Issue #3 – October 31th, 2014

If you celebrate it, Happy Halloween.

If you don’t, happy last Friday in October.

Today’s issue is jammed packed with resources. Reviewing them all crashed my browser a dozen times. (No joke)

I’d appreciate it if you could take a look at the sponsor for this issue, because it’s only available for a limited time.

News on the Freelance Chi podcast. I’ve confirmed that it’s in iTunes and it was just accepted into Stitcher. If you’d like to subscribe and get the episodes automatically, head over to the podcast page. (Someday I’ll get the podcast image replaced. MVP baby!)

freelance-chi-issue-3.mp3

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Is it really possible to build a $1m freelance design business? (freelancelift.com)

Liam Veitch wrote a great article about how his freelance business has reached $1,000,000 lifetime revenue in three years. More than just a congratually article, he includes seven pieces of advice that you can use in your own business.

Clients judge your website in a split-second. Here’s what they look for. (freelancersunion.org)

In this guest article by Paul Jarvis, he writes about how important it is to have a clear website that makes a great first impression. If you feel like your website isn’t working hard enough for you, it might be time to review how a client perceives it.

Run Your Consulting Business (theadmin.org) SPONSOR

Mistake. Mistake. Mistake. Success. Does that sound like your experience with freelancing? It was mine. At least at first. Now I know better and want to share what I’ve learned with you in this training course covering finding clients, marketing, and selling. (Limited time, ends November 5th)

Charge What You’re Worth (doubleyourfreelancing.com)

Brennan Dunn recently launched a free 9 day email course to help you charge what you’re worth (which I’m willing to bet means charging more).

A rough picture of my marketing system for Ben Franklin Labs (jasonswett.net)

It’s easy to find ideas for individual marketing tactics but Jason Swett has put all of his tactics into a single article. He’s still working on it but this is useful to see how multiple tactics can combine to form a marketing system.

How I found my first clients (theadmin.org)

Finding your first few clients is extremely stressful, coupled with a lack of experience. In this article I talk about my first few clients and what they taught me about marketing for my next clients.

How To Kill it With Ecommerce Content Marketing (unofficialshopifypodcast.com)

Though focused on ecommerce, this podcast by Kurt Elster, Paul Reda, and guest Philip Morgan talk about the perception blogs have and why it might be better to kill your blog and replace it with something better. This is the exact strategy I’ve used on Little Stream Software.

How To Avoid Giving Away The Farm With Content Marketing (ittybiz.com)

Content marketing can be a great long-term strategy to attract clients but when you’re a knowledge worker it can be hard to know how much to give away. Naomi Dunford goes into this topic in this article. (Naomi writes for coaches but you can easily apply her advice as a consultant or freelancer)

Content Marketing Plan For Consultants (covetedconsultant.com)

Another article about content marketing, this time with a five-step plan to get started.

Finding Your Confidence as a Small Agency/Freelancer with Travis Northcutt (devchat.tv)

In this episode of The Freelancers’ Show, the panel talks about confidence, pricing, and building a freelance business.

Why your customers don’t want you to use value-based pricing (mailchimp.com)

In this email archive, Nick discusses value-based pricing, why most clients might reject it at first, and what you can do about it.

Thanks, I’ll see you next week

Eric Davis (@edavis10)