I have good news and bad news.
First the bad news. The Freelance Pro is going away. There are only so many hours in the day, and I have so many projects going right now, I am unable to keep up with this blog on a day-to-day basis. Something has to give and this is it.
Now the good news. I’m starting a blog over at my main business Web site, Direct Creative. For those who are professional copywriters or designers (or those who want to be), this may end up being a better venue to learn the ropes, since I’ll be talking shop in a much more personal way.
And if you’re into direct marketing, advertising, or any type of business communication, it should prove to be an excellent place to pick up tips on getting better results from your advertising and marketing efforts.
If you need more incentive, try this: I’ll be interviewing some of the top freelancers in the direct marketing world in the coming weeks, including Bob Bly, Ivan Levison, and Alan Sharpe. They’ll reveal their secrets for success, provide tips on doing better work, and share their predictions for the future of business.
I’ll leave The Freelance Pro up for a while for what it’s worth. But I encourage you to visit the new Direct Creative Blog and sign up for the RSS feed. I’d also suggest that you sign up for my free newsletter, since I’m offering a free report to all new subscribers called 99 Easy Ways to Boost Your Direct Mail Response.
Wow! My Site Tune-up Is Showing Results.
Alexa is a Web information company that tracks and ranks Web sites worldwide. On their home page, you can enter a Web address and see where that site ranks in relation to millions of other sites.
When I began my site tune-up last month, my site was way down into the two millions. Ignoring my site for several years had done a lot of damage and this low ranking was the result.
Over the last few weeks, I got to work revamping elements of my site. I didn’t think there would be any quick or radical effect, but when I checked my rank on Alexa today I was surprised to find that my site had rocketed up to the 1.3 million spot. That’s an increase of well over a million positions.
This rank isn’t exactly newsworthy, since it means there are over a million sites with more traffic or a higher rank than mine. But it is noteworthy given that this represents an increase in rank of around 50 percent in a few short weeks.
So if you have ever doubted whether optimization of your site was worthwhile, put your doubts to rest.
Oh, and now when you do a search for direct mail copywriter or direct marketing copywriter, which is the business I’m in, my site is no longer down around page six. I now show up at the top of page two. Not bad for a few weeks’ work.
Will this make any difference to my business? You betcha. Most people don’t look past the first couple of pages when they’re doing a search. I’m already getting calls from people who have never heard of me before but saw my site after doing a search.
How I Gave My Freelance Site a Tune-up
You’ve heard the saying about the cobbler having holes in his shoes, right? Business people are often the last to take their own advice. And I’m as guilty as they come.
Seven years ago, I dumped my dorky old Web site and created a new site from scratch. Since I like to do things the hard way sometimes, I did it all myself. I wanted to learn HTML and other Web stuff because I knew this would become more and more important in my line of work.
So I bought a book on HTML, sketched ideas for my site, created graphics, took photos and did a little Photoshop magic, and I cranked out a new site. It was light-years ahead of my previous site and began generating business right away. I found that it did its job so well, I no longer had to send out samples or answer a lot of questions when potential clients called me. They were pre-sold and ready to do business.
The site was successful. Too successful. Because I became complacent and ignored the site for years afterward. The result? My site took a nosedive in Google search rankings and traffic stagnated. It kept on working, for sure. I had links coming in from all over the place for several of my articles and pages, especially for an article on weird postal experiments which I reprinted with permission from another writer. So despite my lack of attention, people managed to find my site and call me with business.
But by ignoring my own site, I threw away loads of potential profits. Recently, I wised up and decided to take a hard look at my site and see what could be improved. Read more
Book Review: Solo Success
It’s hard to find really good books on freelancing. Most are written by people who just want to write a book rather than provide helpful information.
Solo Success: 100 Tips for Becoming a $100,000-a-Year Freelancer
pick up copies cheap on Amazon
Why do I like this book? Mostly because Perlstein comes off as an honest guy who genuinely wants to help other freelancers. He didn’t write the book to brag about how much money he makes or simply to create a trophy piece to wave in front of potential clients. He shares loads of practical know-how about the day-to-day issues you’ll face when you set up shop as a freelancer.
He covers all the basics, such as creating business cards, setting up files, and finding the right office space. And he moves through essential subjects such as setting your rates, getting clients, client management, and billing and collections. Read more
What a Successful Freelance Web Site Looks Like
A Web site is a reflection of the person who created it.
When you see a disorganized site, you can infer that the owner is probably disorganized. When you see a site that is loaded with photos of cute puppies, you can infer that the owner either has a dog or at least has a love of canines. For many people, the Web has become their face to the world. It is far more expressive and revealing than anyone could have imagined when it was being created years ago in a university as a way to share academic information.
Back then, it didn’t matter what you posted. Only a very select group would see it. But a little over a decade ago, when the Web began to become commercialized and opened up to the general public, everything changed.
What you post now is potentially seen by millions all over the world. You can get more exposure on a Web site than you can appearing on the evening news. This has raised the stakes significantly and has made creating a Web site a make or break task for many people, including freelancers.
So far in this series, we’ve looked at the benefits of having a freelance Web site, the mistakes freelancers often make with their Web sites, (like putting puppies on your site), and the essential elements to include in a Web site for freelancers. Now I want to show you my own Web site and what I’ve done to make it successful. Read more
Can Freelancers REALLY Make 6 Figures a Year?
I won’t keep you in suspense. The answer is yes.
There’s a lot of hype about this, of course. And unfortunately, the hype has caused many would-be freelancers to be cynical about their earning potential.
Some years ago, while speaking to a roomful of writers at a local conference, I encountered one young man who kept rolling his eyes during my presentation. When I asked if he had a question or comment, he told me that he just didn’t believe that you could earn lots of money from writing. He said it all sounded like a scam.
I can’t blame him for thinking that. I see all those “get rich quick” ads on the Internet too, and they make me roll my eyes. Freelancing is not a quick way to riches. You have to have skill. You have to be willing to work at it and stick with it, often for several years before you start earning big money.
But you can make a lot of money at it. I used to earn little more than five dollars an hour. And now I earn more like $500 an hour. That’s no scam. It’s just the truth.
But it begs the question: Why is it that most people never seem to earn much money from writing or design? Read more
