How to shorten sales cycles with an entry level offer

For years, I operated without an entry level offer. Both when I had my agency, and as a solo consultant.

But eventually I decided to make a shift and try out selling an entry level offer. The first few months were rocky, but eventually, I saw the light and decided never to look back.

Utilizing an entry level offer has drastically changed my business and my income.

This article outlines the journey I made with selling an entry level offer, mistakes I made along the way, and it gives you a roadmap for creating your own offer.

The 7 steps of selling a consulting engagement

When I start working with my clients, I analyze and look at their entire sales process.

And across the board, there is one mistake I consistently see consulting companies making.

They fail to follow the steps of the sale.

They try to leap several steps at a time, and this leads to them failing, falling and losing the deal.

This post outlines, the steps of the consulting sale.

How to create an effective sales and marketing strategy

Strategy. To many people strategy seems intangible.
It seems like something that companies either do right, or they do wrong.

But the truth is, strategy is tangible.
And creating an effective strategy is a skill that any person can learn.

Blog, Business Development, Consulting, Dream Client Campaign, Marketing, Outbound CreativeJake JorgovanDecember 9, 2015

Why every agency should have a dream client campaign

There are a lot of ways you can market your business.
Content marketing, networking, referrals, thought leadership, advertising, etc.
All of these methods are incredible ways to grow.

But there is one sales and marketing strategy that too many companies overlook.
They overlook the dream client campaign.

Lessons learned from a year of evolution

Many of my long time followers will notice that I haven’t blogged lately. In fact it has been almost two months since my last post.

For almost a year and a half I blogged weekly with not exceptions.

That worked well, for a while…

And then I started my year of evolution.

My goal with this post is to share with you some of the drastic changes in my business over the past 8 months, and the lessons I learned along the way.

Blog, Business Development, Creative Work, Freelancing, Launch your Career, Outbound MarketingJake JorgovanSeptember 3, 2015

On launching something new

When you are launching something new, there are two mindsets on how to approach it.

The key is to find a balance somewhere in the middle.
In the middle is a place where you ship, but you still ship something you are proud of.
You set a realistic deadline, you do the best you can, and then you launch.

Blog, Business Development, Creative Work, Launch your CareerJake JorgovanJuly 7, 2015

Under promise, over deliver

If there is one mistake that nearly all creative professionals are culprit of, it is this.

They make promises to clients, and then they don't deliver on them.

They tell a client "I will have that to you tomorrow."

Then tomorrow rolls around, and they break the promise. They don't deliver. This broken promise upsets the client and it hurts the relationship.

A barbershop in Thailand

There is a barbershop in Thailand...

Blog, Business Development, Freelancing, MarketingJake JorgovanApril 27, 2015

How to handle projects with an unclear scope

You know the situation.

A prospect comes to you with a project and the scope is just unclear.

So how to we handle these situations when a client comes to us and the scope is unclear?

How do we proceed forward and not commit ourselves to something we later regret?

My goal with this post is to outline a method to handle these situations and also get paid for your time.

Blog, Business Development, Consulting, Creative Work, Freelancing, Launch your CareerJake JorgovanApril 21, 2015

The freelancer pitch framework - Stop overcomplicating what you do

There is a recurring trend I see among nearly all creative professional who are considering starting their own business or are in the early phases.

They overcomplicate what they do.

Learning to easily communicate what you do is one of the most important things every creative professional must learn.

The price of creativity

Creativity. There are few sellable goods or services that have such a wide range of pricing as creative work.

Why is it that one painting can cost millions of dollars, while another can't even be sold?

Why is that one designer can charge 10x what another designer charges for the exact same service?

My goal with this post is to share with you two examples of creative pricing in action, and then explain to you why they are priced the way they are.

LEAN Marketing

Several years ago Eric Ries published an popular business book called The Lean Startup.

The core principle of the book is that you shouldn't invest large amounts of time, money and energy into a new business up front without knowing if it will work.

That same principle is true for marketing your creative services.

The most powerful way to differentiate your creative business

All of us that do creative work face a similar challenge.

Despite our best efforts to be unique, at times we can feel like a commodity.

While we may have our own unique style, there are hundreds of other creatives out there with their unique style as well.

So it begs the question, ‘How do I differentiate myself in the creative field?’

My goal with this post is to share with you the single most powerful way to differentiate your creative business.

Why you should have 'a list of people you like'

For years, I have used a strategy that has both improved my quality of life and generated a large amount of income.

The strategy has never cost me a single dollar, and I enjoy executing it.

Its not complicated, and it is something anyone can do.

I keep a list of people I like.

The most underutilized method of acquiring new clients

Direct outreach includes e-mail prospecting, sending letters in the mail, etc.

Many don't believe direct outreach works. They are inundated with spammy requests all day and thus, they think all direct outreach is spammy.

But the truth is, direct outreach is an effective method of acquiring new work and it doesn't have to be spammy.

Personally, direct outreach has lead to 30% of my income this year.

My goal with this post is to share with you a few methods on utilizing direct outreach to grow your freelancing business.

It's time to rethink networking

If you are like most people, you hate networking.

The idea of walking into a room and schmoozing a bunch of people hoping to find an ideal prospect probably sounds horrible.

But networking doesn't have to be that way.

My goal in this post is to share with you just a few ways to expand your network without feeling sleazy about it.

The art of client communication : How to win clients and keep them happy

One of the biggest areas of freelancing that many people fail to even think about is client communication.

Client communication may be one of the single most important factors in building your business.

How you connect with clients has the ability to turn one off jobs into repeat clients, referrals, and raving testimonials.

My goal with this post is to teach you some of the basic concepts of client communication.

16 ways to win new freelance clients

One of the most common questions I get from aspiring freelancers is “How do you get your clients?”

When asked this question, I never quite have a perfect answer because the truth is that my work comes from many different places.

There are tons of ways to get new clients, although below I have included a list of 16 tactics that have landed me clients.

The 9 steps of selling a creative project

There is one question that I get over and over again from creatives.

How do you handle the sales process of a creative project?

Sales is scary when it is foreign to you. Yet a strong understanding of how a sale flows from beginning to end will make it much easier to handle.

My goal with this post is to walk you through the entire sales process from beginning to end.

The secret to building a steady freelance income

One of the biggest struggles for many freelancers is building a steady income. There is always this constant fear of not knowing wear the next job is coming from, and that drives many freelancers either crazy or bankrupt.

It doesn't have to be that way.

In this post I will give you some simple strategies and tactics that can help you build a steady pipeline of clients and flow of income for your freelance business.

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