Dr. Freelance

  • HOME
  • BOOKS
  • WEBINARS
  • BLOG
  • PUBLISHING
  • ABOUT
    • CONSULTING
    • ABOUT DR. FREELANCE
    • ABOUT JAKE POINIER
    • CONTACT US
  • Get New Clients
  • Make More Money Freelancing
  • Manage Your Freelance Business
  • Videos
  • General
You are here: Home / Archives for sales

Fear of overcommitting

June 23, 2015 by Jake Poinier

Like this post? Please share it!

overcommitting freelanceDear Dr. Freelance: I have a freelance client that I’ll describe as a “phantom client”—I’d had some challenges with him, but he recently paid me for everything he owed. He’d been a steady source of work, so I was reluctant to just sever the relationship. While I was waiting, I was contacted about another project, but I had a fear of overcommitting: If the phantom client came back, I was going to be stuck without enough time to do either job right. I ended up sending the polished, customized resume and letter very late, and it was pretty much moot since the potential #2 client had already submitted a bid to the end user. How do I strike the balance between getting good projects, ensuring quality, and not driving myself crazy?—Rachel

Rachel, I look at occasionally being “too busy” as part of the reason I’ve succeeded in my freelance business—in fact, I have a chapter titled “Why I Love Emergency Clients” in The Science, Art and Voodoo of Freelance Pricing and Getting Paid.  [Read more…]

Like this post? Please share it!

Filed Under: Get New Freelance Clients Tagged With: fear, freelance, freelance business, overcommitting, sales

Referral sales tip: No such thing as a slam dunk

May 9, 2014 by Jake Poinier

Like this post? Please share it!

Any time you get a contact from a referral, it’s an exciting moment, but there’s no such thing as a slam dunk. While a warm lead has much better sales prospects than a cold one, freelance sales leads don’t just sell themselves, and they don’t always work out the way you imagined.

We’ll get to the sales tip in a moment, but first you need the backstory: I’d received a referral for an aspect of the writing business that I don’t even do. (Public relations.) So, my initial part of the conversation was essentially an anti-pitch: “I don’t do that, but I’d be happy to refer you to one of my trusted freelance friends in PR who can help you out.” The prospect was very appreciative, and maybe a bit shocked. And, yeah, I was initially a little disappointed. [Read more…]

Like this post? Please share it!

Filed Under: Get New Freelance Clients Tagged With: no such thing as a slam dunk, referral, sales, sales tip

Guest blog roundup

February 16, 2012 by Jake Poinier

Like this post? Please share it!

Just a quick note to share a guest blog post:

Your Freelancer Life Cycle: A look at the stages when you move from the point where you don’t know what you don’t know to understanding it so well that it’s second nature. Some great discussion there, too.

Like this post? Please share it!

Filed Under: Manage Your Freelance Business Tagged With: client relationships, sales

Estimating projects based on vague information

October 14, 2010 by Jake Poinier

Like this post? Please share it!

Dear Dr. Freelance: I saw your recent post about estimating projects, “Hourly rates vs. project pricing,” but how do you figure a bid on something you have just vague information on? I was asked to give a price on proofreading new website copy, knowing only the subject and how many pages there would be — but not how much copy might be on each page or what kind of shape it was in. Even the company that asked for the bid hasn’t seen anything. But they wanted a price. I assume they’re looking elsewhere since I have not heard back from them in response to what I did send, but I want to figure out what I *should* have done! — Susan [Read more…]

Like this post? Please share it!

Filed Under: Make More Money Freelancing Tagged With: estimating projects, sales

Measuring and promoting freelance client results

August 20, 2010 by Jake Poinier

Like this post? Please share it!

Dear Dr. Freelance: When I’ve had my freelance resume critiqued, the advice I got was that I needed more quantifiable numbers and freelance client results to show the impact of my work. But when I send a press release or brochure copy to a client, I’m often not privy to what happens next, and I’m not sure they’d want to share sales figures with me, especially if they knew I’d be broadcasting it on my resume. Any advice?—Susan Johnston

Dear SJ: You’ve touched on a critical challenge in freelance business practices. Many clients don’t measure their results; some because they don’t think it’s worth the effort, others because they’re fearful of discovering a 0% return on investment (ROI). [Read more…]

Like this post? Please share it!

Filed Under: Manage Your Freelance Business Tagged With: client perspectives, response rate, roi, sales

Subscribe to Dr. Freelance

* indicates required

Books by Jake Poinier

Follow Dr. Freelance on Twitter!

Tweets by @DrFreelance

Categories

Recent Comments

  • Jake Poinier on A freelance pep talk and open-line Friday on 3-26
  • Joy Drohan on A freelance pep talk and open-line Friday on 3-26
  • Jake Poinier on What three business problems are keeping you up at night?
  • Jake Poinier on A freelance pep talk and open-line Friday on 3-26

Your Prescription for Success

Looking for better paying freelance jobs? Trying to improve your flow of referrals? Tired of marketing strategies that don't work? Join Dr. Freelance for one of his upcoming webinars! READ MORE.

Search

Book Better Freelance Business

Three Dr. Freelance Guides offer professional business advice for freelance writers, editors, designers, and other solo creative entrepreneurs. Whether you want more clients, better pay, more referrals, or all of the above, you've come to the right office. READ MORE.

Healthy Connections

Dr. Freelance enjoys talking shop on social media. Check him out on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or LinkedIn to hear his latest diagnosis or ask a question about your business.
  • HOME
  • BOOKS
  • WEBINARS
  • BLOG
  • PUBLISHING
  • ABOUT

Dr. Freelance: Healthy Business Prescriptions for Freelance Creatives.
All contents Copyright © 2023 by Jake Poinier. All rights reserved. Privacy. Fair Use of Content.
Dr. Freelance® and More Cowbell® are trademarks of Boomvang® Creative Group, LLC, and More Cowbell Books, LLC, respectively.