Tag Archives: Pitch

5 ways to step up your online business without getting credit

January 23, 2018 By in Freelancing/Self-employed Tags: , , , , , , , , 26 Comments

I’m always happy when I see new entrepreneurs spring up. It’s nice to know many people realize having a business is the way to go. Working at a 9 to 5 job does not work for many, and no matter how hard you work you may never derive true satisfaction from it.

Of course there will be ups and downs. I’ve personally gone through many issues whilst running my own business. Sometimes you’ll come across circumstances where you will not have enough funds to keep your business afloat. In such a situation you need to act fast and boost your business before it hits rock bottom.

 

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If you’re in such a situation, don’t worry. I have a solution. Here are 5 ways you can step up your online business without getting credit.

 

  1. Pitch like your life depends on it

If you want to step up your business you need to make sure that you are making sales. Whether you have products to sell or you offer services, you need to constantly pitch your product or service to others.

Many people are afraid of pitching and in the light of the recent events, I don’t blame them. They don’t want to appear pushy or annoying when they pitch so they step back and hope that someone will come along. But it may take forever for that to happen, so I like to take matters into my own hands, and pitch to carefully selected companies.

Those who do really well in their businesses are those who are not afraid to pitch their products and services.

 

  1. Focus on giving value

Although it’s important for you to pitch your products and services, you also need to realize that there is a right and wrong way of doing it. Most people take the route of being like door-to-door salesmen focusing only on what they will gain. You can only boost your business when your primary focus is on giving value.

Tell your potential clients how your products and services can help them. Make it more about them and less about you. Show them how it will add value to their lives. This doesn’t work only for sales. Giving value could come in so many forms. The idea is to ensure that you are helping your clients and that you genuinely care about their business.

 

  1. Collaborate with bigger players in your niche

There are business owners in your niche who are doing better than you. Think of ways the two of you can partner in a project or create a product together. This will help foster mutual growth in both your businesses. Through the collaboration, you not only get increased patronage you also get additional publicity.

 

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  1. Promote your online business

There are several platforms where you can be featured to draw more attention to your brand. When nobody knows who you are, it becomes even more difficult to sell what you offer.

Write blog posts in major publications so that more people can get to know you. Big publications have a large readership that will give you the needed exposure. Speaking engagements are another way to showcase yourself and your expertise. Which will help you build an audience interested in your products and services.

 

  1. Network

I can’t begin to express how helpful networking has been for me and my business. Networking helps you establish new relationships with people who may be interested in what you offer. Networking helps create more opportunities for you to increase your exposure, which will bring in more business in time.

 

These are 5 ways to step up your online business without getting credit. It does take time for these actions to result into paid work, but they are tried and tested ways that work.

Do you have any tried and tested tip to share? Please do so in the comments section.

Blog Pitch Gone Wrong

January 17, 2018 By in Blogging Tips Tags: , , , , , , , , , 27 Comments

If you blog and are active on social media, you would have heard all about a blogger pitching to a brand, only for the brand to publish her email and their response on social media. This caused a bit of an uproar as different people aired their views. Just to be clear, I think it is so wrong for the business to publish a private email on social media. I also think they must be a very childish bunch running the business, with a response like that. They even had the time to make a video dissing the blogger some more, just because she had the audacity to pitch to them. This is a clear example of when a blog pitch goes wrong.

 

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I have read the blogger’s pitch and there is nothing wrong with it. She included the name of a top brand she has worked with previously, and I. believe she did that with the good intentions. The blogger just wanted to be taken seriously, so she presented herself in such a manner, with the hope of the business accepting her pitch.

When things like this happen, I think we all as business owners should learn from the experience. It could have happened to anyone of us. Here are 2 lessons I am taking away from this experience –

 

Research the brand before pitching

If the blogger did a bit of research on the brand, she won’t have bothered to pitch. The company is well-known on social manner for their lack of manners and being very rude. So with a reputation, you won’t be expecting anything different.

I usually do a bit of research before pitching to a brand. I check out the website and social media profiles, so I have a feel of the brand before sending a pitch.

 

Pitch with care

I am very careful when it comes to sending a pitch. Sometimes, I find that it rubs some business owners the wrong way when they receive a blogger pitch and I am not sure why. It may be because some people are massively jealous of anyone who works from home and appears to be living a life they wish they could have.

To be frank, I have reduced the number of pitches I send out now. Majority of my work finds me and I usually pitch to brands I have worked with before or who have shown some kind of interest in my work.

So pitching to brands with care is a safe way to go. Sending pitches to any business you come across without doing a bit of research and checking to see if they work with bloggers, and will be interested in your blog may lead to issues like what we had the other day.

 

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Another fact that I have taken from the experience is that many people don’t understand the blogging industry and how we work. They think we just write on the internet for the kick of it. They don’t understand the amount of time and money so of us spend on our blogs. Many of us blog full-time. For many, their blog is their only source of income. So they treat it as they should treat any other business.

Many brands understand the value of working with influencers. Some have no clue and that is completely fine. We as bloggers just need to be able to see through brands before we pitch so we don’t our time.

What are your thoughts on this? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. And please share this post on social media if you enjoyed reading it.

Thanks for reading, sharing and commenting. Have a lovely day.

How to Pitch to New Clients

November 30, 2016 By in Freelancing/Self-employed Tags: , , , , , , , , , 26 Comments

Clients are the live wire of every business. If you don’t have clients then you don’t have a business. As a freelancer, you need to keep pitching for new clients to get the flow of clients coming in. The biggest mistake you can ever make is to start your business and wait for someone to hire you. Although one or two clients may come your way, pitching helps you increase you chances. The more clients you have, the more money you make.

 

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Here’s a step-by-step process on how you can pitch to get new clients:

 

Step #1: Get clear on who your clients are

 

No matter how long you have been into freelancing, you need to consistently review your client avatar. Understanding who you ideal client is will help you in crafting the perfect pitch. Take note of how they think, their needs and how you can help them. Remember, your focus needs to be on your potential clients and not on yourself.

 

Step #2: Craft your pitch

 

One important thing you need to note about writing your pitch is that you have to keep it short and simple. You need to keep in mind that your potential client may be busy and would not have time to read a long email explaining all the services you offer.

 

Always address your potential client with their first name. It’s so much better to start on a friendly note. Emails that begin with “Hi Sally” make your client feel like they are receiving an email from a friend. Next, in one or two sentences give a short intro about yourself.

 

“I am [write your name] and I’m a freelance writer. I have had my work published on [write where your article was published].”

 

Remember to keep the tone nice and friendly. The idea is to make sure that they feel like they’re receiving an email from a friend.

 

The next thing you need to include in your pitch is to tell your prospective client why you’re sending them the email. You need to be brief and straight to the point here. Something like this:

 

“Just wanted to reach out to you to find out if you’d be interested in having someone to write your content for you. I also do some publicity work if you’d be interested in it too. I find your business interesting and I feel that increasing your reach will help you get more clients and promote your brand. Let me know if you’re interested.”

 

Step #3: Do a follow-up

 

It’s possible that you may not receive a reply as soon as you expected. If you don’t receive a reply after one week of sending them your pitch then send them a follow-up one week later. If there is still no reply then you can let it go.

 

The reason why it’s good to do a follow-up is that there are situations where the person you pitched to may have missed your email or wanted to reply to your email but forgot to do so. So don’t feel bad when you don’t receive a reply as soon as you send your first pitch.

 

How do you pitch to your clients?

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