, start-up founders and marketers for existing businesses must acknowledge the power of PR in their arsenal of promotional communication resources. Strategic and consistent PR/publicity is now recognized as the way to encourage visibility and instill credibility that distinguishes your company and its services and products in the marketplace. Marketing, and its advertising component, will drive awareness but the PR spotlight can make your services and products seem trendy and trustworthy and create an aura that drives sales.

PR is visibility and credibility

Publicity is born of look-at-me attention and buzz. PR means press releases, blogs, podcasts, special events and influencer shout-outs that echo through the digital metaverse and put your company’s name on the lips of target customers. PR expands marketplace awareness that sparks name recognition but it is not a direct method of generating leads or driving sales. Instead, PR works in the background, cultivating and elevating your brand’s reputation.

So make yourself visible on behalf of your business; you might start by exploring how to become a podcast or webinar guest or participate in a panel as a speaker or moderator. You could also research local events that resonate with your values, and the values of your target customers, and engineer another opportunity to receive visibility as you simultaneously verify your belief in corporate social responsibility.

Incidentally, be aware that CSR is sometimes a decisive factor in B2B and B2C purchasing decisions —today’s consumers increasingly prioritize ethics. B2B services company BusinessDasher explains that 84% of customers evaluate a companies’ ethics and values when considering a purchase, and 63% say they would prefer companies with whom they do business to adopt ethical business and social practices.

As noted, promotional communications are under the marketing umbrella and there is a degree of overlap between all marketing functions, but Public Relations/publicity and marketing have their differences. PR/publicity is focused on establishing and expanding the company name and reputation of its services and products by being seen in the right places. PR can encourage positive word of mouth so that prospective customers will realize that your entity is open for business.

After you’ve developed and implemented successful PR/publicity initiatives over several months or even a year, consult your marketing data to check on metrics that indicate when it could be advantageous to launch a boots-on-the-ground marketing activities that include implementing a sales/marketing funnel, publishing a newsletter or blog, setting up email campaigns, or stepping up social media presence, all to continue and further solidify customer engagement. Step Two in your marketing strategy is about shifting gears and bringing in high-quality leads you can convert into sales.

Marketing attracts customers

Marketing refers to everything that brings information and images that represent your company and its products and services directly to potential customers, to capture attention, educate them about your services and products, inspire trust and loyalty and promote sales—it’s Step Two in your promotional campaign. Great marketing doesn’t so much sell your product or service—rather, it creates a desire for your product or service. Effective marketing generates actions that are measurable, whether that’s clicks, email sign-ups, subscribing to your blog or newsletter and eventually, sales. If publicity is about awareness, marketing is about attraction. Now is the time to leverage the visibility that was generated by PR/publicity and use it to reach out to prospects and cultivate relationships, now that you’ve achieved name recognition and familiarity that are the seeds of trust.

As you know, a key component of marketing is content marketing, which is information that educates prospects about your product or service; particularly in B2B, content marketing has become the new advertising. In fact, the Content Marketing Institute found that 80% of corporate decision-makers prefer to review information about products or services that’s presented as objective research, rather than advertisements, which are considered to be biased. One study has put the number of prospects and customers who believe advertisers have integrity at 4%.

Customer trust in traditional advertising has tanked, especially for Millenials and GenZ.  Wharton Magazine reports that 84% of Millennials not only dislike traditional ads, but also distrust them. For companies that would like to expand their market reach, these statistics send a clear signal. Investing only in advertising and marketing campaigns is unlikely to move the needle. To develop a good reputation for your brand, it’s recommended to start with PR/publicity and then move into marketing activities that include content marketing, networking, podcast or webinar appearances and publishing a blog or newsletter.

Brand is identity

The impact of brand identity is revealed in the sum total of how customers experience and perceive your business and its services and products, from product packaging to tag line, price structure to social media presence. A brand encompasses all the touch points that shape how customers feel about interacting with the brand. The interpretation of those touch points belongs only to the customer because engaging with a brand involves emotion—what people feel when they see your company name, logo, service, or product. It’s your company’s identity and reputation and it expresses and represents what it means to customers.

Your brand will be nurtured by ongoing PR/publicity, from CSR inspired events to your active involvement in professional associations or business organizations. along with content marketing activities, from case studies to email marketing. Associating your company with respected business organizations and community events can only elevate its visibility and brand reputation—characteristics known to encourage brand loyalty and sales.

Identify what motivates customers to buy

To understand the motives behind your customers’ purchases, tap into information that’s provided by the inward-facing aspect of marketing—market research. After all, the best decisions are data-driven. Yelp’s Trend Tracker can give a big boost to the ROI of your marketing activities with analytic insights that are available to you free of charge—join the mailing list and you’ll receive data that is relevant and updated monthly and enables those who pay attention to access boots-on-the-ground marketing info that can steer the effective promotion your products and services. Supported by Trend Tracker data, you’ll be positioned to detect and quickly respond to customer preferences, adjust marketing strategies and/or tactics to better align with shifting customer priorities and maybe even tweak your service or product line to reflect a significant shift in customer tastes.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: David created by Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475-1564, Republic of Florence) and unveiled in 1504, the statue has been housed at Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, Italy since 1873.

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How Much Do B2B Freelancers Really Earn?

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As we enter Fiscal Year 2026, it is apparent that Freelance work continues to be viewed as a good choice by American workers who feel the need to generate income to either supplement their W-2 wages or establish themselves in full-time independent employment that will financially support their household. The ability to exercise greater control over their time and design a flexible work schedule, remains a prized benefit of Freelance work. Worker confidence in Freelance employment has primarily been attributed to periodic occurrences of economic instability that many economists say in the current era began with the global stock market crash of 1987. The now common business strategy of downsizing as an effective strategy to slash corporate payrolls and bolster the company’s financial position seems to have begun shortly after the 1987 crash. Ongoing corporate lay-offs, particularly at enterprise companies, finds a growing number of American workers fed up with constant worrying about losing their jobs; increasingly, the proactive worker response is to take charge of one’s professional and economic destiny by opting out of the search for post lay-off W-2 employment.

As more workers are laid-off, there has emerged a growing trend for them to build Freelance careers instead of seeking another traditional nine-to-five job. As of 2024, 20% of (now former) employees have become Freelance professionals or owners of traditional businesses. It’s been reported that 50% of employees age 45 years or younger would seriously consider leaving their current full-time employment if the usual benefits were available to them.

In sum, Freelance earning opportunities are making a tremendous cultural impact on America, as regards the meaning of work and on the national economy. In 2024, more than one in four (28%) of U.S. knowledge workers were in the Freelancers and they contributed $1.5 trillion to the U.S. economy, surpassing the 2023 Freelance labor contribution of $1.27 trillion in annual earnings.

You might wonder what constitutes a ballpark annual earning as demonstrated in a sampling of Freelance enterprises and you could be surprised to learn that Freelancers in the U.S. earn an average annual revenue of over $99,000, with an earnings range of $31,000 to $275,000 per year. As you know, the hourly rate or project fee a Freelance professional can command is influenced by the ability to convince prospects that significant value will be delivered in the process. In addition, enthusiastic recommendations and an admirable client list—characteristics of a powerful brand, you surely notice—-also matter. What do your prospects and clients think you bring to the table that gives them the confidence to pay the project or retainer fee or hourly rate you request for your time and expertise? Do you have on your wish list the goal of making your Freelance consulting practice more lucrative?

Self-employed professionals are advised to price their services in a way that aligns with their competitive market position, not primarily on their years of experience. To make the leap into more prestigious clients and a loftier pricing level that will open the door to more billable hours and perhaps more interesting projects as well, focus on how you might package and sell your knowledge and expertise as a high value consulting product.

Consider the types of problems your prospective clients would like to solve or competitive advantages they’d like to attain and do some brainstorming—what solutions can you provide to satisfy one or more of those agendas? What do you do that can be described as generating recurring revenue for your clients, for example, or providing a solution to other high priority problems and challenges that your prospects are motivated to resolve?

You can apply your knowledge and expertise to any aspect of your prospect’s business—strategy development, operational efficiencies, financial management, digital marketing, technology solutions, public relations, or search engine optimization. Promote your credentials, specialized knowledge, delivery format, outcomes and client list to justify your (increased) rates. Package your expertise into tiered service levels that prospects will find uncomplicated, relevant and easy to envision themselves buying, using and profiting from the solutions and competitive advantages that you will deliver.

When discussing your services with prospective clients, the prices a Freelance professional charges will likely be more acceptable when based on their perceived value in the marketplace, rather than based on their years of experience in the industry. Be certain to showcase the following attributes and achievements, which can be presented as competitive advantages:

Specific skill set. Your skill set will play a vital role in your pricing structure. You can charge a premium price if an assignment requires a strong underlying technical skill set, such as software development or programming, mobile app development, legal writing, or PR crisis communications, for example.

Education and training. Education and certified training can significantly boost a Freelancer’s income. Although this will vary from profession to profession, a bachelor’s or master’s degree or PhD, as well as specialized training certificates earned at accredited programs or institutions usually allow a Freelancer more leverage in pricing negotiations.

Reviews and proven deliverables. Solid references, ideally from three to five client sources, are essential to verify your expertise and demonstrate your most desirable attributes, such as work ethic, problem-solving ability, or collaborative and cooperative working style. Past project reviews provide an easy way for a company to verify a Freelancer’s performance. A large number of positive reviews proves your credibility, which justifies premium prices.

Years of experience. Experience is a valuable resource in any field. The amount that a Freelancer makes typically increases with the years of experience they have in their service area.

Freelancing payment schedules

Keep in mind that, along with a Freelancer’s increased earning potential and flexibility, comes an unpredictable number of billable hours (that is, projects) and an inconsistent payment schedule. The matter of payment can be addressed in the contract and reinforced during the client onboarding process, when the payment method and schedule are confirmed. Below are the usual Freelance payment options.

  • Hourly rate. A Freelance professional may be paid a mutually agreed-upon hourly rate for work produced. Likewise, invoices are sent to the client and payments are made to the Freelancer on a mutually agreed-upon schedule.
  • Project fee. The Freelancer is paid a set amount to complete a project with a defined scope and completion deadline. To facilitate timely payment, it is common for Freelancers to ask the client to pay 10% – 20% (or more) of the total contracted project fee in advance, before you commence work; subsequent payments can be linked to the Freelancer’s successful completion of one or more mutually agreed-upon project milestones. The goal is for the Freelancer to collect from the client at least 70% of the total project fee before all work is completed. It is imperative that Freelancers build in a payment protocol to protect oneself from the unfortunate phenomenon of unpaid work.
  • Retainer fee. A retainer is a recurring payment that a Freelancer receives based on an estimated amount of work for a project’s duration, or a predetermined amount of time. Retainers are typically paid monthly or quarterly.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © mrakor/depositphotos

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Six Strategies to Side-Step A Summer Slump!

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The long days and warm breezes of summer are here at last! Your projects are completed and clients could be heading out of town, en route to vacation. Maybe a client or two will green light new work just after Labor Day? You also may have a vacation scheduled—but what else will you do this summer? While it may be tempting to succumb to a summer siesta, July and August don’t have to result in lost business momentum. You may decide to work fewer hours, but you can still be productive.

This summer, you can choose to be creatively resourceful and move your business forward in key areas, even while many clients and prospects are otherwise engaged. In fact, because many clients and promising prospects who remain on your radar screen may be more available during July and August (when they’re not vacationing), it may be feasible to schedule some client face time. Positive business relationships are a competitive advantage, able to magnify feelings of trust and credibility that can make a difference when you’re on a short list for being hired.

The summer slowdown is also an excellent time to conduct strategic planning. Unless this time of year is a busy one for your organization, you may find the summer months to be conducive to examining your business operations, financial picture, marketing ROI, workflow efficiency and other areas that will get your company organized and operating efficiently. Once Labor Day rolls around, you’ll be happy that you gave yourself a jump start as the busier fall and winter seasons approach. The six strategies suggested below are meant to inspire you to take decisive action during this season and prepare your business to flourish and grow like a garden in summer.

1. Launch a Gratitude Campaign

While technology has enabled us to communicate and connect from any location that supports internet access, virtual and other online conversations cannot replace the power of face2face relationship building. To that end, consider scheduling meet-ups during July and August. The summer months are usually an ideal time to catch up and sit down with your professional contacts in your locale who’ve been especially impactful—clients, colleagues, prospects who were almost clients, your business support team—bookkeeper, accountant, business attorney, internet security expert and website host—plus the referral sources who have been your cheerleaders. Whether you meet over a “power” breakfast buffet, an al fresco lunch, or after-work drinks at a roof top bar, showing those who’ve advanced your success how much you appreciate their support by inviting them to be your guest will display your gratitude.

2. Host an event

Why not celebrate summer by hosting a networking event? Everyone loves a good party and an invitation to a summertime get-together has the potential to make those on your guest list anticipate a good time and happy to RSVP. A weeknight networking meet-and-greet event could be a wonderful way to nurture important relationships and get to know a few people better as well. A prime source for your guest list could be locally based LinkedIn or other social media business connections. You might also invite other colleagues with whom you’ve become friendly, including those you’ve gotten to know at business association events you attend, whether or not you are a dues-paying member. Schedule your reception to begin at 5:30 PM or 6:00 PM and run for two hours. Order three or four light hors d’oeuvres and consider offering guests a gratis glass of sangria (maybe with a limit of one drink per person) until it’s gone—after that, it’s a cash bar for all and the conversation is sure to flow.

3. Offer summer promotions

Summer sales and special offers are common in certain industries and may work well in yours. The goal of your promotion will be to pique the curiosity of clients and prospects and tempt them to do business now, in order to save money. For example, you might offer a promotion where clients can refer someone to you and receive 15%-20% off their next service or product purchase. Depending on your business and behavior of your clients, a summer promotion may or not may not be lucrative in the short-term but may instead persuade a lapsed client to reconsider your services and products or convince a previously reluctant prospect to finally do business with you. If the outcome of your summer promotion succeeds in generating revenue from either current, lapsed, or new clients, you would be wise to tweak the promotion and repeat the campaign during the December holidays or New Year.

4. Assess and refresh the customer experience

So much of client retention is connected to their perception of the experience of doing business with your organization. Life (and business) is about managing expectations—and you can obtain first person insights on how clients feel about the experience you deliver by sending out a four or five question survey. It’s good business to invite clients to express what they appreciate and would like to see more of and as well, let you know what is no longer useful.

Give your survey good visibility—send it with monthly invoices, post it on your website and social media home pages and distribute it by SMS (and simultaneously test client reactions to that format, if you haven’t previously communicated with clients in that fashion!). Be sure to include a response deadline on the survey to encourage quick replies and give yourself enough data to analyze answers and decide what, if any, changes to incorporate.

Your survey can also be a pathway to collecting and amplifying user-generated content, a resource that can be an excellent strategy for gaining brand exposure and showcasing original content. Using the business’s location geotag or a unique but simple hashtag can incentivize customers to share their experiences, delivering authentic social proof and organically expanding the reach of marketing activities.

5. Optimize business operations

How much more revenue might your entity generate or how much more time would you have—for self-care, family time, social activities, or working on the business—if you outsourced one or more operational functions? You may already have a retainer arrangement with a network manager to keep digital operations up and running and providing cybersecurity, but who else might you hire? What would describe the job specs and how many hours per week seem necessary? Also, how much can you afford to pay? Or maybe it would be better to explore tech or artificial intelligence solutions to automate certain functions, whether client invoicing, email marketing, or chat bot responses to prospect inquiries? A worthy goal for any hiring that you do is to promote optimal customer service while minimizing administrative overhead.

6. Get an SBA/SCORE business coach

Rather than attempting to figure out important business decisions by yourself, why not contact the Small Business Association and ask to be put in touch with one of their experts who can help you to address the issues referenced in item #5? Founded in July 1953, the SBA has provided high-quality and comprehensive business development guidance at either no charge or for a modest fee. SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives, was founded in 1964 as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, is the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors and a resource partner of the SBA. The mission of SCORE is to support SMBs, including Freelance professionals, with mentoring and educational workshops.

More than 13,000 active and retired business professionals, all of whom have entrepreneurship or senior-level corporate experience, volunteer their time and contribute their expertise to regularly meet with their SCORE clients to mentor and coach aspiring and established SMB owners. Mentors work with their clients to address issues and communicate best practices related to starting and growing a business, including writing a business plan, developing products, devising marketing strategies, financial management and business financing options, operations and hiring staff. Clients may connect with a SCORE mentor either virtually or face2face. Furthermore, SCORE presents a wide range of services including training, webinars, online workshops, courses on demand, and a library of online resources.

The SBA also supports female entrepreneurs at its Women’s Business Centers and focuses on veterans of both genders at its Veteran’s Business Development Offices, which operate in all 50 states. Members of Native American tribal communities, along with Native Hawaiians and Native Alaskans, may choose to work with the Office of Native American Affairs, which is also an SBA-sponsored program. Outside of the SBA, Native American current or aspiring business owners and Freelance professionals might also investigate The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development in Mesa, AZ and/or the Native American Development Corporation of Billings, MT.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©skynesher/Getty Images

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What Do You Spend to Get a New Customer?

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Do you know how much you spend, on average, to convert a prospect into a paying customer—attracting the prospect’s attention, educating the prospect about your brand, your services and your products, instilling confidence and building trust—and making a sale? Have you tallied up the combined cost per customer of your marketing campaigns, selling expenses, referral programs, customer onboarding and the like and calculated the average amount of the marketing spend that supports the growth of your customer list—and your revenue, as a result? What kind of a return on investment are you getting from your marketing campaigns and sales strategy?

You may not know in the moment your company’s average customer acquisition cost, but it would be a good idea to update it (or figure it out) and keep that number in mind, because your CAC is a metric that reveals an important story about how your business functions. Customer Acquisition Cost is a key performance indicator, although not necessarily in the way many business owners and leaders think. CAC shines a bright light on the performance of company operations and outcomes, including the business model, which is the essential plan for making money. The metric also reveals the effectiveness of your overall marketing strategy, which reflects your marketing acumen and, in the end, can make a credible prediction of your organization’s potential for profitability and expectations for growth and scalability.

CAC is a metric that can be benchmarked against an industry standard and it’s a smart idea to research your industry’s average CAC and use the benchmark number as a guideline. Learning the CAC benchmark for your industry will enable you to identify a reasonable dollar amount for your marketing and sales budgets and help you avoid either overspending or underinvesting on marketing activities—which you rely on to bring paying customers into the business.

Familiarity with the CAC benchmark in your industry also enables you to evaluate your performance as a marketer. For example, if your company’s CAC is significantly higher than industry average, it could indicate problems with your marketing strategies or sales strategies and practices—-you’re spending money but not bringing in enough customers, or not the right customers, to generate a healthy marketing ROI. On the other hand, if your CAC is rather low as compared to the industry benchmark, it suggests that you may be under-funding marketing. If that’s the case, then theoretically you could assume that spending more on marketing would bring in more customers that fit your definition of ideal. In other words, CAC reflects the effectiveness of your marketing practices and can help you set realistic goals, as well as identify where you need to do better.

Calculate CAC by dividing total marketing and sales expenses by the number of new customers you’ve brought to the business within a given period—annually or quarterly, for example. Because many businesses serve more than one customer segment, it will make sense to separately calculate CAC according to customer segments, which could be based on demographic factors and might also involve differences in sales cycle length or competitive landscape. Incidentally, B2B entities typically have a longer sales cycle and tend to have a higher average CAC than B2C companies.

You’ll also want to segment your spend on the marketing channels you use—e.g., email marketing, social media advertising, customer relations management software subscriptions, and/or attending trade shows—and calculate the corresponding CAC figures. But what does understanding CAC really do for you? CAC is about documenting, analyzing and tracking over time the amount you spend on various customer segments, plus your marketing channels and sales strategies, that are used to convert prospects into paying customers.

There is also the matter of a customer’s average lifetime (revenue) value. You already know that a campaign to bring in a new customer costs at least 5x more than what you must do to retain an existing customer. Nevertheless, you may want to calculate the average amount of revenue that will flow to your business over the length of time that a customer does business with your organization. The question is addressed by calculating Customer Lifetime Value, a metric that is foundational to long-term revenue growth. Additionally, CLV factors into CAC, because it determines the return on investment (ROI) of the customers you acquire.

Calculate CLV by multiplying the Average Purchase Value x Purchase Frequency x Average Customer Lifespan. For instance, if you provide subscription services or have customers on a retainer agreement, you can calculate customer lifetime value by multiplying the amount of the subscription or retainer fee by the length of the subscription or retainer contract (purchase frequency) to arrive at CLV for one customer for one year (CLV is typically calculated on a one-year time frame).

Another useful metric is the CLV: CAC ratio, which compares Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) to the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). The ratio documents the revenue an average customer brings to your business, as compared to what was spent to acquire that customer. A desirable CLV: CAC ratio should be at least 3:1, meaning that every dollar of marketing spend will result in three dollars of revenue generated by a customer. A ratio less than 3:1 indicates your company’s marketing efforts are producing less than stellar returns, while a ratio far in excess of 3:1 suggests that you could produce more revenue growth with an increased marketing spend.

Make a point to benchmark your CAC against industry averages and to understand what good marketing and sales performance looks like. Here’s how to get started on figuring out your company’s CAC:

  • Define customer acquisition process and goals.

Make a comprehensive assessment of you acquire customers—paid social media ads, organic social media outreach, thought leadership, e.g. public speaking, hosting a podcast, and/or publishing a newsletter, word-of-mouth and referrals? Have you developed an inbound marketing/ sales funnel to capture prospects who search online to find a B2B Freelance professional services provider in your category? Next, decide what represents a realistic customer acquisition goal for your organization—how many active customers can you reasonably expect to have on your roster in a typical year?

  • Segment your CAC by different variables

Consider how to segment your customers, keeping in mind customer demographics and accounting for the marketing channels and options you employ. Get comfortable with the fact that your CAC for certain channels might be higher than your benchmarked industry average, which means that you’re spending more to acquire customers through those channels. By segmenting your CAC, you can identify the best and weakest performers in your marketing and sales strategy and optimize your resource allocation accordingly by dropping certain options and increasing your investment in better performing channels.

  • Document your marketing and sales budget

Once you’ve chosen your CAC segments, you can look at what each of them costs—identify and quantify all costs directly related to acquiring new customers. These may include advertising, content creation, SEO, social media, email marketing, webinars, CRM software and/or buying your way into business association events that allow you to network effectively. You can use tools such as Google analytics, Facebook Pixel, or HubSpot to track and measure the performance of your different channels and campaigns.

  • Select your time period

Decide on the time period for which you will calculate your CAC—quarterly or annually should make sense for your business. You need to match your marketing and sales expenses and your new customers to the same time period for your CAC calculation.

  • Calculate your CAC

To calculate your CAC, divide the total amount of money spent to finance your marketing and sales activities by the number of customers you acquired in a given period, and apply customer segments that reflect demographic groups and the primary marketing channels you use.

  • Research your industry CAC average

To benchmark your CAC, compare your number with the industry averages for your niche, product or service and target market. Because  CAC can vary widely depending on the industry, the business model, the product, the target market, and the marketing channels used. Therefore, it is essential to benchmark your CAC against relevant and reliable sources of data, such as industry averages and competitors.

  • Compare CAC: CLV ratio

CAC alone does not necessarily indicate a revealing story about the health of your business, but the story will be more telling when you look to CLV and learn the average amount of revenue that you generate from a customer over the span of the business relationship. Be sure to follow-up with an examination of the CAC: CLV ratio, which tells you the amount of revenue generated per money spent on marketing and sales functions. A common rule of thumb is that your LTV should be at least three times your CAC. This would indicate that you have a positive ROI from your marketing and sales efforts.

Finally, keep in mind that CAC is not a static metric and remember that it can and will vary when impacted by various factors, such as certain fluctuations in your industry, organic changes in your product or service lifecycle, marketplace changes, especially changes in the competitive landscape or pricing. You will be wise to monitor and analyze your CAC regularly and adjust your marketing and sales strategies accordingly. 

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia, PA