Nude Freelancer Storms Google Campus
March 6, 2008
Would you storm the Google campus nude to get publicity and attention for your business? Or would you dye your hair pink, or get your logo tattoed on your forehead? You’d certainly attract attention, but not the right sort. So what can you do to get potential customers to notice you?
The chances are, you’re swimming in a huge pool of competitors. And if you’re a freelance writer, or web designer that pool is more like an ocean. So if you don’t stand out from the crowd, you’ll struggle to make a decent income.
Consider the average freelance writer. As Monika points out in this article, it’s difficult to find writing gigs on the Internet that pay a decent amount of money. And the trouble is, there’s so many writers offering the same thing. So what could the average freelance writer do to get noticed?
Research: Find out what potential customers are actually looking for from a freelance writer. You could do this by simply calling and asking them, or through networking on StumbleUpon, or one of the popular webmaster forums like Webmaster World. Other business owners or freelancers can do the same by hanging out in forums frequented by their target market.
Define What Your Customer Really Wants:
Work out what your customer really wants and once you’ve done that, you’ll know what to offer them. For example, if you’re a freelance writer, they obviously want you to write good articles and blog posts. But, what do they really want? They want articles that bring them traffic - they want content that people will read.
Think about how much more appealing your service would be if you could ensure your articles were ranked highly on Google, or attracted heaps of traffic from social networking sites. And by becoming more proficient in SEO and social networking you’ll attract more customers and you’ll be able to charge more than the run of the mill writer.
What about other businesses? If you have an online store which sells vitamins, think about what your target customers may be looking for. Vitamins is the obvious answer, but what else are they looking for? People usually buy vitamins because they want to improve their health. So, why not add more products and services and make yourself a one stop health shop. You could also, brush up on your knowledge and offer them specialist health advice. After all, people are busy and they would appreciate being able to get everything they need in one place.
Some More Ideas
You Offer Skincare Products
What Are Your Customers Looking For: They want to look better. So you don’t sell them skincare products you sell them the experience of looking better.
You Offer Virtual Assistance
What Are Your Customers Looking For: They want their lives to be easier. So don’t sell them on the fact that you can type 150 words a minute and you speak nice on the telephone. Show them how much easier you can make their lives.
You’re A Property Rental Agent
What Are Your Customers Looking For? A hassle free experience. Someone to take care of everything so they don’t have to worry about it. So you show them how much easier their lives will be when you’re taking care of everything - including repairs and maintenance and rent collection.
If you brainstorm like this for your business, you’ll discover exactly what to offer your customers and how to sell it to them.
Brand Yourself: A recognisable logo and strapline will get you noticed and remembered by customers. For example - if you’re a freelance writer, what’s going to stand out more - a generic website with a title something like Freelance Writer At Home, or a well branded site with a logo that stands out?
Be Helpful: Remember you can offer more services than your own. Most people are short on time and they just don’t want the hassle of trying to co-ordinate multiple contractors. So offer complimentary services carried out by other business owners and supervise the whole project. Not only are you doing your customer a favour, but you can also add 20 to 25% on top of the subcontractors costs for arranging it.
If you’re designing a website for a customer, chances are they don’t just want design, they want a fully functioning website. They’re asking you to design it because they don’t have the time or the skill, so they may not have the time to do many other things involved in the building and launching of a website. And they’d probably appreciate a designer who could co-ordinate the website and organise others to do the work they don’t want to do eg. copywriting services or SEO.
What other things could your business offer to give you the edge over the competition? Could you do things faster, or offer an emergency service for example?
There are many ways to get yourself noticed. You don’t have to resort to storming the Google campus in the nude.
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14 Responses to “Nude Freelancer Storms Google Campus”
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I read one of Christine O’Kelly’s posts right before this, and for a minute I thought the two of you were perhaps the same person.
Excellent advice, although the headline is a bit misleading!
Hunter Nuttall’s last blog post..What Color Is Your Focusing Crystal?
Hi Hunter - Does Christine also have a nude picture? I’ll have to check out her post - she hasn’t blogged for a few days.
Must admit - Barbara’s post today persuaded me that I had to come up with more appealing headlines!
And you did.
I think you bring up a good point for those who want to break into freelance writing. I would venture to guess there must be hundreds of thousands trying to do the same thing. Deb, over at “Three Weddings” did a post today about how she is exposing herself to gain branding (she wants to freelance).
It appears someone who blogs may have an advantage over others, provided they have learned about and practice SEO. Your blog stats would be a great tool to use (as part of your resume) when applying for a freelance writing job.
Barbara’s last blog post..Your First Line Can Sink You
Well, I’m most definitely not going to get a tattoo on my forehead or run through a public place naked.
Life is short. Once in a while it is possible to eat dessert first and still do the responsible things. Within certain reasonable-to-me limits I’m happy that me being me, out where others can see, helps to inspire blog posts about how others might achieve their goals.
Elizabeth Able’s last blog post..Online Reviews: Flirtation Commerce?
I love the picture! And, I like the web design.
It’s funny you should ask if we would be willing to dye our hair pink because I was just telling my husband I was going to do just that. Well a small stripe in the bangs at least. Must be a mid-life crises thing.
Anyway, the more I look into freelance writing, the more I realize just how much competition there is out there! Ocean is right. I hope Barbara is right that blogging helping set you apart. Thanks for the tips. I will certainly keep them in mind.
Debbie Yost’s last blog post..Maximum Exposure
Cath, some key advice here for freelancing success. Especially the part about what are you REALLY selling.
At university I remember they always used the TINNED SOUP example in advertising. If I sell soup, what am I really selling, and who are my competitors? The answer of course is you’re selling a quick meal so your competitors are not just other soup brands, but other quick meals. A lot of people don’t get this with their copy writing or businesses in general.
You write really tight articles, by the way. No extra waffle. I like that. As I’ve increased the number of blogs I read, I’m getting really tired of the mammoth post that goes on forever and ever and ever…
Kinda like my comments can. LOL!
Kelly
Kelly Rigby@ SHE-POWER’s last blog post..What Makes a Good Husband and Father?
Thanks for getting my mind into gear Cath. I found that networking plays an important role in getting those high paying jobs. As a matter of fact I scored my first $50 blog post because i have been networking with a business man for month now.
Another thing is the complimentary service offer. It is a great idea and which I have heard before, but, I seem to keep forgetting how much power really is in this suggestions, so thank you for reminding me again.
Thank you for the mention too, it is nice to be included in a naked Google post.
Monika Mundell’s last blog post..My Journey To The Land Downunder
While I wasn’t successful, one of the things I’m proudest of doing was pitching my services to someone I ran across randomly online. He wasn’t even looking for someone, but from some stuff he said I thought he might be able to use one. So I sent him an e-mail starting out with how I could make his life and work easier and then my qualifications. He said thanks, but that he preferred the uncomplicatedness of working alone.
But I did a damn good job of pitching my services — not something generic, but something that he could really use.
@ Hunter - I took a look at Christine’s latest post and I couldn’t see any similarities, but it was a great post. And we’re not the same person - I promise. I really think Christine is a much better writer than I am. But it was nice that you thought that.
@ Barbara - That is a great point. If you could improve your own stats that would be a great way to sell yourself. I must check out Deb’s post this morning.
@ Elizabeth. I think the pink hair dye is definitely enough. I think you’re really brave doing it. Years ago, I’d have tried it, but I don’t think I’d get away with it now - I’m 38. I don’t know if you’ve checked out Gala Darling’s blog at http://www.galadarling.com
She changes her hair colour quite a bit and pulls off pink really well. I know she has instructions on how to do it on there. The colourful hair look has really paid off for her - Cosmo discovered her blog and offered her a column.
@ Deb. I looked into having that done too. Toni and Guy do it. I think you need to have a section of your hair bleached then the temporary colour put on the top.
I think freelance writing is competitive, but remember many people you encounter won’t take it seriously or stick at it. If you’re persistent you’ll get there eventually.
@ Kelly. I know. Many people just don’t get the idea of selling benefits. I wish they would - especially some of these technology people. I remember struggling when I bought my first pc because they were all advertising what it had and I just wanted to know what it would actually do for me.
Thanks for the comp on the posts. I struggle with reading all my favourite blogs and don’t even get thru the whole of my feed reader in a day. And I hate flowery writing, although I know it’s popular with some folks.
@ Monika - that is brilliant news. I knew you could do it. And once you’ve done something once, it makes it easier to do it again. Soon, you won’t be writing posts for less than that.
Hopefully this guy will be a regular source of income for you and maybe he will know others he can recommend you to.
Also, as you write about business, maybe you could learn copywriting. That would be an excellent service to add. And it’s not easy, but good copywriters make a fortune.
@ Mrs M - That’s great. It’s a shame he didn’t take you up on your offer, but some people just won’t outsource anything - they want to try to do it all themselves.
Don’t let it put you off pitching your services at others though. There’ll be plenty more people who do realise they need the help.
Catherine, it wasn’t Christine’s latest post that was similar to this, but coming here right after leaving her blog reminded me of how she has written about standing out from your competitors, giving the customer what they really want, and teaming up with other service providers. I believe you’re a different person though.
Hunter Nuttall’s last blog post..Nonviolent Resistance, Star Wars Style
Hi Hunter - that is good. I’m too busy to be two people!
[...] a recent article I pointed out the benefits of subcontracting to other businesses, so that you’re able to [...]
This was very helpful, useful information to start, although the focus is heavy on marketing for freelance writers, it is still relevant in my case as an Interior Designer. My current dilemna is that I have spent so much time building and tweeking my site that i have fallen vastly behind on the marketing side. I have also written a number of articles for Ask Interior Design that get a draw, but I’m not really sure if perhaps I should be throwing this information around. Any advice would be appreciated.
Hi Sharon - The info here would apply to most businesses, not just freelance writers, so don’t worry that it won’t work for you.
I’m guessing that outsourcing or employing someone is out of the question for you right now.
Organising your time when you’re building a website can be tough. And you do need to spend a lot of time on marketing.
Try making a list of activities you need to do each day, how much time you’re going to spend on each, then tick each one off as you do it.
Before you do this, it’s worth writing down exactly what you get done in a day and how long each activity takes. That way you’ll be able to eliminate time wasters.