Col quit agency life to be his own boss. As you'd expect, he's very deliberate about selling himself; he shares his experiences of SEO, content marketing, pay-per-click and even finding media opportunities to get yourself known.

Col's also made it a lifestyle business. Rather than taking on every piece of work he can, he restricts his hours, keeps work and home very separate, steering well clear of his old 9-5.

Here’s some of the key takeaway points:

Col trades as Profoundry - using a company name allowed him to create a brand that could grow, feel professional
Form relationships with other freelancers/businesses who can feed into your business
On your site, list your services clearly; maybe separate them into a few umbrella headings - streamline them as you find out what works
Actively seek media contributions - it helps strengthen Col’s reputation and gets fresh backlinks to your site SEO wise
Try out the #journorequest hashtag on Twitter, remember it might not just be for your technical field, it could be ‘being freelance’, your location, etc
It’s worth renting office space; separates out work/home life, gives meeting room space, puts you amongst other businesses, looks professional
Col chose a ‘lifestyle business’: he works 10-3pm or 4pm so he can still get out and live life
As well as blogging regularly, Col spent time creating a core piece of ‘pillar’ content marketing. He did a survey or startups and analysed their data
‘Don’t listen to people’ - of course you should listen, but that doesn’t mean you should ‘listen’ to everything they say; this is your life, your business

More from Col Skinner

Col on Twitter

Col's Profoundry business site

Col's pillar piece of content marketing

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