Marketing

Creativity is an art. The way you project yourselves on the things you handle in everyday life to the tasks you do requires creativity. Its the key criterion to compete and remain successful in freelancing career.

Creativity comes along with experiences. There are many ways to be creative, to get new clients or to make better use of equipment and office space.

Some tips include using a different device like ipad or a computer to split the work you do just watching tv or can be to upgrade an existing system if you can’t afford a new one. Recreate the area where you work, keep changing the screen or paintings rent a different place to work,working along with tour group of friends once in awhile. Marketing yourself also shows how creativity you are. Make variety of cards to let your friends and relatives know the services you offer so that they could depend on a reliable person instead of a stranger.

The options are many, all you need is to try think a bit out of the box.

These examples help you grow as a freelancer.

Having known the inspirational quote of Pablo Picasso,

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.

We should stick to the creativeness we own. At every moment one must remember to be unique. There are many people who can do the same repetitive task with training. To make a difference as a freelancer and to be the first pick for the people outside, the art must be mastered.Never lose the uniqueness.

Give customers gift

To attract customers and to succeed in business you must use creative approaches. One such would be gifting your regular customers.The market trends keep changing with time and is often difficult to meet the customers expectations. Offer free services every now and then. This will help retain your customers for the second and third time.Send them your brochures along with goodies on special occasions . in big companies they have people to monitor and do these but as a freelancer it’s your responsibility to track your customers. When You feel low and when the number of clients are getting less these techniques help you boost your freelancing career.Use your fantasy and implement these things into your business plan. Make customers want to come back and you will have the best possible chance to survive.

Reward!

Own a website or a blog and keep updating your recent work. This will increase the number of readers visiting your site.Giving something extra to the visitors on your website always is a good thing. As a freelance blogger help people with tips that can help them gain more hits. Gift a new member who joins in your portal. Conduct quizzes more often. This helps you get more contacts with the interaction you do.Post some useful suggestions on how are to present a particular information. This will potentially give more clients for you.

Treating your clients

Clients are more valuable for one to be successful. Giving existing customers good offers as mentioned in the previous tip is important. But remember to be service minded.Maintain your limits to satisfy the customers. The attention you pay to the customer is important it will make him feel he is important and make him more loyal. Use positive language when you talk or write to him. Remember to let him know that his feedback is always appreciated. That way you can keep making your services more and more attractive and get happier clients. Don’t forget that existing clients can be the best advertising you ever get!

Feedback

In Order to become a successful freelancer getting feedback is critical. You can ask your friends or family to improve the services you provide.Not only should you have comments enabled on your website for feedback but should remember that you work towards to achieve it. . Most important of all, every time when you have finished your project – ask the client what he thinks.This attitude makes your client feel the client important. Getting someone else’s opinion is always good and this will help you to become even more successful and have a fresh mind.Having a fresh perspective of doing things is always essential to succeed. when your share your thoughts and ideas it will kindle the thoughts of others as well and hence the combined result based on these ideas help you provide a better product.

Steve jobs has given to us a wonderful quote based on this synthesizing which leads to an amazing creative product which is ,

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.”

Take the time you need!

At the early stage of taking a work, we might be very enthusiastic to execute but as time goes we might lose the interest to perform. Its our responsibility to stay motivated and give a better service to the client as promised. Don’t compromise yourself to postpone any job you take. Its creativity which makes you do things better. When you get a task or commit yourself to take a job make sure you give the timeline to yourself.This not only helps you to complete the work but you will have ample space to think about the task the ways to implement it, the enhancements you can do while working on this.

You need to have a strong impression created that each days work is not dragged to the next.

This is so important, it can’t be mentioned enough. Same as with the tip about learning to say no.

A successful freelancer is one who manages time and handle the project effectively. Reputation matters for a freelancer. Make sure your clients don’t go to anyone else other than you.

Hope these tips helped you to bring back the creativeness!

K Saravana Kumar

Do you absolutely love marketing?

Marketing has never been a fixed timing job. And with freelance marketing you will have to give up the timings entirely. As a marketer it is your job to be on the pulse of the marketing at all times. Even if you are marketing about a small product or targeting a particular demographic, you have to take the global approach. This means that you cannot ever say ‘my working timings are done for the day’.

The other aspect of marketing is that you have to absolutely love it at all the times. Ask yourself if you love people, products and the impact they have. The joy of having to see your marketing campaign take off and be a success cannot be compared with anything else.

Do you know your stuff?

It is one thing to love marketing and other thing to know about your stuff. Take a blank sheet of paper and write down all the things that you think that you think are needed to make a marketing campaign. Do not refer to any help when writing this, write from your own mind. When you are done writing then take a stock of what you have written and what you have missed.

Are you aware of true meaning of terms like branding, return of investment, targeting, engagement, sales, marketing, advertisement, social media marketing, follow up etc? Can you convince the client that you know what you are talking about and why he needs you? These will be the two important questions that you should know the answers to.

Do you have the right image?

Nobody in this world today in looking for an oily haired sleek looking marketing executive to market his or her product. The world of marketing has moved much beyond its ancestral marketing rules. Marketing today is done both offline and online. As a freelance marketer you will have to know how to combine both means for a successful campaign.

Therefore, before bidding for freelance marketing jobs ask yourself if you have the right image and if not then are you willing to work hard for building one. Your image includes your qualifications, skills and portfolio. Of course your confidence and communication skills top in the list of the image building exercise.

You need to create a brand of yourself. The idea behind this is simple; if you can market yourself then you can market anything. The way you market yourself will say a lot to the client about the way you will market their brand.

Do you have funds to sustain yourself?

When starting out in marketing as a freelancer you will have to promote the brand that you have built for yourself. This will require some expenditure from your side. Sometimes you will need to eve handout some freebies as a part of the promotional package. This means that you might have to give the client a small taste of what he or she can look for if you get the whole project. Therefore make sure that you have at least some backup funds with you that can carry you until you get the payment for the project.

Do you have the tools for the trade?

The tools of the trade include a computer, internet connection, a working email account, telephone number and an office space, in case you need to hold meetings. These tools will help you in getting your work done in time and stay in touch with your clients easily. You will be easily able to present a professional front by utilizing these tools properly.