You Can Win At Freelancing Beyond Personal Branding

Lately, I’ve begun to hate Twitter. No, I haven’t tired of submitting my own tweets or retweeting those messages worthy of passing along, rather I’m directing my hatred toward the increased number of personal branders who seem to be pervasive on this popular micro-blogging site.

I don’t hate these people personally. How could I? I don’t even know them. What I don’t like is their marketing methodology which is designed to elevate them well beyond what they think they are worth. In other words, these kinds of marketeers imagine that they are the be-all and end-all of problem solvers, claiming to present solutions we need in order to succeed at what we do.

Crazy Self Promotion

I can’t give you an actual example of this kind of person because I immediately block Twitter followers whose self promotional efforts seem to trump the very services they claim to offer. But this problem isn’t peculiar to Twitter users alone – I still come across a good number of freelancers who get carried away with self promotion, placing too much emphasis on themselves at the expense of their actual services.

Many of us are fairly new to personal branding, with the older freelancers part of a generation of people who were taught that self promotional efforts were almost always wrong. In many ways our parents and grandparents were right – who we are is of less importance than what do. Actions do speak louder than words which worked quite well before the emergence of the internet. Today, you have to learn to promote yourself online or risk being missed in a sea of people – nobody knows who you are unless you tell them.

Personal Branding Advocates

While the internet has turned many a trusted standard upside down it has also opened up a world of personal branding advocates who forget that the service offered is of more importance than the person delivering it. When we tend to get so wrapped up in ourselves, we begin to believe our own hype – that nobody else can do the job that we do. Or at least as good as we do.

Friends, that kind of thinking is false. While you may believe your own press, potential customers won’t. Moreover, they’ll look past your hype to the person who seems more likely to make good on their deliverables then you.

Extending Reputation Management

The key to success in any business is your reputation. Your reputation isn’t built on what you say you can do, but on what you have already accomplished. Customers trust that you will follow through and deliver an expected end product. While they may sing your praises personally, it is what you do for them personally that matters the most to them. If you can’t or won’t deliver, they’ll be force to go elsewhere.

Why is trust so important? For one big reason – people who trust you will continue to tap you for their projects. Which means you’ll need to spend less time marketing yourself. Which also means you won’t need to look foolish (or desperate) on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or wherever.

Trust also brings freedom because when you become a known quantity, you’ll get tons of repeat business. You’ll be richer, happier and more satisfied too, maintaining your dignity even while your competition loses theirs.

Photo Credit: Miroslav Nagy

See Also — You Must Brand Yourself Or You Will Perish

Killing Your Customers Softly – Simplify Your Site!

In case you haven’t noticed, my articles lately have focused on writing and marketing to the exclusion of nearly everything else. I haven’t abandoned my other topics, but I believe that a review of the fundamentals of freelance writing from time to time is necessary. Plus, I must assume that a number of my followers are new and may have missed some of my earlier articles which are now part of the archives (and available for your review at no cost to you).

I was paid an important compliment recently regarding this blog. A visitor liked the two-column layout, remarking that the site was clean and easy to read. I was happy to hear what I had long felt – that a two-column blog is much more pleasing to the eye, inviting readers to stop in and spend some time on the site. In addition, if my everyday readers like the look of this blog, then potential customers probably do as well. Which leads me to my point – is your blog harmful to your customers?

6 Easy Blog Clean Up Tips

Here’s what I mean – I’ve come across blogs that are guilty of one or more of the following points, any one of which usually encourages me to move on. Include two or more of these egregious points and you have a real problem on your hands, perhaps without even knowing it:

1. Pop Ups – Please, do I really need to know that you’re running a special? Well, maybe you want to get the word out, but anything that messes up with the navigation of the screen is just plain annoying. Find another way to state your business, perhaps using a starburst widget and placing that in your blog’s header.

2. Music – I’ve made the mistake several times of surfing the ‘net unaware that my PC’s speakers are on. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a rock opera blares forth which usually means that I’ve already hit the forward or back key to leave your site before shutting off my speakers. I can’t see any reason for having sound on a website.

3. Widgets – Speaking of widgets, do you need every single widget currently occupying your sidebar? I’ve gotten lost on some sites where people add widget after widget in a bid to fill their site up with stuff. You’d do better if you removed every widget that doesn’t have to do with your site, limiting yourself to a handful which your readers would find to be unobtrusive and helpful.

4. Buttons, Badges – Much like widgets, buttons and badges are taking over some blogs. Why you would have links to other sites is beyond me especially when those sites are unrelated to yours. If you’ve been using buttons as links, get rid of the buttons and add the link to your Links category. Even better, create a separate links page for all of your link exchanges.

5. Ads – Placing gazillions of advertisements on your blog, especially when it is new is tempting for some people. After all, if people click on your ads you’ll get paid. Instead, resist the temptation to include ads until your site has been running for a few months. That way, you can work on building up content and evaluating traffic, before adding two, perhaps three ads on each page. Take care how you place your ads and stick with those which actually provide relevant content.

6. Categorization – You can save room on your sidebar by removing the META tag; limiting your recent comments and/or recent posts to the last five posts; tossing tags and cloud category; as well as a calendar, unrelated plug ins, and welcome messages.

When surveying your blog, you want visitors to see your blog’s name, tag line (if used), navigation bar and your content which are your blog posts. Secondarily would be what you have featured on your sidebar which shouldn’t detract from your blog’s primary mission – to convey information, including important details telling your customers how to find you.

3 Tips To Help Your Blog Shine

Just in case you think that all I have is negative criticism to offer, consider the following three blog shining steps you can take:

1. Pillar Articles – Most blogs contain a handful of pillar articles, which are those defining posts which are worth reviewing again and again. Don’t allow them to get lost in your archives. Instead, create a widget for your sidebar and title that “Featured Articles.” List three or four of your favorites, making it easier for people to find them once again. These types of articles are what your writing clients want to see as well.

2. New Theme – Is your theme tired looking? I’m amazed at the number of attractive, enjoyable blog themes which are constantly being made. If your blog is established, consider investing in a paid theme, one that offers support from the theme maker and is easy to use.

3. Use Images – Relevant images within your posts (not on the sidebar) can draw the reader’s attention to what you wrote. I’m surprised that some of the more well known bloggers don’t use imagery as a well thought out picture is certainly worth many words.

That’s it for now! Go and shake things up on your blog with an eye on what your customers are reading. With less clutter to pick through, you just may discover that one of your readers is a customer in the making.

Photo Credit: Scott Adams

See Also — Wise Article Marketing Strategies