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Don’t Let Your Profits Take A Nose Dive!
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For episode 22 of The IndieBizChicks.com Podcast, I’m gonna give you a heads up on something that might affect your business soon! When the weather warms up, your business motivation can easily dip. If that happens, your profits can very quickly take a steep nose dive!
Keep your motivation up all summer long by listening to the tips on the podcast & grabbing the free companion guide (has lots more tips!). Simply sign up for my Weekly Biz Tips [see the box on the right : ) ] and the guide will be sent to your email!
You can listen online or download the podcast here:
Or, subscribe in iTunes by clicking here
Don’t sell yourself short
Hi Indie Biz Chicks readers! My name is Heather and I’m a new contributor here. It’s so nice to be able to write for a site that supports the independent woman and all she stands for. I also blog at Maternal Spark, a site dedicated to creative moms. I’m a mom too so you may often get a mother’s take from my posts.
Recently I bid on a small tiny freelance writing job. I was eager to get it as it would have been a fun clip for my portfolio. The potential client was a small biz owner with basically no budget, that was apparent. It was also apparent that she had never commissioned promotional writing work before. When I put my quote in, I low balled it. I only requested about half of what I should have. Why did I do that? There were several reasons.
1) I didn’t have much past experience to pull from as I mostly write for myself and for free.
2) I just wanted to get the job and I knew she didn’t have much of a budget.
3) I didn’t take the time to research what I should be quoting for such a job.
After my low ball quote was sent in to her I didn’t get a reply for a couple days. This surprised me because she had always been quick to reply to my emails beforehand. I started to think the job was gone but felt somewhat puzzled because she raved over the writing sample I’d sent in prior to the quote. I sent a follow up email asking if she was willing to go ahead and the response came back right away. She said she wasn’t prepared to spend any money on the project now and she would contact me if the time came when she was ok to move ahead.
So I low balled my quote and still didn’t get the job. What does that tell me?
I should charge what my work is worth. Writing takes time, patience and research. All those things need to be compensated for in the final bill. Just because I might have a little one crawling around my computer desk doesn’t make my work worth any less and I should value the final product. Because if I don’t, who will? This experience also tells me to take my time in researching what a job should pay. If a client doesn’t have a budget for writing services at the going rate then, would they have a budget at half the going rate? No.
Whatever your biz, whatever your work entails; charge what it’s worth, don’t sell yourself short.
Freebie Friday: Motivation & Memory
I’ve got two freebies for you… The first one is something that I am giving away to the subscribers of my Weekly Biz Tips on Monday. It’s almost summer - and when summer comes knocking, many people lose all motivation to work on their business. If you want to stay motivated all summer long, make sure you sign up for my Weekly Biz Tips (see upper right side of the screen for the sign up box).
My second freebie is a service called Jott. When you sign up for your free account, you are given a number that you can use to call and remind yourself to do things. The service will transcribe the message and deliver it to your email. Click here to visit the site, get more info, and sign up.
What Can You Create Out Of Your Passion?
We are going to finish our discussions on digital products this week, with guests LaTara Ham-Ying from Vegan Family Living & Christina Lemmey from Wonder Years Radio. Both of these women created websites & podcasts out of their passion - and they’re earning an income while they do it!
Not only are digital products a great way to start a new business, they really can incorporated into an established business!
Listen online or download here:
Or, subscribe in iTunes by clicking here
And just who are you going to send that press release to?
A media list is a list of people within the media (reports, editors, producers, show hosts, etc) that you send your press release to. As you can guess, I wrote an article that explains how to develop one of these lists and how to use it.
You can click here to read it
Some quick tips:
- Start Local
- Get The Person’s Correct Info
- Know Your Market
- Don’t Forget “New Media” (bloggers, podcasters, etc)
- Follow Up (I know it’s scary!)