1. Adobe Photoshop - The ability to use and understand the basics of pixel based photo manipulation. The best Photoshop experts are constantly learning and experimenting through online tutorials, books and seminars. This is the grand daddy of them all. Make it a goal to spend X amount of time each week learning a new technique.

Test: Can you do complex selections via the selection tool? Are you accomplished with layers? Do you understand how to use adjustment layers, masks and channels? Can you remove blemishes, “scratches” and color correct

2. Adobe Illustrator - The ability to use and understand vector based graphics. This program is essential to creating crisp, clean artwork. You will need this program for logo/identity creation, poster work and even some print work. The program can be a bit tricky to learn but worth all and any aggravation to learn it.

Test: Do you understand the concept of bezier curves? Can you convert a bitmap image to a vector graphic? Have you mastered multi-step gradients? Do you know how to create graphic images with text?

3. Adobe InDesign or Quark Express - The ability to use a page layout program. This program is fundamental to any print work. Whether you are creating books, magazines, brochures, sell sheets or advertisements you will need to possess the skills of a high-end layout program.

Test: Do you understand the concept of Master Pages? Would you be able to set up a 32 page catalog? Do you have an understanding of how to control text with images? i.e.; how to flow text in and around images. Do you have basic knowledge of offset printing and pre-press processes? Hint: if not, schedule a visit to a fairly large local printer and ask if you can be shown their process AND bring a list of a questions.

4. Flash - The ability to use and understand this motion-based juggernaut. Flash is now the most widely deployed video platform on the Internet. Flash Player is installed on nearly twice as many desktops and devices as any other video player. As the web becomes more and more video-based having a solid knowledge of Flash, In my opinion, is one of the most important programs to learn.

Test: Can you create a simple animation? Do you understand the concept of keyframes? Do you know how to incorporate a Flash movie into a web page? Do you understand the power of interactivity and user interface design?

5. Understand Typography One of the most “overlooked” design skills today is knowledge of Typographic design. It is one of the tell-tale signs between a good and excellent designer. Our business is all about communication and if type is not clear, appropriate or well designed the design is seriously compromised.

Test: Do you have a font management system installed on your computer? Have you recently read (or revisited) some of the classic type books? Are you up-to-speed on typographic standards? Do you know the difference between True Type, PostScript and OpenType fonts? Do you have a font reference guide resource book in your studio?

6. Idea Generation In the design business it is critical to have a method of idea generation. Why? Some of the best designers in the world are paid the most money not because they know Photoshop of Flash better than you do but because they have the ability to consistently come up with new and innovative ideas that make their clients serious money.

Test: What methods do you use to generate ideas? Do you know how other innovative thinkers come up with their brilliant ideas? How often to you read (in general) so as to have myriad references and viewpoints to call upon? What do you do when your idea well has gone dry?

7. Building a Network To be successful in area of life you need the help and support of others. This is especially important for designers who need to spend much of their time in their studios/offices. Building a network of trusted confidants and friends will pay off in more ways than you know.

Test: How often do you attend networking events or seminars? Have you made a list of 5 influential people that could help your career? Do you have some sort of system for capturing and entering your new contacts information? What can you do this week to open and expand your network? Have you sought out a successful mentor?

BONUS SKILL #8. General Business Skills You do not have to be a genius at business but you DO need to know basic business skills, like; sales, marketing, accounting, tax strategies, database management, etc. This tends to be one myth that designers rather not deal with. If you are marketing your own design firm or you are a freelancer the sooner you learn your business is NOT graphic design but the advertising and marketing business you will be light years ahead of your competition.

Test: Do you know the basic outline of a sales call? What new marketing strategies have you learned/implemented? When was the last time you wrote a hand-written thank you note or sent a surprise gift to a client?

Those who tap into their raw talents and passion get ahead further and faster in the ever-expanding Web world. It seems obvious, but most web types get drawn toward immediate, short-term opportunities and wander far from their true calling.

Enter specialization

Renew your drive by specializing in an area where you naturally thrive.

When you focus on one particular area or niche, your knowledge and experience increase rapidly. Within a short timeframe, you get in tune with leading technologies and trends, become established in your industry and market, start to earn top dollar and ultimately gain full control of a satisfying career.

Conversely, if you attempt to be all things to all people, you’ll produce mediocre work and attract comparable clients.

Such was the case with a web-savvy individual who recently completed a series of projects for my business. During the 1990s, he had his hands in programming, design, online marketing and copywriting. “I was attracting the worst customers,” he said. When he wasn’t haggling over price, he was dealing with unhappy clients demanding freebies. He finally decided to stick with what he knows best: programming. Now he works less, makes more and gets to pick his clients.

Not too long ago, another programmer who’s been developing websites for 10 years asked me: “Should I go to school so I can also provide clients designs?”

Rather than broaden his work scope, I suggested he narrow it. A great programmer can’t necessarily become a great designer and vice-verse. It comes down to recognizing what you’re good at and leveraging that talent. After all, it’s no coincidence the very best websites are collectively created by professional web copywriters, designers, programmers and other specialists.

On the design front, a Vancouver-based design team I’ve worked with began researching the food industry’s web needs, and decided to pursue that niche. It didn’t take long to land some notable restaurants and become the ‘go to’ web design firm in that industry. They discovered they have a knack for it, wholeheartedly threw themselves into it and clients now knock on their door.

Unleash your true passion and talent

How do you determine your niche? Consider what you love doing and what you do well. Hopefully the two overlap. Then determine your market; who could you best serve? Finally, fine-tune how you position yourself by listening closely to common customer complaints and problems. If there’s a pain your competition or the industry isn’t paying attention to, you’re sitting on a goldmine.

Some tips on determining your potential expertise and niche:

1) Write down what, how, when and where you are going to offer your service.

2) Describe your strengths (how and why you’re better than the competition).

3) Acknowledge your weaknesses (things you need to improve or delegate).

4) Develop a profile of your ideal client (age, sex, needs, spending habits, region and so on).

The sharper your focus in a particular segment of your industry, the quicker you can gain expertise or even authority status in your field. And that’s when the best clients come to you; the one’s who value your work and pay accordingly.

It’s 6:00 p.m. You’re dead tired, but instead of an early night, you go to your “second job” — your freelance business.

Between writing articles, researching new assignments and invoicing for completed work, it will be well past midnight before you can even think of going to bed. How much longer can you keep this up, you wonder? If this sounds familiar, maybe it’s time to quit your job and focus on your freelance career full-time.

One of the best ways to ensure success as a freelancer is to start part-time while holding a full-time job. However, when do you know it’s time to let go of your job?

The following checklist will help you decide if it’s time to make the leap from employee to full-time freelancer.

1. Money If you started freelancing with the intention of one day quitting your full-time job, then that plan should have included setting income aside for this day.

Do you have six months to one year of expenses set aside? Is your business bringing in steady income? If you were able to devote 15-20 more hours per week to it, could you at least double what it brings in now?

Looking back over one to two years of numbers should give you enough data to do some smart (read, conservative) projections. Don’t have at least 12 months of income data to analyze? Then my advice is not to quit — unless the business is exceeding all expectations and you are really raking in the profits.

Bottom line: If you have six to twelve months worth of expenses set aside and won’t have to depend on your freelance income to pay you anything during this period, then maybe it’s time to consider quitting, or at least switching roles (ie, working your job part-time and freelancing full-time).

2. Time Do your freelance duties take up more than four hours a day? Do you work six to seven days a week just to stay on top of your workload?

If this is true and you have a steady stream of projects already lined up, then maybe it’s time to make the move.

Note: Freelancing is an up and down business. Just because projects are lined up does not mean they will come to fruition. If these are steady clients that almost always come through (ie, they do an annual report every year and you have been doing it for the past two years), then you can “safely” count on the income.

However, be careful that the bulk of your income is not coming from 1-2 clients. Get 6, 7, 8 or more, steady clients — and constantly market to acquire new ones — before you even consider making the move.

3. Quality of Life If the quality of your life is suffering because there are only 24 hours in the day and you need 56, then it’s definitely time to consider quitting.

If you’re working all the time and not spending time with family and friends, then both streams of income will start to suffer. If your freelance business has been humming along on training wheels for a while, then maybe it’s time to make a real go of it.

What exactly does this mean? It means that you get up and put in a solid 8, 9, 10 hours (at least) a day to expand. I’m reminded of the quote, “An entrepreneur [freelancer] works 16 hours for himself, so he won’t have to work 8 for someone else.”

If you decide to make a go of freelancing full-time, then this is where the gloves come off; where the real work comes in. Here are some general guidelines to observe as you make the transition:

Leave your job on good terms: That means handing in proper notice, offering to train a replacement, be on call for finishing up any special projects — whatever it takes to let your previous employer know that you are a professional and won’t leave them in the lurch.

After all, you never know if/when you will need to return or if your company will be able to refer clients or become a client themselves.

Prioritize: Managing yourself is a lot harder than being under someone else’s tutelage. Develop the habit of writing a list of things to be accomplished. What works for me is at the end of every day, writing in my day planner what I need to accomplish the following day. It usually doesn’t work out that way, but at least I have a plan if I start to stray, or feel like, “Now what do I do?”

Eat right and exercise: After all, if you don’t take care of yourself, it jeopardizes all of your income.

Good luck!

There are times when the word “freelancer” can kill your sales pitch. Just like location, location, location in real estate is everything — in the uncertain world of freelancing, perception, perception, perception is the golden rule.

So, following are three instances when you should refer to yourself as something other than a freelancer.

1. Networking Functions. I’ll use a personal example here. I attend many networking functions in pursuit of business. When I do my elevator speech*, I usually refer to myself as a freelance business writer.

However, when I do my follow-up, I use the phrase “business copywriter” or “copywriter.” Why? Simple. In a group, many ears are listening and freelance conveys an overall idea of what I’m all about. The broad groups gets the broad message. BUT, when I follow up, I use the more specific term, ie, business copywriter.

Usually I will forward/will have forwarded samples of my work to prospects so that when I contact them, they have some reference point from which to judge. This is why it is important to target a niche and market to that niche, ie, I’m a real estate writer, a technology writer, a finance writer, etc.

While you can ostensibly write for many different markets, it is much easier to become successful as a freelance writer if you target a niche and market the hell out of it! (See the article, How to Develop a Niche with NO Experience & Make it Profitable for Years to Come, on InkwellEditorial.com for more on this).

*Elevator Speech: A 10-second commercial you can repeat in your sleep potential prospects. Every professional – and too many writers don’t treat their livelihood as a profession – should have one of these.

Mine is, “I’m a business writer with particular focus on marketing and real estate issues. I produce copy for everything from brochures to websites to direct mail pieces.”

2. Direct Mail/Sales Materials - Why wouldn’t you want the word “freelancer” on these?

In my experience (and we’re talking 19+ years in the editorial industry), using the word freelancer conveys the message – cheap/will work for free/will work for food/can write about anything and will do so for chump change.

Sorry, but this is just my feeling – and my experience.

When you define what you do in specific terms, ie, legal writer, direct mail copywriter, it immediately adds more prestige to your image. It conveys a message of “I have some experience here that is worth paying for.” Not, I’m a starving hired hand.

When you put your image out there – particularly if you are paying for items to promote your business – ie, brochures, postcards, etc. – you want prospects to immediately connect with what you do.

Nike Your Way to Success!

A good example, Nike. While there are tons of sneakers – Nike separated itself by being the shoe of ATHLETES. It’s not the first shoe you think of when you think of style, but if you think of running, golf (thanks to Tiger), basketball (thanks to MJ), I’ll be Nike is in the top three.

And, that’s all you can hope for.

“Freelance Writer” doesn’t convey any specialty – there’s nothing to make the skill stick to.

I understand why many freelancers do this – they’re trying to attract as many clients as possible. But again, lest I sound like a broken record, take the time to define and go after a niche and hang your hat on that. You’ll be much more successful much quicker than trying to target everyone with your services.

3. Seminars/Presentations If you are lucky enough to speak to a group of people, remove the word freelancer from your presentation (almost).

When I speak, I always address the issue of freelancing” I usually say something along the lines of:

“Yes, I’m what most consider a freelance writer. But, what I’m going to talk to you about today is my real job, how I became a self-sustaining, work-from-home, business writer.”

Usually, I get a few confused looks. And I go on to explain that:

“There is a difference. The difference being that freelancing is usually not thought of as a business.”

I further explain that I think of, and conduct my writing career as, a small business — a small business that provides business writing services to a myriad of clients. I clarify for them that I believe that my success can be attributed to this fact.

That’s when I usually grab their attention.

Then, I go on to say that they may refer to me as a freelance writer, but I refer to myself as a business writer/small business writer/business copywriter. This gives them something else to add to “freelance;” it gives the word freelance something to stick to.

Why would you want to give the word freelance something to stick to?

The Power of Qualified Referrals: When prospects think of you, or think of recommending you, you want them to refer people who can actually use your skill set – and to whom you will have to do little actual selling.

If you tell someone that you’re a freelance writer, but don’t tell them what you specialize in, they may refer you – but it will be someone you can’t work with. This damages you in two ways:

a) First, it may make people hesitate to refer you again because they don’t have a clear picture of what you do. When people are unsure, they don’t act. So, make sure what you do is crystal clear so that when people refer you, they can also rave about you!

b) Makes you look incompetent: As a writer, your job is to get a message across. If you can’t even get your own marketing message across, how can you possibly convince a client that you can make their message crystal clear?

Conversely, if your message is seamless, you can use your own site/brochure/newsletter as an example: ie, remember when you went to my website? Could you tell immediately what my message is? Well, I can make sure that your message comes across just as clear.

Boom – contract signed!

In conclusion, it has been my experience that people listen peripherally, UNTIL you hit on something that appeals to them. So, while using the term “freelance” can garner you some initial interest from prospects, being specific is what will bring in the money.

Getting from one level to the next in your career can be a tough climb. In all my years as a recruiter, I found that the number one reason professionals fail to advance is that they don’t realize their worth — or how to capitalize on it.

Most professionals undersell, understate and/or outright don’t take stock of their skills and accomplishments. So, how do you brand yourself for career advancement? Following the steps below will put you well on your way.

1. Assess Your Skills & Abilities. I mean, really take stock. Don’t look at your existing resume. Start with your current position and list every project you’ve worked on, every dollar you saved, every new skill you mastered, every client who’s bottom line you increased.

Just make a list - no matter how minute the project, dollar amount or skill. Dollars to doughnuts, you have quite an impressive list in front of you. Many professionals don’t ever take the time to do this type of in-depth skill analysis.

Okay, you have your list. Now what?

2. Organize Your List How? I’d separate them into categories. Depending on your profession, they may look something like:

Sales Increased: List all cases where sales increased because of your input (eg, project you headed, direct mail campaign you wrote copy for, reorganization you structured, etc.

Dollars Saved: Similar to the above, list all instances where you saved a client/company money either directly or indirectly.

Skills Mastered: Did you take an HTML class? Did you go on a leadership retreat to master new management policies? Again, whatever skill it is you’ve mastered - whether it be a hard skill like coding, or a soft skill like employee management - put it in this category.

Projects Headed: If you spearheaded a project, list it. Eg, did you convert client files from QuickBooks to Peachtree, a new software you learned? Did you create a filing system to track client images? Did you create a new layout and design for a client brochure?

3. Create a Professional Profile If you’re a freelancer, I advise that you submit professional profiles to potential clients, not a resume (this subliminally says I’m an employee/I want a job).

A professional profile says that you’re an independent consultant who can help a potential client increase their (insert client objective). Eg, sales, customer subscriber list, client retention rate, etc.

If you’re a full-time employee, I would create this category on my resume. You can name it any number of ways, eg, Professional Profile, Professional Summary, Career Highlights, etc. It’s up to you. The point is to create a place where, at a glance, potential employers can grasp what you can offer.

4. Market Yourself This is where many professionals - freelancers and full-time job seekers alike - fall down. YOU are the product. Market yourself.

Create a professional website and/or create a blog. When you apply for positions/gigs, direct potential clients/employers to this.

Even if you are currently employed, it can be helpful to create some type of online professional preference, if only to keep track of your accomplishments as they happen. Then, when you are ready to move on and/or branch out on your own, all you have to do is make it “Live.”

In today’s ever-competitive professional environment, it’s those who are able to effectively sell themselves who get the plum jobs/assignments. Don’t be left behind.

Brand the thing you know the best - you!

Yuwanda Black is the publisher of InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. Don’t want to ever worry about “career advancement” again? Start a freelance writing career! It’s fast, simple and easy. Learn how at InkwellEditorial.com

Okay so you have designed sites for the grandma next door trying to sell her recipes online, Joe’s band trying to connect with people who saw them performing at Billy’s Bar and James’ Cycle Repair telling why they are the best cycle stand in the town!

Now you want bigger clients. Clients which can help you buy your first car from the profits.

When we are talking about big guys here, we are talking of established businesses. Sure there are other categories of big-boys too, but for the sake of simplicity (and time constraints) I am going to talk about corporations and mid-sized companies.

Unlike small businesses and individuals, here you will be dealing with professional managers rather than owners. And, if you don’t already know, it really helps knowing how to play golf.

Let’s get one thing very clear from the starting. The people you will be dealing in these companies have put in lot of effort and taken risks to achieve what they have achieved. To make sure that they don’t screw up things, they become extremely risk averse and tend to avoid it wherever they can.

Boy! That was already ’nuff to make my head hurt. Let’s get down to business.

Tip #1 - Sneak Into Old Boys Network. Like I said, people in these positions try to be risk averse so that they don’t screw up their own career prospects and their company’s performance. But risk is something which is invariable if they are doing something new and, probably, hiring someone to work on their website is one of them.

So what do they do? If they can’t totally remove the risk, they try to minimize it. And the best way to do it is to take recommendations from their insider network — people they trust to give them the best advice and recommendation from their experience.

If you want to be the one being recommended, you better be known to and trusted by this insider group. And here’s a fact for you — people who are already successful and powerful are surely part of one insider groups or more for different people. After all, this world is made up of people and trust.

So your job now is to build contact with people which will get you referrals.

How to do it? Should you attend those networking events which keep taking place? Erm. Not really. People who attend these networking events are usually just jobless blokes rather than hot shots. The best places to meet the power-group are Golf Courses, High Class Parties, Important Trade Shows etc. How exactly you sneak into these places is essentially your headache — I just had to tell where to find them.

Tip #2 - Act Like the Big Boys. People will trust you with their success if you already are successful. They would want you to have enough infrastructure and experience to handle a project as large as theirs. They would essentially want you to be a big guy yourself.

So what do you do? Fake it till you make it. But be sure that you actually can pull off that project and fake it just enough to give them an impression that yes you will be able to handle their project easily without a hitch.

Tip #3 - Bribe Them. No Seriously. There is a principle of psychology that if you do someone a favor or give them something, they will try to return it to you in way or another. So, why not gift them something?

The Bribe we are talking here can be anything from a lavish lunch or dinner or a bottle of wine or anything good. Now — make sure that it doesn’t blatantly look like bribe. Try to give it under some other pretext.

Tip #4 - Fuck the Funny Money. Yeah, absolutely no Google AdSense or “Hit the Monkey and Win a Million Bucks” advertisements on your website. Make your website professional. If you have absolutely no idea what I am taking about, go take a look at the sites of the big agencies and you will get an idea.

Tip #5 - Consulting is the Word. These companies are not really looking for services but rather solutions. So your job here is to provide complete solutions to solve a particular problem. Rather than being a service provider, be a consultant!

Now stop reading this blog and start going out and making contacts which will help you get big clients.

Got comments on this article? Post em below!

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A reminder to myself why I do what I do.

I happen to know a girl that plays guitar and sings in a very successful local cover band. They are amazingly good at what they do. One evening, I was watching them play at a club, and I found myself looking more at the audience than the gorgeous girls on stage. People were having a great time! At that moment, during the short time the band played, the band was really making the life of the audience awesome. I was absolutely mesmerized by it. I realized right then, that it is my destiny, my purpose, and my passion, to make that kind of impact on people. Help them feel better, improve their lives, let them have more fun.

I don’t feel the need to deliver some huge life-altering experience, or something that lasts for years. I am of the strong belief that it is the small things that makes up your actual life, not the huge ones. For instance, I remember a party at a good friend of mine. It was a great party! But the best part came after the party itself. You see, my friend has access to this huge house, and I and some other people spent the night. The morning after, we had breakfast. Hung over and tired, we all sat in my friends sofa, had coffee and bread that tasted like heaven. We talked about this and that as the spring sun started to fall through the windows. I’m pretty sure that it was the best time of my life, right there. A good breakfast with good people.

That’s why the best part of running my eCommerce business is actually sending off the envelopes with the merchandise in them. I love the fact that I touch several thousand people, even if it’s just a little in each case.

I love communicating. I love speaking to people. Every single business idea I’ve ever had came from a conversation. Every time I’ve fallen in love with someone, it was when I talked with them. I like people that communicate well, and people that like me like me because I myself communicate well. Without interaction, bad or good, humanity would halt to a standstill in a matter of minutes, and so would any business.

This is why I hate the customer service of so many companies. They grow so large that they are nothing but large, money-making blobs that are utterly impersonal. My local bus company is a prime example of this. Their customer service is total crap. They switch bus drivers like I switch underwear, and most of them are just as service-minded as your average cactus. The very way their company is designed makes it impossible for them to have a personal relationship with me. One time, I lacked the cash to pay for my trip (I lacked less than half a dollar) and they actually tried to throw me off the bus.

Even though I’ve made in excess of 5000 trips with them, they weren’t able to recognize me and say “Hey, Mattias, nice to see you. Sorry you are stripped for cash, this trip is on us.” Communicating with these companies is NOTHING like communicating with someone over a cup of coffee. It holds no resemblance at all. The company has been stripped of it’s humanity.

That is why I love providing FANTASTIC customer service. I mean beating-everyone-else fantastic. As consumers, we’ve grown very accustomed to companies looking upon us as a chunk of large meat carrying a wallet. We are no longer irritated by centralized callcenters, automated customer service, or pre-written email replies. While this allows companies to save a lot of money, it also means it’s incredibly lucrative to offer a more personal touch to your customer service, as customers will appreciate it so much more, because it’s so rare.

I’m going to quote an example from Brendon Sinclairs excellent blog. Let’s say you sell suits. A man walks in, and buys a suit. You will probably never see him again. But what if you did this: Two weeks after his purchase, you send him a letter and a tie. The letter shows that “hey, I remember your name, your skin colouring, and the suit you bought – I thought this tie would go beautifully with it”. Stuff like this is very cheap (compared to generating new customers) and is the kind of small thing that makes people into lifetime customers. It’s also a plain nice ****ing thing to do.

I love interacting with people, and that is also why I love marketing.I love marketing because it equals communication. Communication in it’s simplest, purest form. I love innovative marketing techniques, copywriting, printed ads, direct mail and the like. Good marketing is distilling the very essence and core of a message, into something that is so simple that you can understand it in a few seconds, and then firing it at your audience with incredible force. It’s an enormous communicative challenge, and I absolutely love it.

I’ve been selling stuff since I was a kid. Back then, I didn’t do it because of the money (I didn’t really need any), but because I really liked to sell stuff. It’s not different now. I’ve concluded that it is because I love the game of selling. I’ve always liked games like Monopoly, Civilization and Theme Park. Running a business is a game of being smarter than other people. It’s just like a strategy game, but more complex and in real life. I remember a particular detail in Theme Park, where you could increase the amount of salt in the French Fries to make people buy more cola. For some reason, I found that detail to be incredibly cool. Not exactly something you’d do in a real business, but it reflects on what I consider to be the game – tweaking, thinking, creating, dreaming, brainstorming, and working hard to sell. It’s a lovely, lovely game, and it’s so easy to keep score.

Solitary work is all well and good, but I’m definitely happiest and most passionate when I am working with other, like-minded people. It’s a completely different kind of energy. But I don’t want to work for someone else’s vision. I have never been able to do that very well. It has to be for my own projects, my own organization. I want to create my own work environment, for myself and for people like me.

Editor’s Note — So, what drives you to do what you do?

Don’t you just hate it when you are driving somewhere or engrossed in some work and all of sudden your phone rings and a voice on the other end starts reading a script to sell you on new home loan deals? Yeah, Cold Calling Sucks! Sometimes I just feel like banging my phone on the head of the person calling me.

But guess what? We do cold calling at our company. Yes, we do it a LOT. But we do it with a twist.

In this post I am going to tell you the secret we use to make a killing by approaching strangers to sell our services and products. I am also going to tell you how you can customize it for selling web design services and replicate our success.

According to Wikipedia, cold calling is the process of approaching prospective clients, typically via telephone, who have not agreed to such an interaction. The word “cold” is used because the person receiving the call is not expecting the call or has not specifically asked to be contacted by the sales person.

It isn’t like that people hate getting commercial calls, it’s just that they hate getting it when they get it without asking for it. When you fix the second part, you have a killer marketing method at your hand — which, many prefer to call “Warm Calling”.

In more practical sense, Warm Calling is when you first throw a bait at your customers to have them ask you to call them.

You could send them a letter / email letting them know that you have just started your web-design business or started offering a new service. Another idea is to send them a letter informing them that their competitors rank higher than them for a certain keyword in search engines and you would love to discuss what they can do to improve their rankings.

It is essential that your first message does not contain sales pitch. Your subsequent meeting can (and should) have sales pitches. But not this first one.

So you get the point? The first contact is not about selling something to them but rather an innocent offer of genuine help or information.

This way, when you call up, you will not be unexpected and they will be a lot more receptive to your message.

To make this method work, all you need to do is to get creative with finding ways to make the initial contact. This method produces amazing results for us and there is no reason it should not work for you. =)

I’ve been in publishing since 1987, have been a freelancer since 1993 and ran an editorial staffing agency in New York City from 1996 through 2004.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that successful freelancers, eg, those who make their living entirely from freelancing (writing, editing, copywriting, web design, etc.), have the following seven traits in common.

1. Write/design every day: Many freelancers are drawn to their particular career because they love it. They love to write, design, draw – whatever it is, they would do it for free.

Once they decide to freelance full time, most work at it every day. They write articles, design sites, doodle illustrations, etc. In other words, they don’t stop working on their craft just because there is no paying client.

Benefit to their career: These professionals always have a body of work to sell, show, update their portfolio with, etc. Beyond that, it keeps their skills fresh and allows them to work that much faster once they are being paid for a project.

As a personal example, when I first started to write articles to promote my business, it would take upwards of two hours to complete one. Now, I can knock one out in 30 minutes if I have to.

Side Note: I have run across more than a few freelancers who don’t exactly love what they do. BUT, because they like the life of freelancing, they discipline themselves to do what it takes, eg, (work at it steadily) to make a living at it.

2. Don’t wait for markets to come to them: Building on this first habit, when you are constantly churning out new material, you don’t have to wait for clients to come to you, you can pitch to them.

If you’ve written a great article on the benefits of yoga, why wait for a national exercise magazine to take months to get back to you. Pitch your local newspaper journalist who covers health. You’ll usually know within a week or two if they can use your story.

Your neighborhood paper can’t use it? Pitch the neighboring county’s newspaper, a popular e-zine dedicated to women’s health, a new health website that needs fresh content, etc.

Successful freelancers are this proactive. When I was recruiting, I was constantly amazed at the type of assignments successful freelancers were able to ferret out for themselves.

When I’d ask, “How did you get that assignment, come up with that idea?”, the comments ranged from, “I couldn’t sleep last night so I start doing some digging online because I just wrote this great article and wanted to get it published,” to “I was just doodling and came upon this great design; I knew it would make a great logo for this niche, so I put it on a t-shirt and pitched a few boutiques in my neighborhood …”

Successful freelancers are not only creative in their work, they’re creative in how they locate markets to sell their work.

3. Have more than one stream of income: By this, I do not mean that they have second jobs. Most successful freelancers do more than one thing.

For example, a writer may design a line of themed t-shirts with their witticisms on them. Illustrators, in addition to creating logos, may sell paintings or drawings. Web designers may also create online games.

I don’t know how many more brain cells creative types use than the rest of the population, but editorial and creative professionals usually dibble and dabble in more than one sector – and quite successfully I might add.

4. Have a niche: While this may seem to contradict the previous habit, it doesn’t. Most successful freelancers do one thing – and do it very well. Eg, they are a medical writer, a direct mail copywriter, a web designer.

This is because successful freelancers usually have a professional background in the discipline in which they freelance. Usually, they have built up a reputation and client list based on their expertise/experience.

Benefit to their career: This works well because once clients are comfortable with you on one level, you can approach them about doing other types of projects. In some cases, they will even approach you.

For example, if you are a web designer, you can approach a client about doing some logo design work. Most web designers are familiar with other tools of the trade like logo design software, that makes it easy for them to offer peripheral services to clients.

In the retail trade, this is known as upselling. BUT, you can only upsell if you have established a level of trust and professionalism in your base (niche) skill.

5. Have a website: Without fail, all successful freelancers have at least a basic website. They realize the need to present a professional image to clients and have invested in an online presence.

Every once in a while, I am still asked by those just starting out if they need a website. Invariably, I ask, “Would you do business without a telephone?” I think websites have progressed to this point.

Benefit to their career: Websites save freelancers time – which is at a premium if you are a successful freelancer. You can direct potential clients there to see samples of your work, get pricing info, your professional credentials, your client list, etc. Many times, this is how clients will find you to begin with.

So, is having a website a must to succeed as a freelancer? In my opinion, absolutely. And, it doesn’t have to be fancy and cost a fortune. Most web surfers are seeking information.

A basic site will serve your purposes just fine. Just make sure it is professional looking, is easy to navigate, is free from grammatical errors and has your contact info on every page (or a “Contact Us” button on every page).

6. Are savvy & consistent marketers: Revisiting habit three, successful freelancers are masters of marketing their services. They have to be.

When you are a freelancer, you have to remain hungry – for the next assignment, the next gig. By being proactive and consistent marketers, successful freelancers don’t wait for one project to be done before looking for the next one.

To this end, these professionals use many marketing tools (free and paid) to get the word out about their business, eg, search engine optimization, article marketing, press releases, e-book giveaways, speaking engagements, seminars, workshops, etc.

In other words, successful freelancers treat their careers like a start-up business – which is what freelancing really is.

7. Put in much more than 40 hours/week: Face it, you may be able to go to the grocery store at 2pm when everyone else is stuck in an office, but you probably didn’t log off until 2am, finishing up a project for a client who needed it at the last minute.

Freelancing is not a static career. Sometimes you will have weeks with nothing to do and then you will get slammed with three or four projects at once. It’s some type of weird Murphy’s law at work.

Projects never come when you want or need them too. They invariable come at the most inopportune time (eg, when your kid is sick, when YOU’RE sick, two days before vacation, on a Friday afternoon and needed by Monday).

So, while you may be able to work in your jammies – you may also not be able to go to the beach, hang out with your friends as much, take the afternoon off. Like anything in life, it’s a trade-off (a worthwhile one in my opinion).

Just know, while your time may be your own, it will be on an unconventional schedule.

© 2000-2050, Yuwanda Black. Yuwanda Black is the publisher of InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. InkwellEditorial.com offers first-hand freelance success stories, resume tips, editorial e-courses, advice on the business of freelancing, job listings and much more!

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In my post about Up-Selling to clients, I talked about how you can easily sell additional services and products to the clients. In this post I am going to talk about the biggest asset that you have in your possession - Your Client List.

Ask anyone in sales and they will tell you that it is lot easier to sell new things to old customers than to find totally new customers. Why? Because old customers have already experienced your services and can trust you more with their money more than someone they haven’t tried even once.

We maintain a Customer List for the Internet Marketing Solutions company that I run and everytime we release a new product / service or run a special offer, the very first thing we do is to send information about it to our customer list. Amazingly, the response rate from our inhouse list goes as high as 90% — something unheard of with any other medium.

So how do we pull these types of number and how can you replicate it? Read on.

From our own experience of maintaining customer lists and using it to grow our business, you should observe the following rules of thumb –

1. Ask for Permission. It is always a good idea to ask your customer if they would actually like to receive regular information about new services you are offering and special deals that you will offer only to your old customers.

Sure, 4-5% will refuse to join but 95-96% people will join your list. And it’s not big deal to worry or try to persuade those 4-5% people to join cos they would never read your messages anyway. It is better to have a high quality list of just 100 people rather than a junk list of 1000 people.

And asking for permission will not only make you look professional but also plug the legal issues of the CAN-SPAM act. =)

2. Personalize. It is always an excellent idea to personalize your mailing list. After all, Dear John sounds much better than Dear Valued Customer. One extremely easy way to do it is to use Aweber. We use it at our company and fully recommend it.

3. Be in Regular Touch. Sending a message to your customer list should not be an annual ritual but rather a monthly or fortnightly activity. Don’t overdo it by sending a message daily but rather once or twice a month.

People have horrible memories so be in touch with them regularly or they will forget you.

4. Track Your Customers. Okay this is the part which takes the most effort but it is really profitable and sets you apart from your competitors by showing that you care.

Keep track of what industry your customer is in, what new products and services they are launching, what his or her personal interests are, what are special days in their lives etc. Getting the idea?

And after you have this information — USE IT.

Send them articles / links that you find might be of interest to them and link them to what people are writing about their company or their products / services. Send them wishes on their birthday, anniversary and other special days.

Oh and one thing to remember — don’t send them links to their bad reviews / complaints about them but rather just great reviews / good things about them. If you can’t find great things about them, just don’t send them anything. You don’t want to be the messenger of the bad news.

Also, if they have launched something like iPhone which every man and his dog are reviewing, then send them links to the Top Dogs only. Yeah I know it sounds obvious but you don’t know what some people do.

5. Offer Incentives. Make them feel good for having joined your list and offer them exclusive deals and benefits. Give them a reason to order your product / service again. Offer them discounts or bonus services for free.

Final Thoughts – From my own experience with freelancers, most completely forget about their customer after they complete their order. They don’t know that they are leaving a whole lot of money on the table by not following up. Start and maintain your customer list — it’s a very profitable preposition.

If you have more ideas or questions about the topic, feel free to post them below.