How to Become a “Rock Star” in Your Niche, Part 2
Cindy Cyr here, with four more tips on becoming a “rock star” in your niche …
If you missed part one from yesterday, you can read those tips here.
The other day, I was listening to Dan Kennedy talk about all the things I should be doing to promote my business, like sending out a newsletter (both in the mail and online), writing a book, speaking at events …
I have to admit I felt part guilty and part overwhelmed by all the things I wasn’t doing.
Do you ever feel like that?
But then I realized, while I gear up to take Dan’s advice, there are a lot of other things I am doing that are helping me land new clients.
Today’s tips for marketing your services are not difficult, nor overwhelming. In fact, they are little things you can easily implement in your selling-your-services campaign immediately.
4. Work your craft so people believe you are “naturally talented.” In yesterday’s message, I told you about my aspiring songwriter/singer/ actor son, Dalton.People often comment on how talented he is. While Dalton does have raw talent, what most people don’t see is the amount of time he puts in. He dedicates between two to six hours to his craft every day. He takes voice and guitar lessons, studies, and practices songwriting.
As a freelancer, you should practice writing every day. The more you write, the better you’ll get and the faster you’ll get to the top. Continue taking courses and educating yourself on marketing, writing, and skills specific to your niche. When you do, you’ll discover more people will think and say you are a “natural” or that you have a “gift” for words and marketing. This creates buzz that will get you noticed, and more importantly, hired.
5. Raise the quality bar. Each time I post a video of Dalton, I try to make it different or better than the one before.
If you are writing a blog or other client-attracting media, think about how you can take the value you offer in your content up a notch. For example, maybe you could interview someone in your prospect’s target audience to provide insights into their industry and its trends. Or maybe share test results from tests you run in your own marketing. It doesn’t need to be a big thing – even offering something a bit different than what they saw the time before shows your quality bar rising.
6. Do what other successful people have told you to do. Early on, Dalton was instructed to never wear shorts to a performance. He was told, “Stars don’t wear shorts. They dress in a way that makes people notice he looks different than everyone else.” Living in Florida, there are days where it’s 90-100 degrees and long pants are not comfortable. The thing is, people pick him out of the crowd every time.
As a freelancer, you might consider looking for opportunities to speak to groups. Or write an e-book related to your niche. These ideas may be out of your comfort zone, however, they both are examples of something you’ve most likely heard a successful person tell you to do. Plus, they both give you credibility, attract clients, and position you as an expert …
It might not be “comfortable” to do what someone successful has told you to do, but do it anyway. Chances are that if it’s uncomfortable for you, it’s uncomfortable for others too. That means many won’t do it, so when you do – you’ll stand out among the crowd as the leader in your niche.
7. Put yourself out there every day. I try to make sure I do one marketing task for Dalton every day. Sometimes it’s as simple as telling one new person about him and sharing his YouTube channel. Sometimes it’s big, like a performance. Regardless, something happens every day.
No matter how busy you get, you have to build in time to market yourself. It’s how buzz and the high-paying projects will flow your way.
Make a list of ways you can market yourself and commit to doing one thing each day. Whether it’s engaging in a conversation with a highly targeted prospect on Twitter for five minutes or sending out a direct mail package to promote your services, you’ll soon find more work than you can handle coming your way. The best part? You get to choose the best assignments and charge more when you are in demand.
Do these seven tips consistently, and you’ll find yourself rising to celebrity status in your own niche because the chances are you’ll be one of the few doing them. And if you’ve ever wondered why some people rise to the top while others continue to struggle despite doing these things, check out my article “The 19 Secrets to Selling Your Freelance Services Successfully".
Do you have things you’ve tried which have gotten you “noticed”? Share them with me and The Writer’s Life readers here.
How to Make Money as a Social Media Expert
Within two years, your freelance business will be dead or dying if you don’t have a solid social media presence. Find out how you can become a social media expert and thrive in the new economy. Learn More »
How to Become a “Rock Star” in Your Niche, Part 1
Cindy Cyr here, with tips on how to become famous in your niche so you’ll attract more and better clients …
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind—holidays, Bootcamp, new clients, not to mention family activities …
One of the most exciting things is the attention my 11-year-old son, Dalton, is attracting.
Dalton is an aspiring songwriter, singer, and actor who recently recorded and released two original songs.
Attention has been building. In the past three weeks, several industry representatives have approached us: an executive producer from Disney, Showtime, and ABC, a music producer from Universal Studios, an international radio station wanting to feature his music, and more.
I don’t say this to brag (okay, maybe just a little – I mean, I am his mom after all), but mainly to demonstrate the power of marketing yourself.
I want to show you how I’ve helped Dalton promote his music career using the same principles I've used to build my writing business and status. And I’ll explain how you can apply these same sell-yourself techniques to your own business so you too can attract your own list of exciting opportunities …
Because while people like to think that the “superstars” of the world become superstars only because of talent …
The truth is you can be the most talented person in the world, but if you don't let other people know what skills you have and what you can do for them, you won’t make it very far.
Here are three of seven steps you can take to rise up to “freelance rock star” status. (Tomorrow, I’ll cover four more.)
1. Get in front of the right people. One of the first things you are taught to do in the Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting is to “write to your audience.” You’ve probably noticed that theme repeated in every AWAI program … because it’s that important.
Same goes for you when you are marketing yourself to prospective new clients. Put your articles, your promotions, and your tweets and messages in front of your desired target audience. What you may not realize is that you actually have two target audiences for your self-promotion.
One is the companies that will hire you. The other is the people who will buy your client’s products or services.
For example, in the case of Dalton, his target audience is young girls, but he also needs to sell himself to management companies and record labels.
Set yourself up as an expert in your niche by producing products, articles, emails, and videos that cater to your prospective client’s ideal audience.
For example, Pam Foster, who specializes in copywriting for the pet industry, does training seminars for vets. While she says vets aren’t necessarily her ideal client, the clients she’d like to attract cater to vets. Therefore, because she has the ear of vets, these seminars make her very attractive to her ideal client.
Doing these kind of activities will build you a platform which can give you leverage and give you an edge over your competition.
2. Accept the right opportunities while saying "no" to others. When Dalton started performing, it quickly became evident that he could perform at non-paying events every night of the week if he wanted, just like you can easily get all the low-paying and "no-paying" work you want.
When starting out, you may take less than ideal projects to get samples and experience. However, once you have a few projects under your belt, be more selective about the projects you accept. Sure, you still need to do certain quality-but-standard projects to pay the bills. But you also have to seek out those that will help you climb the ladder.
If you say yes to everything, you risk doing work that can actually damage your reputation, plus you may find that you have no room in your schedule to find the ideal client you’d love to work for—which can cause you to burn out.
To help you figure out which projects will help you do that, ask yourself the following questions before you take on an assignment:
- http://www.awaionline.com/_img/toolbox/bullets/bullet-red.gif); ">Can you help this client get a “win”? In other words, do you think you can improve their copy or create a promotion that will be successful?
- http://www.awaionline.com/_img/toolbox/bullets/bullet-red.gif); ">Is there experience you can gain which is useful to advancing your career? For example, is it a type of project you’ve never done before or a marketing process which you can learn from, such as how to launch a new product?
- http://www.awaionline.com/_img/toolbox/bullets/bullet-red.gif); ">Will the client’s reputation help your own by association? Sometimes, one association can carry you and open doors for you for years to come—or even your whole career. For example, recently I did some work for a client where I wasn’t paid a whole lot. However, this client is so connected that he is constantly referring high-end clients to me in my niche. And the association I have by writing for Ziglar could potentially follow me throughout my whole career.
3. Always be aware of your image. Dalton has 12 YouTube videos showcasing him singing, playing instruments, and performing. I have hundreds of hours of footage I could use. The point here is quality over quantity.
If a client asks for samples, don’t give him everything you’ve ever done; be selective and only choose the best. It’s better to have one good sample than a dozen that are mediocre mixed in with one really good one a prospect might miss.
Similarly, think about what you tweet and post on Facebook and other social media sites. This is your image. What do you want it to say about you? Remember, you are always marketing!
That’s it for today. Tomorrow, I’ll give you four more tips on how to become a “rock star” in your niche. In the meantime, I’d love to hear your comments on today’s issue and which tips you’re going to use to build interest in you and your business.
This article appears courtesy of American Writers & Artists Inc.’s (AWAI) Writer’s Blog. For a complimentary subscription to AWAI’s free newsletter that delivers original, no-nonsense advice on the best wealth careers, lifestyle careers and work-at-home careers available, visit http://www.awaionline.com/signup/.