Double Your Freelancing Podcast

Today I am talking with Bryce Bladon. He is the curator of “clients from hell”. Today we talk about everything from qualifying new clients to setting expectations. He runs a website whose sole purpose is to showcase crazy clients. We both feel that sometimes we can do things a bit differently to help avoid having clients from hell. So the theme of this show is to have fewer clients from hell. Bryce has been involved with Clients from Hell, a collection of anonymously submitted tales of woe, since 2009. These tales are from designers and anyone who deals with clients. Today we are going to talk about how freelancers can avoid getting these bad clients. We want high quality clients who respect us. Today’s topics include: New freelancers run the risk of getting bad clients by not qualifying clients and knowing when to say no to a potential client Clients that aren’t a good fit need to be weeded out Sometimes people create crappy client situations for themselves Bad client experiences are usually the result of ba

Today I am interviewing Jane Portman. Jane is from Russia, and she used to work with me on Planscope which I just sold. She is an amazing designer who is very focused on the design and the copy. I recently redesigned Double Your Freelancing. Which is appropriate for today, because Jane’s expertise is building really great user experiences. Jane is an amazing UI designer and business consultant. Jane has been designing for over 10 years. She worked for a large agency in Russia. She is also a mom, and now works full time in the US as a consultant. She wanted to build authority, so she started writing books and implemented a lot of my advice for consultants. She is currently focused on helping SaaS founders to build simple products that make money. Today’s topics include: Most people don’t realize the sales process is done through long form sales copy, walking through the clients pains Have a way to capture potential customers on your site, put together a sales machine that sells and captures Productize offeri

Today we are speaking with Alex Mathers. Alex is an illustrator who specializes in vector illustrations, maps, diagrams and landscapes. He is also a blogger and writer. He runs the Red Lemon Blog which helps creative entrepreneurs market and promote their businesses. He has worked for clients like Google, Sony and the BBC. He is also a speaker and does one on one coaching for select clients. He lives in London, UK, and he also runs the Ape on the Moon design blog. Alex studied geography in London. After that, he wasn't sure what he really wanted to do, so he studied real estate and received a Master's degree. During this time, he got back into what he really enjoyed which was creating illustrations. At first, this was part time, then full time, then he felt he needed to share everything that he had been learning with the world, and Red Lemon was born. Now he coaches creatives of all kinds on how to market their businesses. He stumbled on the list concept where having a limited network that he looks at manuall

Karl Sakas is the president of Sakas & Company which is a consulting company that specializes in helping digital marketing agencies grow. I had an opportunity to chat with Karl today, and I found myself nodding my head the entire time. The meat and potatoes of the interview focused on helping businesses grow in a holistic way not just focusing on the technical aspect of what the business offers. Karl emphasizes using a SIT framework which focuses on strategy, implementation and training. Working with agencies, Karl discovered everything they offer fits in the strategies of the SIT framework. The first part of the framework is strategy where the client is saying tell me what to do. The second part is implementation where the client is saying do it for me. Training is the third part, where the client says teach me how to do it. They want to do the project or maintenance in house and they need to get up to speed. Success is more than just completing the project, it is knowing that what you delivered solved t

Today I am talking with Jesse Strauss. Jesse is a New York-based lawyer who owns a firm specializing in debt collection for freelancers. When it comes to things like small claims court and debt collection, freelancers are usually on their own. Jesse discovered that there were a lot of freelancers with payment disputes while he was working on wage and hour cases. He started looking for a new solution to solve this problem. Jesse was based in New York, so he couldn’t handle cases in other jurisdictions, but he could forward the cases to other lawyers in those jurisdictions. That is the idea behind the formation of Indepayment. Having a solid contract can help to resolve a non-payment issue. You can also ask for payment up-front or for milestone payments to help prevent non-payment issues. Trust issues may prevent clients from wanting to pay ahead of time. Indepayment offers an escrow service where the buyer puts their money in and then it is paid to the contractor after the services are rendered. Today’s topics

Today I’m talking with a good friend of mine, Keith Perhac. Keith is the founder of the digital marketing consulting agency DelfiNet and the online course software Summit Evergreen. He has managed to build a thriving consultancy agency while working remotely in Japan. Working remotely, can be an issue for many freelancers, but Keith says he is there when his clients wake up and there again when they go to bed. He says it’s like magic when they tell him what they want, and it is done for them when they wake up. Keith credits being able to build a thriving consultancy agency through meeting and talking to people. Most of his clients are referral based, and he got started through contacts he had made doing earlier work. He feels that just talking to people and finding out what their problems are and telling them what he does is a great way to connect. He doesn’t have expectations he just talks with people. Down the road, these conversations can lead to potential business connections. Today’s topics include: How

Today’s show features service scalability strategist, Mandi Ellefson. Mandi helps entrepreneurs develop a system to free up time and remove themselves from their business. In today’s interview we discuss scaling your business and things to consider before going down that route. Mandi has discovered that scaling is a common issue for freelancers, and she is passionate about helping them. While researching methodologies to scale her own business, Mandi discovered that this was a common problem for other entrepreneurs, and her business was born. She developed a five step system for business scalability, so that the owner is not stuck selling time for money. In the process, the business owner will have time to focus on what matters and create a real business and saleable asset. Today’s topics include: Mandi’s five point system to help businesses run without you Selling value for money instead of time for money Refining your process to sale an outcome Charging based on value for a specific problem for a specific p

Today we’re joined by Bart Mroz: consultant, co-founder of Sumo Heavy, and long-time friend. Bart is an expert at experimenting new things in his business and using the discoveries to increasingly improve it and their strategy. Not only have they done this with billing models, but with trial periods, sales processes, and basically everything else. What he’s discovered is that experimentation is the only way of finding out what works best for your business specifically. You need to approach the business from different levels, and be the consultant (for example) who’s seen as a trusted advisor rather than a salesperson. Today’s topics included: Pricing versus billing Perspectives about growth ambitions Dealing with procurement departments The issues with paying and getting paid How Bart grew his business x11 Road mapping and sales processes The power of tweaking and experimenting over time You always want to sell value, and be sure that you’re taking the necessary steps to do so. Ever since the first call, star

Today’s guest is Liston Witherill. Today we got the opportunity to talk about getting into the heads of your clients. It’s important to understand your client’s mindset, the worldview of the people you work for and their values, problems and needs. It’s what separates you and allows you to position yourself as an expert consultant and reliably solve the problems of your clients. Liston’s company is called Goodfunnel. The company focuses on copywriting, and three things in particular - customer research, creating landing pages and putting together email sequences. On today’s episode we’ll discuss: How Listen began his career Finding clients that fit your company Examining your customer’s decision process Following up Using the data you have Asking qualifying questions Keeping the lines of communication open Checking in with the customer and gauging the success of the engagement is critical. It will show you where you’re being successful, but it will also give you the opportunity to course correct. “Find the ‘

Today’s guest is Naveen Dittakavi. We had a great conversation about how his business has evolved and how important it is to overcome the belief that just because you’ve read something you’re making an improvement. In actuality, you have to act on what you’ve learned to make a difference. Naveen started his software business company in 2003 out of his dorm room at Georgia Tech and today he teaches software freelancers how to build recurring revenue. Today’s highlights include: How Naveen began freelancing Building a recurring revenue stream “Active Reading” Deconstructing goals Daily routine Content Consumption vs. Content Production Naveen starts his day with the tasks that are most important to him. It’s the most cognitive time of work for him and he uses this time for exploration and the development of his own business. Once he’s taken care of the high value or strategic work then he moves on to the work of helping his students or clients. This is what it took to get him where he is today. The systems Nav

Taking the time to understand yourself, and manipulating your strengths to get your message out can sometimes be all it takes to push yourself over the edge, and into full-blown success. Today we’re focusing on how to have an authentic brand and establish your brand identity, so you can do just that.   Our guest today is Jeffrey Shaw. He’s a business coach, and he excels in, and focuses on how companies like ours can avoid being generalists. When you generalize your position in the market, you make it harder for yourself to stand out; and that’s where Jeff steps in. He’s also a pro speaker, photographer and is the host of his podcast called “Creative Warriors.”   Today’s topics include: The biggest challenge of going to work for yourself How to create a standout statement and use it to your advantage The role of branding as it relates to your customers Why “niche” needs to be completely redefined for freelancers The paradox of being in business on the internet How to use uniqueness to market yourself The imp

Today we’re having a crazy interview, but in the best way. We’ll be talking to Julia Kelly, she’s a caricature artist, and the first one we’ve had on the show. She also has a degree in Accounting, so she loves the numbers side of things. We go through how she and her team charge hundreds of dollars an hour for caricature art, and all the ins and outs of her work and business strategy. She’s applied everything I cover on the website and podcast when it comes to value based pricing and price anchoring, and has now applied it to her craft and company. Today’s topics include: •Julia’s transition from BC sales to BB sales •Why selling the outcome to your clients is so important •How she discovered being a booth caricature artist •Her pricing strategy •How she’s a lead generator for businesses •Julia’s business growth plan of action Basically, Julia is a bridge between a potential prospect at a trade show and the customer, and through her testimonials and how she pitches herself, she helps to serve as an investment

Today I have part two of my interview with the amazing Sean D’Souza. We needed to go deeper into the 7 bag framework that Sean’s developed that covers the 7 objectives that need to happen prior to a successful sale. In this interview, we dove deeper into all of this. I really wanted to get his perspectives on how to use the principles that were so foundational for my own businesses and tailor them to people like you: freelancers and consultants. More and more companies are making the same fundamental mistake that’s hindering their sales and keeping them from moving up in the charts. But what mistake is that, exactly? One of the most important aspects of sales is knowing how to listen to your customers and speak to them in a language that they’re familiar with, and more importantly, that they can relate to. Episode highlights: How to optimize your sales so they’re more attractive to customers How to uncover the customer’s problem and it use it to your advantage How to use Sean’s “Yes-Yes” sale method What you

Today is the first episode of  a two-part edition with Sean D’Souza.  Sean’s book, The Brain Audit, had a big impact on me as well as countless others.  The Brain Audit is designed to give somebody the tools to understand what goes on in the brain of a customer and how to respond accordingly.  It includes the Seven Red Bags which is a sequential process to move the customer through various stages.  We take a look at the principles of the book and how freelancers can benefit from Sean’s information. Sean says websites or information freelancers give to potential clients about their services may not focus enough on “the problem.”   Freelancers need to address a client’s specific problem.  The client may not realize the problem initially. By identifying the problem, a freelancer will be able to tell the client how their specific service will solve it. Episode Highlights: What Sean’s book means by The Seven Red Bags How companies like Apple and Domino’s Pizza have achieved great success by focusing on one aspect

The Double Your Freelancing Conference that took place last month In Norfolk brought a lot of great people together to share information and ideas.  In this episode, 5 of the speakers from the conference join me to discuss what value they got from the conference and their overall impressions. The Panel: Mojca Mars - owner of Super Spicy Media, social media consultant Brian Casel - owner of Audience Ops, content marketing service Julie Elster -  owner of Just Tell Julie, virtual accounts receivable service Kurt Elster - ecommerce consultant who helps shopify stores double their revenue Kai Davis - outreach consultant who helpsconsultants and product creators increase their traffic and grow their audience We discuss some of the highlights of the Double Your Freelancing Conference, including: The sense of community we all felt that began with Slack conversations before the conference and continued through the event The fact that the speakers felt like attendees too Looking at attending conferences as an investm

My good friend Paul Jarvis is my guest on this episode of the Business of Freelancing Podcast. Paul began as a web designer and applied what he learned in his work to writing for creative freelancers looking to better run their businesses. Today we discuss building products, especially for those freelancers who may not have a huge audience and a solid idea for a product. Paul has authored numerous wildly-popular books designed for a particular audience.  Paul’s product training wheels involved a book based on his vegan diet called Eat Awesome.  It served to teach him some important lessons around product development.  Some of those lessons he talks about that can help freelancers get started on a product include: The importance of working with an audience you like and want to serve Allowing the audience you’ve worked with to help spread the word about your product Finding your product through the people that come to you with their problems Getting the before, during, after and after-plus interviews with clie

More and more freelancers have taken to becoming nomads who live and work a location- independent lifestyle.  My guest, Paul Kortman, is a nomad who travels with his wife and four children and runs a digital marketing consulting business from various locations. On this episode Paul offers some thoughts on this lifestyle and how to make your business work in a non-traditional setting.  Paul believes that if you want to pursue the life of a nomad there are a number of things you can do to help make the process easier and far more enjoyable.    We talk about some of the issues that people can face when they don’t have the same location to live in and work from everyday.  Paul discusses some of the concerns people may encounter and the benefits that can result from living a location-independent lifestyle: problems with internet and cell service stability to do your work batching work and coordinating things that need to be done before tackling projects traveling with children and the benefits and skillsets they

Welcome to the Business of Freelancing Podcast.  Today I am talking to Nick Disabato, a good friend who is the founder of Draft Revise. As well as the author of Cadence & Slang, a guide to interaction design. Draft Revise is a service that helps companies optimize their content. Nick and I are going to discuss the company he’s built, how he’s done it, and what advice he has for those wanting to get into productizing. Nick is the go-to-guy for productize consulting. Productizing Consulting is a service based on personal experience and expertise. Companies hire productize consultants to troubleshoot their business. Once a month or every quarter Nick’s company will test your business website to see if your site is functioning at full optimization. Along with an explanation of his company’s service Nick explains why he makes the choices he does in his business. Including: Why he is selective about his customer base. How “boring work” can still be a good thing when it is steady. Don’t base price on a set fee.

Our guest will be one of the speakers at our Norfolk, VA for the Business of Freelancing Conference this September. Kai Davis is an expert in building up an audience from scratch; building up your authority and targeting the clients you want to work with. If you’re looking to build an audience on your own you will love this episode. In this episode, Kai explains the answer to the most important question any businessman asks himself. Who is my audience? And how are they related to an average freelancer like me? Does a personal touch or your own brand visibility play a major role in getting the right audience? Kai and I discuss building trust and value for the products and services you will be offering without sounding like a salesman. He mentions a lot of helpful tips on how to convert current contacts into income-generating leads naturally by delivering not just the job but also how to deliver great value as well for the customer’s business and in the end getting new referrals that would lead to other referr

Welcome to the latest episode on Business of Freelancing. One of my favorite things to do on my show is bring in niche experts, the kind of experts who are amazing at building a freelancing business and who can teach you how to get better clients. On today’s episode, I uncover what clients are thinking when they start hiring freelancers. I find out why some hire the way they hire and why they turn away certain candidates. I interview Dave Nevogt, co-founder of HubStaff.com – a team management platform online connection freelancers with clients – and ask him what’s going through his head when he’s hiring new freelance positions. Dave hires a lot of freelancers, so he knows exactly what he’s looking for when he posts jobs and starts interviewing candidates. Key personality traits that stand out are go-getter attitudes who are proactive. The process Dave goes through to hire a freelancer involves understanding their availability and how their attitude affects their work. During our conversation, Dave offered ke