The Marketing Mix | official blog of the Marketing Mentor community

Ace your next job interview or pitch

Just spreading the word about an event offered next week by Jezra Kaye, one of our Marketing Mentor clients...

You’ve worked hard to create an opportunity; don’t blow it because you didn’t communicate powerfully.

Whether you’re interviewing for a staff position or pitching your products or services, you must be able to convince interviewers or prospects that THEY NEED WHAT YOU OFFER!  In this fast-paced teleseminar, you’ll learn how to get an interviewer on your side, handle curve ball questions, and come from a position of authentic strength.
 
Wednesday, March 18th, 11:00AM-12:00noon (est)
from “the comfort of your own telephone”
Just $15

Learn more and register at: www.jezrakaye.com/events  
 

You're a freelancer...now what?

I'm getting messages lately from a lot of creative professionals who have been freelancing on the side but suddenly have no choice now but to take it seriously, which I think is the good news. (But then, I have a bias for self employment.)

There are a lot of myths about freelancing that get in the way of being successful. One of the main ones is this:

“If you do good work, clients will flock to your door.”

There is no flocking involved, especially not now. But even though the news is dire, there is work out there. I hear about it every day from my clients, other creatives who spend their time checking in with past clients (that means picking up the phone and calling). These creatives are the ones who are getting the work. And believe me, there's work.

One client forwarded a message from someone she's never heard of who was asking her to bid on all her publication work because they are now freelancing all of it out! And they're not the only ones.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to learn more about what it takes to build a thriving freelance business, join me next Thursday, March 19, for the first Creative Freelancer Webinar, "You're a freelancer...now what? 9 Things You Need to Know to Start Smart."

Details and registration here: www.howdesign.com/creativefreelancerwebinar

Anyone here dealing with clients from hell?

Given the crazy times we're going through, I'm guessing a lot of us are tolerating client weirdnesses (or just weird clients) in a way we might not have a year ago.

If you're grappling with nightmare clients—or just want to be prepared should one come down the pike—this webinar from our friends at Freelancers Union may be just the thing for you:

Dealing with Nightmare Clients Webinar

Wednesday, February 25
7 - 9:30 PM EST
$30 FU members/$40 non-members (membership in Freelancers Union is free!)

Ever deal with a client who constantly changed the deadline, tried to increase or decrease the scope of the project halfway through it, or didn’t know what they wanted and asked for multiple revisions as a result? If this sounds familiar, take comfort -- you are not alone.

Join Freelancers Union and Michelle Goodman, author of My So-Called Freelance Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire, for advice on dealing with the nightmare client. 

Michelle will discuss how to:

• Sniff out a client’s reputation ahead of time
• Chase down missing checks
• Set better boundaries with clients who make excessive demands on your time
• Close up contract loopholes that could come back to haunt you later
• Decide whether a relationship with a client is salvageable
• Gracefully let a troublesome client go

To sign up, go here!

The Ultimate Freelancer

We are currently in the planning stages of the Second Annual Creative Freelancer Conference. For those of you who haven’t heard about this event, it’s a one-of-a-kind business conference for creative freelancers who want to grow their business. It’s slated for August 26-28 in San Diego and the Marketing Mentor team will be there!

As we are looking at topic and ideas on what to bring to this event I have been researching successful freelancers out there. What I am looking for is examples of “The Ultimate Freelancer”. Someone who is running a one-person creative business and doing it well. Someone who is making a great living, has a balanced life and produces exceptional work. I have some ideas in mind but would love to hear from you out there too. Can you think of anyone that fits this description? Leave a comment here or email me direct.

My voice in your ear

It started as an experiment. But then I got into a groove and I kind of liked doing it.

That's when the flattery started -- they liked what I was doing. (And who can resist a compliment, much less a slew of them?)

So I kept going. And now I'm hooked.

What is it?

Audio.

My voice in your ear (on an iPod or even through the speakers on your computer), twice a week, telling you over and over not to stop marketing your services (because repetition is key when developing a new habit) and exactly how to do it.

That's the crux of my still-unnamed audio tips. And 354 people (that I know of) are receiving them and hopefully listening to them. (If you want them, too, listen here and sign yourself up.)

But that's not all. I'm learning a lot about marketing from this experiment. Audio is proving to be one of the most effective, least expensive marketing tools in our toolbox. You know why?

Because when people can hear your voice, it makes you real. That's why I keep harping on my clients to make those cold/research calls and leaving voice mail messages when you don't get through to your prospect. They need to hear your voice. It makes you oh so human (especially when you make a mistake or fumble your words -- try it as a "technique") in a world that is becoming more and more virtual and isolating and, in my opinion, inhuman.

If you want to add audio to your own toolbox, check out the service we use, Audio Acrobat. (Colleen insists I tell you that's an affiliate link.)

And I'm thinking of offering a new group to help you do that. So if you're interested, send email to ilise AT marketing-mentor DOT com with "audio group" in the subject line and I'll come up with some details and get them to you.

Publish and promote your work in my new book!

Can a book change the world? We're about to find out with my next project, and I'd like you to be part of it. There's absolutely no cost for you to be involved, but your participation could place both your work and the issues you care about in front of thousands of influential readers worldwide. And that’s good marketing!

The book will be called Designing for the Greater Good, and I am working on it with Jonathan Cleveland of Cleveland Design -- who also did the recent redesign of the Marketing Mentor web site and blog. This new book will showcase the best design work for non-profit and cause-related marketing produced in the last five years.

There's a much larger purpose for this project compared to other design books. That's because we won't just be presenting the best socially-responsible design that's going on in the world today. We also want to tell the stories of the people who are doing it and raise awareness of the causes that mean the most to you.

This is your opportunity to be part of a movement...something bigger than a design book. We want to see your best work for a cause, whether it's for a non-profit organization or a paid campaign designed to bring about social change.

There's a lot of great cause-related work happening out there (probably a lot more than we know) but there's never been a book that reveals the best the industry has to offer until now.

If you're one of the people doing it, I’d like to hear from you today.

Visit the official book website and submit  your work online today to learn more!

Pricing, and what it has to do with marketing

Ilise and I have been prepping our upcoming Freelancers Union webinar on pricing for graphic designers, that great organization out of New York that provides all kinds of resources for all kinds of freelance types.

While I confess to having been a bit befuddled when Ilise first asked me to co-present with her—after all, I'm more likely to give away the farm than give adequate thought to pricing—the time I've spent developing ideas for the presentation has really shown me how intimately connected marketing and pricing are, and how you can really leverage the former to do much of the heavy lifting with the latter. Great news for people like...me!

If you're a graphic designer who struggles with pricing, check it out. There will be some Q&A at the end, plus Jennifer at Freelancers Union said she'll set up a forum thread in advance for people who want to discuss concepts and share ideas about the seminar.

Pricing Strategies for Graphic Designers Webinar

Date: Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Time: 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM (EST)
Location: Your computer and phone.
Cost: $30 for Freelancers Union members; $40 for non-members

Register here.

NOTE: Membership to Freelancers Union is f-r-e-e, people, offers some sweet bennies (esp. for folks living in the NY-NJ-CT area) and, as they say, sends a message to the Powers That Be that this is a new world and freelancing is a big part of that.

Growing Your Business with Marketing Podcast: Week 2 is up

Those of you signed up for the feed already know; for the rest of you, my audio stab at week 2 (prepping for cold calls) is available for your listening and downloading pleasure.

Find your prospects (right) here

My new Daily Audio Tip is quickly turning into a big group marketing project, which I love. I'm guiding the process but the listeners are doing the work and sharing what they find.

Last week we began to focus in on target markets, which means simply choosing one and then finding the resources to get you to the right people. We posted a list of the trade associations that several listeners sent to me here.

(Thanks to Lisa Mullis of Spright Design, Photographer Rachel Holland, Elle Steiner of Moda Studio, Susan Mathews of Stillwater Studio and Erni Hewett for doing such great research.)

Bulking up for the new year

I know that it's January.  I know that some people make New Year's resolutions.  But if I see one more article about dieting, I'm going to boycott the Internet until February. The New Year shouldn't be about slimming down, it should be about bulking up—gaining insight, tips, and ideas on how to be fuller and more productive. How about something more useful to read than The Top 10 Diets for the New Year? Well here you go:

Ilise is spanning the globe in the UK Guardian's article called, If you do only one thing this week… raise your profile, and she's telling you How (Exactly!) to Grow Your Business in 2009 over at Biznik.com. Happy expanding!