Attract + Convert
The Business Basics for Freelance Marketers
Rich Ux
Copyright © 2020 Rich Ux.
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced
or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of
the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed by Rich + Niche Digital Agency.
First printing, March 2020.
Rich + Niche
Box 1483
Gibsons, BC, V0N1V0
Canada
www.richandniche.com
“Everything you ever wanted is on the other side of fear.”
George Addair
“Life begins where fear ends.”
Osho
Table of Contents
A Note to The Reader
6
Introduction
7
Chapter 1: Take This Before You Go
11
Chapter 2: Attracting Clients with an Offer
18
Chapter 3: Convert Them With Consistency
31
Chapter 4: Time to Deliver
35
Chapter 5: Collecting Payments
37
Chapter 6: If You Want It, You Must Take It
38
Summary
41
Where to Go Next?
42
One Last Thing
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A Note to The Reader
Hi, I’m Rich Ux!
The Original Full Stack Marketer, Founder of the Rich+Niche Digital Marketing
Collective and the author of this book.
My journey started with a desire for freedom, where I could set my schedule,
where I could define my own rules.
I wanted to travel without permission. To be available for my family when they
need me. And build a healthy, sustainable, remote-capable lifestyle.
My path led me to full stack digital marketing. I started helping brands and
influencers create content and design end-to-end digital marketing campaigns.
I helped them build stronger websites that converted more customers. I was
setting up email campaigns and Facebook Ads. I realized how valuable it is to be
able to make an impact on front-end design and distribution as well as backend
technology and automated sales.
In short, I believe a comprehensive understanding of Digital Marketing as a
communications tool is the number one unlock to life right now.
In my experience as a full stack marketer I’ve found that you can earn up
to $5000 a month from a single client. Although in practice, I recommend
maintaining 3-4 smaller clients around $1500-2500/month each.
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And in addition to the strong cash flow this freelance service can generate,
you can also start building your own brand alongside your client-work without
significant additional expenses or special equipment.
Twenty years ago, for the individual, this would have been unthinkable to do
so much. Now, with a full stack of skills and the latest technology, you’ll never
be short of opportunities. You’ll never be afraid you won’t be able to keep your
freelance career or remote-capable lifestyle.
I hope this book helps you accelerate the most challenging part of your
career—the very beginning. Once you get the ball rolling, you’ll be surprised
how much momentum you can pick up.
May the algorithms be ever in your favor!
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Introduction
Why Become a Freelance Digital Marketer
When you become a freelancer, one of the most powerful benefits gained is the
ability to control what you work on and with whom you work with. Having the
ability to have the final say about what you offer and what you don’t is a great
feeling. You cannot generate this feeling in a traditional employment role.
And as freelance digital marketers, we are also remote-capable service
providers. The remote capable freelancer has the most ideal lifestyle I can
imagine. Now you can choose where to work and when to work. This creates
incredible freedom in your daily schedule, life and career.
For me, the remote aspect was always the biggest driver. I didn’t want to miss
out on my 20s and 30s spending time commuting or working on things that
ultimately didn’t matter to me.
But being remote-capable doesn’t mean you have to be constantly moving or
traveling as a digital nomad. Simply having the freedom to move when it calls
you is what you are looking for.
But I have to say, with this much freedom comes great responsibility. A
freelance career is no joke. If it was easy to accomplish everyone would do it
immediately.
You have the responsibility to your clients. Making sure the work gets done
right.
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You have the responsibility of creating consistency in your business. Ensuring
you generate leads, close deals, deliver on time and collect your payments.
You also have the responsibility of your family who relies on you to create
long-term financial stability.
The best way to deal with this much responsibility is to have a great business
process in place that allows you to master your responsibilities. To own them.
Even to be fulfilled by them.
This book will help develop your critical client generation and delivery
business process. It will show you how to work professionally and effectively
with your freelance clients even if you are just starting out in your career.
So if you are up for the challenge—let’s begin.
There are Two Kinds of Digital Marketers
The single platform specialist marketer and the full stack marketer.
This book is written from the lens of a full stack marketer. I believe the people,
process and tools of digital marketing work better in a flatter, wider skill set.
Because the industry can shift quickly, having too much commitment to a
single aspect of digital marketing can be career-disrupting.
As marketers, we are often early-adopters so moving quickly with the times is
typical. We try tools before others. We find better sources of information than
others. We simply get more out of what the internet has to offer than others. I
believe a full stack skill set is more aligned with that mode of adoption.
I’ve got nothing against the specialist. They are valuable too. But they are
more at risk in terms of career stability. They may generate more short-term
revenue but they may hit a wall as platforms and tools evolve or when the
economy suffers. I think those who survive are the ones who start adding in
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other skill sets and flatten out their arsenal while retaining certain specialties.
The fact is you need to have a lot of skills to make good money in this world
working for yourself. A one-trick pony can only last so long especially in
marketing where success brings about diminishing returns. An obvious
example is Google Adwords—which is a fantastic product. And although it
hasn’t changed in its effectiveness, it’s gotten much more expensive due to
many more marketers taking advantage of the platform. It’s no longer ROI+ for
every marketer who uses it.
I also think that as brands become smaller and leaner, the desire to have a
single-point-of-contact marketer will be extremely valuable. Specialists can be
hired for short-term bursts and interventions but a marketing career should
be made out of consistent monthly retainers. I believe it’s easier to obtain that
type of relationship as a full stack marketer.
The ‘Pocket CMO’
The Full Stack Marketer, also known as ‘The Pocket CMO’ (Chief Marketing
Officer), also known as The ‘Executive Virtual Assistant’ (E.V.A), is known for
his/her broad digital marketing skill set capable of providing campaign-wide
project management on a remote-communications basis. Brands can now
expect their digital marketers to be rather capable and flexible. The tools we
have to create media and advertise are so streamlined and simple to use that a
single person can buy millions of dollars of media from their home on a laptop
with a smartphone camera. It’s truly wild.
I use these 3 terms: Full Stack Marketer, Pocket CMO and E.V.A. rather
interchangeably. But allow me to examine their nuances.
As digital marketers, we are defined by our full stack skills. Front-end and backend capable. Multi-platform. Art and Science. This is what makes us unique. It
is our ‘feature’.
But the benefit that other companies can get is they can hire a “pocket CMO”
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to build entire digital marketing campaigns, someone who can manage their
marketing department remotely. They think they need a CMO, they don’t
realize they should be looking for a full stack marketer. So I recommend you
often describe yourself as a pocket CMO to clients rather than a Full Stack
Marketer unless they ask about your skills and you can say “I can offer you a
“full stack” of skills including graphic design, copywriting, landing pages and
much more”. Hopefully they will get the picture.
However, I also like the term Executive Virtual Assistant (E.V.A.) when you are
working for Type-A solopreneurs. Because their very nature as a “solopreneur”
is they work primarily alone.
But in 2020 these movers and shakers are getting rather busy and need some
digital marketing support. They know they can’t scale without at least a few
decent supporting players. They know all about virtual assistants but they
find them a pain in the ass to train up. Plus, they can afford someone better,
someone more skilled and capable. They still want someone they can dictate
tasks to but they don’t want to have to train them. The full stack marketer
makes the perfect E.V.A.
The term E.V.A. is useful when you want to work on an hourly rate and get
paid for your wide variety of skills. This also helps you get paid a higher
average rate even when you do basic tasks. People like the idea of having an
executive assistant. So while you may like to be called a CMO, they may prefer
to have an E.V.A.
So Who Is This Book Really For
It’s for the new Freelance Marketer who wants to get some clients under their
belt and build out a real business process. You are ready to take the leap into
professional client services.
It’s also for the more experienced marketer who currently works in an agency
but wants to understand the business side of things and become independent.
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They want to go from Don Draper to Roger Sterling.
It’s also for the hobbyist social media content creator who is considering a
career in the digital marketing space and might feel freelancing is the best for
them. They are entrepreneurial spirits who will likely become unemployable
anyways. They might as well try to attract an audience and build something
around their natural talents.
If any of those three sound like you, then this book will bring you value.
How to Read This Book
This book is designed for action takers. If you are pleasure-reading this, I
recommend you not to bother. This will only serve those who immediately
intend to generate more freelance clients and remote income into their life.
This book is based on a 4-step business process that will help you streamline
your thoughts and actions so that you don’t waste time or money or noncritical activities. I recommend you read it from start to finish quickly—one
sitting. Allow it to plug some immediate gaps in your current business.
I wrote this to fill the knowledge gaps I had when I first started my freelance
journey. I hope it helps you fill your own gaps and move forward swiftly.
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CHAPTER 1
Take This Before You Go
A Reason For Being
Before we jump into the tactics of finding and closing clients, I want to
mention a word that is important to me and most likely to you as well. The
word is IKIGAI.
It is a Japanese word that means “a reason for being.”
Many Japanese are known for living long, balanced and fulfilling lives. There is
a good reason for this.
When we are more aligned with who we are and our purpose in this world, we
have more energy and vitality.
Health is critical to living a long fulfilling life. But so is having enough money
to afford a healthy lifestyle. There must be a balance in all areas in order to live
long and well.
I’m not going to go too deep into it here, but essentially IKIGAI asks us to find
the cross-section of four things in our lives:
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1. What are you good at?
2. What do you love and enjoy doing?
3. What are people willing to pay for?
4. What does the world need?
If you can find something in your life that satisfies all 4, you are certainly on the
right path.
Ikigai Venn Diagram.
In the diagram above, you can see that you must seek the cross-section of those
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4 major areas of life. Since we spend so much of our life working, it is our
choice of work that dictates how well we will ultimately live.
If you ignore what you love you can never be enthusiastic about life.
If you ignore what the world pays for, you can never afford what you need.
If you ignore what you are good at, you can never reach your highest potential.
And if you ignore what is good for the world, you may never do anything truly
fulfilling.
This is the basis of Ikigai.
Ikigai gets you to line up what matters the most to you and keeps you on track
with your true purpose.
Ikigai provides you with more energy and enthusiasm with your day-to-day
life.
Once you align with your Ikigai, you can’t go wrong. It may take a bit of time,
but you can’t go wrong. Why do so many live their lives without balance?
They simply do not have this fundamental understanding of what leads to
fulfillment, joy and a long healthy life.
One of the reasons I love digital marketing is that it can help so many different
types of people and personalities find and align with their Ikigai.
There are so many exciting areas to work on within digital marketing. It’s hard
to think you can’t develop skills in at least some of them such as: Copywriting,
video editing, landing page design, campaign strategy, website development,
digital advertising… These are all learnable skills. There’s no coding in
digital marketing anymore. This is what makes it even more attractive to
communication and design specialists.
Additionally, because digital marketing work is remote-capable, it is instantly a
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much more attractive career and thus, more likely for you to love and enjoy.
In terms of Ikigai’s financial component, the world is spending a lot on digital
marketing right now. It’s one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world. It
seems there are endless ways to make a living in this industry.
Screenshot taken March 2020 of search term: “Digital Marketing” on Google trends since 2004.
There are so many small to medium brands/influencers who now need digital
marketing support. I firmly believe many people are willing to pay for these
services since there are a lot of serious business owners who don’t know how to
do digital marketing or don’t want to do it.
Lastly, the world needs better marketing. More authentic marketing.
More trustworthy marketing. There are many ways to make a significant
impact in life and business by using better marketing. It’s an industry about
communication and expression.
So you see, digital marketing, brand building and Ikigai all go hand-in-hand.
Digital marketing can allow you to connect more with your inner-self ensuring
your ability to maximize your potential and personal fulfillment.
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A career with a diverse range of expertise and remote-capability is a very
potent combo.
So don’t ignore your Ikigai!
Now on to the tactics…
The Process I Wish I Had When I Started my Freelance Journey
When we embark on the journey of becoming a freelancer, it can require quite
a leap of faith.
Very few people attempt to create a freelance lifestyle. The main reason being
is that it has some unique requirements to be successful.
Freelancers must have:
•
A useful skill that others can’t do or won’t do.
•
The expertise and authority to turn leads into long-term clients.
•
The ability to sell themselves.
•
The ability to deliver consistent services on time.
•
Financial competence: can collect client payments and generate
sufficient cash flow to run their business (and often their life).
Given these requirements, it can be daunting to venture outside of traditional
employment. You don’t know what you don’t know. You don’t know the risks.
You don’t know the future.
If there was something I wish I had when I first started it would be knowing
which areas I have to focus on in my business to have consistent success.
Over the years, I’ve worked towards this understanding and have ultimately
adopted a simple 4-step client pathway.
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The freelance business process I recommend has 4 steps:
1. Attracting clients
2. Converting clients
3. Delivering my services
4. Collecting payments
ACDC is the basic acronym. Don’t forget it and until you’ve got this process
down nothing else matters more.
These are the four major areas you need to focus on. You need to put adequate
energy into each of these business areas to ensure strong consistent lead flow
and cash flow—critical elements of any freelancer’s business.
This book heavily focuses on #1 and #2 but I’ll touch on all four. I’m leaning
into #1 and #2 because getting the attracting and converting clients part right
will make your life a lot easier. You simply can’t deliver if you don’t have any
clients to work with.
I don’t spend a lot of time on it because only you can determine #3 and its
breadth. I can’t tell you which services to deliver or at what price. Your market
and own personal capabilities will dictate your choices strategically. But it’s a
blessing to have the freedom to choose what you do every day.
Lastly, #4 is quite straightforward. I will share my basic methods for collecting
client payments and you’ll implement something similar.
Now that you know the overall process, it’s time to begin learning the elements
of each step. And the first step for any freelancer is creating the offer that will
attract clients.
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CHAPTER 2
Attracting Clients with an Offer
The job of a marketer is to create customers for the business they are
marketing for. This is no different from when you market your own freelance
services. You must create customers out of strangers. This chapter aims to help
you develop the critical components and mindset required to successfully
create customers on demand. This is the hardest part of your job by far and so
I’ve spent the most time on writing this section.
Every Freelancer Needs at Least One Offer
An offer is a proposition. I will do X service for Y compensation.
You might have the skills of a freelancer but you won’t have any clients until
you can make offers.
Here are some examples of offers:
I will audit your marketing funnel and provide you a strategy roadmap for
$1000.
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I will be your Executive Virtual Assistant for $60/hour. Here’s a list of what I can
do.
I will build you a complete lead generation funnel for $5000.
I will write your copy for $0.50 a word.
When you do business as a freelancer, you are entering many short-term (and
some long-term) legally bound relationships. Since you charge a fee, these
relationships are not friendships but business partnerships.
When You Create a Legal Contract There are Only 3
Requirements: Offer, Acceptance & Consideration
These are the only 3 things you need to be legally bound to someone else.
Without these three requirements, a contract cannot exist. This applies to both
hard goods and services.
Even verbal offers made and accepted with consideration (payment) can be
binding. They can be challenging to enforce but they are technically legally
binding once payment has been exchanged.
Offer: a service for a fee.
Acceptance: a signature by the accepting party.
Consideration: the payment in exchange for the offered service.
So offer, acceptance and consideration. Remember them.
The Easiest Way to Start Offering Digital Marketing Services
As a marketer, the fastest way to enter the game is to offer an hourly rate for a
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select suite of services. This is how I started out as a marketer.
I found clients who were struggling to keep up with the required marketing
tasks to run their business. When I started getting my first clients, I worked in
a variety of business sectors. Fitness, Food and Beverage, Medical Clinics, Yoga
Studios and many others.
If you are new to the game, don’t choose a specific niche right away. Because
it is more important for you to experience working on a variety of projects.
Freelancers grow with every single project they complete. To jumpstart your
career, taking on different projects is key.
As you gain enough experience, you can form a niche-expertise. But I wouldn’t
overthink this early on. I would simply try to find business owners who want
help with marketing tasks and get my foot in the door. It’s great to develop the
ability to market for various sectors and niches. Don’t get too pigeonholed.
This will aid you as the world continues to develop new areas of business. You
can move along with these evolutions.
You are NOT an Upwork VA
The problem with freelancer sites like Upwork is there’s always someone else
willing to do the same job cheaper. You cannot compete at the price points of
these sites. Take yourself away from that mental model of racing towards the
bottom.
From my experience in hiring Upwork VAs, the quality is very low and the
training required is substantial. These VAs can typically only do the most basic
tasks, and rarely are they strong in more than 1 or 2 areas.
It is very challenging to stand out on these platforms. For long term success
I’d suggest you build your own brand, have your own professional website and
charge premium prices.
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The Advantage of Being a Full Stack Marketer
Enter the full stack digital marketer—one part creative, one part scientist and
one part project manager.
By having such a unique skill set, you can help brands save immense time from
having to manage multiple subcontractors. You will help the business become
more lean and efficient.
Because you are full stack, you want clients who value brand-quality marketing.
Seek owners and directors who want things to look good. This allows you to
reduce the pressure on the quantitative results side and bring more qualitative
value through branding and design. Both are necessary for long-term success.
I want you to know that as a full stack marketer, you are worth much, much
more than a typical virtual assistant even though you may operate your
business or design your offers similarly.
Setting Your Hourly Rate
The average Upwork VA earns about $10/hour. Don’t forget, Upwork brings
them the clients! You might have to generate your own clientele if you choose
the independent path.
You want to aim for rates of $50USD/hour or higher even in the beginning,
especially if you are responsible for the entire ACDC process. If you have to sell
and deliver, then you should charge a minimum of $50/hour. As soon as you
get your first 3 clients, then immediately go to $60-75/hour. You aren’t getting
paid to market your business so you need to bake that into your professional
hourly rate.
Any less and it may not motivate you unless you live in a country where
currency values differ significantly from the USD. I could see $15/hour being
very good in some Southeast Asian countries where the cost of living is much
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lower. We cannot ignore supply and demand.
Keep in mind, we aren’t just making up the prices here. Price and value should
increase accordingly.
Which means if you want to raise your rates, raise the value of your service.
When price goes up, it means that quality should also go up. It could also
mean that time to complete is reduced.
The most logical reason to raise your rate is because you are more experienced
and bring more quality than you used to. This is common in freelance because
each project brings us new knowledge and experience.
Moving from Hourly, to Retainers and Packages
The logical step-up from working with an hourly rate is to sell a monthly
retainer of hours. This is the way lawyers typically work. But essentially if your
client plans to spend 10 hours with you, they pay all the hours upfront and
draw from them.
When the retainer is complete, you can send another invoice and start again
ideally each month. This will build stability into your career. To know a client
is committed to spending a certain amount of hours with you is a good thing.
A retainer still allows for flexibility for both the freelancer and the client. The
client has to understand, to retain you as a team member, they have to reward
you with fair and consistent pay.
Once you experience retainers and tracking time, the next step is to learn how
to derive packages or deliverables from your daily routine. Because in the long
run it’s better to deliver based on output rather than time. This allows you to
look for ways to reduce your engagement by outsourcing. You also get more
rewards by completing work faster through deliverables.
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For example, let’s say a client hires you for 10 hours a month as an E.V.A at the
rate of $50/hour. They ask you to help them edit blog posts and create email
campaigns to promote them. After doing the process for a month or two, you
realize you can finish 4 blog posts and 4 email campaigns in 10 hours. Next,
your client asks you to work on a sales page with lots of copywriting. You note
that it takes nearly 8 hours to finish a complete landing page and that you have
to be careful before you commit to one at a low price.
With this basic experience you could craft some simple deliverable-based
packages.
•
Tier 1 - $500 for 4 blog posts and newsletters
•
Tier 2 - $900 for 8 blog posts and newsletters
•
Landing Pages start at $550 each.
Your hourly rate wouldn’t change much, but what if you could outsource? What
if you could improve your process and speed it up? You would gain financial
benefit and your client would still get their deliverables.
Whatever You Offer, I Highly Recommend Using 3-Tier Pricing
Whether you break it up by hourly volume or pre-set deliverables, this is a
high-impact strategic pricing move.
The goal is to get them to buy tier-2. Tier-2 is priced perfectly and lands right
in your wheelhouse of skill, expertise and time commitment.
The strategy lies in the pricing ratio. You want to aim for a pricing ratio that
looks similar to this:
$1997
$2497
$5997
Your prices may be different and that is fine. But when you look at these prices,
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there is a lot to observe.
First of all, $2500 is not a large amount of money. It really isn’t. It’s a chunk
of change no doubt. But for this much cash, you can barely buy a laptop or
even go on a decent vacation. A single month’s rent is getting close to this too.
So everyone has this much money, whether they are a growing entrepreneur
or a local small business or even a non-profit. $2500 is a nice price for a
professional service package in 2020.
So what would you need (and love) to offer for $2500? What would you need
to do for the client? And if you are selling something for $2500, you truly want
to aim for $25,000 in value for the business. Now it doesn’t have to be 10X
value but that is a good goal to strive for. A more fair question is, what can you
do to show $5000 in sales for $2500 in expenses? Solving that equation would
suffice.
Whatever you offer at $2500, make sure you enjoy doing it and that you
could be running 3-4 other instances of $2500 if need be. $10,000/month in
recurring revenue is a nice place to be. Yes, recurring. These are the monthly
packages you want to be designing.
Once the mid-tier $2500 offer is complete. You can design the tier-1 offer. It
should be nearly half as valuable but about ¾ the price. Notice I recommended
almost $2000 for tier-1. That really isn’t much different than $2500, is it? But
that is the point. You don’t want anyone to buy tier-1, you want them to buy
tier-2. So pricing this way will influence that decision. How could they be so
foolish not to spend just 20% more and gain nearly 100% more in value? It’s a
no-brainer.
Now, on to tier-3. It should be priced nearly double or MORE than tier-2.
As high as possible while still considering your target prospect’s budget. The
reason we want to make it high is to deter them and nudge them down to
tier-2. We also want to price high to show high-value and to be considered
“expensive.” This creates a new perception in your prospect’s mind. They
aren’t supposed to be able to afford tier-3. They wish they could, but they can’t.
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And that leads them right into tier-2, thinking it’s a “bargain” compared to tier3. And occasionally someone will still take tier-3 so make sure the value is there
and that you can handle the job.
The tier-3 price might actually allow you to bring in a partner. It’s nice to have
a full stack partner because even though you can do everything if you need to,
you often won’t have to. Someone can make up for your weaker areas.
Single-Instance Tasks vs. Recurring Tasks
Not everything you do as an E.V.A. or Pocket CMO can be done monthly. You
don’t develop new products and funnels every single month. But you might
write emails or articles every month. I want to give you some ideas on what the
two areas entail.
I recommend using retainers and hourly packages for recurring tasks and using
set rates for single-instance deliverables. But I also recommend working with
clients who will commit bulk hour retainers each and every month.
So if you are working entirely in hours, you can still offer single-instance
tasks without changing your pricing or retainer size. I’ve done it with multiple
clients. You can pick one new single-instance task every month or every quarter
as long as they don’t take more hours than allotted - and if they do, then
complete them over multiple months/quarters.
For example if your client likes doing a retainer but wants a new website you
can simply complete the website over a three month period which would be
similar to pricing it as a single-task deliverable.
Just make sure you have enough experience to estimate the number of hours
required for a single-instance deliverable so you don’t under quote. And when
you quote in hours, you are also quoting the estimated labour price. This makes
it easy for everyone.
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It’s important to reiterate here that the reason hourly rates work well in digital
marketing is that when one person does a variety of tasks, it would be too
time consuming for everyone if you had to keep writing new contracts for
every deliverable. But as I stated earlier, there is a breaking point to which that
efficiency falls off due to an extreme variety of required task types causing
overload for the marketer.
Examples of Single-Instance Deliverables
•
PDF Creation
•
Squeeze Page Development
•
Automated Email Marketing Campaigns
•
Facebook Ad Set Development
•
5-Video Mini-Course Development Package
•
eBook Development Package
•
Complete Funnel
•
New Wordpress Brand Website
Examples of Monthly Deliverables
•
X number of pieces of content per month
•
X number of posts per month
•
X number of emails per month
•
X number of ad campaigns managed per month
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When it comes to designing your offer, packages and pricing, only you can
choose what’s ideal for you, your market and for your skill set.
Pricing a Results-Driven Outcome and Understanding Client Risk
When it comes to digital marketing business solutions, clients want a return on
their investment. When they hire you hourly as a pocket CMO or E.V.A., they
need your help on routine marketing tasks that occur month after month. But
what about if they want you to “boost” sales or drive results?
Marketing can be a challenging area of business to price because of the endless
factors and number of keys to success. If you don’t price high enough, can you
actually generate real business results on such a low budget?
If you are designing marketing packages to have substantial impacts on sales
revenue and overall conversions, you may want to describe your packages as
conservative, moderate and aggressive.
It is useful for clients to state their own level of risk. You are essentially
positioning your services as risk/reward options. But there should be
deliverables in the aggressive package that are significantly more expensive but
also have more favorable risk/reward ratios.
When the price goes up, either the risk is reduced or the reward is substantially
higher to the point where a complete loss may actually be worth entertaining
even at a higher price point. You don’t have to decide the risk-level for your
client. Let them tell you what their appetite is.
What does aggressive really mean?
•
The more aggressive, the more likely you see results sooner.
•
The more aggressive, the higher quality of work which means better
results.
•
The more aggressive, the less time it will take.
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•
And the more expensive it will be for the client.
Just consider the client who spends $500 for a logo and prints it on a full
suite of marketing materials. What if it doesn’t turn out well or scale to all the
various designs? Not only are you then out the cost of the logo design fee but
also factor in the additional expense of the marketing materials that need to
be replaced. So you have to consider how a higher price lowers the client’s risk
due to an improved offering.
Always consider the three levers that drive project work: time, money and
quality.
These are the key “levers.” These three levers will determine the scope of the
work. We want to know how much time we have, how much money we can
spend and what quality we are aiming for.
Another Model may be The Signature Process
I recommend this model for experienced freelancers or digital marketing
consultants. Those who have advanced their career to the point where they are
certain about their process and the results that are derived from their process.
Here is what I do.
Explain to your client that you work in 3 phases.
The first phase is strategic consulting for digital marketing that includes an
audit and some one-on-one strategy development meetings. This is the “map”,
providing direction towards their goals.
The second phase has you building out their platforms, funnels and user
experience, aka a “vehicle” to reach their goals.
The third phase is about awareness and lead generation. Buying media.
Facebook and YouTube ads. Potentially some organic content marketing as
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well. This is the “fuel” for the vehicle.
Your clients can stop at any phase until they are ready for the next step, both
mentally and financially.
This is what I call the digital marketing consultant’s 3-phase blueprint. I have a
free mini-course on this that you can access here.
You Need a Professional Website for Your Offer
If you want to be in digital marketing, this is an obvious priority. Your website
doesn’t need to be complicated or flashy. It just needs to be professional and
up-to-date.
A professional website shows what you do, who you do it for and what makes
you unique.
Ideally, you can show some sample work. You can take full-page screenshots
of the websites you’ve created or clip together some product mockups or key
marketing assets you’ve developed. Display a video reel if you have one or links
to videos you’ve produced.
Client testimonials are great to have. Try to include links to the work you’ve
done if it’s live on the internet. Hopefully, you can put a backlink to your own
website at the bottom of your client’s websites.
If you don’t have any testimonials or portfolio work, you are still in amateur
status. To go pro, you must train yourself on either your own sample projects,
side-projects, or take on some pro-bono work. Get yourself some experience
ASAP! If you can’t sell your services for free, how can you sell them for $2000 a
month?
Learning to get yourself out there, offer your services to real prospects and deal
with the occasional rejection that follows is an integral part of this business. You
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will not close every deal. If talking to clients scares you, this work will not be
easy. It’s time to develop more relationships. Take meetings to give free advice
about digital marketing trends and see if things start to blossom from there.
Also, make it clear how people can work with you or contact you.
I recommend your website be set up as a call-booking funnel. You want people
scheduling calls with your automated booking system. That way, you can react
to new discovery calls on your calendar while your website does all the selling.
If a prospect has made it to your website, they are looking for a digital
marketer, are they not? How else did they get there? Your SEO is on point, isn’t
it?
Pique their interests with benefit-driven copy about how your pocket CMO or
E.V.A. offer can help them run their business more efficiently and effectively
in the marketing department. One point of contact. Every task is available. All
platforms are open to discussion.
Or craft finely-tuned offers based on your unique skill set. Whether you show
pricing on your website or not is up to you. I recommend you don’t so you can
increase it more often with ease and also have pricing based on the value to
the client.
The bigger the client, the more valuable your services become because it will
amplify a bigger existing revenue source.
With your offer clear and your website complete, you can now enter the space
of freelance digital marketing with confidence.
How to Choose the Right Clients For You
This is where you must decide your own personal strategy. Several factors will
influence you in selecting the right clients.
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Budget Sizes - The more significant the business, the bigger the marketing
budget, the more work there will be, but it will be more complex and more
demanding. Do you feel more comfortable with 1 x $5000 client or 5 x $1000
clients?
Time Zones - Do you aim to serve locally or will you try to pursue international
clients from all over given you are remote-capable?
Scale - Do you wish to scale your business and transform into an agency or
become a high-paid solo freelancer?
Only you can decide what makes sense for you based on your experience and
appetite for challenges.
What we are talking about here is lead qualification. Is this potential client
qualified to work with you?
If yes, they are a prospect and you continue to develop the relationship.
If not, they are just a lead but not a prospect and we can offer them an
alternative path or provider. You simply part ways.
Qualification happens right between Attract & Convert. You want to attract
leads, but you should only convert prospects.
Here are some things I might be looking for in an ideal potential client:
•
They are already spending money on marketing, but they want better
results.
•
They are aggressive and fast-moving. They want to take strategic risks
and understand how marketing works.
•
They love their product/service and enjoy selling it.
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•
They value branding and quality as much as quantitative results.
•
They are in professional services and lack a strong online presence.
•
They are not afraid of a camera or being on video.
•
They see your value and want it. You don’t have to convince them.
Here is what to watch out for:
•
Clients who have never tried marketing.
•
Clients who have no money for marketing but want to test it.
•
Clients who don’t want to be on camera.
•
Clients who take a long time to respond to you.
•
Clients who always need to know what you did to bring value.
•
Clients who won’t follow your work protocols/boundaries.
•
Clients who don’t have a validated sale yet. (Danger danger!)
These lists are not exhaustive. They may actually be different than yours. You
are free to change and add anything to the lists above as you see fit for your
career and ambitions.
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CHAPTER 3
Convert Them With Consistency
Learn to Host Professional Discovery Calls
You now have an offer, a website and you know how to choose and attract
clients that are qualified to work with you. But how do you develop the
relationship? How do you engage and nurture the prospect?
You must be able to host a call with your client where you determine their
needs and assess the potential business relationship.
They are interviewing you and you are interviewing them. But since you are
the service provider, you should host the call.
I use Zoom.us (freemium) to host all my 1-on-1 calls. I prefer it over Skype or
Google Hangouts. It’s free to start using it.
But before you even have a call, you must book the call. You want this
streamlined and automated as much as possible.
Use a freemium call schedule booking software known as Calendly.com.
This allows you to let your clients book time on your schedule with ease. The
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premium version will integrate with Zoom. It automatically sends the Zoom
meeting-ID link to your prospect. Then both of your calendars will be updated
automatically in the proper timezone.
Then you need to construct a Prospect Discovery Question List.
Your question list should be 12-15 questions long. It is to be explored with
every single prospect you speak to. This is the critical information you need
to make your decision on whether this prospect is genuinely qualified to move
forward with your services.
Try to keep your list under 15 questions as any more might take too long for
this stage of the relationship. You want to get the most useful information
while still creating rapport with the prospect.
The goal of the call is to introduce yourself and your services, build rapport
and gather intel.
What information do you absolutely need to go forward?
During the call, you want to understand your clients’ needs and mental/
financial commitment to your potential solution.
You want to be clear on the exact next steps you and your client will be taking.
You want to know when you will speak again.
The first call is really still about qualification as much as it is a needs analysis...
Do they deserve your services? Just because they need it, doesn’t mean you
have to serve them or meet them at their budget level.
The first call, if successful, may have you preparing a proposal for your client
who is ready to move forward should they see a reasonable offer.
The best way to ensure smooth progress with your client is to try and reach a
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conceptual agreement.
Conceptual Agreement
Conceptual Agreement is a term used to determine if you and your client see
eye-to-eye on the project at hand.
There are 3 elements of a Conceptual Agreement; Objectives, Measures and
Value.
Objectives: What are we trying to accomplish?
Measures: How will we know if we are successful in our objectives?
Value: What is the total value of achieving that success?
Do you and your client agree on these 3? If so, you are ready to begin
developing a project plan and executing it.
Proposals
Should you make Packages or Proposals?
The benefits of packages are the ease of delivery. You know what to do every
time.
The benefits of a proposal are to maximize value for the client by giving them
exactly what they need as a custom solution. You can have packages ready, but
perhaps make them flexible and negotiable.
Never go for a home run on your first at-bat. Start small with your clients so
you can vet them before you overcommit. They may be problematic and you
won’t know it until you are knee-deep in ridiculous revision requests.
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A smaller project to start is also less risky and easier for you to over-deliver and
extend the contract to a secondary project.
What about Contracts?
Contracts are important. Don’t work without them. They can be essential to
getting paid and working out disputes. But in my 5 years of experience in this
particular role, I’ve never had a single problem that required going back to
the contract. As marketers, we have a lot of natural business leverage. We have
access to important client areas. They typically don’t want to mess with you.
But that doesn’t mean you should skip them.
Contracts should include:
1. What you will do
2. The total and breakdown of your price
3. Your responsibilities
4. Your clients’ responsibilities
5. Standard legal terms for service contracts
6. A place to sign
I strongly recommend that you use software like Proposify to make this part of
the process easier.
Payment Terms
50% upfront and 50% on delivery have been around for some time.
But what if your client takes too long? What if they don’t finish after 80%
completion?
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For retainers, I would expect 100% upfront. They are pre-buying hours and
using them as they see fit.
For deliverables 50% immediately and 50% in 30/60 days. You could offer a 10%
discount if they pay upfront. It’s more of a payment plan, rather than payment
on delivery.
You can also do 50% upfront, 25% at a specific benchmark and the last 25% at
completion or at a second benchmark.
It’s entirely up to you what payment terms you set and it will be significantly
determined by your expertise, authority and trustworthiness.
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CHAPTER 4
Time to Deliver
It’s time to begin providing your service. In this section, I’m not going to tell
you what to deliver for your services. You have to figure that out based on
what your offer is. I’ll simply go over the elements of project communication
reporting, which would be relevant to everyone.
Set Your Preferred Client Call Rhythm
I prefer to talk with my clients once or twice a month to stay on track. We
update each other about progress. This is also the best time to note any
challenges that arise.
Remember, you aren’t alone. Your client is supposed to support you naturally.
It’s rarely completely hands-off for them. They need to express their on-going
satisfaction with the project and work quality. Keep communication flowing
but don’t overdo it.
Communicating Through Revisions
You will often have to send deliverables for your client to review. Give your
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client at least 24-48 hours to assess your work, but don’t be surprised if they
reply immediately via Slack (I use Slack for all routine client comms). But if
they don’t, simply wait and expect their feedback when they can make time to
properly review the work. This is the core communication channel and where
most of the connection between marketer and client is created.
Once you receive feedback, provide revisions based on their evaluation (you
should specify the number of rounds for revisions before you start).
Then you should ask for the client’s confirmation if they’re happy with the
improvements.
If they give you their approval of your revised work, you are ready to move
forward.
However, if a client is still not satisfied and your agreed number of revisions
is over, you should charge hourly for additional changes outside your agreed
scope of work. This can be hard to do, but it is an essential boundary in our
work. The best way to defend scope creep is to be clear about your revision
methodology, so they know it is two rounds and then it’s time to decide on the
final version of whatever you are working on.
To reduce the likelihood of this occurring, set clear guidelines with your client
in the beginning of your relationship that they should flag you if they see any
work that is not in alignment with their brand. They cannot wait until much
later to decide something was not right otherwise a great amount of time will
be lost.
They must also be reminded that the work you create is intended for their
target audience, not them. This is common but it is more applicable in designoriented projects rather than copy-driven projects.
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Sending Monthly Reports
I like to send retainer clients monthly reports on the 1st day of the month.
They should know that this is part of the value that they can get from you.
Providing a report is providing an analysis of how users experienced the
brand’s digital touch points and how the business owner might react to that
data.
My reports are in email format for high-level information. You should notify
clients what you have completed in the last 30 days. Give them updates
on their traffic numbers and conversion rates. You could reference Google
Analytics or use another 3rd party software to assist you in reporting. There
are quite a few different software options out there. I’ve enjoyed the simple
wordpress website reports that are created with ManageWP.
After sending a few reports you may want to ask them directly if there is
additional information they may need from you in terms of reporting.
You should also include in your report the objectives for the next 30 days as a
reminder that you are on track for quarterly goals. This might seem redundant
but it helps to remind clients what’s happening in their marketing department
in case you are only communicating monthly or bi-weekly.
They don’t always need to direct you every month but they want to know what
they can expect from you. This is more relevant to later stage relationships
where the marketer has more authority and freedom to set task priority.
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CHAPTER 5
Collecting Payments
Collecting is the final step of the ACDC process. I already mentioned payment
terms in Chapter 3 regarding contracts.
And it’s true. In most cases, I collect the payment before I deliver my work. And
so should you as you gain more trust and authority. Why should you bear any
risk at all if you are a professional service provider who guarantees their work?
I mean who is more trustworthy? The one who needs a website or the one who
builds the website? Who is easier to track down? Who has more to lose?
I have no problem asking for payments up front once I establish the
relationship.
But aside from payment terms, I will just mention the methods I’m using to
collect.
I use Freshbooks for all client invoicing. I can collect USD and CAD. I can add
taxes. I can set recurring payments or payment installments. I can get clear
reports. I can receive credit card payments via Stripe/Paypal integration. That
is enough for me!
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I don’t take too many payments outside of that platform. As a freelance
business, you need this area running super smooth with low maintenance.
For those requesting international payments on a regular basis I recommend
you take a look at TransferWise to reduce the foreign currency exchange fees.
You may have to get your client to sign up for this one.
There is not too much else to know regarding collecting payments as a
marketer.
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CHAPTER 6
If You Want It, You Must Take It
In 2020, it’s still viable to just “win” yourself some work. Your clients won’t
always come from the typical job postings.
Getting your first client is all about seizing the opportunity. No one is going to
hand you your first client on a silver platter. If you want it, you must take it!
What I’m suggesting is that you show them what they are missing and make
it worth it for them to listen to you. Tell them their website is missing out on
major conversions. Tell them their Facebook ads could be greatly optimized.
Tell them you can develop strong social channels for them at a price they’ll
love. This is what I mean by “winning” work.
But to bring it back to a process, focus on doing things that lead to discovery
calls.
The fact is, you can’t have clients without first having client discovery calls. So
start there. Get after it.
I always say, “The more calls on the books, the more money we make.”
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It can be a bit of a numbers game. But you’ll find you can convert more of
these calls than you think. That’s why getting calls “on-the-books” is a critical
action to be focused on. It gives you more “at-bats”.
Now calls don’t just book themselves. The truth is you can’t get discovery
calls without connecting with people. In-person, word of mouth, Facebook,
YouTube, business groups, cold calling and emailing. These are the primary
methods of connecting with people. Try them all.
Ask yourself now:
•
Are you promoting to the right groups?
•
Are you advertising locally and online?
•
Are you speaking publicly and gaining authority?
•
Are you reaching out to networked colleagues?
•
Are you showing up in places your ideal clients are likely to be?
These actions should drive leads on your calendar or at least traffic to your
website. You will have to pick the actions that are well suited to your market
and your economic situation. If you don’t have a lot of cash-flow focus on
creating organic content, bring value to online groups and forums, try to get a
speaking gig.
If you are time-strapped, but you have some cash flow or a budget to work
with, you can attempt digital advertising such as Google Ads or Facebook Ads.
Decide on your method of awareness and apply energy to that.
You need a process that leads to calls being scheduled. No calls, no sales. Once
you’ve given some methods a shot you should pick the most effective one and
focus.
Remember, real-life acquisition channels have better lead quality and
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conversion rates, However, they are lower volume and non-scalable.
If all this seems daunting, that is perfectly normal. But you need to push
through.
Turning Cold Calls into Warm Calls
Cold calls don’t work too well anymore as people have become generally averse
to being sold on the phone. So in order to increase the temperature of some of
your calls try to arrange them through your network.
Call your close contacts. Don’t sell directly to them, that is the fastest way to
lose that contact - unsolicited sales, instead, ask for potential referrals who
might actually need your services.
Ask them if there is anyone they know who might need digital marketing
services right now. Tell them you are looking to take on some new projects and
are hungry to work at a fair price.
If they say they know someone, then ask for their help to arrange the call.
It would go like this:
“Hey Tom, do you know anyone who might need digital marketing
services right now?”
“Umm, I’m not sure…”
“Anyone, Any business owner. Any professional service provider. Lawyer,
Doctor, Accountant…”
“Yes, I think my neighbor Kevin might. He is a cosmetic dentist who has 2
practices in the city.”
“Great, can you call your friend Kevin and tell him I will be calling him
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right away just to touch base and see if a meeting might be beneficial?”
“Sure.”
“Can you just text me as soon as you talk to him? And then I’ll follow up
immediately with him.”
The last part is key: Tell them to notify you after they prompt the lead and
follow up right away. And you don’t even have to sell on that first call, you
just need to confirm they might be interested in a full discovery call after you
mention the nature of your services and offerings.
On that first call, just aim to build rapport, mention the friend who referred
you. Don’t ask tough questions. Just find out their website url and let them
know you’ll have a look. Then book them in for a proper discovery call over
the next 3-5 days at their convenience.
Moving to Pure Online Lead Generation
Typically, online acquisition channels have lower lead quality and conversion
rates, but they are higher in volume and much more scalable.
I’m talking about:
•
Buying Facebook Ads or Google Ads
•
Producing social videos for your niche
•
Writing articles for SEO and authority building
•
Posting ideas and content on your LinkedIn feed
•
Posting ideas and content on your Facebook feed
•
Put your company tag on any website you build.
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When it comes to online acquisition, no matter where the leads come from
send them to your website and even better a squeeze page.
It’s critical with online acquisition not to let the user experience become too
cold. Add some videos and photos of the people involved where possible.
Given the higher volume of leads, you will need an automated qualification
process. A simple questionnaire of 5-10 questions can be enough to deter those
who are not truly interested in your services but don’t overly rely on the data. I
really like the tool called Typeform for running surveys.
Critical Takeaway
As you develop your authority in the industry you will undoubtedly attract
more and more potential prospects. Make sure you realize they are just
potential until proven and you don’t have to meet their needs without first
considering your own in terms of finance and time commitments.
Remember, there are many leads who want good Digital Marketers, but there
are only a few real prospects who deserve them. Not everyone is qualified for
your services right away. Make sure they meet your standard and they have an
appropriate budget.
Just because you provide “digital” services does not make you a cheap service
provider. Some people might feel that because you can do it on your phone
or do it without any overhead it is not worth the same as a tangible service wrong!
You are extremely valuable. Creating digital marketing campaigns, funnels and
assets...you are akin to building a house - and people pay boatloads for that.
It’s not your problem if they don’t know the value of good digital marketing.
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Summary
In your quest to find digital marketing freelance clients, you will encounter
many challenges, but each one will make you more experienced and confident
as you build your portfolio and sharpen your skills.
Follow the ACDC process to fulfill your client’s needs as well as your own
Ikigai! I hope you can craft offers that take advantage of your skills and talents
but also ones that are desired by the market and do right by the world.
I wish you great success in your journey to become a successful, remotecapable freelance marketer.
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Where to Go Next?
If you haven’t already done so, please take my free mini-course: The Digital
Marketing Consultant’s Blueprint. It’s just 5 videos long but so empowering!
This course is fantastic for aspiring digital marketing consultants. You’ll get
a powerful model for managing your digital marketing clients and business
process. When combined with this e-book, you will be well-equipped to start
your digital marketing career.
If after reading this you feel like you still don’t know enough about marketing
yet or are nowhere near ready to take on clients, then have a look at my
workshop which can really get your skills and knowledge up to speed: Full
Stack Marketing Funnels.
It teaches the full stack of core digital marketing skills as well as a complete
funnel development process you can apply to your clients and start building
offers around. If you want to see more details about this workshop then watch
this video and read the comments.
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One Last Thing
Being a freelancer is not an easy path to take. There’s always going to be risks.
But the harsh truth is that all profit is derived from risk. So I recommend you
start taking a risk or two if you desire a life beyond the mediocre. There’s just
no way around this.
Always remember this saying, “Everything you ever wanted is on the other
side of fear.” Use fear as a guide. It will always show you where the resistance is
in your life and often times that is a gateway to a greater life.
I hope you now have a better idea on what you need to do next and why you
should start immediately.
There is an endless need from businesses for the development of digital user
experiences and digital media right now. The freelance marketer is in highdemand. Please strike while the iron is hot.
Thank you so much for reading!
May the algorithms be ever in your favor!
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Acknowledgements
First and foremost I always want to thank my wife and business partner Tiffany.
Without her guidance and support I would never have the time to be able to
put this book together and she’s the reason it’s free. She said do you want to
charge for an ebook or do you want a lead magnet on steroids? Damn. I was like
easy answer.
I want to thank the entire community at Rich+Niche who this book is created
for as they are the major inspiration for much of my content.
I want to thank my book editor Daniel Lardizabal for keeping this book project
moving forward and seeing that it reached its potential.
I want to thank you as the reader for taking the chance on my book and I hope
that it serves you well for years to come.
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About the Author
Rich Ux is the Founder of Rich + Niche, a digital
marketing collective serving content creators,
brand builders and freelancers. Rich’s mission
is to bring freedom to people’s lives via digital
marketing.
He helps brands and influencers dominate their
niche with world-leading digital marketing
strategies.
Rich is not a guru. He is just someone who loves building brands and believes
in more transparency in marketing. Most of his secrets are given away for free
on Youtube.
You can connect and email Rich at rich@richandniche.com.
Say hello on any social media platform at @richandniche.
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