Booking Freelance Clients Through Networking, Name Drop Referrals & Visibility #269

Janelle What is your special process or result that you offer? How is your framework different? How do you get people there? Like, what is your signature thing, and then learning how to really communicate that to different types of audiences? Emily Reagan Hey, there. I’m Emily Reagan, and you found the marketing freelancer. This is the podcast for marketing freelancers and service providers who are already making an impact behind the scenes and want to take their skills, income and business to the next level. Here we’re all about embracing the unicorn title a full stack marketer who can do it all, strategy, implementation, creativity and everything in between. We’re the magic makers who know how to deliver real results for clients and are ready to rise as sought after marketing specialist. We’re building a business we’re proud of working with Dream clients with impact and charging rates that reflect our work’s worth. Unicorns unite you. All right, we’re back with our series, seven ways to book clients. We’re going to continue this topic. Go back and listen to the first episode, if you missed it. We’re piecing out seven different strategies for booking clients, what you have to do on the front end and in the moment when dealing with the client and some of the work that comes after you book the client. It’s all such a freelancer ecosystem. It’s all related, and it all adds up to a killer return on your own investment. It adds up to working with clients you love a freelance business that gives you flexibility, it gives you the weekends off, and that feeling that lights us up because we are happy because we’re not stuck in a cubicle, it’s that that’s what we’re after. And as a reminder, unicorn digital marketing assistant school is opening soon. Make sure you’re on the wait list so you can get some special perks in an early offer. You need to learn the marketing services, if you need to get your business set up if you need to figure out how to transition your work skills and education into an online digital service business. This is the community and the group coaching program to do it and book your first clients. And if you’re already doing the work, make sure you apply for our digital marketers work group. We’re looking for five new all stars for November and December. Get your applications in now, all the links are in the show notes. So let’s jump into more freelancers sharing how they do it. Angela is going to talk about how she gets her name shared, like I see her name all over the internet for her services all over the web. So tell everyone hi, and how did you freaking do it. Angela Hi, oh my gosh, I’m loving these conversations. This is so fun. Everything that everyone is sharing. I’m like, yes, that, that that, and it’s all the things and, like, there’s so much I could say here about this, right? Because I’ve been in Emily’s world, right? A unicorn for, I think it’s like three and a half years now, right? And when I first started, I was brand new. I am what I consider, like an older demographic. I had, like, my own business experience, but I needed a change. And I think, like a lot of people, you come into this and you’re like, how the heck am I going to actually make this work? And I just have to say, I remember, like, the very first client I got, and like so many of us, it was from the work group, having this immense feeling of like relief and joy and like, oh my gosh, I can actually make this work right. But I did a lot of things wrong. Like a lot of people have talked about their systems and having your packages. And when I first started, I did not have any of that stuff like wrapped up, right? But what I really do Lean into is relationships, making authentic connections with people, and actually really caring about people’s businesses. And you would be surprised how quickly people begin to share your name when they get a sense that you’re the real deal, and not that you’re that person who knows everything, but that you’re that person who legit cares about their business and is going to help them reach their goals. And so I could share a number of really cool examples of where my name was dropped. And I’ll start with the first one, which was Emily, you like you dropped my name. It was early days. I had come through UD a UDMA. I was in the work group, but you shared my name in a group to someone that was a client of yours at one point who needed something. And do you know that person is still a client of mine today, like I can think of her, she’s my OG clients, and she’s still a client of mine, but I’ve actually had my name dropped by you in groups for a couple of different clients that I have worked with and still work with. So it is all about not being afraid to. To embrace what you’re doing, raise your hand and own it confidently and know that if you if you don’t know 100% what you’re doing, you can figure it out. If you care, and you’re smart, and if you’re here, then you are that you can do. You can do what you need to do to get these clients results. But beyond that, just leaning into this whole idea about relationships. When we talk about people dropping your name, this isn’t like salesy, oh, you know, we’re plugging one one another inauthentically. I could legitimately point out several people on this call who are my like biz bestie crew, right? We create friendships. We do not think of one another as competition, because there is so much work and we’re all doing slightly different things. But I had another client that was referred by a peer, someone who I was in a group with, who’s also here. Actually, I don’t know if she’s on this call right now, but drop my name to someone in another group, and it landed me a 3k $3,000 project. And I could give so many examples of this, of where it’s it’s not necessarily even where you are listed in a directory, which is fantastic, or applying where I’m reaching out. I very consistently have people come and find me for work because someone has dropped my name. Now I do a lot of funnels. I do some ads, and so I’m more of like a funnel strategist. And I really love to get behind the scenes with all the tech and help people bring their products to out to the light of the day. Work with a lot of course, creators and membership owners, and so I think the point I’m trying to make is you have to really just lean confidently into who you are, give value, and not always just automatically hoping that someone is going to drop your name. Just legitimately be you, be out there, be available, answer questions when people have them, and your reputation will begin to build. And it’s really bizarre how the internet is such a huge place, but honestly, it’s kind of a small world here, like you, these networks really begin to become key places where you can be referred to, where people get to know your expertise. So anyway, that’s a big long blah about all all the things, and I’ll have a couple Emily Reagan of things. I have a couple things I want to unpack there, but I went over to my notes that I had I had written down before today. Client acquisition equals relationships plus reputation, which is probably going to be on my replay email. Spoiler alert, but, like, that’s really the thing here, and I’m going to, I want to bring up another point, but first, tell me who’s actually name dropping you, because it’s beyond clients, right? It was, it was me, and I know I have a lot of power and weight because I’ve been established in this place for a while. But who your fellow unicorns, your sister service providers, like, who’s name dropping, you Angela all of the above. Like, you know my my fellow unicorns, and you guys, thank you. You know who you are. It’s fantastic. But also other groups, like I am, we’re all constantly learning, right? So I’m in other memberships, other groups where I’m learning alongside someone else. So for example, I’m in like a little mixer mind group, where we get together when we chat, and we have calls, and we’re talking to one another about our businesses, right? So this is just you’re sharing what your own personal business struggles or your own business questions are. You’re helping one another, and they learn more about you and what you’re doing, and suddenly they’re referring people that they know, oh, you know, I know someone who needs someone for funnels, or I need someone who can set something up in Kajabi. And this just happened, literally last week, where I just signed a $2,000 project with someone because of a business colleague who happens to be in a similar course that I’m doing, and says, Oh, I know somebody who does that. So it’s, it’s just this water wheel effect of just putting yourself out there and being confident about what you do and being a good person, like, actually, just, you know, caring about what you’re doing. Emily Reagan I want to back it up to what you did to get the name drop, because I think that’s really the element to know Angela is very clear about what she does with her services. It took you a while to get there, but you are always kind of in the funnel tech realm, because you like that from your past business. But it’s very clear that Angela’s name is synonymous. She is positioned like she did a whole training in the work group about Thrive, cart and a walkthrough. So now all the 150 members of the work group. Now I can trust Angela for checkout tech, right? And so it’s showing up into these communities and these groups, not just the work group. It could be your local like Boss Babes, Richmond, Virginia, Facebook group for all I care, but showing up and being very clear about what you do so that your name is synonymous. Just that. And the next time somebody sees an opportunity, they’re thinking about you. But it doesn’t happen by not turning on your camera and not introducing yourself, not sharing your awkward Fun Fact or whatever. These like Breakout Rooms make you do that work that you put into networking, even though it’s not like showing up at a conference, it pays off in the internet and like, I’ve seen your name dropped in Facebook groups, Voxer groups, threads, I’m sure other places. I don’t know, forums. I’m not on Reddit, really. I don’t know. Angela Yeah, well, and that’s the thing, is just putting yourself out there. And there’s one other thing I want to say about that, because if you’re new and you’re at the very beginning stages, it can feel really daunting, right? But the thing is, you know, you just start saying yes to being in the places where, you know, people are hanging out. And the other big thing about it is, is a mindset thing, and you probably have could have a whole conversation about this, that if you’re coming from a corporate background, or you’re coming from a job employee situation, right? This is a whole other thing, and you have to remember that people need you every bit as much as you need them. And when you begin to just own the fact that this is a symbiotic relationship between two people, I’m helping you. You’re helping me. There’s, you know, even exchange value here, and you’re just treating people like like people, rather than commodity. People really respond to that. Once you put yourself out there and you just allow yourself to connect with people, I could say that literally, 90% of the people that I work with are over 50. They’re women who really don’t like tech. They’re confused, they don’t want to learn it, and they identify with me because they feel like they can trust me. And it’s always this thing where you know what you’re putting out, you’ll attract the people that that are kind of vibing with who you are, and you won’t be a fit for everybody. But you know, you’ll meet people, and you will refer people from your your group, or whatever groups you’re in. It’s all this, this water wheel that just starts to result in tons of incoming i This is like a almost an embarrassing thing to admit. I feel like I might jinx myself if I say this, but I haven’t actually had to seek out a client in like two years. Like, I literally, I don’t want to say, Oh, they just come to me, because it’s a result of the hard work that I do and the relationships I foster. But it really does work that way. You just get started, and you get like, you know is, I said that one client, and it just starts to build, because you will start to get to refer. You’ll get referred from unicorns. You’ll get referred from other business peers. There’s plenty of ways for people to find you, and so you just have to start showing up, doing your thing, and believing that you can do it. Emily Reagan That is, I think, one of the best wins, the relief that I don’t have to go out there and do all this prospecting, which it’s helpful to do some. It’s helpful to stock out like ideal clients and get on their email list and engage with them on social but the fact that you don’t have to do any of those once you get this ball rolling, I mean, and there’s another thing I want to mention too, and I know we’re gonna have Brittany talking about how to interact and engage inside Facebook groups and get clients from there too. So there’s a little crossover here. But I know starting out not knowing anyone was a really like a sticking point for me, like I was an unknown. Nobody knew me, and if I were starting over right now, I think about linking arms with a couple other people who are sister service providers offered something similar, even if we had the same thing, because you can create your own secret alliance to refer each other and take over the internet. And that’s exactly what our blessing of unicorns is doing, like we are writing on the name, my name, but also our own, our own standalone name of being a trained unicorn marketer. And we can refer each other. And I’m curious if you have ever been strategic, because I don’t think you think this way, but I’m sure you also give, I’m sure you also name drop. I’m sure it’s like a whole cyclical karma thing for you, isn’t it? Angela Oh yeah, absolutely, absolutely, because it it feels really good when you can refer someone who’s trustworthy. And I know that the people who’ve come through your program, the people that are in the work group, there’s base level of trust. And we’ve talked, I think we’ve talked about the fact that your group does have a particular reputation, around around around the worldwide interwebs, right? That you have a reputation, and that the people who are in your group, the people who come through your program, they’re quality freelancers there. It’s almost like you’re immediately setting yourself a few steps ahead of the average person, because you’re associated most factor you know, people just automatically know, okay, you’re that you care about your business enough to have come through these these programs. But, yeah, I can’t say enough about just building that network, sharing and passing it on when you can, and being open to those referrals when they come. Because, yeah, I can’t stress enough how much I owe to my fellow unicorns, to you, to the people who drop my name in the way that they do, like, that’s what my business started with. I did not know anyone was not in the online space in that way at all when I got started. And yeah, it’s allowed me to grow way beyond what I would have expected. Oh Emily Reagan my gosh. I talked to a lot of peers, a lot of friends, and they’re like, who do you know that does this, this and this? And so when I’m on my phone and I’m sitting at dance or soccer in the car. A lot of times I’m doing my engagement time, and I’m in there and I’m like, oh, somebody needs an ads manager. Like, let’s throw, you know, Stacy in there. And I’m like, copying and pasting emails in there, because I know that goes a long way I can respond. Like, go through my form, hire a unicorn.com, but, like, that’s so much more friction. That’s a couple other steps for people. But if I’m like, here’s a good person, she does funnels, here’s Angela. And so a lot of times you’ll see in the work group, I’ll make these funky, vague posts where I’m like, I need five people right now who do this. It’s because I see a really fucking good opportunity, and I want to refer you, and that’s kind of what’s happening too. And it’s not just me, like we have the power as unicorns to do that for each other. So thank you for being a part of the work group. I’m gonna put you on the spot now. Do you have a number of like, maybe your ROI from the work group? I don’t think I’ve ever asked you that. Angela I don’t even know that I could predictably say that because, and this is gonna sound like you. You did not tell me to say this. I make a joke about, like, the the three degrees of separation, but like, this whole thing about how, actually, every, every client that I’ve gotten, that I’ve worked with has somehow come from either you, the work group, or the people that I’ve connected within the work group or their business owner. It’s, it’s such, like this plant of many vines, like it has really grown from there. Like that, the Yes, Kevin Bacon, thank you. I’m like, What’s the phrase I’m trying to think of? So I couldn’t actually put a number on it, other than to say that it’s been my only source of job. Leads for me in the beginning, referrals from you and fellow unicorns. And then from there, the groups that I’ve involved myself in that are that are offshoots of that. It’s all come from that. So I will Emily Reagan take credit for all of your income. Thank you. Oh my god, thank you. Thank you. And where can we connect with you, Angela? Angela Well, my website is crystal clear funnels.com or you can find me on Instagram with my slightly dusty presence there at Angela Kiszka. Emily Reagan All right, all leads back out to Emily. That’s so funny, the mother of unicorns. Thank you. I really, I really want to piggyback off of this, like what Angela has done is a lot of that positioning work that we talked about is showing up in its networking. And I want to go into this further and talk about how you can use these visibility opportunities to book clients too. The connections get you booked for visibility. This could be summits, this could be spotlights, it could be guest blogging, it could be guest teaching. And so I have Janelle Harlan here to talk about how she booked a client directly from a visibility op. And it is kind of fun, because I know how nervous you were with your first couple ops, like, and I remember my first speaking opportunity, and like, how over prepared and nerve wracking it was for me. But tell everyone what happened in your story? Janelle It’s funny. So yeah, I’ve done it. I’ve done a couple of podcasts. Two of them were with Emily. My very first one was with Emily. And I still have not listened to that podcast, because I know it was terrible, but a year later, she asked me to come back, and it was kind of funny, because I didn’t prepare as much for that second one. I just, I just spoke to my heart. I guess I had, like, a good, a good framework of what I wanted to say, but I just, kind of, I winged it a little bit more, and what ended up coming out of it was a much better podcast that I’ve actually listened to a couple of times, Emily Reagan but it was on a specific topic, just to be fair, one was more like, your story and like that can feel kind of loosey, goosey and weird, and if you can’t just like, pull out, like, prolific sound bites, you know. But the second podcast we book was about your service in particular, right? Janelle Yes, it was actually about the email marketing and the customer journey, and you know better, segmenting and having just a more relevant, timely customer journey based on using tech. And it just happened to be that at the about the same time, I was really getting into Active Campaign as a specialty in my business. It. Turned into an Active Campaign, kind of podcast, which I wasn’t intending, but it did, and I’m so glad it did, because you had mentioned I booked one client from it, but it’s been more than one from directly from that podcast, people who heard me on that podcast, so one person was actually kind of within the circles that we all run in. She became a client. I’ve been helping her with some with launches, and we’re working on another one now for an upcoming launch, but that’s been multi projects. She’s referred me out. So I’ve gotten additional projects from a referral from her. And then in addition to that, she referred me out to people running summits and bundles and things like that, so I was able to get more visibility that way. That has also led to additional business. The other Active Campaign client was actually somebody who is not in the circles at all. Is just a random chiropractor in Iowa who was googling podcast to Active Campaign, and yours popped up. And he found me that way. So he again, multi project is still a client, now will become a retainer client, so it’s like a good, solid, long term client. And then I actually have booked a couple of strategy calls that I know are going to turn into projects as well. And they were not necessarily, they didn’t come to me from the podcast, but they came to me from those residual bundles, and then I sent them the podcast. And so they understand, you know, in better context, of what I can do for them. And so there’s additional, additional clients there. And then also, as a result of some of those bundles, I’ve signed on a pretty long term retainer client that’s right now at about $50,000 in revenue. So just from that one, oh my god, that was a referral from one of the presenters in the bundle. It wasn’t from somebody who signed up for the bundle, it was one of the other presenters. So just networking and being more visible in the bundle, in the summit in general, with the other presenters led to that. Okay, so Emily Reagan again, I want to harp on the fact that you are positioned well for the work. You know what you’re doing when it comes to that service, you’ve really dialed in your job title, your method, and what you’re known for, and so that makes all of this right to then go do speaking opportunities on podcasts, do it in bundles, and your name just gets even more out there with your service. I think it really helps that you are narrow down into Active Campaign as well, because I think it’s harder to find people who are specialized in email marketing and only offer that and you offer high end services. So I just want to be very clear about what Janelle has set up here and then now it’s like, off to the races. This is what we call lead generation. This is the inbound marketing. It’s different than posting on social just to post. It’s strategic marketing assets. I know for our particular episode, it is a good SEO title. It’s a searchable title. It’s it has what you do in the title and then in the show notes, so that people can discover you and find you in the book a call. This is lead generation. This is so much better than that prospecting that we talked about where you just send a cold pitch to somebody who doesn’t even really want your service. So what would you say to somebody who is thinking about how to do this for their business or to book it? I mean, we talked about some of the front end work you have to do for this opportunity. Yeah, it’s funny, you say that because I have not done what I could do with this, and it’s going to be a big push for me in 2026 Janelle so I have some other pieces of the pie I need to get in place. First, I, you know, to be completely transparent. I’m I’m super booked out trying to come up with, like, a one to many solution, or a way that I can handle more projects and then really go after additional podcast opportunities in 2026 I’ve done a couple of little guest teaching spots so and I’ve got another one lined up for early next year for that too. But I would say first it’s, you know, what is your special process or result that you offer. How is your framework different? How do you get people there? Like, what is your signature thing, and then learning how to really communicate that to different types of audiences? And I mean, I don’t have a huge audience myself, but when you partner with others who do you don’t necessarily need a huge audience. I think it’s partnering with people who also who make sense with what you do. I always approach it to very much as how can I help their audience? How can I help my clients? And I know that’s resonated through. Out this call. It’s about them and what you can do for them, and then showing up and doing, just doing a really great job. So people, you know, people do refer you. I think the thing too, is to not be, not be scared, to put yourself out there. Angela. Angela said, Yeah, I don’t love public speaking. I’m pretty introverted. Actually, I very much enjoy one on one conversations and deeper relationships for me to have be on camera and speak. You know, I almost threw up on that, that first podcast interview that we had, Connie Hurlburt you were nervous. I have to say you are nervous. And I could tell, yeah. Janelle So I think, like just getting over myself and thinking about it like it’s just a conversation with a friend and we’re just sitting here talking, which is, you know, really where I excel, and the types of relationships I love, you know, I love, love the Voxer chats during the day, but just trying to treat it that way instead of, you know, I’m speaking to 1000s of People, or I don’t like the voice sounds, or whatever. Emily Reagan Now, when clients reached out to you after hearing you, how did they do it? Did they go through your website? Did they send you a DM? Was there, like a method Janelle one I had already actually the relationship started on Instagram, and so she reached out to me, and we just kind of started chatting. And she started joking about, oh, well, I need to hire you. And I’m like, Well, let’s talk about that. And so that was, that was one. The other was just, it was through my website, my Active Campaign project, contact me for, you know, schedule a call to talk. So it came through there. And I was like, at first, I’m like, Is this legit? And then trusted. Interesting, like some random person and and then, and then, during the discovery call, the camera didn’t even come on, so he didn’t have his camera on. So then I’m like, Okay, wait a minute, some and it turned out to be completely legit. So yeah, and since the camera has come on in our our client calls. So we’re good, Emily Reagan yeah, good, good, yeah. Because I could be like, Wait, is this a scam? I want to call out that you did Instagram. You had Instagram minimally. So when we’re booking guests for shows, we do want to see that you have social that you will share it. I don’t care that you have a big following. And I mean, obviously we knew each other, but you need to have that resume or that landing page to even book that. And so I’m just going to bring you back to the marketing assets, the minimal viable online presence. You need to look like an official business owner. You’re not going to get booked on a podcast if Janelle you don’t look like that already. Yeah, and, you know, I am not great at doing social media and being up to, you know, posting, I do well with the, like I said, the DMS, and having the behind the scenes conversations, but yes, you do need to have some kind of presence so that they know you’ll share. And you know, that’s got to be there as well. So again, that’s like, why it’s my 2026, good. Emily Reagan I think about like, the first time I did guest speaking, it was Google Analytics, and it was very tactical. It was very simple in a way, like the audience doesn’t know how to do this, and I do, and I am a couple steps ahead of them. I might not be, like the most proficient Google, you know, analytics person, especially now that it’s changed to GA four, I’m like, a little bit harder, but it’s also better, but just telling myself like I knew what I was doing and I could help them really kind of solve that mindset problem for me. So I’m glad you brought that up, too. Yeah. Janelle And I do want to mention my first clients. I’ve been in this business about eight years. Now. I’ve had my business about eight years. My very first clients came from Upwork. That’s where I was for a while, but very low paying clients, and I I just want to reiterate what others have said is once I met Emily and went through UDMA, I was an established Freelancer when I went through the course and then joined the work group, I have since doubled my revenue from what I was making before, and just the quality of clients have been exceptional, and really just another level. And like the one of the things I love is some of my very first clients I’m still working with, and they’re now paying my new rates. So So while it is, you know, possible to get started on something like an Upwork, it’s just so much better, like now as a network, you know, with a community, Emily Reagan oh my gosh, thank you for sharing that, and it’s a very viable way to get started over there. But I do think you get a lot of like, turn and burn clients. They want somebody in and out. They kind of treat people more as a commodity. But I’ve heard of some bigger, you know, names going there to hire because they’re also looking for specialists. So we just got to get our name more out there. Oh, Robyn. Robyn said, I wish she had found Emily earlier. I get that all the time, all the time. I’m like, I’m trying. I’m trying. Okay, Janelle, thank you so much. Where is the best place to connect with you? My website? Janelle harlan.com, or Instagram. Janelle Harlin, one. Okay, cool. Thank you so much. And we have a couple podcasts. Go listen to the recent one, but we were really smart on the naming of that. So I thought that was kind of fun to see. I purposely used Active Campaign specialist in that title. So that is smart. That brings up, like, the whole like SEO and what you can do for your business that way. But that’s a tangent. That’s a tangent. Okay, our next guest is going to really explain this is a good method for when you’re starting out and you’re booking those first clients, but it still works. It still works for me too, and that’s really tapping into your own inner circle, your former colleagues, your former your bosses, like people who have worked with you, and I have Connie Hurlburt here to talk about doing a direct outreach to your inner circle. And I think this could be one of the scariest things, but like, first steps in starting your freelance business, but it’s something that I think people should revisit and put out there. Like, don’t forget about the people who are in your life already, because we all know business owners who are hiring. A lot of my friends are business owners. And Connie, why don’t you share what worked for you? Connie Hurlburt I have had quite a few clients that are like friends or just people that I’ve known from working together. I think it is relevant, though, to kind of share just a little bit of my story because, and I think it’s amazing that people have shared, like the financial impact of the work group for them. But for me, my motivation has always been a little bit different. And for me, it’s always been freedom. That’s why I came to do this kind of work. I was a teacher, then I was in corporate, and my husband was a disabled vet with PTSD and a TBI, and I found myself just like constantly being pulled between trying to wear all of the different hats and never feeling like I was able to do any of it fully. And so for me, I just want to start with my ROI is field trips, missed recitals, art shows, doctor appointments, missed vacations that I had to ask a boss for time off for zero in the last five years. And that’s because I’ve been doing this kind of work and been able to find people to work with. And so just to kind of go back to that whole desire for freedom, as many of us do, I was in an MLM for a long time, and I had found some success with that, but it’s very inconsistent, and in order to be super successful, you really have to, like, build a team. And I just did not love that. I was like, I want to get paid for my work. I don’t want my income to depend on the work of other people. So I just never, like, broke out with that. We’ll say that. But a thing about being involved in an MLM is that you tend to be around a lot of people who are interested in being entrepreneurs, and so I had kind of this, like, I don’t want to say steady flow, but like, I had a large sort of opportunity, as far as people to talk to. And I had kind of always wanted to run my business more like an online business, as opposed to the way you see a lot of people running their, you know, multi level marketing businesses. And so I also had a corporate job that was drying up, and I was like, Okay, do I want to go back to the classroom? Just for reference, this was 2019 so talk about timing. Can you imagine going back to the classroom in fall of 2019 and what ended up happening is my husband and myself both lost jobs in fall 2019 like late summer, early fall, and I took Emily’s course and ended up here, and thank God. And actually, my first two customers were not they were not word of mouth. One of them I found in the work group, and one of them I don’t I don’t remember where I found her. She didn’t last very long. I fired her for reference, but somebody that I was working with who was on my team was doing kind of like life coaching on the side, and she was like, I really need to build a website, and I’m stressed out because I don’t know how to do it, and blah, blah, blah. And I was like, Oh, well, you know. And basically just kind of told her, you know, I know how to do that, and started asking her questions to kind of figure out what it was that she wanted to do. And after I figured out what she wanted to do, was something I could help with and said, You know, I took this course. I have a handful of clients. I know how to do this. And, long story short, I worked with her consistently launching courses and built her website for about 18 months. Yeah. And then that led to. To to other opportunities, also within, sort of like my inner circle of my team at that time, kind of doing the same thing, and it very much turned into word of mouth, because one said something to somebody else, said something to somebody else about, you know, oh, hey, Connie can do this. But a couple things like, keep in mind when I don’t even want to say pitching, but like, when you’re considering putting yourself out there doing this kind of work with people you already know is listening, listening to what it is that they are looking for. And the second two clients that I ended up having that were kind of in my inner circle. Neither of them knew for months that I was doing this kind of work at all, much less doing it for somebody else, because I wasn’t sure if what they were looking for was something I wanted to do. I knew it was something I could do, but I wasn’t sure if it was something I wanted to do. So just really listening as they were dropping hints in conversation about what it was they were doing, and what they you know, we’re going to need help with, because for me, I hate doing social media, and that was like, they were like, Oh, well, I I know I need to be doing this, and I know I need to be doing that, and I’m going, well, I don’t want to do that, so I’m going to keep my mouth shut and not opening my mouth and putting myself out there volunteering to do something that I know how to do, that I don’t Want to do because I know if I don’t want to do it, I’m not going to do a good job. And these are people that I know personally, and I don’t want to burn those bridges and, like, have that be an added level of complication. So I did want to mention that, like, just listening, and that’s something I do with all of my clients too. Hopefully we’re all listening to all of our clients, but like when I’m trying to acquire a new client, just really listening to what it was or what it is that they need. And I’ve had other opportunities working with people that I know, and this is a thing that I do, both with them, and again, all other clients that I’m trying to acquire is they go to their website, and I go to their social, and I hit, inspect, not on the social, on the websites. I figure out, what platform are they using? Is it a platform I want to work in? Because if it’s not a platform I want to work in, I’m not even going to put myself out there. Or if it is somebody that I know that like there’s other reasons I may want to work with them. I want to know what it is that they’re using, and I want to be able to point out why they should use something else that I do want to do. Yeah, so motive, yeah, yeah. That’s like my pitch email. It depends how how close the relationship is, because sometimes it’s like, I’m just going to talk to you about it. When I see you other times, it’s, I’m going to send you an email because maybe it is a more formal relationship. And my pitch email is very short. It’s very clear. It’s, hey, you know, I don’t know if you know that I do this, but you know, and I’ve looked at your website, I meant you mentioned that you need help with XYZ. Here’s what I think you know would make a big impact, that we could update on your website. And I usually try and give them some kind of timeline of how long it’s going to take, but I kind of give them the information ahead of time so that they can see, yes, I care, but also I’m an authority, like, I know not only what needs to be done, but how to do it. And I love it. When they come back, they’re like, how did you know I use Wix? Or how did you know I use WordPress? Or how did you know I use and, like, that’s such a little thing. And I usually just respond with industry secret and, you know, a winky thing, because I don’t want to let them know all my secrets, because then they can go find somebody else. So that was the first thing, listening. And then the second thing is doing my due diligence. And that’s not only like on their tech and on their needs, but also, again, like, Is this somebody I actually want to work with? There are lots of people I know in my personal life that I have 00, desire to have any sort of professional relationship with, and that kind of goes back to that whole listening thing, like, are they gossiping? Are they constantly complaining? Is there some reason they will not be fun to work with? And if there is, even if it’s very small, I just don’t put it out there, because, like, you’re not going to get those word of mouth referrals if that working relationship isn’t also good. And Emily Reagan that’s what Esai kind of talked about is like, not just saying yes to the client because someone referred them. Connie Hurlburt Yeah, that’s another thing I wanted to mention. Is having so having boundaries in this business is so important. I feel like, especially when you’re working with or for people that you know already, it is even more important. And I will say there was my most recently acquired client, I guess that I got because I already knew her from, you know, the previous business that we were in. That was a mistake I made early on. I wanted to work for her. I knew the new. Business that she was opening was going places. And because of that, I did not hold my boundaries early on, as far as like she would ask for something, you know, 9pm on a Friday, and once it, you know, before Monday morning. And I would do it because I wanted that job. And I’m not going to say I was, well, I don’t regret that necessarily, because I do think that she was in a place where she needed seven she needed it fast, and I do think it put me in a position where I’m now an integral part of her team. But I do regret not like immediately after that first launch, sending my contract because we’ve been working together a year now, and she still doesn’t have my contract. Now it’s like, awkward, okay, so learn from me there, send your contract and hold your boundaries. From the beginning, Emily Reagan I think about my first couple clients, and this is before I really got in the online space, but it came from my place of work. I was at an Arts Council in Oklahoma City. I was connected in the community as a military spouse, as you can relate to I knew I was just moving and I was going to start over, and I had a couple people actually approach me because the work I did at work, and they’re like, Oh, could you help me write press releases? Could you help me do this? And so my first couple clients actually came from my work sphere, that inner circle. Now I didn’t approach them, but, but people came to me and I wrote down under in your notes, asked questions, and you were saying listening, like, getting some clarity. Before I was like, Well, did you know I did this? I think none of us want to go in with a cold pitch and like, hire me, proving energy and that desperate energy, but listening to what they need, and then figuring out, is it me? Am I this solution? Is it a fellow unicorn? Is this person even? Are they crazy? Do I even want to work with them? So I like that you brought that up that’s really important, and I think it’s a distinguisher between the cold pitches, because what’s wrong with that sales technique is people are making an assumption that that you even need help, you know? And I think that, just like, ruins it for me. And I will never work with these people. You know, I have a lot of virtual assistants who pitch me, and I’m like, I’m a queen of virtual assistants. I have plenty of people like who I can work with, and I’m gonna get someone who’s gone through my course and in my community, first and foremost, and so they’re just like not paying attention. But when it comes to the inner circle, I think there’s a direct a direct ask you can do, but there’s also the indirect, if it feels weird, and you could say, Do you know somebody who is looking for a Pinterest, who is looking for a Wix, you know, website, and that can sometimes feel safe for anyone who’s new to tap into the circle, right? Connie Hurlburt Yeah, definitely. And I think just also being aware of like, like this may sound simple, but just like being aware of what the people around you are doing, you know, like, whether it’s your work colleagues who may have also their own business or something or, you know, it kind of just goes back to listening and asking those questions. And also, kind of, for me, it’s also been very much about, like, being clear, you know, like, the last like five years of my life are like a really terrible Lifetime movie. And there have been times where I was really clear. I thought on what I wanted to do and what I, you know, was trying to do with my business. But what I focus on, even more than that, is, what do I not want to do? What I do not want to do is work on weekends. What I do is be, you know, available after 230 because that’s when my first kid gets home from school. And just being very clear on this is like getting a little bit away from my topic. But just like when I started doing this kind of work, it was the first time as an adult, you know, and I had been a caregiver to my husband for a while. At that point, it was the first time as an adult, I took a step back and said, What do I want my life to look like? And as far as figuring out what I’m doing with my work, that means, what do I not want to do with my work so that it’s not interfering with my life and like I feel like so often we do it the other way around, like I can’t have this in life, because I do this in work, and even when I haven’t been able to stay as clear and consistent on what I do want, I am extremely clear on what I don’t want, and not putting myself in positions where I find myself doing work that I don’t want to do. As a matter of fact, I don’t know she’s still here, but Cassidy is a friend of mine from high school. She was on this call. She took your course, and she is doing work for one of my clients that my client was like, Hey, can you help with this? And I was like, I can. I really don’t want to, but I know somebody who might. And you know, really having making use of those connections. Other. In this case, it’s somebody that I knew personally, but whether that’s somebody that I have a personal relationship, or somebody else you know, that I know within the work group, and I think also it kind of like, I don’t know this is not going to come out, right, but it’s almost a power move to be able to tell a client, I don’t want to do that and hand it off to somebody else, because it like, reverses the whole, like desperation vibe, even when it’s like, I don’t know, obviously it depends on how you do it. But like, Oh, good, yay. Cassidy. Emily Reagan I mean, you teach your client, this is, it is a whole nother topic, and this gets into a lot of like, client management. And I think this is why we need the work group to talk this out with people, because I know you made your post about the weekends, and you’re like, from now on, I will no longer work weekends Period, end of story. And there’s such power in that. But you’re also teaching the clients how to treat you, and you will find that if you are very clear on your boundaries, and Oh, you missed your deadline, I actually can’t get that done till next blah, blah, blah, you will find them reprioritizing, because I know that I have a lot I’m juggling, but secretly I know who’s more flexible and who will work with me. And we tend to take advantage of this human nature. It’s not like malicious and so now that you’ve, like, gotten that power back, you will find that they will actually rearrange things to make it happen. Connie Hurlburt Yes, 100% just one final thing, because it literally happened, like an hour before this call started, I had a client who someone on her team, who is a new person on her team, messaged me, asking for a meeting, while that client last week had messaged me and asked me to, I’ll just say, essentially, be very sparing with my time, because she’s an hourly client. And so I went back to her and said, hey, you know you’re this other person on your team has requested a meeting with me. Is it okay if I schedule that meeting? And her response was, Well, do I have to pay you to have a meeting with her, and I’m like, what? Like, yeah, it totally threw me off. That was like, okay, Connie, like, you know how to tell her, yes. Like, it’s okay, you know how to do this. But all of my other clients I’ve worked with for such a long time, like, I can’t imagine they would ever even that. Wouldn’t even be a thought in their mind. So, and this is a newer client who I have the opportunity to teach better. So, yeah, you’re like, Emily Reagan training them in a way it sounds like, or instructing them, helping them do their job better for the client. This isn’t like, a tell me about your weekend, coffee, chat, yeah, yeah. And, yeah. And I was like, this is somebody on your team requested this meeting with me. This isn’t me being like, hey, let’s hang out. Like, yeah, I think these moments and being able to talk about, I mean, this is why I started this community too, because I put up with a lot of crap. I hit some rock bottom. I did a lot of things wrong. Kind of a common theme here is like, we do mess up, but once we learn better, and then once we have the reinforcement of knowing, like, actually, this is normal, and this is, you know, the client management part of it is pretty sticky. It’s hard because we’re self employed business owners, and we’re also working with clients who need to be happy in a way, but what you’re really bringing home here is, like, just not every client is for us, and we need to be picky and listen and really pay attention before we we jump in that relationship. Connie, where’s the best place to connect with you? Connie Hurlburt Oh my gosh. Like, if you’re not at my house, good luck. I know Megan, put my Instagram in there. I have 14 unread Instagram messages that have been in my inbox for like, two weeks, Emily Reagan so apparently that’s a sign you’re really hot if you ignore your messages. So we’re gonna go on with that. Connie Hurlburt I’ll take that Yeah, so just don’t take it personally if you message me and I don’t respond, but I just like, that’s the season of life that I’m in right now. And like, I’m not quite survival mode, but definitely not thriving at the moment. So, like, it is what it is that said, my business is doing fine, you know? And, like, that’s kind of the beauty of this. So, yeah, Emily Reagan you’ve had some really bad things happen in the last year, and I appreciate you showing up here. I appreciate you just keeping up the work and really just keeping your eyes on the prize when it comes to your freedom like that perspective, I think that really hit home with a lot of us, because we have the skills to go, go do the full time jobs a lot of us have chosen to leave them, and that really hit home. So thank you for sharing that. All right. Part three is coming up next. Love to hear from you. Let us know on social, DM, me at Emily Reagan, pr.com which of these strategies are you going to be able to apply? Which ones are you already doing? It might just be a question of refining, doing things strategically, time blocking, taking a look at your marketing assets to make sure that they’re supporting your efforts and. If you need help setting up your business, learning the marketing, doing some of this back end work so that you are fully competent and confident going into these discovery calls, join us in the unicorn digital marketing assistant school. It starts October 23 and if you’re already set up you just want access to these leads in this amazing community, the digital marketers work group is always looking for talented service providers anywhere from marketing operations to content marketing, whether you’re an assistant, a specialist or a manager. We have jobs across the spectrum. We’d love to have you in our work group. The application is in the show notes. I’ll see you in the next episode. Thanks for tuning in to the marketing freelancer. If you’re ready to connect with other marketing freelancers, learn advanced strategies and take your business to the next level, check out our digital marketers work group. It’s my exclusive membership where you’ll find the support community and tools to land premium clients and grow your income. Visit marketers workgroup.com to learn more, or just use the link in the show notes. Apply today. Step into your power, own your expertise and command the rates your work deserves. See you next time on The Marketing Freelancer: Unicorns Unite. Has I think I did. I thought it did, but I’m over here having a coughing attack. Can you keep talking?