Check out what I created for Hair Artist Jimmy Storms.
I specialize in creating affordable, effective designs - using your art - that reflect your brand, your taste and your personality.
Email or inbox me if you're interested in seeing what I can create for you.
Check out the mobi here and conventional website here.
You could do it yourself, but don't you have better things to do with your valuable time? Let me help you create the right site that represents your look, your feel and your brand.
Affordable rates perfect for small business and entrepreneurs. I can set up your social media - Facebook, Twitter - and show you how to develop and manage your campaign in the most effective way.
Looking for affordable web design? Here's a sample of a site I'm currently working on.
Email me for information about how I can help you achieve your web marketing goals in an affordable yet effective way.
Facebook is watching you. And disclosing user identity information to third parties.
If you're using Facebook - and who isn't - you might want to take a minute to review your privacy settings.
This PC World article, The Paranoid's Guide to Facebook, helps you batten down the hatches. There's even a link to eliminate your account completely - although it will take a bit of persistence.
So if you no longer <3 Facebook, you can take action.
Like this? Friend me, k?
I love a freebie!
In fact, I don't know anyone who doesn't love to get something of value for nothing. There are some people who make entire careers (and lives) of getting lots of something for nothing.
The internet is full of websites and blogs that show others how to get free and cheap stuff, although acquiring this stuff, much of it junk, is time-consuming and requires leaping all kinds of hurdles. I'm not interested in junk.
I like my stuff to be quality and most people are the same.
Knowing the appeal of the freebie, does it make good business sense to give away something of value in the hope of gaining a new client?
Supermarket sampling is one example of how a gift can create an impulse purchase. However, supermarket demonstrations have the product on hand so the consumer can handily drop it into their cart and head for the checkout.
How many writing specialists can do this? None.
So, free consultations for services can backfire. If you give away too much, your client really has no need for your service. Like the supermarket sample, you need to give your prospective client a taste, not the entire entree. And you need to close the deal.
Guidelines for free consultations
I recently did a consultation that ended in the prospective clients announcing they had no budget for my services. After strategizing for almost 2 hours, I came home with no check or retainer. Ouch! The valuable lesson here: love what you do, but set limits.
While you're showing clients the benefits of using your services, demonstrating your cutting edge knowledge of social media or guerilla PR, also be sure to depict the efficiency of using you to do the work they don't know how to do or don't have time to do. Demonstrate the advantages of delegation. Instead of having to learn a new skill, you implement their marketing and PR freeing them to concentrate on making money doing what they do!
I can't say it enough. Here is your chance to shine! Educate your prospective clients about what they could be doing but aren't doing or how to increase the value of their current strategies. Your advice must be sound and measurable. Clients want to see quantifiable results.
Don't make the mistake of leaving the free consultation without having made a bid for work that pays your worth. Be prepared to give an estimate for the work and then ask for the business. You may get a rejection or an objection, but you'll get nothing without asking.
Once you close the sale, ask for a commitment in the form of a non-refundable deposit (percentage or flat fee, depending on the scope of your project). This simple deposit protects you from clients who back out at the last minute - before signing a contract.
There's a magic formula to getting paid more.
Lean a little closer, that's right, so I can whisper it in your ear.
Ready?
Don't try to convert low-paying projects into high-dollar projects.
What?
Sounds too easy, doesn't it.
Here's the truth to making more money from your writing. The next time you approach a publication, a company, an individual, ask for what you're worth.
If you know they're unwilling or unable to pay what you're worth, don't even approach them. The time spent doing the haggle dance is time better spent prospecting for well-paying work, doing the actual work of development and writing or self-promotion.
How do I know this? I was an expert at doing the haggle dance.
Sometimes the back and forth over payment - voluminous emails and negotiatons - took longer than developing and creating the actual written product. Other times, I'd contract to write for a publication, a business or an individual at a reduced rate only to be stiffed. The haggling over how much I got paid, what rights would remain mine, whether a verbal comittment was indeed an actual contract for work, all of this was a huge time-suck.
Need help figuring out what to charge? Here's a handy link to help you make that assessment. It's an invaluable tool.
If you want to make more money now, determine what your worth is, what your annual salary is or should be, then charge accordingly.
It's hard not to awestruck by chef restaurateur Bobby Flay.
He's hugely successful - host of seven Food Network programs, owner and executive chef of 10 restaurants, and author of multiple cookbooks.
His recipes are accessible and while he's clearly a master chef, he makes it easy for the rest of us to grab some kitchen glory too.
I've always admired his relentless drive. He likes to win. Hello, who doesn't?
A high school drop out, Flay has realized a life that most of us dream about yet do nothing to attain. He's personable, gracious and charismatic and his favorite sandwich is made from leftover turkey.
I was pretty nervous about interviewing the Iron Chef, but he was really open and easy to talk with.
He's a regular guy and that's a major part of his appeal.
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