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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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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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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

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Summer Reading 2025

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Professional development is like getting regular exercise and maintaining a balanced diet—a gift you give to yourself as you strive to become a successful business owner. When thinking of professional development, conferences sponsored by professional associations or skills building courses held at a college may come to mind but think again—professional development is available in a variety formats. Among the most accessible and affordable methods to obtain professional development can be found in books.

Reading has traditionally played an important role in the development of successful business owners and leaders. When you open a book, a world of ideas, information and insights will be there to enlighten you. You’ll find lessons and experiences that can be critical to your growth as a business owner and leader, shared by authors who give first-person accounts of how they overcame challenges and found success. The books you read can teach you how to sharpen your business acumen and use your newfound proficiency to propel your business forward. The practical knowledge contained in a typical business-themed book can result in your discovery of actionable insights that can become competitive advantages, from refining your decision-making prowess to bolstering your effectiveness when working with teams.

In today’s fast-paced and endlessly-evolving business landscape, continuous education is not only beneficial, it’s essential; but in the age of information overload, it may be difficult to find time to read when you devote the majority of your time to operating your business. Furthermore, you may feel too overwhelmed by the process of researching and identifying topics that will be most useful or interesting to you—the business books genre is a wide field. With those realities in mind, I am happy to share with you a selection of books curated to appeal to Freelance consulting professionals and also business owners or leaders. I hope that one or more titles will interest you. First, here are suggestions that may help you find time to read this summer (and beyond!).

  • Schedule. Like scheduling time for any important task, specifying your reading time will help you choose a convenient time and make it easier to honor your commitment to professional development. Consider reading after dinner, to lend a “relax and unwind” vibe to your reading. You may find the 8:00 – 11:00 PM time slot, three or four nights a week, a great way to wrap up your day.
  • Formats. Especially if your commute is 45 minutes or longer, or your fitness routine is self-directed and not in a class format, consider listening to audio books and/or podcasts as your method to obtain professional development. When in transit or working out, insert your headphones and tune in to an interesting book or program that expands your knowledge, builds skills and enhances your performance as a business owner or leader.
  • Topics. There are many business-themed titles published each year, but it is inevitable that only a select few will appeal to you. Reading book reviews of titles that grab your attention—in the business section of your local newspaper, in the Wall Street Journal or other nationally known newspaper, in Kirkus Reviews , or Goodreads—to winnow potential reading choices as you discover and evaluate titles and authors that may appeal to you and maintain your motivation to read and learn. Below are 10 books to cue up on your Summer 2025 reading playlist.

Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business (2019) Paul Jarvis

Online-tech veteran Paul Jarvis, whose A-list clients include Microsoft and Mercedes Benz, describes the advantages of running a “company of one,” whether as an independent Freelance professional or as an autonomous, corporate employee. Jarvis has most emphatically not bought into the “grow or die” ethos and prefers instead to operate as a “lean and agile” entity. Jarvis explains how running your one-person shop enables you to both achieve a work-life balance that works for you and, just as importantly, enables you to avoid the need to navigate a potentially suffocating corporate hierarchy and sometimes poisonous office politics. In your little empire, you can work efficiently. Jarvis has learned that smart entrepreneurship isn’t about size—it’s about building a better business that works for you.

 Company of One details a refreshingly original business strategy that’s focused on a commitment to being better instead of bigger. Jarvis has discovered that staying small results in maintaining the freedom to pursue more meaningful pleasures in life as you avoid the headaches and complications that are inherent in traditional growth-oriented business. With this groundbreaking guide, you’ll learn how to set up your shop, determine your desired revenues, manage unexpected crises, keep your key clients happy and find self-fulfillment as you do.

Competing in the Age of AI (2020) Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani

Here’s a book that is an excellent resource for business owners and leaders whose organizations currently use, or are considering, Artificial Intelligence powered tools in their operations. The authors have produced a useful guide to the realities of doing business in today’s digital landscape and present actionable insights into how introducing AI-driven operating models can enable businesses to achieve scale and scope at an unprecedented rate.

Iansiti and Lakhani show how reinventing a business entity around data, analytics and AI removes centuries-old constraints on scale, scope and machine learning advantages that have traditionally restricted business growth. Recent examples of companies such as Amazon and Google demonstrate how AI-driven processes vastly improve the ability to scale, when compared to traditional data analytical processes, and allow massive scope increase, enabling companies to straddle industry boundaries and create powerful opportunities for machine learning—to drive ever more accurate, complex and sophisticated predictions that make business strategy becomes a new game.

The authors also outline the inherent risks associated with AI and offer recommendations for rethinking current operating models; they also examine the responsibilities that the introduction of AI requires of its users. Finally, Iansiti and Lakhani are transparent about the potential societal impact of AI and point out the potential for algorithmic bias, privacy concerns and cybersecurity threats, along with the need for responsible AI development and governance.

How To Talk To Anyone About Anything (2021) James W. Williams

James W. Williams has written a refreshingly honest, easy-to-follow guide to meeting and greeting and initiating conversations that’s tailor-made for an era when many meetings and even networking opportunities are regularly held in virtual format. As a result, the only avenue to connect with colleagues and attempt to parlay fleeting interactions into deeper connections is hobbled by a computer monitor. Engaging communication skills are increasingly recognized as a powerful and influential competency. 

While some are born with a silver-tongued gift of gab for many, communication aptitude must be developed and nurtured. Williams’ advice is likely to bolster the social acumen of even the most shy and introverted among us, the wallflowers who feel overwhelmed or uncomfortable when attempting to navigate business-slash-social gatherings. If you’ve ever felt awkward in the midst of a meet & greet, or unsure of what to say after an introduction has taken place, this book will show you how to access your communication potential and learn to become a confident conversationalist.

How to Talk to Anyone About Anything provides a user-friendly roadmap that will enable you to practice, grow and eventually shine in social and professional situations. Active listening, small talk and storytelling are situations that the author discusses, as is how to develop the fine art of appearing approachable to your fellow guests when you’re standing alone and wondering if you’ll talk with anyone. Readers will appreciate the many good examples that provide teachable moments and make this book ideal for professionals and social learners alike. Williams’ book is a great soft-skills business resource, that will be a great help to those who struggle with small talk, pitching to clients, or relationship-building within your team. The insights are perfect for occasions where first impressions and informal conversations can open the door to business-enhancing or career-building opportunities.

10X Is Easier Than 2X (2023) Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy

Call this book a must-read for ambitious business leaders. When the mission is to level up business growth, here are insights that give an eye-opening perspective on how to achieve exponential, rather than incremental, growth. This no-nonsense read can give business leaders and owners actionable insights into scaling their businesses rapidly, leveraging technology and resources more effectively and positioning their entity to stay ahead—of the competition and customer tastes—in a rapidly evolving marketplace.

Businesses leaders often aim to achieve progress, for example, and may focus on doubling their results year over year. However, Sullivan and Hardy argue convincingly that aiming for tenfold growth is not only feasible but also more practical and rewarding. As they see it, going for 10x requires letting go of 80% of your current life and going all-in on the crucial 20% that’s relevant and high-impact.

Readers will find practical strategies and mindset shifts that inspire you to break through limitations and achieve exponential growth. The authors emphasize the power of thinking bigger, setting audacious goals and taking massive action. For business owners and leaders, this approach is invaluable as it encourages innovation, pushes boundaries and fosters a culture of continuous improvement.

Acting Up: Winning in Business and Life Using Down-Home Wisdom (2019) Janice Bryant Howroyd

“Never compromise who you are personally to become who you wish to be professionally” is the core message offered by author Janice Bryant Howroyd, who grew up in a family of 11 children. Here she discusses the principles and techniques that she used to build a multinational staffing agency. The author guides readers through questions of leadership, risk-taking, developing confidence and networking, among other topics.

Howroyd also emphasizes the significance of data-driven and strategic business decisions as she simultaneously encourages readers to take a holistic approach to making the most of both their professional and personal lives. The author addresses as well the topic of diversity from the perspective of a black female entrepreneur and urges readers not to define her by demographics. In sum, Howroyd shares in her book the values she lives by and continues to represent: that of a leader who works for good, for growth and for innovation, for her family values and for the same ideals upon which she founded her company—that success is transferrable.

The 1-Page Marketing Plan (2018) by Allan Dib

“The most common way small business owners decide on this (marketing and advertising) is by looking at large, successful competitors in their industry and mimicking what they’re doing. In reality, this is the fastest way to fail and I’m certain it’s responsible for the bulk of small business failures.” Now you know why this book is included in the reading list!

In The 1-Page Marketing Plan, serial entrepreneur and marketer Allan Dib reveals a marketing implementation revolution that makes creating a marketing plan uncomplicated and fast—it’s literally just a single page! By creating and implementing that one-page wonder, you’ll have an effective marketing plan that you can put into motion. Dib understands that small business owners (and Freelance professionals as well) trying to jumpstart their marketing often don’t have adequate resources—money, time, or expertise—provided by employees or Freelance consultants—that big businesses do. The author has devised a credible alternate path that shows how you can create a basic marketing plan to help steer your business in the right direction and, as Dib himself says, puts you on “the fastest path to money”.

Reset: How to Change What’s Not Working (2025) Dan Heath

Reset offers a guide to fixing what’s not working in your business operations—in systems and processes, organizations and companies and even in our daily lives. Author Dan Heath provides real-world stories and actionable insights that can empower you to create lasting change in your organization—and maybe in your life, as well.

What if you could somehow learn to unlock forward movement and achieve the progress that matters most to you, without the need for more resources—like money and connections? Heath shows how, with the same relationships you have and the same financial resources you can access, it is possible to reconfigure the circumstances and bring dramatically better outcomes to your life. Yesterday, you were stuck. Today, you can reset.

The author explores a framework for getting unstuck and making beneficial changes that matter. Heath says that the secret of success is to find the leverage points—places where a bit of effort can yield a disproportionate return. Do that and you can rearrange your resources and activate those pivotal points. Heath also points out that to even experience the feeling of progress can be a leverage point that can accelerate the arrival of the positive change you desire.

The 48 Hour Start-Up: From Idea to Launch in One Weekend (2016) Fraser Doherty

This can’t be done, you say? Well, author and serial entrepreneur and Scottish citizen Fraser Doherty MBE (who was awarded the honorific title Member of the Order of the British Empire for his achievements) begs to differ. In his book, Doherty provides actionable advice on how to identify and shape a viable business idea that is ready to launch in only two days. Doherty’s reasoning behind the 48-hour deadline is simple—he argues that prospective entrepreneurs (aka wantrepreneurs) spend too much time and energy obsessing over the “perfect idea”. The time they waste waiting for the “perfect idea” to appear is time that could be used refining and adapting that business idea for customers who could actually use it.

The book is helpful with the initial decisions that aspiring entrepreneurs must consider when starting a business. In his considerable experience, Doherty has found that launching a business does not have to involve complicated financial projections, elaborate presentations, or extraordinary innovation. A simple, well-executed idea is what it takes to launch and sustain a successful enterprise and Doherty has done it more than once—the first time while still in his teens. 

Doherty also emphasizes that before you invest significant time and resources, quickly reality-test your idea with potential customers and conduct basic market research. The process will help you gauge market demand for your product or service, assess your main competitors, identify and address potential problems early on and, in general, refine your product or service based on the uncensored feedback received from potential customers.

Good Strategy Bad Strategy (2011) Richard Rumelt

It is a given that developing and implementing strategy is the primary task of a leader—whether military leader, business leader, baseball manager, or tennis coach. The definition of a good strategy could be expressed as a specific and coherent response to—and approach for—overcoming the obstacles to progress. A good strategy works by harnessing and applying power where it will have the greatest effect. Yet, author Richard Rumelt asserts that there has been a growing and unfortunate tendency to equate Mom-and-apple-pie values, fluffy buzzwords, motivational slogans and financial goals with “strategy.”

Rumelt displays an astonishing grasp and integration of economics, finance, technology and history to expose and clarify the often-muddled thinking that is the foundation of too many so-called strategies and his book details a clear way to create and implement a powerful action-oriented strategies that will be effective in the real world.

The book helps readers to recognize and avoid the trap of bad strategy and guides them to adopt good, credible, action-oriented strategy that honestly acknowledges and responds to the challenges that businesses encounter. Rumelt cautions readers that strategy should not be equated with ambition, leadership, vision, or planning; rather, strategy is a coherent, action-backed plan supported by a rational argument.

Rumelt emphasizes that strategies are often confused with goals and visions and points out that a plan is what sets strategies apart from goals and gives you a clear idea of what is necessary to succeed. To evaluate and decide which strategies are suitable for your organization, the author says it is necessary to confirm whether you have the resources to implement your strategy and, in addition, ensure that your strategy fits with your current situation. The actions need to fit with your present circumstances and work together to give you the best possible advantage. After this, you’re well on your way to a faultless strategy implementation.

The Courage To Be Disliked (2018) Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga

Strictly speaking, this book is not a business book. One might consider it as an accelerator that gives the determination to push forward with a desire to launch a business entity or achieve other important goals. Kishimi and Koga present their book as a dialogue between an older philosopher and a young man. Over the course of five enlightening and thought-provoking conversations the philosopher, who happens to draw from the theories of Alfred Adler, a late 19th- and early 20th- century psychologist and thought leader in that discipline (along with Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and B. Fred Skinner), explains to his pupil how each of us is able to determine our own life, free from the shackles of past experiences, doubts and the expectations of others. The wisdom that the philosopher reveals is deeply liberating and enables his pupil to develop the courage to change and to ignore the limitations that others, or even the pupil himself, may use to control him.

The result is a book that is both highly accessible and profound in its importance, yet it is not without controversy; certain of authors’ premises you may find shocking or, at least, unrealistic. Still, the book is, at its core, about reclaiming your power and using it to shape the life that is meaningful to you.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©Beli_photos

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Client Onboarding Best Practices

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It’s official—the contract is signed and you have a new client! You’re super-excited about commencing work on an interesting project. It’s game on and time to put your best foot forward. As you stand at the threshold of this new opportunity, are you thinking about how you might create a 5-star first impression of yourself and your company? Consider this—you can devise a unique protocol for new (or returning) clients that when implemented will showcase the professionalism of your organization and also officially welcome clients and make them feel confident and even more pleased with the decision to hire you.

Developing a standard procedure that welcomes new clients to your company and inaugurates the working relationship is a practice tailor-made to cast your company in a favorable light. You are already familiar with the ritual of clients asking you to provide certain information when a working relationship begins, in particular your Social Security or Employer Identification Number, mailing address or bank account and routing numbers. Launching your new client protocol will enable you to reciprocate with a process that communicates the competence and sophistication of your business practices. Implementing your new client welcoming strategy will distinguish your organization from competitors and also create conditions for a working relationship that will likely to meet or exceed client expectations.

Right out of the gate, you’ll show clients that they are in good hands, that you’ve got this. It is imperative that Freelancers who operate in the B2B sector present to clients an environment of pleasant and welcoming efficiency that validates the decision to do business with your organization as it walks both parties toward the launch of project work. Demonstrating that dependability and attention to detail are inherent in your organization (i.e., your brand) as you prepare to start project work makes a powerful statement. Clients will recognize that you are capable of managing all aspects of the project and the working relationship, from successful completion of the assignment, to providing excellent customer service assistance, such as making adjustments to address individual client needs or after-sale support and training.

This welcoming process that forward-thinking organization leaders present to clients is called onboarding. Onboarding can be described as a road map that guides new clients through a standardized mutual introduction that’s conducted in advance of starting the project work. Onboarding may also include an after-sale product or service walk-through to ensure clients understand how to optimally use the product or service purchased and review how to bring about the expected solutions. The primary purpose of onboarding is to anticipate and address the most frequent client questions and eliminate miscommunication that may lead to frustration or disappointment with the purchase. A personalized and seamlessly executed onboarding process makes clients feel supported, confident and ready to derive value from the fulfillment of the project work or use of the product or service purchased. Good onboarding makes good business.

Onboarding is credited with increasing client lifetime revenue value—the total revenue you can expect to generate from doing business with a customer during the business relationship. A well-designed and implemented onboarding process enhances client satisfaction and is thought to increase client loyalty, stimulate repeat business and referrals and minimize client churn. Effective onboarding is recognized as a competitive advantage that accesses significant benefits (see below). See also suggestions of potentially useful elements of a B2B onboarding process.

  • Establish a positive and productive working relationship with clients
  • Step One for building the foundation of a successful customer retention strategy
  • Showcase your competence, professionalism and efficiency
  • Enhance your company brand

Schedule a videoconference call or face2face meeting

Within one business day of signing the project contract, schedule a videoconference or face2face meeting with the client’s project leader. This will be your first onboarding gesture, a standard business etiquette courtesy that enables you to meet the client’s project contact (who may not be the person who signed the contract on behalf of the client’s company) and express how pleased and excited you are to work with him/her. Once the pleasantries have taken place, you and the client contact can discuss how to initiate the project work or, if the client purchased a product, e.g., a software service, you will facilitate a tutorial (after-sale support) to ensure that the client will be comfortable using the product.

Because onboarding exists to give the working relationship a smooth and efficient start that is inclined to culminate in favorable results, you’ll want to immediately confirm your access to whatever resources will be integral to efficiently and successfully performing the work. As well, make certain that you clarify the role and responsibilities and availability of your client contact. Confirmation of the project timeline, project milestones and payments linked to achieving the milestones is also best done during the initial meeting with your client contact. Another agenda item is to ask the client contact to describe what a successfully completed project will look like. The answer will confirm what you must deliver to meet or exceed client expectations. Take notes to ensure that you fully understand all metrics the client will use to define success.

After reviewing the important points made, send an email to your client contact to memorialize everyone’s understanding and complete the onboarding process. Your client will be certain to appreciate your attention to his/her needs. Make it obvious that your goal is to produce excellent work that positions the client to look good to the higher-ups at his/ her company. As a final client onboarding gesture, assemble a few branded swag items if you have any, e.g., pens, note pads, tote bags, water bottles and the like, and ship them to your client’s office.

B2B Onboarding Software

To make your onboarding process smoother, there are effective and affordable digital tools that you might want to research. The tools can function as a Freelancer’s onboarding assistants that save you time, keep things organized and achieve the important goal of making clients feel supported every step of the working relationship. Here are B2B onboarding software options to research.

  • Sending welcome emails, scheduling meetings and assigning tasks can be done automatically.
  • You’ll always know where the client is during the onboarding journey and if they need extra help.
  • Receive feedback data on how clients are engaging with your onboarding process, so you can identify sticking points and improve your process over time.

Happy 4th of July and thanks for reading,

Kim

Photograph: © International Churchill Society. Cunard Line’s RMS Queen Mary made her maiden ocean voyage in May 1936, sailing from Southampton, England and docking in New York City.

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Find Your PR Sweet Spot

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Establishing the image of your business entity as a valuable and noteworthy presence in its marketplace, and also the community in which it operates, is a worthwhile goal for every business owner. Bringing attention to the distinctive qualities and contributions of your business entity confers respect and confidence and portrays your organization as deserving of your business. The actions that an organization takes to disseminate and manage strategically selected information about an organization (or individual) that is intended to achieve that goal is the function of public relations, and it is part of a company’s marketing strategy.

Marketing, along with its subspecialties, advertising and branding, are discrete methods of communicating with a company’s target customers; business owners typically create specific strategies to activate these segments. All of these processes will, ideally, work in tandem to deliver your company’s message to your target audience—define and establish the desired company image, promote company name recognition, generate and maintain the trust of current and prospective customers that distinguish your organization from its competitors—and encourage sales.

PR vs. marketing, branding, advertising

Communication is the core of marketing and all of its subspecialties. The role of marketing is to build awareness and encourage sales of the company’s products and services by using one or more promotional strategies—for example, email marketing, social media marketing, or content marketing. The role of public relations is to generate media exposure and promote name recognition for the company, with the intention of encouraging (positive) interactions with current and prospective customers and, ultimately, to amplify the renown and respect of the brand. 

The brand is the foundation of the company’s reputation and represents its essence. The role of the brand is to establish and maintain a compelling and memorable image for the company and its services and products; the brand reflects the attributes that differentiate your company from competitors. The brand is often supported by a story that articulates the business vision, mission and core values. The branding process typically entails the creation of a brand identity, a personality and a perception, for your company and its services and products that will define how you would like current and prospective customers to feel about the company when they encounter or interact with its name and/or logo.

The role of advertising is to promote the sale of company services and products by using images, audio, and/or text promotions that a company pays to have featured in print or (audio or visual) digital media outlets that are followed and trusted by the company’s current and prospective customers, with the intention of increasing awareness and encouraging sales.

Media exposure and name recognition

As noted above, the function of public relations is to advance company name recognition and media exposure by facilitating mentions in selected media outlets, for the purpose of cultivating and maintaining a positive image. PR is meant to amplify the brand image by providing exposure (publicity) that presents positive and compelling information about the company that is intended to encourage engagement, customer loyalty and, ultimately, sales.

PR is utilized to give the brand a flattering shout-out that is featured in media channels and outlets familiar to and respected by target customers, professional peers and the community in which the company operates. PR is about creating buzz for your business, to pique the curiosity of current and potential customers and motivate them to experience a positive reaction toward your company.

PR’s principal strategy is storytelling and it’s up to you to shape your PR topic, images, text and narrative to tell your story in a way that achieves your goal. To maximize its effectiveness, design your PR to grab attention and capture the interest of the audiences you want to know about your company (and you). Those who encounter your company’s PR might even become interested enough to visit your website or social media platforms to learn more, or get an update, about your company.

So what does PR mean in real time?

There are about a half dozen subspecialties of PR that businesses commonly use, for example public affairs and crisis communications, but Freelancers and owners of small businesses are mostly interested in media relations as a way to obtain third-party credibility for their company when target customers, along with your professional peers and also the general public, might find positive news about the company supplied by an unbiased source.

Freelancers and SMB owners might consider launching a media relations PR strategy by leveraging your professional knowledge and experience to propose yourself to media outlets as an expert source. An expert source is a knowledgeable source who is invited to provide a quote that is included in an article or segment featured in a print, visual, or audio medium. Serving as an expert source is a desirable opportunity and is usually accessed by way of a relationship with a journalist or editor.

You might be able to initiate media relationship by simply telephoning or emailing business editors or authors of business articles at your preferred outlets. Be advised that Freelancers or SMB owners will be more likely to find success by approaching smaller media outlets. Perhaps an even better tactic can be used by those who place paid advertisements in those media outlets. A savvy and proactive move would be to reach out to your contact in the advertising department and ask for a referral to the business editor or the right journalist. The gatekeepers of most media outlets are likely to look favorably on an advertiser who also has the credentials to serve as an expert source on business topics.

Now when you have a potential story, meaning an announcement or other information that the media outlet’s readers may be interested in, the standard practice is to create and send a press release to initiate contact with your targeted media outlets. Your press release has two functions—first, to clearly and succinctly detail the who, what, when, where and why of your info and second, to initiate the process of cultivating media relationships.

Before you send your press release, confirm the media outlets to approach by telephoning or emailing the business editor and asking if there may be an interest in your story. No editor or journalist is interested in a story unless they feel the story will resonate with their readers or viewers. If you get the greenlight, then quickly follow-up by sending your press release. In a day or two, reach out to confirm receipt of your press release and ask again how the editor/journalist feels about the relevance of your information or announcement.

Yet another PR strategy, albeit one that will entail an investment of several hundred to several thousand dollars, is to campaign for a local, or national, business award. Organizations typically have many categories that provide multiple pathways to winning award. As is demonstrated by the music industry Grammy Awards and the movie industry’s Academy Awards, receiving an award is nearly always considered newsworthy by media outlets. If you’ve got a great client list and/or your sales revenue is solid, you may want to consider this option.

Access your PR sweet spot

  • Earned (unpaid) media PR exposure can be obtained by giving a quote to a media outlet that covers your area of expertise. Register with Help A Reporter Out (HARO), a service that connects journalists with expert sources has resumed operations after a brief closure. Invitations to give a noteworthy quote that addresses the requested subject are selected on a first-come, first-served basis can set you onto your path to amplifying your credibility and could open the door to additional PR opportunities. Stay close to your email.
  • If your budget allows, consider paid media exposure, perhaps by campaigning for a business or industry award that can be utilized to launch a PR campaign. If you win any level of recognition, you’ll be able to include the good news on your website and social media platforms, along with sending press releases to media outlets and channels that your current and prospective customers, as well as your professional peers, follow. From your local chamber of commerce to the Stevie Awards for business, nearly every award, local or global, is a reliable pathway to good PR.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©Carl Mydans/Life Magazine. Actress Carole Lombard (1908-1942) and her husband, the actor Clark Gable (1901-1960), attend a movie premiere in Hollywood, CA (1936).

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Business Rescue Strategy—Push Through, Pull Out, or Pivot?

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If the fluctuating and unpredictable economic conditions that have impacted the U.S. economy since well before the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic have taken a toll on your Freelance enterprise, know that your struggle is not an isolated incident. The persistence of those fluctuating and unpredictable economic conditions have been so prevalent that they’ve given rise to a group of defensive business practices collectively known as agile. Agile business practices equip organizations to respond quickly and effectively to adapt to unstable economic circumstances and position the organization to survive and perhaps even thrive when encountering a challenging business landscape.

Business owners and leaders, including Freelance professionals, who typically operate as a single-person entity must, as they navigate unexpected shifts in marketplace conditions, identify viable trends and other potential opportunities that will cushion their organization from destabilizing economic conditions. In some circumstances, the business owner or leader may eventually realize that the best way to access more favorable marketplace conditions is to institute substantive change within the organization’s business model and/or its product or service line. it may become apparent that in order to guide the company toward sustainable profitability, it will be necessary to pivot.

What is a pivot?

You’ve no doubt heard the term dozens of times in the last 10 – 15 years, but do you understand what a pivot entails? A pivot means to change direction and often refers to dance, sports, or business. Referring to the business realm, a pivot requires the company owners and/or leaders to implement a course correction, a change of direction intended to alter the organization’s business model strategy and, in many cases, alter the product or service line and target customer segments. The pivot confirms that an organization’s owners and leaders recognize that its products and/or services are not, and may never become, viable performers in the marketplace. The pivot is intended to jump-start revenue and grow market share; the pivot is a relaunch into what is expected to be a more favorable competitive environment that will enable the company to grow and thrive.

A pivot that performs and produces the outcomes you need requires considerable preparation, skillful execution and good timing. Preparing to pivot begins with moving beyond merely entertaining the possibility of launching a pivot to rolling up your sleeves and doing the necessary work that will tell you whether or not a pivot will be a good choice for your company and which components of your business that should pivot. You’ll use relevant data to guide the strategies you’ll develop to implement a pivot that’s capable of saving your company.

Will the Key Performance Indicators you choose for the pivot recommend that you stay the course and push through—or pull out and close the company? Or, do your KPIs support your plan to pivot and take the company in a new direction? What elements of your business will it be beneficial to change—products or services, sales or distribution strategy, or the target customers? Whatever your data and organizational capabilities indicate as the best format and execution for your pivot, agility, flexibility, collaboration and communication will be central to achieving long-term success.

As I’m sure you’ve guessed, pivoting is a risk and only you can define what represents acceptable risk. Define your capacity to create and manage change by measuring the cost of implementing your pivot and then weighing that cost against the potential rewards. Knowledge is key—a data-driven decision has the best capacity to bring about the best outcomes and it is therefore essential that you access trustworthy sources of relevant data. You may also want to engage the services of an experienced business coach to advise you with the pivot. The Small Business Association SCORE program can be an excellent resource; it is free and available in all 50 states.

When should you consider a pivot?

From technological advancements to the evolving preferences of target customers, from economic upheavals in your local, regional, or national location to cratering company performance metrics or the appearance of an aggressive new competitor, either internal or external factors can force a company to consider pivoting in response to difficult changes. Business owners and leaders are advised to continually observe the environment in which they operate and that includes recognizing signs that indicate it’s time to respond to powerful changes in your marketplace that may indicate the need for radical response—that is, a pivot.

In contrast, not every pivot is a response to negative factors. Sometimes, an attractive opportunity presents itself, providing motivation to hop on board, perhaps by entering a new and potentially lucrative market niche. be advised that pivoting isn’t a magical solution for all business problems; a decision of this magnitude requires due diligence. You might consider a pivot when:

  • Substantial investments of focus and capital have not produced adequate progress
  • The ability to find new customers reaches a plateau and ceases to show a significant upward trajectory
  • Customer response to your products falls short of expectations
  • Intense competition in the market blocks growth

Decision process

1. Understand the business’s strengths (and weaknesses) If you recognize that there must be a pivot, then confirm which areas of your business will change and why. It is imperative to recognize the value of those elements of your strategy and operations that are still relevant. Have the wisdom to play to your strengths and maintain what works.

2. Check in with customers Talk to customers through surveys, feedback forms, or social media to confirm their needs and pain points. This exercise will either tell you that the core offering is not the problem, or it will tell you where, within the offering, change must occur. Additionally, consult the customer data produced by tools like Google Analytics and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms. Analyze all of your customer behavior, such as how they used the product or service, what pages they visited, and how long they spent there. Customer preferences will emerge. You can also monitor social sites to see what customers are saying about your brand. Figure out where the market is, what customers actually want, and go from there. Conducting extensive market research, data analysis and forecasting is essential before deciding whether or not to pivot.

It is well known that the cost of acquiring a new customer costs significantly more than that of retaining an existing one. During the pivot, do your best to keep existing customers. Whether you are a B2B or B2C business, a change in your operating model could mean significant disruption for customers; show customers that they matter by developing and communicating a transition plan as a way to make continuing to do business with you seamless and pleasant. It is in your interest to maintain customer trust and prevent an expensive post-pivot acquisition campaign. However, understand that the pivot will not appeal to everyone. As long as you have consulted customers beforehand and know how the majority feels, you can be confident that those expressing discontentment with new prices or useability, for example, do not represent your base. If you have done your homework, you will already know who these customers are, just as you will have identified those likely to benefit most from the pivot.

Timing

Recognizing the need to pivot and deciding to execute are two different things. Conducting extensive market research, data analysis and forecasting is essential before deciding next steps. Listening to what the market tells you to decide in regard to the pivot is most likely the right move. It is often said that too many people fall victim to over-analysis and miss market opportunity.

Realize that every business encounters change and owners must react if they want to stay current with their audiences and be competitive within their industry. The worst thing for a business is to become stagnant and irrelevant. The success of a new business model depends on the ability to adapt to fast-changing marketplace conditions. The window of opportunity opens only briefly, so the confidence in your team, resources and ability to execute are key measurements in evaluating a decision to pivot. Adapting to new market developments is the only way to ensure success, especially and timing is always a consideration.

Successful implementation

The next phase of the pivot is setting everything in motion. Implementation can be one of the most challenging aspects because your business will be vulnerable to push-back from customers and, if you have any, your employees. Change is often perceived as threatening.

This is the phase where clear, effective communication becomes critical. You will feel resistance from your employees who are uncomfortable with change. Stakeholders who weren’t involved in the decision will feel slighted. Your company’s messaging and resolve must be unwavering regardless of who says what. Communicating this shift from the point of empathy and care while respectfully sharing the need for a pivot and how it will work is essential to keeping the process steady. Pivoting your business is never easy, but planning and implementing the process effectively can be successful.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Bebe Neuwirth models a dancer’s pivot in the musical Chicago (written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, choreography by Bob Fosse, 1975). Photo by Dan Chavkin (1996), courtesy of Dance Magazine Archives.

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How Freelancers Manage Up

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Despite the benefits that the vast majority of Freelance professionals routinely deliver to clients with whom they work, supplying expertise, creativity, problem-solving ability and can-do work ethic to ensure that mission-critical projects and other important initiatives are successfully implemented, from time to time a client may be disappointed with the outcome of his/her experience with Freelance workers. Unfortunately, some clients feel that the Freelancer hired to produce their project deliverables was somehow lacking; these clients may even feel that the Freelancer failed to deliver the desired vision of the project outcome.

While there are any number of factors that might sour the working relationship between client and Freelancer, an objective post-project analysis of what went wrong is almost guaranteed to reveal poor communication between the parties. Because clients initiate the hiring of Freelance professionals, they are responsible for managing the process from Freelancer recruitment to charting the progress and quality of project work, from acknowledging successful project completion to concluding with timely payment for Freelance services rendered. In a perfect world, clients understand their responsibility for creating a positive working environment for their Freelance talent, because they are aware that it’s a smart way to facilitate and encourage his/her best work.

In reality, however, it is not unusual that clients find themselves in uncharted waters when taking on the responsibility of recruiting, hiring and managing Freelance workers. It is therefore a useful practice for Freelance professionals to encourage best practices by diplomatically suggesting a course correction when some vital component is either omitted or is in need of an upgrade. Fortunately, an experienced Freelance professional (like yourself!) can teach clients who may have scant experience working with Freelance professionals how to make their forays into the Freelance workforce a win-win.

Stepping up to “lead from behind” when necessary and encouraging practices that facilitate a collaborative and productive work environment is yet another way to demonstrate your value to clients. Politely asking questions and/or making suggestions that can potentially contribute to successful project outcomes and also the customer experience that the client seeks—but on his/her own, may not always be able to find—is a useful practice. Here are a few tips that might enhance your experiences as a Freelance professional.

Defining the project and expected deliverables

Surprisingly, there are prospective clients who intend to hire a Freelance professional without sufficiently defining the project specifications. If the project specs your client presents appear vague or open-ended, ask for more details that unambiguously detail what is needed (and by what date). What you want to avoid is being judged as unqualified by a client who is unable to describe what s/he wants. The New York Times notes that vague job descriptions cause unqualified candidates to apply for those positions and qualified candidates to avoid them— and that applies to Freelancers as well.

Forward-thinking Freelancers speak up and request clarification of project specs, project deliverables and deadlines and key expectations if there are questions, during the interview and will furthermore confirm project deliverables and deadlines, as well as other key expectations. From your interview meeting notes, reiterate the list of most vital project responsibilities as described by the hiring manager/search committee in the interview thank-you letter that you’ll send. Demonstrate both your professionalism and commitment to the project’s success as you show the hiring manager/search committee that it is most helpful to confirm pivotal elements of the project that the Freelancer who is hired will be expected to do—and also position yourself as the ideal candidate to hire for the assignment.

Onboarding process

To maximize the potential for delivering your client’s vision of a successful project outcome, your ability to meet (or exceed) those expectations will likely be enhanced when you receive some level of onboarding. Onboarding is a “getting to know you” process, a mutual introduction that enables organizations to ensure that employees, and also Freelance workers, will understand its purpose and guiding principles. A concise overview of basic company history and culture can inform your understanding of how the project you’ve been hired to work on fits into the business mission. You can self-start onboarding with a visit to the “About us” page on the company website.

Furthermore, while interviewing to win the assignment, know that you would not be out of place to ask questions about the project—for example, how the project supports or expresses the organization vision and mission, or the history of the project if it’s an ongoing event. Showing the client that you are interested in the values and principles of the organization positions you as more than someone who is primarily interested in satisfying your own agenda, whether it’s working on a certain type of project or simply getting paid. Those are worthwhile, and necessary, motivations, but prospective clients will see you as someone who is genuinely interested in their organization when you ask questions that focus on its history and culture. Your initiative can show clients that it is in their interest to treat Freelancers with as much regard as any member of their team.

Transparency and communication

As you execute the project work, be certain to routinely engage in communication and transparency. Progress reports, possibly in the format of project milestones, are an excellent format for updates that reassure the client that your work meets expectations and is on schedule—and if there are problems or changes, there will be time to fix things.

In addition to project milestones, when you feel it will be helpful, do not hesitate to ask your client for clarification of any aspect of the project work that you’d like to confirm. Successful client relationships work best when there is a transparency that’s supported by ongoing communication. Make time to discuss the work to ensure you and your client are on the same page, discussing ideas, identifying what may be an obstacle, or deserving of some rethinking, and overall keeping the project work on track. Follow a communication style that is comfortable and reassuring for the client as it portrays you in a favorable light and enhances your value as a successful hire.

Invite client feedback

Facilitate for your clients the opportunity to give you constructive feedback, throughout the project and especially at its conclusion. Receiving feedback is important for Freelancers so you’ll understand what it takes to deliver 5-star work and customer experience. Constructive, relevant client feedback helps you learn how to please clients. You want to know what generally makes the working experience stress-free, efficient and pleasant. Happy clients encourage repeat business and referrals—and that makes Freelancers happy!

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Vlada Karpovich for Prexels