Hope Diamond. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Hope Diamond is the most famous diamond in the world.  Its large size (over 45 carats) and deep blue color make it instantly recognizable.

The purported curse doesn’t hurt either.

Why this matters for freelancers

It’s an only.

It’s the only diamond like it.  And that makes it different, and worth talking about.

Being an  ”only” can make you much more successful.  It’s one way of eliminating your competition.

What is an “only” business?

An “only” business is a company or a freelancer that does something unique; a company that offers a product or a service that your competitors can’t easily copy, or copy at all.

Large companies do this with their products all the time.  So do companies that started small.

Only “Ivory Soap is 99 3/4% pure”

Only Zappos lets you return your shoes at any time for any reason, even if they know you’re cheating, and even if you do it repeatedly.

How to be an “only”

Let’s say you specialize in ghostwriting guest blog posts.  And,  you offer really fast turnaround — you’re the FedEx of blog post ghostwriting. You can tell your clients, and potential clients, that “only Supersonic Ghostwriting offers an overnight blog post service.  Your posts go from our keyboards to your inbox in 24 hours.”

Or, take my friend Phil.  He owns a toy store in Michigan.  Toy stores aren’t all that unusual, but Phil’s is.  For one thing, he offers a toy lending service to local schools.  Teachers can come in and choose from a selection of toys — for free.

His staff carries lists of favorite toys in their pockets, so they can help confused customers make the right selection.  They don’t push the newest toy or the most expensive, instead they recommend the toys that are most appropriate.  His customers know this, and trust him even more for it. (Sometimes, he even sends free toys to his friends; my nephew loves his Matchbox trucks, and guess who’s his favorite aunt).

It’s what we marketing types call a “unique selling proposition.”  That’s just a fancy way of saying you offer something that your competition doesn’t (or can’t).

Suddenly, instead of being one of a crowd of writers or toy store owners offering interchangeable products and services, you’re unique.

Now, some homework.  Go think about what makes you unique, and how you can be an ‘only.”  If you need help, email me.

Diamonds are optional.

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No Cold Calling Zone (Photo credit: markhillary)

Marketing.

You have to do it.  However, the thought of making cold calls or yet another round of bad coffee and stale bagels at some networking event sends shudders up your spine.

You think, maybe I’ll just go take the dog for a walk instead.  Or go get a latte.

The problem is, that without promoting yourself, in some way, you’re unlikely to get work (making it hard to feed the dog or pay for that latte).

cold calls are annoying

Calling people and interrupting them is irritating.  They’re busy.  They don’t want a sales pitch while they’re trying to get Bob from accounting to pay the invoice for the new company website.

You tend to freeze up, and get nervous.  You wonder what you were thinking.

Networking is not working

We’ve all been to networking events with speakers who drone on and on and tell jokes so bad you want to run screaming out of the room.

Or, everyone sits around a table.  Each person introduces themselves and gives a short “pitch.” Inevitably, these are duller than watching paint dry.  You start dreaming of that latte again.

You leave with a few business cards, almost inevitably tossed in the trash.

You wonder, “Why do I keep going to these things?” You want to give up.

 Skip the prospecting entirely

That’s right. Skip it.  There’s a better way to do this. You don’t really have to “sell” at all. The secret is something else entirely. No selling, no phone calls, no boring events.

Be helpful

Instead of trying to push something on people, be helpful. When someone has a question in a forum, track down a useful link or video that will help them. If a LinkedIn member is looking for a coder (and you know a good one), refer that person.

Both people will thank you for it. Show that you care about your clients. Go out of your way to help them build their own businesses (send them referrals, for example).

I’ve gotten several clients from an online forum where “selling” or even linking to your own site is discouraged. I took a few minutes to rewrite or comment (when asked) on marketing ideas or copy. I pitched in on a few group projects, and answered newbie questions, building up trust.  No pitch, just clients.

Build relationships

The online world gives us much greater reach than we had 20 years ago, but people are still people — and the human touch makes a difference. Being connected to 50,000 people on LinkedIn (or an “open” connector), doesn’t mean much. Neither does having 10,000 likes on Facebook. Neither one is particularly meaningful.

Find complementary businesses, and really connect with them (a real estate broker and a bank loan officer for example).

If you link to someone, follow up and offer to help them with a problem they have, regardless of whether it earns you anything right away (aside: of all the people who have linked to me on LinkedIn only one has bothered to follow up – who do you think I’ll contact if I need the service she provides).

Build your own network

Bring together those complementary businesses, and help them help each other. Hold a Google Plus hangout, bring everyone in for lunch (if practical), and have a real conversation. You can even make up a website or directory and send potential clients directly there (pretty easy to do with a wordpress blog).

None of this is selling in the traditional sense. There are no cold calls, no objections to overcome, and much less competition. You may never cold call again.

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