Weekly discussion by freelancers and professionals about running a business, finding clients, marketing, and lifestyle related to being a freelancer.
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Episode 237: 224 FS Building an Agency with Drew McLellan
0:45: Introductions Freelance Remote Conf Drew McLellan Agency Management Institute 2:40: Building an Agency Adding employees Traditional vs 1099 model 7:30: Where you’re spending your time Running the business vs. doing your craft Risks of agency vs. risks of freelancing Mistakes agency-owners make 11:00: Financial metrics 55% salaries, 25% overhead, 20% profit Smart hiring 18:40: Freelancing is a people business 19:30: Agencies must embrace all things digital SEO SEM WordPress Art vs data and ROI 23:15: The future of agencies Demonstrable ROI Pricing and value 27:00: Bringing on a partner Skill sets Types of leadership 33:40: Where to begin Marketing Time investment 37:20: Having a vision: What is your best life? The Reporter The 12-Week Year Being intentional Picks: Drip (Philip) Course on Drip (Philip) Having a vision for your business (Reuven) Dev Shop Marketing Briefing (Reuven) 12 Week Year (Charles) A Conversation of Character (Charles) Who (Charles) The Radical Leap (Drew) Traction (Drew) Entrepreneurial Operating System (Drew) Wunderlist (Drew) Agency Management Institute
Episode 236: 223 FS How to Handle Being Asked for Freebies
1:00: Topic introduction: When people ask for freebies Requests from friends, neighbors, family 4:40: Requests for unpaid consulting Sometimes it makes sense to offer this for free Can lead to additional marketing opportunities 9:00: Avoiding freebie requests Give the impression that you are not available for free services Remain approachable, though 12:30: Have some material available for free Have a topical index so people can have their questions answered Answer questions on a blog, podcast or newsletter Offer a book or subscription that is a fraction of your main service 21:00: Using freebie requests and questions to help narrow your market Know what content is high-quality for your audience Time = Money 23:15: Can freebie requests start a client relationship? Could turn into paid work Or could be that the potential clients are clueless about how your business works 27:30: How a potential client can show that they value your time Offers to pay for a quick conversation No presumptions that you have time to deal with random question 28:50: Solutions that can help Calendly can help Offer a strategy call as an hourly service 33:00: Sometimes you just have to say no Choose between your time/ability and being helpful Don’t damage your business or your personal life, find a balance OPA: Other People’s Agenda 38:30: Wrap up suggestions Point to free resources Schedule a phone call Share your time commitments to discourage them Send to another provider (pros and cons) Picks: Weapons of Math Destruction (Reuven) Weapons of Math Destruction podcast on Slate Money (Reuven) Data Survey (Philip) The Subjective Theory of Value (Jonathan) Podcast for Coaching Business (Jonathan) The Fall of Hades (Chuck) Links: Hired.com Cachefly.com
Episode 235: 222 FS Burned Out and Overwhelmed
1:00: Topic Introduction Burnout 3:15: Set workday and structure Work from home vs. coworking space Family time Podcast Motor 8:00: How Chuck’s business makes money Philip’s explanation of how he runs his business Time vs. money Prioritizing 13:50: What is burnout? An opportunity for transformation Too tired, too overwhelmed 15:25: The importance of saying no “I can’t do it all.” Ask yourself what’s profitable Construct something to fill the void of working less Take a day off 22:00: Keeping commitments Procrastinate On Purpose 25:10: Automate and delegate Training others to take on some of the work Just work on the important stuff 30:45: The importance of sleep 32:00: Pre-planning Planning ahead of time for the week Derailment from the plan 36:20: Business and discipline Limiting checking email Interruptions: Slack, Skype, Instant Messenger 43:00 Talk about it It’s not only you Picks: Gimlet Science Vs (Reuven) Huawei P9 Phone (Reuven) Fish farms, fishing, family time (Charles) Neighborhood groups on Facebook Paradise is There, Natalie Merchant (Philip) Links: Hire.com
Episode 234: 221 FS Generating Short-Term Cash without Taking Crappy Projects or Bottom-Feeding on Upwork
1:00: Topic introduction: Making fast cash 2:45: Reach out to past clients Might be a small project Might lead to referrals 5:55: Ask for referrals Give them the tools to know who to refer you to Be specific about what your ideal client looks like Use LinkedIn for second degree connection introductions 10:00 Use mental associations when making requests Make specific requests; don’t think in broad terms “Think like a fisherman, not like a fish.” Use inbound and outbound approaches. More Cheese and Less Whiskers 17:30: Cold outreach Might feel awkward, but it works Start close to home Pick an industry where you’ve had previously success Make sure you follow up Cold outreach episode with Kai 23:40: Be creative Kurt Elster blog post on handwritten notes Birthday cakes 26:10: Use social media Reach out to your email list, blog, YouTube subscribers Use Twitter for searches Use Hacker News 30:20: Offer a discount to current clients for prepayment 36:30: Create a microservice Brennan Dunn on roadmapping Unbundle services Picks: Million Dollar Referrals by Alan Weiss (Philip) Duct Tape Marketing blog (Philip) cheese/whiskers ReplyApp.io (Philip) Blair Enn’s Prospecting Email (Philip) The Hourly Trap (Jonathan) Freelance Remote Conference (Charles) Slack Hangouts (Charles)
Episode 233: 220 FS Can You Make 25k per Month as a Consultant
1:00: Topic introduction Full-time job vs. consulting How much money is possible or likely? 4:30: Discussion of the money Cost of living (Israel vs. USA) Can a solo consultant make $300K/year? Reality of what it takes 11:00: How to make a lot of money as a solo consultant What do you enjoy doing? What are you good at? Find a successful niche 15:15: How to get people to trust you Referrals Networking Example: Redmine Blog/Podcast/Other media 21:45: Understand your customers’ problems Conferences Meetups 24:30: Emotional fortitude to command a high rate Guilt Mindset Getting out of the low cash-flow cycle 31:00: Offering a mix of services Avoiding dry spells Systematic way to attract leads Picks: Family Vacations (Reuven) Portugal as a vacation destination (Reuven) RentalCars.com (Reuven) Dev Shop Marketing Briefings (Philip) The Secret of Selling Anything (Philip) TrustVelocity.com (Jonathan) Million Dollar Maverick (Jonathan) ScheduleOnce (Charles) FreshDesk (Charles) Sponsor: Hire.com
Episode 232: 219 FS How to Find Clients Offline with Simon Heaton
1:00: Simon’s introduction Shopify Four Overlooked Tactics to Find New Clients Offline 3:00: Hosting meetups and workshops How to set up a workshop Logistics involved in finding a venue and managing the event How to decide what to talk about Is it crucial that the meetups be local? Eventbrite 13:00: Speaking at conferences How it differs from hosting workshops How to meet people at the conferences even if you’re not speaking officially Getting the audience engaged and ready to take the next step LeadPages 22:30: Set up a booth at an industry trade show How the look and feel of your booth can draw in attention How to best choose an event Is it worth investing in company swag to hand out? Best way to collect emails at events .NetRocks 35:00: Cold Call in Person How research can help make a sale Why in-person meetings can be more beneficial than telephone calls StickyApps 41:50: More from Simon Get in facetime Find an enticing hook Twitter Shopify Blog Picks: How We Hijacked an Entrepreneur.Com Event Sponsorship for $500 (Jonathan) Hacking Conferences for Fun and Profit (Jonathan) LeadPages (Simon) Nvite (Simon)
Episode 231: 218 FS Don't Agree to Project Deadlines
1:06 - Jonathan suggested topic: Why are deadlines bad? 7:30 Deadlines are binary 11:28 Timelines 12:38 Weekly conversations 13:54 How to deal with a drop dead deadline 15:53 How do you agree to multiple features How much margin do you put on it? 17:05 Do you agree to what you think you can get done? 19:41 Why do you see developers agree to deadlines 22:06 Negotiating 24:40 Say no to clients who won’t agree to a deadline 27:27 Don’t take the risk 27:40 Solutions 31:13 Do you say no to a client who is insistent on a deadline? 35:24 Projects that drag on 38:00 Uncertain end date 43:47 An easy trap to fall into 44:27 Learn your lines 47:30 Explain the downside to a deadline Picks Taking time off (Philip) How To Handle Deadlines Without Agree To Them (Jonathan) Wood Badge (Chuck) The Boy Scouts Of America (Chuck) This episode is sponsored by hired.com
Episode 230: FS 217 Setting Value-based Prices When The Value is Hard to Determine
02:40 - Getting Started on a Project Using Value-based Pricing; Figuring Out the Why 13:33 - Setting Goals and Expectations Agile Methodology 33:04 - Proposals 40:06 - Can you combine hourly billing and value-based pricing? 44:28 - Retainers, Maintenance Contracts 47:24 - Startups and Value Pricing Picks Win Without Pitching (Jonathan) Deadpool (Jonathan) Stranger Things (Philip) Tend (Philip) The Economist Magazine (Reuven) The Victory Lab by Sasha Issenberg (Reuven)
Episode 229: 216 FS Automation
02:14 - Why automate? Are there cases where you shouldn’t automate? The Eventual Millionaire: Procrastinate on Purpose with Rory Vaden Procrastinate on Purpose: 5 Permissions to Multiply Your Time by Rory Vaden "The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency." -- Bill Gates 12:29 - Templates 15:26 - Figuring Out What to Automate and Delegate Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek 26:17 - Creating Benefits; Not False Improvements with Automation 28:35 - Automation Wins Zapier Unfollowers (Now Statusbrew) Trello Gravity Forms SendGrid 36:58 - Getting Started With Automation McDonald's Corporation: A Real Estate Empire Financed by French Fries The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss The 80/20 Rule in Business by Perry Marshall Summary of the Perry Marshall 80/20 Sales and Marketing Book 48:30 - Chuck’s Eliminations 52:22 - Tools For Automation Drip Zapier Gravity Forms Calendly Google Docs Evernote Upwork Dropbox Streak CRM Picks Process Street (Philip) "The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency." -- Bill Gates (Philip) McDonald's Corporation: A Real Estate Empire Financed by French Fries (Philip) Summary of the Perry Marshall 80/20 Sales and Marketing Book (Philip) The Membership Guys (Reuven) Reuven's Technical Training Facebook Group (Reuven) MemberPress (Chuck) Slack (Chuck) The Freelancers’ Show Facebook Group (Chuck)
Episode 228: 215 FS Remote Work
01:54 - Listener Request: Remote Work 03:14 - Communication Technologies Skype Slack Zoom WeChat Crowdcast join.me Screenflow Email GoToMeeting/GoToWebinar Google Hangouts Basecamp 13:30 - Setting Client Expectations and Discussions 20:53 - Making the Case for Real-time Communication 29:16 - Timezones Calendly Doodle Fantastical 37:45 - Meeting Face-to-face Picks The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis (Jonathan) Hourly Billing Is Nuts by Jonathan Stark 30% OFF with code FS215 (Jonathan) Fantastical (Philip) The Brothers Grimsby (Philip) HappyCow (Reuven) The Office (Reuven) The Big Short (Reuven) iPad Pro (Chuck) Smart Keyboard for iPad Pro (Chuck) Apple Pencil (Chuck) GoodNotes (Chuck)
Episode 227: 214 FS Conferences
01:44 - Deciding to Attend Conferences Double Your Freelancing Conference: Europe MicroConf MicroConf Europe 09:14 - Conference Experiences Receptions 13:44 - Implementing Ideas From Conferences The Freelancers' Show Episode #202: Live from MicroConf: Managing a Team with Anders Thue Pedersen Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek Automation Procrastinate on Purpose: 5 Permissions to Multiply Your Time by Rory Vaden 20:41 - Expected Conference Outcomes 27:29 - Dinners and Meals 32:18 - Networking: Conference Slack Channels; Facebook Groups 35:29 - Looking at Talks and Preparing for Conferences 37:15 - Workshops 40:04 - Conferences = Investment NOT an Expense Picks Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography by David Michaelis (Philip) Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin (Reuven) Double Down: Game Change 2012 by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann (Reuven) Bose QuietComfort 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones (Chuck) The Overton Window by Glenn Beck (Chuck) The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You've Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson by David Barton (Chuck) The Dark Talent: Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson (Chuck)
Episode 226: 213 FS Commoditization
01:45 - Gary Herman Introduction Twitter Jabico Enterprises 01:49 - Commoditization 10:14 - The Changing Landscape of Software Development Craftsman/Architect vs Entrepreneur 17:48 - Perception of Value 23:55 - Utilizing Offshore Teams vs Onshore Teams 31:09 - Specialization 34:47 - Roadmapping and Building Trust with Clients The Freelancers' Show Episode #201: Roadmapping with Brennan Dunn 43:55 - Giving Away Advice; Creating/Maintaining Open Source Projects Projects Expertise 48:41 - The American Freelancer and Software Development; Are there limitations? 54:17 - Helping Clients Find the Right Team Picks Why DYFConf Europe Was The Best Thing Ever (And You Should Have Been There) (Reuven) FlightAware (Reuven) The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly? by Seth Godin (Jonathan) Jonathan Stark: How To Increase Your Income Without Hiring Junior Developers (Jonathan) Jonathan Stark on Huffduffer (Jonathan) AmazonBasics AA High-Capacity Rechargeable Batteries (Philip) AmazonBasics Microfiber Cleaning Cloths (Philip) The Prisonbreak Bootcamp (Philip) Don’t lose hope (Philip) Tab Wrangler (Chuck) Privacy Badger (Chuck) Session Buddy (Gary) I am Rebel (Gary) The Founder Institute (Gary)
Episode 225: 212 FS Finding Fulfillment with Jason Mundok
01:44 - Jason Mundok Introduction Twitter Blog Elusive Moose Find Your Moose Conference 03:47 - Enjoying Work; Finding Passion and Fulfillment Three Dimensions: What it is that you are supposed to be doing? (that actual stuff that you're passionate about) Where you do it (in which industries you need to work) How you do it (your work culture) 11:03 - Finding Your “Why” The Freelancers' Show Episode #202: Live from MicroConf: Managing a Team with Anders Thue Pedersen Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek Joshua Fields Millburn: 'Follow Your Passion' is Crappy Advice (Minimalist Article) So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love by Cal Newport 17:42 - Advising People in Consulting Implementing Processes Confidence and Conflict The Elusive Moose Podcast Episode 9: Resolving Conflict Personality Types and Finding the Right Fit 24:52 - Self-defeating Patterns; Making Changes 33:35 - Company Culture 42:29 - Passion Ruby Rogues Episode #268: Mazes For Programmers with Jamis Buck More from Jason Jason Mundok: What Do You Mean By “Enjoy”? The Elusive Moose Podcast Episode 13: Enjoy Your Work! Picks EngineerWorth (Philip) Unplugging from technology (Chuck) Hosting a retreat (Chuck) Glympse (Chuck) The Minimalists Blog (Jason) Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula (Jason)
Episode 224: 211 FS Philip and Jonathan's Student FAQs
02:21 - Jonathan: How do you calculate a value price? “The Magic Formula” ROI (Return on Investment) Upwork Agencies and Value Pricing 15:42 - Philip: How do I specialize? Vertical/Horizontal Specialization How do you validate that a vertical is big enough to support your business? The Forktruck Repair Company Invoice Checking Company Example 29:45 - Jonathan: How do you get paid 100% up-front? Picks The Consulting Pipeline Podcast: The One Thing I've Never Heard Anywhere Else About How to Do a Great Interview (Jonathan) Bomber Jacket Cord Roll (Jonathan) Freeze (Philip)
Episode 223: 210 FS Finding Leads at Conferences with Matt Krause
01:38 - Matt Krause Introduction Twitter Blog They Might Be Giants - Istanbul (Not Constantinople) 02:56 - The Mindset Change/Attitude Adjustment and The 3 Most Common Misconceptions C-Level Executives The Elevator Speech Follow-up Collateral 08:50 - Impressing and Connecting with the Right People (Positioning) LinkedIn “Stalking is only bad if it’s unwanted.” Podcast Movement Toastmasters 18:53 - How do you write a speech? Talking to the wall (Rubber Ducking) Boy Meets Girl HGOMM (Hero, Goal, Obstacle, Mentor, Moral) 30:15 - Audience Participation 37:13 - Speechwriting No-Nos Do not read off of your script 40:58 - Topic Selection Problem => Resolution Philip Morgan: What Jerry Springer can teach you about positioning Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories Check out Matt’s site specifically for The Freelancers’ Show listeners! Picks Lead Generation Trust Velocity (Philip) Inbox Zero (Reuven) Procrastinate on Purpose: 5 Permissions to Multiply Your Time by Rory Vaden (Chuck) The Malloreon Series by David Eddings (Chuck) Get help from the panel! (Chuck) Newbie Remote Conf (Chuck) Get A Coder Job (Chuck) All Remote Conferences (Chuck) Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories (Matt)