Every self-employed professional has unique circumstances. The solution that will help one person acquire more clients and earn a better living is not the same as the answer that will solve similar issues for another. Finding the best approach to make your business take off is rarely so simple as copying what another person does. It may take a bit of detective work.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve heard from countless self-employed professionals who have suddenly found themselves either unemployed or underemployed. Professionals who typically work with clients in person have been stymied by stay-at-home directives or the understandable concerns clients have about exposing themselves to contagion. Other professionals have been blindsided when the industry they serve has disappeared overnight, due to shutdowns and cutbacks.
What Can You Do if You Need Clients Yesterday?
In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, I shared my thoughts on Appropriate Marketing in a Time of Crisis and What Kind of Marketing is Possible Right Now? The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on many self-employed professionals has been substantial. Even if you are able to perform your usual work under safer-at-home rules, your regular clients may not need your services right now. Or, they may simply be unable to pay you.
What Kind of Marketing is Possible Right Now?
In Part 1 of this series, I shared my thoughts on Appropriate Marketing in a Time of Crisis, like the crisis we are all experiencing during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you’ve determined that it does make sense for you to be marketing yourself as a self-employed professional at this time, how can you go about it?
Appropriate Marketing in a Time of Crisis
As a self-employed professional, should you be marketing your business right now in the middle of a worldwide crisis? The answer is probably yes. But the approach you take to marketing will need to be tempered with thoughtfulness and empathy.
Here are five critical factors to consider.
You can learn a lot about marketing by listening to broadcast radio or streaming audio. You can learn even more by noticing when you’re not listening. A clear signal and music or talk you like to hear will keep you tuned in to a particular station or channel. But too much static, a connection that keeps dropping, too many ads, or programming not to your taste will overwhelm the signal, and all you’ll hear is noise. That’s when you’ll tune out. Which is pretty much the same way that our prospective clients react to our marketing messages.
Join Us Each Month for Get It Written Day
You’ve got important stuff to write. Let C.J. Hayden or Marena Drlik help you get it done at Get It Written Day! Join us for this one-day virtual writing retreat for business owners. Work on your blog posts, articles, or book with coaching and peer support.