I was speaking at a conference of developers and freelancers and presented with this question of meeting face-to-face or everything is virtual. Being in New York, obviously there are many opportunities to be able to meet people, leads, and potential partners. When starting out, I did meet lots of leads at coffee shops, their offices, and other places. Iād either get in my car, or hop the train and head on to the location early for the meeting. NY has traffic and lots of it and the subways have b...
Sep 12, 2018ā¢7 minā¢Ep. 143
Today we are going to set some goals the right way. Itās not December (most likely) and thatās ok, setting goals shouldnāt be just an annual thing. As a freelancer, you are in control of your day, year, life even. This can be daunting and overwhelming at times. This time of year for me is always when I start thinking about my goals. Itās easy to remember because my birthday is this month. For the vast majority though, goal setting doesnāt happen until end of November or in December. I would enco...
Sep 11, 2018ā¢6 minā¢Ep. 142
I get asked this question a lot and to be frank and to the point, Iām going to say to use your name. Now if you want the case on why Iām going to outline 3 reasons as to why I have this response. There are obviously cases for both sides, but I want to share with you some thoughts as to why you should think about using your name. 1. People do business with people This is especially true in the freelance or consulting space. When you are starting out, there are a ton of distractions that force dec...
Sep 10, 2018ā¢6 minā¢Ep. 141
Today's episode are the 3 steps you need to do immediately, to start freelancing as a web developer and get your first client today. How to start anything is to commit to it. So letās just get that out of the way now and assume youāve committed to this. I donāt think itās a surprise to you if youāve heard more than a couple of episodes that finding your niche would be the number one thing to start freelancing as a developer. 1. Find your niche Thereās a very tactful reason for this and that is b...
Sep 07, 2018ā¢7 minā¢Ep. 140
Weāve all got them right? Even when we are working on client stuff, there are things that we are passionate about, mess around with, even do as a hobby with no real upside to them other than it just makes us happy. And so I was I was chatting with a friend of mine who has a full-time job and loves it. He asked me, āhow do you make time for your side projects?ā I simply replied, āBy doing exactly what you said, make time.ā Now we canāt make time and I want to tip my cap to my friend [Curtis](http...
Sep 06, 2018ā¢4 minā¢Ep. 139
I get asked a lot of questions about what my sales script looks like and how I handle objections during the conversation. As you learned in Episode 102 - What do you use for your sales script? , I donāt have a sales script. Since I dive deep into my sales process in that episode, I wonāt bore you with all the details here. I mention that episode though because my process preps the prospect of having a productive sales conversation that speaks directly about their project. So much of the sales sc...
Sep 05, 2018ā¢6 minā¢Ep. 138
I talk a lot about what a niche is and I think that there is a lot of misunderstanding around that as well that I would like to help clear up here. There are a lot of folks who think that a niche has to be an industry. So for example, as a web designer he only works with lawyers. Or as a web developer, she only works with doctors. And because you donāt want to work within those niches that you can not have a niche. Which is simply not the case. So letās define it. What is a niche? I define a nic...
Sep 04, 2018ā¢5 minā¢Ep. 137
Do you drop that freelance client? It sucks for everyone, but maybe the relationship can be saved and even flourish. This is always a tough question, because itās sensitive, thereās a big reputation factor on the line with both yourself and client, and it should be something thatās a last resort. You and your clients are running businesses, you are adults, having difficult conversations such as this will happen. First and foremost, you have to deliver what you say you would, as best you could. I...
Sep 03, 2018ā¢6 minā¢Ep. 136
The freelance space is getting more and more crowded by the day. It used to be that all you needed to do was to show up, deliver, and then support to stand out. But nowadays itās a bit different. I wrote a blog post titled How to Stand Out As a Freelancer in a Saturated Market a little over a year and a half ago with 10 tips. I want to share with you something that Iāve found that can make you stand out that isnāt in that article. But before I do, I want to highlight those tips and if you want t...
Aug 31, 2018ā¢5 minā¢Ep. 135
This question came from Mario inside of Feast . And he is starting his career as a freelancer. In building a website, a landing page to send leads and prospects to, or during a sales conversation, testimonials and social proof are great tools to use. But when starting out you havenāt built those up yet. So what can you do? Since you havenāt built up a track record of successful projects with actual results, you can play to the human side of business. People to people People want to work with peo...
Aug 30, 2018ā¢6 minā¢Ep. 134
The product I use for my business that I cannot live without is the one that manages the only thing that I regret not managing from the start. That is my email list. Thereās a love-hate relationship with this type of question. Simply because tools or products come and go over time. Either they become obsolete, or other ones come out that is better, whatever the case may be, tools will evolve. With that out of the way, I will say this. Understanding āwhyā you are in business and finding a product...
Aug 29, 2018ā¢8 minā¢Ep. 133
āTo bundle or not to bundle, that is the question.ā You are going to learn 3 things today to think about when deciding to bundle your services for a freelance client. This question came from someone in Feast , but I do hear this question and ask myself this quite often. There isnāt a firm right answer one way or another. I just think that there are too many factors that can go into this, but I thought that I would share my thoughts around this question and help you decide whatās best for you and...
Aug 28, 2018ā¢6 minā¢Ep. 132
Are you a freelancer and struggled with putting prices on your website? In this episode, you are going to learn why it's important to address pricing and ways to do it without putting your actual prices up there. Case for putting pricing on your website The thought with putting pricing on your website is so that you start to weed out the tire kickers. This is simply to protect your time and profits. See you have a minimum per project and the last thing you want to happen is for you to go through...
Aug 27, 2018ā¢7 minā¢Ep. 131
This was such an awesome question that someone inside of the Feast community asked during our monthly round up call this month, I had to share it. Iāve been asked this many times before. In fact, Iāve wrestled with it myself over the years. Let me quickly paint a picture for you. The Scarlet Letter of Services or Service Stigma You offer 2 different types of services to 2 different types of clients. One of those types of clients essentially looks down at the other service for some reason. Whethe...
Aug 24, 2018ā¢7 minā¢Ep. 130
This is actually an easy question to answer and I hope that by answering it, you may understand a bit why I talk about the things I do with respect to testing the market, talking to customers, etc. My biggest failure as a freelance came when I released a product into the wild called WP Field Guides. My idea was what I built It was to educate people on the best practices of WordPress and targeted to businesses wanting to manage and grow their website. I got the idea from the leads that would come...
Aug 23, 2018ā¢6 minā¢Ep. 129
Let me provide some context to this question as I think itās important for my answer here. This particular question comes from someone who is a web developer just starting out looking to get the attention of other companies looking to hire him. This person has no experience outside of school and pet projects. They donāt yet have a website either to speak of. The quick answer to this question is build a site. Yes itāll take longer, but you need to keep in mind who you want to attract and where th...
Aug 22, 2018ā¢5 minā¢Ep. 128
Do you ever wake up in the morning and say āI canāt wait get today rolling so that I can have people completely ignore me?ā No, of course not. But thatās whatās going to happen when you do cold outreach. In general, a good cold outreach campaign yields a 1% response rate. That doesnāt even mean that 1% are āyesesā either, just means that youāll get a response. Itās heart wrenching, itās soul crushing. Itās the same emotional nightmare of your teenage years during prom season again as an adult. S...
Aug 21, 2018ā¢7 minā¢Ep. 127
Do you have a mantra, a manifesto? Is it something we need? I donāt know, but Iām going to share with you mine. As a business owner or freelancer we hear that people have these personal manifestos and mantras that they live by. I never though of these 2 "words of wisdom" that I live by as such, but maybe they are. You be the judge. I had the pleasure of being on Philip VanDusenās Brand Muse interview series over on his YouTube channel and he asks all his guests this question. And while I donāt h...
Aug 20, 2018ā¢6 minā¢Ep. 126
This is the natural follow up to the last episode . Now that you know what to write, how often should you. Once you get the juices flowing itās often easy to then say, Iām going to put out a daily blog post, or a weekly post. More often than not though, youāll die out. Believe me, Iāve been there, done that. Iāll tell you what I tell my coaching clients as well as my service clients, write as often as you can be consistent with it. You donāt have to write daily or weekly even. If you write once ...
Aug 17, 2018ā¢5 minā¢Ep. 125
With video, social media, and other platforms popping up daily, itās inevitable that youāll be enticed to follow and jump all in on the new platform. Itās important to remember that putting your content on rented land means that you need to play by their rules and those rules can change in an instant. Case in point, I started this podcast on Anchor. Then around episode 30 or 35, I noticed that Anchor was injecting ads into the broadcast. Which I fully understand why, but it just didnāt feel righ...
Aug 16, 2018ā¢7 minā¢Ep. 124
Sales is something that you learn. Itās a constant learning to be honest with you. Sales today isnāt what it was in the 80s, 50s or 30s. How you improve your sales is more about you and the relationship with your client than it is about sales tactics and tips. The question today has a bit of a āI want a silver bulletā feel to it. I hate to disappoint you but there isnāt. However I will share with you, 3 things that you can do to affect your sales cycle and get those leads to close and sign that ...
Aug 15, 2018ā¢6 minā¢Ep. 123
If you are struggling with the content on your website, today we are going to fix that and get you on the right path. Just like yesterdayās show which is [What makes a great case study?](https://rezzz.com/ask/great-case-study), this show is all about the reader too. Before jumping into todayās show, I want you to load up Twitter. Type in @rezzz and then put in your website URL and hit enter. Iāll tell you in a just minute why, but what else do you have to lose? Itās a free shout-out to your webs...
Aug 14, 2018ā¢7 minā¢Ep. 122
Itās one thing to have a portfolio, itās another thing to have an effective one that contains case studies to help covert those shoppers into buyers. I was speaking with some Feast members, and then again over the weekend when I was emailing my cousinās friend who was looking for a job. They asked me about what goes into a great case study. In all the conversations we dove pretty deep into what makes a great case study with examples, workshopped some, and even outlined some initial ones. The one...
Aug 13, 2018ā¢5 minā¢Ep. 121
Imposter syndrome is a real thing. As a freelancer, as an introvert, and just working with smart people every single day, it can be an overwhelming feeling to get past that you don't know enough. Today's show will share you my story and what I look to when I have this feeling. In the freelance world, we can't let ourselves stop us. This question came by way of Instagram and with respect to the person who DMād me, they will remain anonymous. However, I will say that this person was one year into ...
Aug 10, 2018ā¢6 minā¢Ep. 120
As a freelancer, business owner, consultant, sometimes the productivity and motivation isn't there when we need it. Today Iām going to share with you 4 tips to increase productivity and motivation. I was asked this on Instagram and got such an awesome response from it, I thought that Iād share this here with you as well. By the way, if we arenāt connected on Instagram, letās do that - Iām rezzz20 and when you follow me, drop me a DM and say āhiā We all battle it from time to time. Sometimes we j...
Aug 09, 2018ā¢5 minā¢Ep. 119
Nothing can waste your time more than jumping at an opportunity you get for a freelance project through a someone you know. Iāve been there and going to share with you what to do. Let me paint the picture for you. You get this quick, short email that says: Hey Fred - I was talking with Joe and he is in need of X. I told him about what you do and thought that itād be best for you to jump on a call with him today or tomorrow. Thatās what he said would work for him best. Talk soon, Ref Itās awesome...
Aug 08, 2018ā¢5 minā¢Ep. 118
I've had this feeling so many times I lost count. If you haven't had any objections to your pricing, then as I shared in episode 60 , Iām going to tell you the very same thing my mentor told me to do on the very next prospect, and thatās to double it. If you have had some pushback on your pricing, it means that they don't understand the value of their investment. There is a disconnect between your "thing" and your price that you have yet to make it a clear no-brainer for them to sign up with you...
Aug 07, 2018ā¢7 minā¢Ep. 117
------------------- For full show notes, your own customized Ask Rezzz playlist , and bonus material, head on over here for it all . ------------------- However, Iāve never once used one. Mainly because I never wanted to build my business on rented land. And in episode 95 where I answer the question āHow viable is it to find a job as a front-end web developer as a freelancer in the current marketā I shared that I didnāt like the idea that there was someone elseās hand in the sales process. Place...
Aug 06, 2018ā¢5 minā¢Ep. 116
This is going to be a pretty simple answer today. Itās not easy to do, but taking vacations and being able to step away from the freelance business for a day or a week can be scary. From about 2004 to 2011 I didnāt take any days off. There was no vacation, no hotel plans, no cruises, no car rentals, nothing that resembled any sort of pleasurable trip because I wanted to get away. When was the last vacation you had? Maybe even years at some point where you didnāt get a break? So why is that? Big ...
Aug 03, 2018ā¢6 minā¢Ep. 115
Today Iām going to share with you 3 tools that Iāve found extremely helpful, useful, and are making my life and business better. These aren't your run of the mill tools that you hear everywhere (at least not yet - or at least I hadn't ;) ) Bonjoro , Undraw , and Hey Meta . Review of Bonjoro The first is bonjoro.com . Iāll be honest, Iām not sure where I heard of this tool, but in using it, Iāve grown to love the company as well. Full disclosure, I am an affiliate so if you want to check out Bonj...
Aug 02, 2018ā¢8 minā¢Ep. 114
