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.
For most of my adult life, I have read a lot of books.
In particular, I have read a lot of non-fiction books.
I am committed to a mindset of a lifelong learning, and so I am always seeking someway to improve my skills.
But over the past year, the way that I approach reading and learning has drastically changed.
It all happened when I read one simple quote from the stoic writer Seneca.
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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.
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.
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Nearly every agency and freelancer has the exact same problem.
They need more work, better work and cash flow to cover the monthly bills.
Announcing...
Outbound Creative
We help agencies win their dream clients through eye-catching outreach campaigns
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.
When things aren't going your way, it can really suck.
These moments happen, there is no other way around it.
Your life and your business aren't always going to be smooth sailing.
You will hit rough spots.
It's just part of life.
When you hit these rough spots, it's important to remember one thing.
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For many years, I would say that I was mentally unstable.
I had anxiety attacks, constant stress, bouts of depression, and I was consistently filled with a feeling of "what the fuck am I doing with my life."
Then about a year and a half ago, I started a practice that changed all of that.
I started writing morning pages.
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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.
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There is always more work to be done.
There is always another project to be started.
There is always more we could be doing...
It's easy to go through life and your career, taking job after job for check after check.
Your income raises, and you feel good about it.
It's easy to keep repeating that cycle.
What is hard is to find your mission.
To find that driving force that brings satisfaction beyond the money you make.
Making money is easy.
Living your mission is hard.
There is a barbershop in Thailand...
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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.
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One of the biggest questions that I get is from people who are seeking to start their own business for the first time.
They have spent their whole life working in jobs for someone else, and thus the idea of starting a business seems scary and overwhelming.
My goal with this post is to share with you my biggest recommendations for first time entrepreneurs.
Read MoreOne of the fastest ways for any individual to make positive change in their life is to set goals, and then work at achieving them.
Every quarter, I do a quarterly review where I review my previous quarter and set goals for the upcoming quarter.
Below you will see a list of my quarterly goals I set for Q1 with the actual outcomes for each of those goals. Then I also dive into detail about what went well, and what didn't.
I encourage you to take this format and apply it to your own life and do your own Quarterly review.
Read MoreFor the past year and a half, I have lived without a cell phone plan.
When I tell this to most people, they think I am nuts.
We assume because the technology exists, we must have it.
But for millions of years we existed without cell phones, and we can still exist without them today.
Read MoreThere 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.
Read MoreCreativity. 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.
Read MoreSeveral 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.
Read MoreAll 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.
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