My guess is, you’re also running the hamster wheel.
Work day after work day, you sit in your office, toiling away for clients and the only thing going through your mind is, “Mehn…I need some time off”.
The horrible truth is, you really can’t get that time off…at least not now.
It’s not easy being in demand, to have everyone you know requesting for a particular design, or piece of content from you.
And as a professional, you have to deliver.
But there’ll come a time when work gets thin and you know you have to market yourself.
So the question is, “should you wait for work to get thin before you market yourself? Or should you market your business consistently?”
And if you must do it consistently, with all the client work you have to also do, how can you find time to actually do the marketing?
That’s what this post is about.
But before that, with all this digital knowledge about content marketing and selling yourself online that’s “flying around”, I’ll answer one pressing question I know most people have.
Is It Really Necessary To Sell My Skills Online?
I won’t say yes or no. I’ll leave that to the following study…
According to a study done by Hubspot, B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those who do not.
In case B2B companies sounds weird to you, most professionals who sell services have a B2B (Business to Business) model. This is because most of the time, you either work for your client’s client, or your clients are businesses who need your creative work. But there are exceptions.
What this study means is that by sharing your expertise online through your blog and other channels, you’ll have 67% more prospective clients than the professional who only relies on offline and other traditional marketing methods.
This also means that your chance of getting a new client when work is thin is 67% better than the “traditional” creative professional.
This also means that the “traditional” creative professional is 67% more likely to be out of business than you.
And finally, this also means that the chance of you making more money than the “traditional” creative professional is 67% more.
So is it still necessary to sell your creative skills online?
Hell yeah!
So, how can you share your expertise online consistently, even when you have a ton of client work?
Here are 3 ways to do that.
1. Upload Your Freestyle Content
Designers, writers, editors, we all have freestyle content. Freestyle content is that piece of work that we just feel compelled to create. It just comes to mind and we’re like, “That’d look so awesome, lemme try it out”. I’m pretty sure you’ve got lots of such kind of work saved on your hard drive. I do!
So why not share that with the world?
I know, you’re probably ashamed of it and think it’s bad. But the good thing is when you decide to share it online, you could also add that it was one of those creations you felt compelled to do on the spur of the moment. So it’s not client standard.
This shows two things:
- That you love what you do. If you didn’t, you’ll only create stuff you’re paid for.
- That you’re open to learn. Trust me, people will criticize that work. But as a professional, you take their criticism and get better at your craft.
If you’re a designer, you could upload your freestyle content to social media channels like Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest. Or even Flickr. For writers and editors, you could rant away on a free blog or get a professionally designed blog on a custom domain.
Whichever one you choose, just let the world see it. Then get back to work.
2. Ask Permission To Share Client Work
I understand, some clients like that exclusive rights thingy where no one else gets to see their content except two people — you and them — because you were paid for it.
And that’s probably why you don’t want to share it. I understand.
But recently, I’ve come to realize that there’s no harm in asking.
Some clients will be more than willing to have you share and talk about what you did for them (that depends on the contract terms anyway).
So share it and you could tell people how you created it too.
It’s obvious that client work sometimes happens to be the best work you create. By sharing this, you also attract other potential clients. And if the client you created that piece of work for is a big one, you’ll automatically gain more respect.
3. Share Your Free Work
It’s inevitable… you still do some free work for some people. I still do free work, especially when I’m trying to learn something new.
Since it’s free work, you actually have the liberty to share it. If the client doesn’t want it shared, then he should probably have paid for it.
After client work, your free work oftentimes is the next best piece. To make what you share have even better value, simply talk about how you created it, that is, the process and the result.
The good thing about sharing your creative expertise online is it puts you out there and on some radars. However, you have to do this strategically too. Don’t forget to insert your contact info, in case a potential client wants to get in touch.
You may be scared of people stealing your idea or the personal streak you put into your work. Who cares? Ideas don’t really matter. It’s the execution that counts. And you could always think up another idea.
Even if they “steal” it, can they pull it off like you? Not everyone can. That’s why you’re the genius in the first place…#winks.
So when you decide to play around on your computer or your workbench, share your creation online through communities, a blog or image and document sharing sites. When you do some smashing badass work for a client, ask for permission to share online. And as for free work, you know the drill. Share it like a woman whose hair is on fire!
Where do you share to? It’s up to you. But I advise sharing it everywhere you can and on your personal website because that’s a primary way to attract clients…
Build authority with an audience…
Gain search engine ranking…
And build a personal brand.
Do you share content presently? And where do you share it? I wanna know! Share in the comments.