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Have you given a speech before? I am sure you have; I have given so many, I have lost count. Communication and speaking are key skills to have as a freelancer or just in business. To properly communicate with clients, you have to know how and what to say.

Do you know how to pitch your services to a prospective client? Of course; what if you only had 30 seconds to 5 minutes to make that same pitch? This is where an Elevator Speech comes into play.

What is an Elevator Speech?

An elevator speech is a short version of your pitch to a prospective client. You have it setup and ready to go in chance encounters or networking opportunities.

Your elevator speech should take no longer than a ride in an elevator. In it, you can say who you are, what you do and how that can help their business.

Open Your Ears

I have heard different people use different elevator speeches and there is one thing most of them lack – listening.

Think about it; do you want to hear someone go on and on about their self and how great they are and how they can make you lots of money?

NO! I would rather go jump into the shallow end of a very small pool!

Effective communication starts with listening.

No one wants to hear you blab on and on about you. What about the prospective client? Give them a little taste of you and then ask about them. Listen to them when they talk about their business and what problems they are facing.

Target Your Responses

I know the urge to say something about everything you do is great but do me a big favor – wait. Wait until after you listen to the prospective client’s needs, then you can target your response to them. Give them the services or product that best meets their needs. Look at other services that will add value after you have created a working relationship with the client.

We all want to meet new clients and build working relationships but make sure you create a great first impression. If all they hear is you blabbing about you and more you, they will think you are not listening to them and why should they even think about hiring you.

By giving them just a little taste of you, listening to them and targeting your response, you will be someone they will want to work with.

What are your thoughts?

Have you picked up work with your elevator pitch?

Link Love for October 10, 2009

George — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:10:16 +0000

Hello to all! Here are some links I gathered for your reading enjoyment.

Enjoy.

Links from around the web for freelance, Social Media and more for October 10th, 2009:

Kill Your Good Ideas

Four Ways to Be More Interesting

One Big Way to Avoid a Headline Fail

Starting Your Social Media Case

Bringing Trust Agents and Six Pixels to You

3 Principles of Effective Communication

Trust – Principles of Successful Blogging #2

How One Blogger Made $3k a month by Helping People – And How He Can Help You

A Case of the Creative Munchies & How to Feed Them

FreelancerPro Interview: Making Companies Work for Your Freelance Business

5 Reasons Freelancers Can’t Ignore Twitter

How To Build The Ultimate Job Finding Dashboard with iGoogle

10 Tax Tips You Can Use Now To Avoid Pitfalls Later

5 Choices You Will Face When Freelancing (And What You Should Choose)

Is It Really Possible To Create The Change You Want In Your Life?

What I Can Teach You About Getting What You Want

The Evolving State Of Social Media & SEO

Twitter Traffic for Your Blog or Website

10 Places to Go for Freelance Jobs

George — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:42:44 +0000

If you’re reading this, you do or looking to do some kind of freelance work. No matter what type of freelance you do, there are certain things you must know to be a successful freelancer. One very important freelance skill is: finding work. The other day I got an email with just one question in it: “Where you do you go for freelance jobs?”

When I am out looking for new gigs, I usually hit a detailed list of sites and resources. That list is quite large and I don’t have it all fully organized yet but I want to share with you some of the places I go to find my freelance gigs. I will be writing a future post with a larger list of sites I use to find jobs.

10 Places to Go for Freelance Jobs:

Freelancewritinggigs – Run by Deb Ng; a great and very helpful person. Check out her site for a plethora of freelance writing gigs.

Twitterjobsearch – An interesting search of Twitter for finding that job you are looking for.

FreelanceSwitch Jobs – For a small fee, you can find some good freelance gigs.

Warrior Forum – A popular forum for freelancers to respond to requests for services.

CraigsList – It’s not just for selling things online. There are many jobs on this site and many of them are perfect for freelancers.

DoNanza – This is a search engine that only lists freelance jobs. This site is one that I use on a regular basis.

Authentic Jobs – Mostly for those in the web design or development area, this site posts some pretty good opportunities for freelancers.

ProBlogger Jobs – ProBlogger jobs is the jobs section of the popular ProBlogger.net site. This is a wonderful resource for blogging and writing gigs

FreelancePulse – A site with some good freelance listings.

Rat Race Rebellion – This site is dedicated to those looking to work remotely. Check out their listings for some good freelance listings.

Have you had success with any of these sites?

Do you have other sites you recommend for finding freelance work?

Post a comment for all of us to read. I would love to hear from you.

Link Love for October 2, 2009

George — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:51:31 +0000

Hello to all! Here are some links I gathered for your reading enjoyment.

Enjoy.

Links from around the web for freelance and more for October 2nd, 2009:

12 Useful Facebook WordPress Plugins For Bloggers

Social Media Mistakes: Are You Forgetting Your Fundamentals?

4 Steps to Better Filing

Errors and Omissions Insurance: Do Freelancers Need It?

Why Online Friends are Important to Freelancers

Does a Freelancer Need to Be Hypercompetitive to Succeed?

When Should You Use Your Own Language

Make Some Money

Blogging Tips in 140 Characters or Less

Listening – Principles of Successful Blogging #1

5 Social Media Lessons I Learned from Working with a Hollywood Actress

S.P.E.E.D. Writing: 5 Tips to Double Your Writing Productivity

How can I get more people to my website?

20 Questions to Ask before You Launch Your Content Project

Check out the Content Marketing Playbook – a free eBook Experiment

How To Build A 6-7 Figure Business The FASTEST Way Possible…

The Key To Going Deeper In Life (A Yoga Insight)

Plan Your Time For More Productive Freelancing

George — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:27:56 +0000

In freelancing, you don’t punch a time clock. You work on your own schedule. When you work on your own schedule, do you actually plan your time? Do you get up whenever you want and work until all hours of the night? Planning your freelancing time can make you more productive and give you more time for life outside of work.

When you went into freelancing, you may have wanted different things: more time, more freedom, more creativity or you were tired of working for someone else. There is one drawback to this: you can easily work too much. Without someone telling you when to come in or go home from working, you may find yourself working more than you did at a full-time job.

Do you plan out your day or do you just get to your tasks when you think of them? When you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Planning out your day is a great way to keep your productivity up. Planning your day includes what time you will start working and what time you will stop working. Don’t put off tasks you know you can do now instead of doing them later. Getting your work done within your timeframe can help you stay productive throughout the day and keep you from overworking yourself. This will let you have time for life outside of working; this time would be for your family, friends and more.

By doing more with less time, you keep yourself up and productive. I know this is not always the case and we do have to work more to meet deadlines. If this is the case, don’t make it the norm. In these cases, get what you need done and then put away your work. When you make time for living outside of work, you will actually work more effectively when you are working. Focusing too much on work can lead to burn out and exhaustion; this will lead to poor productivity and work output. Planning your day with personal timelines will help you, your business and your personal life.

What do you think?

Do you plan out your day including start and stop times?

How is it working for you?

Link Love for September 4th, 2009

George — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:35:50 +0000

Hello to all! Here are some links I gathered for your reading enjoyment.

Enjoy.

Links from around the web for freelance and more for September 4th, 2009:

Living The 2-Hour Workday: What Is A Travel Buffer & How Can You Create One

A Day In The Life Of An Internet Entrepreneur 2009 Edition

Andrew Warner Reveals How He Created A $30 Million Dollar Internet Business

Simple Is Best

The Building Blocks of Social Media for Business

LinkedIn and Trust

Crush It – A Video Book Review

The Myth of ‘Great Content’ Marketing Itself

The Power of Trust – a Living Example

A Simple Way To Funnel New Traffic & Sales From Buried Blog Archives

25 Steps to Success: Search Engine Optimization and Business Blogging

Professional Internet Marketing with Jason Parker

The Strategy Behind the Authority Rules Report

Are Vampire Words Sucking the Life Out of Your Writing?

Do Long Blog Posts Scare Away Readers?

How to Write With a Knife

Here’s Where Brian is Speaking in the Coming Months

The Dark Side of Authority

Link Love for August 28th, 2009

George — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:11:40 +0000

Hello to all! Here are some links I gathered for your reading enjoyment.

Enjoy.

Links from around the web for freelance and more for August 28th, 2009:

Blogging Is Not Just About Money – It Is Also A Great Way To Chase Dreams

A Day In The Life Of An Internet Entrepreneur 2009 Edition

New Book: Think, Write & Retire

Interview With Katie Freiling On How Your Mindset Impacts Your Business

Refreshing Your Freelance Focus, Back-to-School Style

How Freelancers Can Use Active Listening to Improve Business

Are Vampire Clients Sucking the Life Out of Your Business?

10 Tips for Becoming a Freelancing PowerHouse

Breaking the Mold of “Make Money Online” Bloggers

Email Marketing Guide for Bloggers – The Auto Responder Sales Funnel

Color-Coded Solution for Keeping Track of Multiple Posts on Multiple Blogs

Let me Show You Inside a Secret Blogging Alliance

How to find Readers for a Business Blog

Attracting “Money Traffic” To Your Blog

Educate to Dominate Your Competition

Is Writing Obsolete?

Freelance Marketing Rules and Principles

George — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:31:38 +0000

Becoming a freelancer is a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. When you work for a full-time employer, you only focus on your area. As a freelancer, you do everything. Not only will you do the actual client work, you will also do things ranging from accounting to marketing. Marketing as a freelancer is one of the most important skills you will need to perform to get work from clients.

Over at Smashing Magazine, there is a great article on freelance marketing rules and principles. Check it out and see what you think of it.

You can find it here:

Marketing Rules and Principles for Freelancers