I’ve taken the advice from several previous articles about productized consulting and just yesterday delivered my first productized consulting service to a client. I’m testing out the service with previous clients and leads while I work out the kinks, but it feels really great to apply what I learned to my business.
I think that’s an important point. You can read, listen, and learn all day long but until you actually apply that knowledge and start doing things you’re not really improving.
You might be winding down for the holiday break now but take one piece of advice this next week and put it into action. And let me know how it went!
Listen to the Freelance Chi podcast #10
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How to thank your clients and get more business (freelancersunion.org)
Most freelancers I know thank their clients but most of the time it’s just an off-hand “thank you”. I’ve experimented with ways to go above and beyond for clients in the past and it’s something I’m going to research in the coming months. (Protip: if you ever send brownies to a client, make sure they don’t go to a mailbox they only check once per month…)
How to conduct your own end of year freelance performance review (guerrillafreelancing.com)
Many companies have an annual performance review or 360 for their employees. The idea is to give employees feedback on how they did and where to grow over the next year. When you run your own business, you have to allocate time to do this yourself. Katherine Wood has an easy way to give yourself a performance review and guide your growth next year.
Want to start freelancing in a month? (theadmin.org) SPONSOR
If you’re just getting started or you need to restart your freelance business, having a day-by-day guide can get started on the right path. Don’t waste your time doing the things that don’t matter.
10 questions to ask in your next client interview (nusii.com)
I have a list of questions I ask clients during the sales process to find out if we’d be a good fit. This article by Nathan Powell has some really great ones to help find the deeper reasons why a client wants this project.
Smart tax moves for the end of the year (freelancersunion.org)
Every few months my accountant reaches out to me to make any adjustments to reduce my tax bill. Her update in December is a pretty tricky because the end of the year is a hard deadline for most adjustments. This article has a several tips to squeeze out any last-minute savings before the year-end.
The Freelancers’ Show: #141 FreelanceLift and Business Growth with Liam Veitch (devchat.tv)
In this episode of The Freelancers’ Show, we talked with Liam Veitch about how he built his freelancing agency. Liam has written a book “Stop Thinking Like a Freelancer” that I’m looking forward to reading soon.
Thanks, I’ll see you next week
Eric Davis (@edavis10)