Tag Archives: brand

Business Strategy , , Leave a comment

Social Media for the B2B Freelancer

by

As you do your best to navigate through the COVID era, one obvious change has been that life and business are largely conducted on the internet, Step-by-step, especially since Y2K arrived (were you afraid to ride in an elevator on 12/31/1999?), so much of life started moving over to the internet. The coronavirus shutdown of March 2020 acted like a rocket booster and pushed millions of businesses—supermarkets to pharmacies, restaurants to home furnishings stores, classroom instruction from grade school to college level, luxury apparel boutiques to plant stores—to prioritize their online presence. You may have begun to work from home, plunging into video meetings and Slack and other workflow communication tools. This is a permanent inflection point and there can be no going back.

It’s fairly certain that you participated in social media in your personal and/or professional life prior to the COVID era but if you are a Freelancer or other business owner or leader, you recognize that the need for creating a sophisticated social media strategy has been ratcheted up. Officially, your social media presence can no longer be treated as an afterthought. Your chosen platfroms now own a pivotal role in your organization’s sales/marketing funnel, a critical client recruitment tool. Social media is now integral to supporting your brand, often by telling your brand story and building a community of loyal client cheerleaders who enthusiastically sing your praises. Make optimizing sthe use of social media in your organization your first business strategy decision of 2023.

Enhance brand awareness

LinkedIn remains the most popuar platform for those searching for B2B solutions. Complete your regualrly update your profile. When you receive new certificatons, upload them. If becoming (or remaining) a thought leader in your industry is a goal for you, social media provides a path and LinkedIn is considered a trusted source by most. You’ll find this blog post on my LinkedIn profile. If you’ve been a podcast guest or host, post the link, ditto for a webinar.

If you’ll teach a class, deliver a talk, moderate or participate on a panel, post the invitation on your profile. Participate in the still-relevant LinkedIn Groups feature and chat and exchange information with your professional peers. LinkedIn’s new Creator Accelerator Program a 6-week program that shows you engage your audience and grow your target audience. There is an application process involved, Contact the Creator weekly newsletter for more info. Stay up-to-date with your Notifications and receive feedback from followers and those who’ve responded to your content.

Sales/marketing funnel

The benefit of sharing informative content is that you may soon be seen as a trusted surce and expert in your space, making it easier to be seen as a credible resource and not just another salesperson. Social media browsers are known to use their preferred platforms to research products and services. This is a huge opportunity for you to use social media as a platform to add value by sharing informative content. As such, you’ll spend much less effort trying to “convince” target audience members to do business with you once familiarity and trust have been established.

Improve your understanding of what motivates potential buyers in your target audience to turn to social media before posting your content, to ensure that your information aligns with what potential buyers want, and need, to know. In general, a case study or two, your newsletters and your blog posts will answer most questions and demonstrate your organization’s ability to meet client needs.

Leverage the power of client testimonials and give yourself additional credibility by way of a real-time description of the capabilities of your organization. Your approach to delivering the solution, handling of the inevitable obstacles that challenge along the way and your team’s customer service and after-sale support will go a long way in showcasing your venture and building trust.

  • What are aspiring buyers in your category looking for and what do they hope to achieve?
  • What drives potential buyers to use certain keywords, hashtags, or phrases when searching in your category?
  • What products or services are they using now, or previously, to achieve the goal, or attain the solution to resolve the problem now?

Feed your sales/marketing funnel by demonstrating that you and your team can get the job done. Potential buyers will seek for more information and may eventually schedule a video or telephone call to talk things over and get a better sense of you and what it might be like to partner with you and work on the project.

Building community

How does one encourage the engagemet of your customers? Maybe start with a couple of polls and then get a discussion going? Those thriving the most in today’s evolving engagement landscape are able to use their social following and allow users to contribute and interact rather than simply judge and scroll. This can be accomplished in a multitude of ways, including inexpensive swag gift giveaways polls, posting LinkedIn story video or audio testimonials or reviews. If you’re participating in a charity event, video some portion of the proceedings and make that a LinkedIn story, too (you will have already posted it as an event, am I right?)

The key is to execute thoroughly and listen to your community: Simply having a giveaway may create interest, but communicating the rules, perks and actually following through by showing the community how their involvement moves the needle toward something positive is the ideal. This could happen any number of ways, and requires considerable thought from those close to the brand who understand how to best engage its community.

Happy New Year and thanks for joining me,

Kim

Image: Kim Clark. The groom in a wedding party approaches The Park Plaza Hotel in Boston, MA (2019)

Marketing , , , Leave a comment

Back to Basics: Content Marketing 2023

by

The inbound marketing strategy known as content marketing has the power to bring paying customers into your business. The results you see might happen quickly or over a somewhat longer period of time but if you put a content marketing strategy in motion, it’s close to a guarantee that customers will arrive, checkbooks in hand.

What will it do for you?

As you must do for all business initiatives, you need goals, tangible or intangible—your wish list!—and a recipe to make them happen. If you’re like many Freelancers and small business owners, however, you may be a little flummoxed by how to get content marketing going, of deciding what it makes sense to do. so FYI, the focus of a content marketing strategy is simple and straight forward:

  • Encouraging brand awareness, trust and loyalty
  • Generating leads within your target market
  • Converting leads into customers (sales)
  • Inspiring good word of mouth, repeat business (customer retention) and referrals

A content marketing plan is a journey. You’ll want to keep your destination in mind (goals) as you map the easiest and most effective path (strategies and actions) to get you there. Think of a 12-18 month campaign time frame. Develop the content narrative , perhaps quickly summarized by bullet points, to persuade the target audience. Moreover, choose relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that will document your progress—or give a red flag to let you know that a course correction is needed. B2B marketers primarily use website traffic to measure success (60%).

Demand Metric, a content marketing firm headquartered in Ontario, Canada, recently reported that 91% of B2B companies engage in content marketing, spending 25+ % of marketing budget on the format. Demand Metric research also found that 68% of people read about brands that interest them and 60% will follow-up on a product or service after reading content marketing info. 70% of potential buyers prefer to read an article about your product or service than see an advertisement. 82% feel more positive about a company after reading content and 90% feel that such content is useful. High quality, interesting content inspires potential buyers to follow your content on social media and makes them more likely to do business–become a customer.

So what do potential buyers consider appealing content? Demand Metric research points to blogs, finding that 59% of B2B marketers produce more leads with blog posts. FYI, I don’t want to ruin your day, but Demand Metric research also found that 91% of email marketing recipients opt-out (hint—develop a good list and keep in mind that a small yet robust list still has value).

Remember your audience

Your content is for your target buyers. Therefore, you have to know who your target buyers are so you can decide the best way to sell your content to them. tailor your content marketing strategy to accommodate your ideal buyer’s content preferences and behavior. Your content is meant to push your brand as a trustworthy expert in your industry. This means you have to set yourself apart from competitors in the industry. To do this, you have to let your audience know what makes you unique through your content while showing them you are trustworthy by solving their problems. Most users look at the content to find solutions. Therefore, your content should indicate that you understand their pain point and you are able to solve it because you have the solution. Content that portrays such confidence is instrumental to generating conversions for your products.

Depending on your target audience, your content format can come as infographics, videos, podcasts or more. This also goes for the platforms you choose to deliver your content. For example, TikTok is predominantly used by young people, which means it could be the ideal delivery channel for your content if your audience falls within that demographic of users. In addition, it means your content has to be predominantly videos.

Monitor and fine-tune

Finally, you’ll want to make decisions about what success or missing the mark looks like. You can choose to follow whatever metrics are available to you but I suggest you keep in mind the most common goals of content marketing campaigns and choose metrics that reveal their performance. Depending on what you learn each month about your campaign’s ability to deliver, or not, gives you the flexibility to make adjustments along the way.

You can track the progress of your content marketing campaign by using your website and social media platform traffic data, as well as making note of the leads you’ve received and deals closed by way of leads generated.

If budget allows, do yourself a favor and invest in marketing services company such as HubSpot or Buzz Sumo. Among the metrics you’ll follow will be:

  • Social media shares
  • Website traffic
  • Click-through rate
  • Content engagement—- comments , shares, likes of your content
  • Backlinks— which high- traffic sites link to yours and increase the activity and credibility of your website and social platforms? Google E.A.T. (expertise, authority, trust) remains an influential
  • Time spent on time, another demonstration of engagement with your content. Pay attention to the topics that readers prefer, based on the time spent reading certain posts.
  • Bounce rate (tidy up your email list)

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Jane Wyman (L) 1917 – 2007 won the 1948 Academy Award for Best Actress in the title role of Johnny Belinda. Wyman was married to Ronald Reagan 1940-1949, they are the parents of Maureen and Michael. Superstar Hollywood costume designer Edith Head and Wyman review designs for Lucy Gallant (1955). Head (1897-1981) was the recipient of eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design, including All About Eve (1950) and The Sting (1973).

Marketing , , , Leave a comment

10 Under $35: Client Gift Ideas 2022

by

Your final marketing tactic of the year will be the December holiday card and gift you give to all clients whom you billed at least $500 in this calendar year. It’s also smart to send a holiday card to those you’ve worked with over the past four or five years.

Your client outreach at holiday time goes a long way toward enhancing your brand, playing a part in your client retention/ repeat business strategy. Find the time and money to show appreciation to those who trust you enough to pay for your expertise. At this time of year, take the readily available opportunity to contact current and lapsed clients and demonstrate less visible aspects of you and your brand—thoughtfulnesses, generosity, happiness, authenticity.

  1. Yucca Cane Plant $24.99

Studies show that plants at home or in the office can reduce stress and stimulate creativity. The Yucca Cane is a long time favorite that will make a dramatic conversation piece. Its upright spineless hard leaves sit atop a thick wood cane in multiple clusters which creates an exotic tropical look. In addition to its bold look, the Yucca Cane is an easy care plant that requires low watering and enjoys high to medium light spaces. The spineless yucca loves sunlight and watering about once a week. Make sure the soil dry’s out before watering again. To beautify your plant use containers with drain holes to drain excess water and keep your plant healthy.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/United-Nursery-Yucca-Cane-Plant-in-9-25-in-Grower-Pot-21955/307739456

2. Tunisian Tile Snack Tray. $30.00

Whisk yourself away to the Mediterranean for a midday tea or coffee break. This handmade serving tray is part elegant decor, part transportation device. Tunisian artisans carve the base from olive wood and add two hand-painted ceramic tiles. No matter what you serve–coffee and pastries or wine and cheese–you’ll enjoy your pick-me-up snack that much more. Handmade in Tunisia.

https://www.uncommongoods.com/product/tunisian-tiled-snack-tray

3. Sari Patchwork Apron $30.00

Your clients who got into coking during the pandemic will appreciate a lovely and practical apron. The item began its life as a sari and has now been repurposed into a double-sided apron featuring a blend of patterns and colors to inspire the cook who wears it. Handmade by artisans in Bangladesh who stitch repurposed sari swatches together, then decorate the aprons with traditional kantha stitches in contrasting colors. Each stunning patchwork is a one-of-a-kind work of art and no two are identical. Machine wash cold, line dry.

https://www.uncommongoods.com/product/repurposed-sari-patchwork-apron

4. Sound Machine $26.00

The Yogasleep Travel Mini Sound Machine combines robust white noise options and a night light in one sleek and lightweight pocket-sized device, ready for travel anywhere. The travel mini offers six lush soundtracks created to promote relaxation and improve your sleep environment, including white noise, brown noise, and three nature-inspired sounds.

https://www.ongoody.com/business/browse/brands/yogasleep/travel-mini-sound-machine-with-night-light

5. Picture Frame $19.99

Classically attractive photo frame is crafted with a sun ray style design and ribbed texture that complements the decor of any office, corporate or home. It’s hand made of sustainably sourced bone and features an easel back and will brighten a desk, book case, or table top. Holds one 5”x7” photograph.

https://www.worldmarket.com/product/white+sunray+bone+frame.do?sortby=ourPicks&from=Search

6. Cherry Pit Muscle Therapy $18.95

Did you know this is a thing? I certainly didn’t but while I was sleeping, millions of people have been using hot or cold compresses filled with cherry pits to relieve muscle aches. Chill pits the freezer or warm in the microwave and they’ll hold and slowly release therapeutic cold or heat that’s good for what ails you.

http://cherrypitstore.com/index_files/Page796.htm

7. Key Chain $18.00

Why not give a simple and practical gift? This compact, durable and stylish key chain has a 100 % genuine leather exterior, silver in color and tastefully accessorized with solid brass hardware.

https://www.primecutbags.com/keychains/silver-leather-keychain

8. Mobile Device Ring Light $24.99

Maximize the benefits of mobile with a great little accessory that makes you look good when you Zoom on the go, sun up or sun down. FYI, read a review. https://freelancetheconsultantsdiary.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=24120&action=edit

https://getolumiring.io/offer-01/?lpid=0621&utm_source=11335&utm_medium=&utm_term=621&utm_content=&utm_campaign=0&aff_id=11335&camp_id=0&sub_id=&req_id=5d503ba5990b4080899e5dd885958a82&contract_id=0&oid=621&device_type=PC&country_name=United+States

9. Skin Moisturizing/ Winter Therapy $28.05

  • SKIN CARE PRODUCTS: Pamper from head to toe with this giftable set including Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream Hand Salve Original Beeswax Lip Balm Res-Q Ointment Shea Butter Hand Repair Cream and Coconut Foot Cream.
  • HANDS & FEET: Pamper and soothe dry rough cracked skin with moisturizing hand salve cuticle cream hand cream and rich foot cream.
  • LIP MOISTURIZER: Made with Beeswax Vitamin E and a hint of peppermint oil hydrate and nourish dry lips with the original favorite lip balm.
  • MULTIPURPOSE OITNMENT: This gentle Res-Q Ointment is made with a blend of herbal ingredients to create an everyday salve that soothes and comfort dry skin and minor cuts.
  • BURTS BEES GIFT SET: These natural, moisturizing skin care products gifted in a Burts Bees tin nourish skin throughout the winter months and make the perfect holiday stocking stuffer.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Burt-s-Bees-Classics-Gift-Set-Open-Box/920571603?irgwc=1&sourceid=imp_XB0zf034fxyNTw0wVCwYvw4MUkA0LJS8eSbIzo0&veh=aff&wmlspartner=imp_3006986&clickid=XB0zf034fxyNTw0wVCwYvw4MUkA0LJS8eSbIzo0&sharedid=&affiliates_ad_id=565706&campaign_id=9383

10. Designer Coffee Mug $22.00

If you must give a coffee mug, make it this one! The innovative design and sturdy durability of Cloud Mugs bring a smile with every sip. The mugs are also microwave safe. Hand wash and avoid submerging the mug in water to keep them looking and feeling their best.

Cloud Mug

Hope the list helps your relationship and brand building strategy. Happy Holidays and thanks for reading.

Kim

Marketing , , , Leave a comment

Analytics Data: Your Content Marketing Navigator

by

So, how are you doing with content marketing? Are you seeing the hoped- for results? Do you have it clear in your mind the reasons for launching whatever content marketing activity you do—blog? podcast? behind-the-scenes videos of your team in action?—-beyond some half-formed idea about how everybody’s doing it, it’s probably good for business, so get busy? I don’t want to be judge-y but if that is your reality, I encourage you to tighten up your game.

Whatever content marketing you’re into, it will all go down much better when you think about it in big picture mode. Content marketing starts with figuring out the purpose, what you want it to do, the end result you’d like to achieve. We know it’s about creating business, but you’ll help yourself by being more specific and thinking about how content marketing works.

Content marketing is premised on the soft sell approach, expressed by educating prospective clients about the performance, quality, cost-effectiveness and user-friendliness of your products and services. Supporting that primary message, you may also use this style of marketing to communicate the expertise of you and your team and portray your company as dependable and trustworthy. You might also send out the message that you are socially responsible, practice environmental sustainability (“green”) and believe in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

If you are put off or intimidated by the very thought of thinking this stuff through, I’ve given you a cheat sheet, shown below. Oh, and remember to invite website and social media visitors to dip into your marketing content by writing a good Call-to-Action that entices them to take a chance—do the survey, download the case study, join the webinar, opt-in and get the newsletter.

But the moral of this story is that you are advised to follow, weekly or monthly, certain key metrics that document how prospects interact with or respond to your content. That reported data becomes your recipe and roadmap for content marketing that works. The data also shows you what doesn’t work, by reporting lackluster numbers.

Follow the open rates, shares and likes of your blog or newsletter and discover which topics mean the most to your readers. You’ll also realize the topics readers don’t love, when your open rate tanks. Data is the navigator for your content. Follow it and find the road to achieving your content marketing and sales goals. Explore free and paid data analytics services and register your website and social media accounts to get started: https://bloggingwizard.com/social-media-analytics-and-reporting-tools/

Common content marketing goals:

  • LeadGen—bring potential buyers to your website and social media accounts, from new or established markets
  • Increasing Google EAT ranking—Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness
  • Brand loyalty—-enhance company reputation, build trust, signal dependability, to know you is to love you

Track metrics that matter:

  • Lead metrics—how many leads does your content generate through email opt-ins, call-to-action appeals, or blog and newsletter subscribers?
  • User metrics—how many page views does your content draw? How many downloads, visits, shares and likes does your content receive? Which content format and topics get the most positive responses from readers and viewers, as indicated by high open rates?
  • Sales metrics—how many of the leads that you generate from your content become paying customers? What is your sales conversion rate?
  • Time metrics—how long do viewers spend engaging with your content, where do they stay longest and which pages do they visit?

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Crunching the numbers that guided decisions made by the Oakland Athletics baseball team and resulted in big wins. The story was told in Moneyball (2011, directed by Bennett Miller) starring Brad Pitt (l) and Jonah Hill.

Marketing , , , , , Leave a comment

Get Noticed: Tactics to Spotlight Your Brand

by

If you’ve been trying to increase the visibility (and in the process, credibility) of your brand and Freelance consulting business, you’ve probably realized that standing out against competitors is difficult to achieve. The noise level in the marketplace is deafening and big fish grab nearly all the PR. But all is not lost. There are a few smart moves that will help us little fish to make a splash. Below are a half-dozen mostly low-cost and often successful marketing tactics that you can consider and maybe enact over the next four quarters.

Get On a “Best of” list

PR pros love the fast pay-off and long-tail benefits that getting added to a “best of” list brings. Every business that’s won a “best-of” award over the last 5 years (or more) shouts it to the rooftops. The citation is placed above the fold on website and social media landing pages.

Investigate local or regional “best of” lists, especially those featured in popular or prestigious publications. Some choose candidates by an open nomination process. Touting your inclusion on a “best of” list is cat nip when promoting any other of your marketing tactics—-speaking at a business or professional associations, teaching a class, appearing as a panel speaker or moderator, becoming a guest blogger or a guest spot in a webinar or podcast.

A “best of” list is a great opportunity to be discovered by people who’ve probably never heard of you and your business. Receiving a “best of” award allows you to reach and attain instant credibility among a whole new group of potential customers. “Best of” list readers customarily browse list categories when they’re looking to do business, from finding the best ice cream parlor to the best five best business blogs in your area.

Now listen to this— if you are a contributor to a particular publication, with your publisher’s or editor’s approval, you can launch your own annual “best of” list! While you’re at it, you can also create an advertising campaign around it and make your editor or publisher twice as happy. Creating a “best of” list has the potential to facilitate building and sustaining relationships with ambitious movers and shakers and greatly expand your influence and credibility.

Enter a business award competition

This tactic has a not insignificant cost of time and money, but it’s often a reasonable avenue to pursue because there are more ways to win than you might think. Sponsoring organizations are typically generous with the number of awards and categories they choose to honor. More awards and more categories are an incentive for business owners and leaders to become contestants because there will be more opportunities to win.

Be advised that as with any marketing campaign, there are expenses involved. You’ll be required to join the sponsoring organization. You must pay the award entry fee for every award category that your company pursues—-best new product launch, business of the year, best workplace, social responsibility award and so on. You must buy one or more tickets to the ceremony (even when it’s virtual). The awards process could represent the entirety of your outfit’s annual marketing budget.

After compiling a draft list of possibilities, check the award entry criteria. It’s likely that candidates must join the organization in order to compete for an award and that will be your first expense. Annual dues may run from a few hundred dollars to $1000 or more, depending on the sponsor. Confirm also when new members will be eligible to compete for an award. Next, investigate other entry facts—-the entry application deadline, the fees and whether candidates must be nominated to compete for the award.

Be a podcast guest

There are dozens of podcasts popping up like wildflowers after a summer rain and every host is on the lookout for smart, savvy and entertaining guests. That can be you!

So how can you make that happen? Keyword search podcasters that cover topics you can address. Listen to a few episodes to get a feel for the host’s interview style, listening audience and guests. Instead of sending an email to make your pitch to the host, devise a personal and impactful appeal by creating a video or audio clip to present your proposal. Tell the host:

  • Topics you’d like to cover
  • Why you think podcast listeners will find the information relevant and the insights and benefits that will be derived
  • Elevator Pitch-style info about you to communicate your credibility—-expertise, experience, noteworthy clients and popularity—- you’ve written a book, your blog has 5000 followers, you’re a contributing writer for a respected publication, you’ve won a business award

Identify podcasts that maintain an online archive of episodes, to increase the long term accessibility of your appearance. As well, you should post the link of your podcast guest appearance on your website landing page and on the landing pages of your social media accounts. Because you’ll have the program link, you’ll add to some impressive, trust-building audio content that you can edit or serve up in its entirety.

Podcasts, whether you are the host or the guest, deliver numerous benefits to your brand and business. On the most basic level, it’s a networking and relationship opportunity for you and your host. As you negotiate your way through scheduling and topic selection, to say nothing of the interview itself, you and your host get to know one another and learn about one another’s capabilities. Potentially, a mutual referral source can ensue.

During the interview, podcast guests speak in depth about the product or service you provide, without becoming sales- y. You also describe the customers you usually sell to or work with and explain what motivates prospects to come to you and present a broad-brush overview of how you provide the solutions your customers need.

Communicate the story well and you’ll establish yourself as an industry expert, a thought leader who’s a cut above competitors. You’ll position yourself as a highly capable and dependable professional. You’ll build both brand awareness and brand trust.

Two final preparation steps for your podcast (or webinar) guest appearance will ensure communications. First, be certain that helpful technical equipment is in hand— you’ll need a decent microphone and headphones so that host, you and audience members can clearly hear one another.

Second, you’ll be expected to promote your guest spot and help your host to do so as well. Four weeks ahead of your appearance, post the podcast notice on your website and social media accounts. Help the host to promote and also introduce you to the listening audience and send a media kit three to six weeks in advance of the show.

Contribute articles

Since 2014, I’ve been a staff writer at Lioness Magazine , an online publication whose primarily female target readers (75%) are entrepreneurs, self- employed professionals and corporate or not-for-profit sector executives. How did I do it?

Starting in about 2012, once a week I posted a business how- to article on a large self- publishing website Ezine Articles. As luck would have it, the co- founder and Managing Editor of Lioness Magazine was using the site as a place to buy good content for the new magazine. There are perhaps 100,000 articles posted in the business category and by some miracle, my articles were discovered. After purchasing several of my articles from Ezine, the Managing Editor contacted me and asked to buy articles directly.

Building a solid online reputation is essential for your business (unless you are very well connected and don’t need it. I know such people). First, when prospective clients search you online, you want them to find good content. You present yourself to prospective clients as an expert and your articles are one persuasive way to back up that claim.

Second, the Google EAT algorithm (expertise, authority, trustworthiness) still impacts our SEO ranking in 2022. When you publish presumably useful, accurate articles on a regular basis, it’s a favorable act in the eyes of powerful opinion maKer Google.

Do you read business publications— local, regional , or national? If not, I recommend that you do. There is sometimes an appeal to recruit aspiring contributors. If you’re a reasonably competent writer, give it a try.

Speak (or moderate) on a panel

Appearing on a panel as either a speaker or moderator is a golden opportunity, a wonderful way to demonstrate your expertise and ability to think on your feet. Appearing on a panel is also a gateway to receiving featured and keynote speaking engagements. Seeking out programs where panel discussions are regularly featured is an excellent marketing strategy.

There is an art to panel discussions, whether you are the moderator or a speaker and if you want to be invited to participate a second time, make sure that you perform well the first time.

Make sure that you know the subject. You’re invited to join the panel to share your deep knowledge and experience and/or your intriguing and compelling perspectives regarding the subject matter. You are there to inform and enlighten the audience.

Donate to a charity auction

Many charitable organizations auction off products and services donated by local businesses to raise money at their annual fundraiser, which in most cases will draw a minimum of 100 supporters. If I might, I’ll apply the surprisingly accurate Pareto’s Principle here, commonly known as the 80/20 Rule, and predict that for every 100 guests at the charity’s fundraiser, 20 will be your prospects.

Much will depend upon your product or service line and B2C goods and services have the advantage. Research the online auction items available at any 501(C)3 fundraiser and get an idea of what bidders find interesting and what Development Directors tend to accept. You may be able to create a special service that you only offer through your charity auction marketing campaigns.

Contact the Development Office after you’ve checked the organization website to learn the approximate date of the next fundraiser and ensure that its mission aligns with your brand and values. If your in-kind donation receives a couple of auction bids, the organization may contact you to donate again next year.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Slim Aarons/ Hulton Archive (1955) Paintings on sale at the Portobello Road Market, London

Marketing , Leave a comment

10 Under $30: Holiday 2021 Client Gifts

by

The holidays are knocking on the door and savvy Freelancers know to respond with a client outreach strategy that could generate referrals and repeat business. December is your big chance to demonstrate to clients past and present that you value them and would be happy to work with them again. Before November slips away, create a plan to send holiday cards to clients with whom you’ve done business over the past 4 or 5 years and as well to send a gift to those who’ve been active over the past 12 – 18 months.

Clients will be delighted to hear from you and flattery might get you somewhere! Your thoughtfulness is also a brand-enhancing, relationship-building strategy that sets you apart in the best way and can place you at top-of-mind when clients plan the logistics of future projects.

Start today and search for holiday cards that celebrate “the season” and will be appropriate both for business and for those who do not celebrate a holiday on December 25th. I highly recommend that you send a physical card, unless on your list there are those who work from home and may not receive forwarded mail from the office. You may want to design your own card through Uprinting, the UPSstore, Vista Print, Sir Speedy, or another reliable service.

Re: your client gift list, I suggest that you match billable hours to the amount you spend on the gift; you may choose to gift only those who’ve invoiced $1000 or so. No matter how modest the amount of money you spend, understand that the gift is an investment. Your card and/ or gift communicate to clients that you consider them important and that you are a consummate professional.

Amplify audio

You don’t have to be a video gamer to appreciate the benefits of having a sound bar mounted to a desk top monitor. Whether your client streams music or movies, attends or leads videoconference meetings, or occasionally appears as a podcast or webinar guest, s/he will want to clearly hear and be heard. $24.99 https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/cyber-acoustics-ca-2890-sound-bar-for-monitor-usb-2-watt/apd/ab768633/monitors-monitor-accessoriesFounder of FY #tabs_section.

Yummy honey

A flight of three two-ounce jars are the perfect introduction to this delicious, premium-grade, raw, artisanal honey. Add a teaspoon or two to a favorite tea. Include a dish on a cheese board spread and surprise guests with a tasty and unexpected condiment. The bees and the antioxidant rich honey that they produce are sourced from hives in Jamaica and other Caribbean islands. $14.99 for the box of three

https://www.ivyees.com/product/ivyees-honey-minis

Umbrella and art

Those who live in America east of the Mississippi River and have been deluged by more than their fair share of rainy days will appreciate an umbrella. This sturdy mini umbrella displays an eye-catching image of Vincent Van Gogh’s iconic painting The Starry Night (1889) and measures 48 inches across. It is auto open & close, includes a matching carrier and is delivered in a gift box. $30.00

https://mfashop.com/fashion/umbrellas

Bath and body basket

Whether your client WFH, has returned to the office, or does some of both, the intense focus required to effectively function in the pandemic business environment can be exhausting. Do your him/her a favor and enable a luxurious bath or shower ritual that promotes relaxation and even a good night’s sleep. This lovely gift basket contains 8 products that are delicately scented with white orchid fragrance and includes a shower gel, bath salts, body lotion and a loofah back scrubber. $27.99

https://lovery.com/collections/20-30/products/white-orchid-spa-bath-and-body-set-in-gold-basket?variant=12601117474870

Wine rack

An elegant, pyramid shaped countertop wine rack that harmonizes with nearly any kitchen or dining room decor. This compact and sturdy wine storage solution holds bottles in the horizontal position and discourages both the collection of wine sediment at the bottom of bottles and dry corks that may crumble when bottles are opened. $20.99

https://www.wayfair.com/kitchen-tabletop/pdp/mind-reader-pyramid-6-bottle-tabletop-wine-bottle-rack-mndr1563.html

Classy note cards

Sometimes the best way to communicate is to go old-school and send a hand-written note. Give your clients the means to gracefully communicate with their own important prospects and clients and they’ll be forever grateful. This elegant, high-quality folded note card features a bold yet classic calligraphic initial embossed in metallic gold ink. The card is made of all-cotton ecru paper and is partnered with a matching striped metallic lined envelope. $26 for 10 cards and matching envelopes

https://www.crane.com/hand-engraved-script-initial-note

Panettone holiday

Celebrating the December holiday in Italy often means indulging in this popular dessert that originated in Milan. The exquisites cake is studded with raisins and candied orange peel and it pairs well with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla gelato (Italian ice cream). Suggest serving a cup of espresso for an afternoon pick-me-up, or aan after-dinner dessert with a glass of vin santo wine. $29.90

https://www.eataly.com/us_en/christmas-holiday-gifts/panettone-pandoro/classic-panettone-26-46-oz

Patchwork scarf

Take the edge off the winter wind with a warm, soft scarf that features a mix of muted pastel colors and a quilt-inspired design. Made of polyester-cotton-acrylic blend of recycled materials, it’s a cruelty-free alternative to cashmere that feels like the real thing.

https://www.uncommongoods.com/product/recycled-patchwork-scarf

Out to lunch

Make lunch time fun whether eaten at the office or on a quiet bench in a pretty park. Your client will be thrilled to grab this stylish and practical little lunch carrier from Kate Spade even if it’s packed with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on Wonder Bread. A coated linen exterior makes the tote easy to clean. The insulated interior protects the food. The gold top zipper pull is a flirty bow, the finishing touch of a pretty package. $30

https://www.katespade.com/products/out-to-lunch-tote/825466939622.html?

Giving good

GlobalGiving makes it easy and safe to support local projects anywhere in the world, while providing nonprofits with the tools, training and support they need to thrive. Inspiring and enabling your clients to give back may be the best holiday gift.

https://www.globalgiving.org/gifts/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsrCjm4WP9AIVNG5vBB1KQgIvEAMYAyAAEgJOGvD_BwE

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Holiday lights at Boothbay Harbor, Maine

Marketing , , Leave a comment

Notes on Branding

by

Hello there. It’s been quite a while since we’ve explored the topic of branding. Establishing and maintaining a reputable brand for your company has the power to generate significant financial rewards even for single owner Freelance entities. Let’s dive in.

What it is

A brand is the characteristics and attributes associated with a company. The company brand consists of the qualities for which the company and its products and services are best known, by its customers and by the public. The company brand defines and communicates the experience it provides for its customers. Especially for larger companies, the company brand is powerfully and memorably communicated by its logo symbol. Brand = Reputation.

Branding

The process of creating and communicating the benefits, characteristics and trustworthy reputation that company owners and leaders envision for the products and services that the company sells. The objective of branding is to persuade customers and prospects to associate those benefits, characteristics and positive reputation with the company, as demonstrated by its products and services, because it will resonate with, inspire trust in and appeal to current and potential customers. Branding gives a business an identity and distinguishes the company from its competitors.

Create and discover your brand

Brand development is a two- way street. Company leaders must understand what the most likely (that is, target) customers for the products and services will be. The brand within is what company leaders determine the brand should be, as represented by the market position, pricing, sales distribution and product placement sections, advertising and social media strategies, packaging and so on. But customers also have a say in a company brand. The brand without consists of how current and prospective customers perceive and respond to the company brand.

Building a brand starts with knowing the customer and the customer’s expectations for your company’s products and services, which are shaped and influenced by what competitors, those who’ve come before you, have done.

Nourish and promote the brand identity and voice

Believe it or not, a brand has a life of its own and a personality to go with it. Company owners and leaders must build a brand whose voice and identity convey trust, reliability and good value for the money spent to acquire the company’s products or services.

The brand identity may be cutting edge, solidly dependable, luxurious, user-friendly, inexpensive and practical, or any number of other qualities. The brand voice will convey brand identity attributes through the style of the website, the company logo, colors used for the website, email marketing templates, company business cards, product packaging and other marketing materials, social media platforms used and marketing messages. Increasingly, company values and guiding principles, from environmentalism to current interpretations of social justice, influence the the brand voice.

What impression do you want customers and prospects to come away with when encountering and interacting with your company? Who are the primary customers? What do they aspire to communicate about themselves when they use your products or services? Those are the guide posts used to create and sustain the brand identity and voice.

Manage the brand

Company leaders must vigorously and continually monitor the tangible and intangible elements of the brand and ensure their relevance to customers and prospective customers.

Advertising and sponsorship choices, marketing and PR campaigns, content marketing topics, social media posts, the company website, product packaging, or the verbal “packaging” of a service, i.e., its defining message and, ultimately, the customer experience, from the Top of the Funnel buying cycle through to actual usage of the product or service, must communicate all that is valuable and memorable about the brand.

Getting started

As always, everything begins with knowing your customer. What motivates them to seek out products or services like yours? How do they use those products or services? Where do they expect to buy your products or services and how much do they expect to pay to for them?

Define the qualities and benefits that customers and prospects value your products and services for. To make the most of that information, the Marketing 4 P’s could be helpful—-Product, Price, Place and Promotion. I like to add four more P’s: Position (luxury or low-cost?), Process (the customer experience, from visiting the website to making the purchase to speaking with customer support); People (all interactions with customer-facing staff, including the company owner, manifests the brand); and Packaging (especially for a tangible product, the style and quality of its packaging, its customer eye-appeal, conveys the brand).

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Brand identity 1950s style as presented by still powerful Nestle. The character “Danny O’Day (L), ventriloquist Jimmy Nelson and the much loved Farfel

Marketing , , , Leave a comment

A 360 Degree View of Your Brand

by

I recently gave a talk on branding, a term that we know gets used quite a bit, but I wonder if Freelance consultants and business owners fully understand what a brand means and how the brand can be put to work in service of the business? It is vitally important to first, recognize certain identifying characteristics of the business, which need not be complex or unique, and then spin those characteristics into a mythology or a story, a brand narrative or creation story, that is then packaged and marketed as a brand, destined to become a powerful selling tool.

Depending on your business, you might even build a brand around your location. Maybe you own a restaurant, or a hardware store, in Idaho. Common impressions that Idaho natives and Americans in general have about Idaho—rugged, outdoorsy, resilient, folksy, friendly, mountainous, beautiful—can be used to build a distinctive and compelling brand narrative. The essence of Idaho can become a defining characteristic of the brand.

Other branding possibilities are grandmas recipes (restaurants), the size of the establishment (large and comprehensive or small and curated), the longevity of the business, the number of generations that the same family has owned and operated the business, prestige clientele, expertise in a niche market, or superb customer service.

The function of a brand is to communicate. The brand is the reputation of the business. What a business leader must decide is the primary message that should be communicated and how to articulate that message.

What can the brand tell current and prospective customers? The brand tells them what to expect when doing business with you and your company—the available products and services, that the business can be trusted to deliver what they expect it to deliver, for starters. Branding is about reassuring. Branding is about consistency, predictability, trust, dependability, familiarity, the customer experience and comfort.

If the business owner or leader does it right, the brand will become habit-forming and the list of repeat customers will grow. Customers will be motivated to refer their friends, family and colleagues to the business. They will endorse the business on rating sites like Angie’s List, Yelp and Trip Advisor.

When examining and/or refreshing the brand, remember that the brand is two-sided. There is the internal brand and the (better-known) external brand. The internal brand represents what the business owner and leaders feel describes the brand. The external brand is how the business is perceived by the public, i.e., customers. The internal brand is self-image and the external brand is reputation.

It’s easier to start the brand examination internally—what do you, business owner or leader, want your organization to be known for? What do you interpret as its competitive advantages? What do you see as the value proposition or distinguishing characteristics?

The external view can be assessed by talking to customers, whether the best customers or occasional users of the products or services. In both cases, it’s important to ascertain what has persuaded them to do business with you. What brought them to your establishment, how do they feel about the experience and was the problem solved or objective achieved? Who is motivated to do business with you again and why? Who will not do business again with you and why?

In this way, business owners and leaders can determine what customers and prospects consider to be the defining competitive advantages and selling points. Conversations, face-2-face or by social media, and customer surveys are among the useful ways to learn what makes a difference and keeps customers coming back—or drives them away. If something can be summed up in a clever tagline, so much the better. Most of all, the business must promote what customers value most and express that message in language and symbols that will resonate.

When the value proposition, i.e., the value that the products or services will deliver to customers, perceived competitive advantages and selling points have been recognized and articulated, the business owner and leaders can confidently spread the word by way of promotional channels that customers and prospects trust and put the brand to work for the business.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Photograph: Dwayne Johnson, aka “The Rock,” whose approach to branding has both a physical and professional dimension.

Business Strategy , , , , Leave a comment

How Freelancers Scale Up

by

According to the Small Business Association in 2018, there were 30.2 million small businesses (< 500 employees) in the US and 80%, 24.3 million, were one-person ventures, i.e., Solopreneurs. Although just under 6 million small businesses have paid employees, those businesses nevertheless employ 47.6% of private sector workers, 59 million of 124 million employed Americans (factoring out government and not-for-profit organizations—schools, hospitals, social welfare agencies, the arts, religious institutions). BTW, there are fewer than 20,000 large businesses in the country—19, 464 in 2018. 2017/08/04125711/Frequently-Asked-Questions-Small-Business-2018.pdf

I suppose it can be said that in American business small is beautiful, or perhaps more accurately, small is the reality. Many of those 24.3 million Solopreneurs attempt to turn what could easily be called a Weakness in the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) strategic planning matrix into a Strength (me!) and use terms such as “boutique” to describe our business, along with marketing-spin phrases such as “personalized service” to communicate to prospective customers that the experience of doing business with us will be very positive and that no one is treated as a commodity.

Operating a boutique business is all well and good, however “boutique” can easily turn into “broke” if the proprietor continues to just scrape along, trying to bring in enough customers to pay the rent and keep the lights on. In order to make a go of being a business owner/ operator, it is necessary to scale the business. A business has successfully scaled when it can deliver its products and services to a significantly larger customer base while maintaining or improving operational efficiency and quality control. Good strategy and execution are needed to scale, but it’s often do-able. Read on and learn tactics and inspiration that will help you decide how to scale your venture.

Scale the Brand

The process for scaling your Freelance business starts with knowing, articulating and communicating your Brand. To attract more clients so that you can double or even triple your roster over a 3-year period, for example, you must communicate in various ways—client testimonials, case studies, LinkedIn recommendations, social media, company website, your newsletter or blog and other marketing channels—that you are highly competent, trustworthy and dependable. You deliver every time and you meet and often exceed client expectations. You bring value. Invent a Branding tagline to help yourself stand out from the 24 + million Freelancers in America and add it to your email signature block.

Be advised that Branding doesn’t simply refer to the colors you use for your business card or logo. Branding encompasses all client touch points during which your client encounters or interacts with you and your company, from the initial contact with you, interaction with employees, the tone of emails, visiting and navigating your website, your payment and billing systems, social media posts, advertising and everything in between. Articulating and communicating your Brand not only enhances the perception of your know-how as a Freelancer, but also makes it easier to scale your business in the future.

Scale client acquisition

Freelancers tend to get stuck in a rut of competing for projects in the same way over and over. We find a tactic that works, whether it’s cold emailing potential clients or applying for jobs posted on sites like Upwork.com and Guru.com. One will eventually figure out how to get hired on those sites, but you’ll still leave a lot of work on the table. It’s been reported that 27% of Freelancers find assignments via referrals made by friends, family and clients; 24% find projects through online job boards, email marketing and social media platforms like LinkedIn ProFinder. How can you make the most of these sources?

You don’t have to chase down all possibilities but do get into the habit of exploring alternative client acquisition methods, to get your name and expertise in front of a wider audience. Your current clients are also a potential source of referrals (I’ve been lucky enough to have that happen). Get the ball rolling by making a referral for your client first, so that you will come to mind if one of the client’s colleagues could use your services. BTW, unless you’re in IT, job boards attract clients who low-ball the money. Not only that, but Upwork now requires Freelancers to pay to submit a proposal and then pay again 20% of the fee when one is hired. I will not pay to apply for a job and that service is off my list.

Scale your network

Networking can potentially deliver significant benefits that accrue from the relationships you build. Networking helps us meet new friends, find a future spouse, get invited to join a board, learn of a house for sale when we’re looking to move, or get a job referral. Networking will also bring to you potential collaborators, for those times that you need to bring in a Freelancer colleague in order to take on a bigger project, or the gift of community support when it would be helpful (and when is it not?).

Start building your professional network ASAP, compiling connections who are Freelancers themselves and maybe also potential clients. Try connecting with fellow Freelancers in the comment section of industry blogs and industry-related LinkedIn and Facebook groups and participating in relevant Twitter discussions.

Scale your skills

Whatever one does for a living there is always training and development involved, that is, if one is lucky, because professional development is an investment in you and no one can take it away once you have it. In order to find work, the Freelancer must be considered a trusted expert. To be considered an expert, one must be better than the rest and that means your knowledge and skills must be bleeding edge current.

When preparing to scale your business you have to grow as a person and a professional and that means learning new skills, keeping up with the newest trends and learning to use applicable tech tools. This can be challenging, as well as time consuming, but what you learn can perhaps lead to new business ideas, smarter planning for the future and implementing new systems and approaches. Online education sites like Coursera, Udemy and Codecademy are a good place to start. Serving on a board, teaching and even judging a business award (I’ve judged the Stevie Awards/ Women in Business category https://stevieawards.com/women for 6 years) are other ways to keep skills current and learn new competencies (and network as you do).

Scale your creativity

To effectively scale your Freelance gig and transform it into an enterprise, you need to break out of your service-based mentality and the best way to do that is to create a product to sell. Think about it—once you’ve created your e-book, course, or physical product, you can sell it over and over, whereas you’re limited to providing a certain amount of services per week to clients.

Not only does a product give you the ability to reach many more people, but creating a product also provides you with passive income, giving you more time to work on other areas of your business. Put on your thinking cap and see what you can dream up. An e-book or online courses are probably the most accessible products for B2B service providers to produce. I don’t have an online course to sell (yet), but I’ve been teaching business-related subjects for more than a dozen years.

Scale your systems

In order to grow, one needs the tools to keep revenue consistently coming in at a steady and abundant pace. To support opportunities for that business growth, it pays to systematize certain business functions and responsibilities. Outsourcing gives you the pleasure of employing a fellow Freelancer as you devote more time to the pursuit of lucrative clients or identifying another product to sell.

Invoicing, bookkeeping, newsletter or blog editing and social media account management are popular outsourcing functions because they do not require a deep knowledge of your business. Outsourcing (or automating) routine tasks gives you the time you need to work on your business, not in your business and that will enable you to scale.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Photograph: (Reuters) Master Baker Bartolo “Buddy” Valastro, owner of Carlo’s Bakery in Hoboken, NJ and star of the reality television show Cake Boss (TLC)

Marketing , , , , Leave a comment

Bragging Rites

by

In our hyperbolic business environment, all working people—Freelance consultants, entrepreneurs, corporate executives and everyone else who must earn a living—are expected to promote their successes and ambitions in face-to-face conversations and social media platforms. Everybody has to be “on,” i.e., camera-ready and prepared to roll out an elevator pitch to prospective clients, an investor pitch to potential backers, or a sales pitch to browsing would-be customers.

Job-seekers sell their skills and work experience to search committees. Apartment-hunters sell their credit rating and rental history to landlords. The marriage-minded package and promote what they hope are desirable traits that will persuade Mr. or Ms. Right to swipe right. Everyone is pressured to sell themselves, but sounding like you’re selling is a turn-off. No one one likes an obvious self-promoter and heaven help you if people think you’re bragging.

While we’re busy telling possibly interested parties how talented, resourceful, creative and dependable we are, we risk violating a powerful social norm in American culture that prefers modesty, cautions Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D., Professor Emerita of Psychological and Brain Sciences at University of MA /Amherst. Bragging is not popular. Do an internet search on bragging, and you get 55, 900,000 results, including How to brag without making people hate you.

Communications consultant Peggy Klaus says the fear of being perceived as pushy and vulgar can lead professionals to hide behind modest self-effacement, even when speaking up about their accomplishments would be perfectly acceptable. Klaus, the author of Brag: How to Toot Your Own Horn Without Blowing It  (2003), says that the very thought of self-promotion is difficult for many to embrace, including those who are fully aware that they must create business in order to survive. “So ingrained are the myths about self-promotion, so repelled are we by obnoxious braggers, that many people simply avoid talking about themselves,” writes Klaus.

Valerie DiMaria, Principal at the 10company, a New York City firm that helps high potential executives at companies such as Verizon, L’Oreal, Raytheon and BNY Mellon reach the next level in their careers, offers encouragement to the introverted and shy. She points out that if the goal is to make a strong, positive impression at work, you must be willing to tell your story and bragging doesn’t necessarily mean boasting.

Di Maria suggests taking a calm, confident, matter-of-fact approach to sharing what’s special about you. Her firm offers leadership and communication coaching and she recommends these five tactics:

  1. Define your brand One of the best professional investments you can make is to learn to articulate your own value proposition, also called your personal brand. DiMaria explains, “A brand describes who you are, what sets you apart from others, what you contribute and what you want to accomplish. In this information-overdosed world, a brand helps you cut through the clutter and make a memorable impression.” So it’s important that you spend time thinking about how you can convincingly describe your secret sauce.
  2. Give your pitch at every (appropriate) opportunity DiMaria recommends that you “master the art of speaking up.” Create scripts that you can use in different business and personal encounters: an elevator pitch that is also a self-introduction, to use at networking events; a “small talk” version of your elevator pitch to use at social or quasi-business gatherings; and stories you can use whenever, to illustrate how your hard work and ingenuity produced results for an important project.
  3.  Give credit to everyone, including yourself   Always thank others for their contributions and don’t shy away from acknowledging your own contributions as well. Do not relegate yourself to the background. DiMaria wants you to remember to find a way to weave in your own role when recognizing achievement. “If your team accomplished something significant, you likely did something wonderful as well,” she says. “You’re not stealing the spotlight by describing how everyone contributed; you’re sharing it.”
  4. Amplify your reach with social media Complete as many sections of your LinkedIn profile as possible, so that visitors will find solid evidence of the depth and breadth of your professional and volunteer experiences. If you have only one or two recommendations, ask a colleague to write one for you that highlights a strength you’d like to highlight (and offer to write a recommendation in return). If practical, upload examples of your work to the Portfolio section, so that browsers of your profile can understand what you do and gauge the quality of your work. Search for groups associated with your profession and join one or two. Be sure to select the option to receive updates, so that you can join conversations every once in a while. If you don’t have a flattering photo that complements your professional aspirations, have one taken. If you’re feeling brave and ambitious, open a Twitter account that you’ll confine to business purposes and announce conferences that you’ll attend or courses that you’ll teach, if those are things you do regularly. If you get a promotion or receive special recognition at work for a job well done, share the announcement. You can do the same on Facebook. Always respond to replies and inquiries, since generating conversations is an important objective.
  5. Avoid the humble brag It’s impossible to ignore that Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts are filled with humble bragging posts that try to disguise boasting with a nasally whine (“Now that I’ve reached 500,000 followers, I never have time to cook or do laundry….I barely have time to sleep….”). Everyone sees through the humble brag and it does nothing for your integrity. If you have a success to share, own it because you earned it.

Finally, choosing to remain silent about your accomplishments can diminish your earnings. “It’s those who visibly take credit for accomplishments who are rewarded with promotions and gem assignments,” writes Klaus. As our economy has resulted in less job stability, self-promotion has become more important. Even if you aren’t a Freelancer or entrepreneur, advises Klaus, you need to think like one and start talking up your most valuable product: you.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Narcissus (1597-1599) by Caravaggio (1571 – 1610 Milan, Italy) courtesy of the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Rome