The Content Byte

How DO you get customers and build a solid financial footing when you're starting out as a freelancer or small business (or are stuck in a slow patch)? This week, we chat to Rounded co-founder and COO Oliver Garside about the strategies they used, and how they might relate to freelancers seeking clients and customers. Oliver also shares some tips on making EOFY less stressful if you work for yourself. In this episode: The Rounded journey - from start-up mode to 6 years in How to build a customer base when you have no customers The importance of knowing your customer (rather than trying to be all things to all people) Picking a niche – does that mean losing out on opportunities? Adding complimentary skills that can make you more versatile as a freelancer Embrace the trial and error – it'll only help you grow a better business How Rounded reached out to potential customers (and why it's similar to how freelancers send LOIs) Using content marketing to broaden your audience - and find out how Rounded's content strategy has helped them The importance of focusing on your customer / client – and how offering great customer service can make a huge difference to your success Building your bizz slowly versus chasing the 'silver bullets' Mistakes small businesses make (and how to improve) Plus, Oliver's tips on making EOFY much less stressful for freelancers. Find out more about RoundedRounded is online accounting software for freelancers and it's a great way to keep track of your incomings and outgoings (and make tax time easier). Visit: www.rounded.com.au A special dealRounded is offering listeners of The Content Byte 25% off for 3 months of a new membership with the coupon code FJbx3lPe - just pop that in when signing up for a monthly membership. Psssst! Gold members of Rachel's ListRounded is kindly offering our Gold members 25% off for the first six months of a monthly membership. To find this code, click on any job on the jobs board and you'll see the code in the sidebar. Or, email us and we'll send it to you.

If most of the jobs you take on are completing pieces of content for a client - and you want to do more - then this week's episode is for you. Getting stuck into the strategy for a client, advising them on how to improve or repurpose their content (or even scrap their current strategy and create something better), isn't just rewarding. It can mean charging more, too! And you may already be doing bits of strategy already without charging for it, if you're invested in seeing your clients succeed. In this episode, we chat to PR, communications and marketing director Alexandra Kentmann, who's strategised for a heap of top-shelf brands during her career. She shares how she works, what's involved in offering strategy, digital tools she loves and much more. Find Alexandrahttps://www.instagram.com/lexikentmann/

While your own freelance website is very important, optimising your Google My Business (GMB) profile is absolutely critical if you want to maximise your visibility online and bring warm leads your way. In this episode, we chat to digital marketing consultant Katie Hull about how to make your GMB profile the best it can be, including: What Google My Business is, how to access it and how to get the benefits of it How to set it up and what's important to include, from service areas to products Why neglecting it could mean other freelancers rank above you How to use it to showcase your wares and put you in the best position to compete with the big players out there (including freelancers marketplaces) Why the more you feed your GMB, the better visibility you'll get How to use UTM tracking codes to find out if your leads are GMB ones What kinds of visuals to use if you're a service-based business and not a shopfront How to use GMB to stalk your competitors and get ideas on tweaking your profile Lots more! Where to find Katie LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-hull-01717935/ Twitter https://twitter.com/LadyHull Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HulloCommunications Website https://hullocommunications.com.au

The longer you freelance, the more likely you are to come across a tricky or challenging client. Clients who try to bargain you down. Who are so disorganised they throw out timelines on other projects. Or clients who just want to micro-manage everything down to the last detail. This week, we talk about our approaches to five typical 'tricky' clients and what works for us. The Negotiator The Novice The Control Freak The Boundary Pusher The Ghoster SPECIAL this week: For cut'n'paste scripts you can use on a variety of challenging freelance situations, grab 30% off 25 Scripts for Freelance Success ebook with the code BYTE30. It's in the Toolkit at Rachel's List: https://www.rachelslist.com.au/toolkit/product/25-scripts-for-freelance-success-ebook/

This week Rachel & Lynne are talking about something that has intrigued me for a while – Pinterest, the social media that you might not be aware of and how powerful it is with guest, Simone Pavils, a Pinterest specialist. About Simone Simone Pavils provides Pinterest and SEO services and strategy for business, to help them lighten the load and live more intentionally. She shows you how to create perfect, SEO-optimised Pinterest profiles and pins, and improve your Pinterest strategy so that you can have organic traffic flow to your website without barely lifting a finger. During the episode we talk about what Pinterest is and how it works, how you can use it to drive traffic to your website, mistakes people make with Pinterest and the fact that pins have a long lifespan - more than Instagram, LinkedIn or Facebook. Find Simone here: Website: www.simonepavils.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/simonepavils Facebook: www.facebook.com/simonepavilsbusiness Pinterest: www.pinterest.com.au/simonepavils

This week Rachel and Lynne are talking about your biggest marketing tool – your website! We are constantly surprised how many writers don't have a website, or have one that misses crucial pieces of information. This week, website developer Jude Love from Love Communications talks all things websites and what creatives need to include. Her 7 tips on what to include are: A sales mindset – make every page a sales page. This means a clear definition of your audience/clientele, the problems you solve, social proof and clear call to action. Your Unique Value Proposition above the fold. Make sure your About page talks about the problems you solve for your clients, not just about you. Social proof: testimonials from your clients and editors. Make it easy for them to leave a testimonial for you on your Google My Business. Clear call to action and a very clear way to contact you. Good sign-up reward to build a mailing list. Good technology, small image file sizes, no sliders, search engine integration. Find Jude Love: Journosgetonline: https://www.journosgetonline.com.au/ Site coaching: https://www.journosgetonline.com.au/site-coaching/ Personal brand package: https://lovecommunications.com.au/personal-branding/ Contact Rachel Smith rachel@rachelsmith.com.au; Lynne Testoni lynne@lynnetestoni.com

Are you a freelance writer looking to save time, get inspiration and make use of some of the brilliant digital tools out there (if you only knew what the best ones were)? In this episode - a follow-up to our 10 Essential Writing Tips episode a few weeks before - details some great tools we use in our own writing work. Resources we talk about in this episode Hemingway App https://hemingwayapp.com/ ContentBot https://contentbot.ai/ Cheese Ipsum http://www.cheeseipsum.co.uk/ Otter Ai https://otter.ai/ The Phrase Finder https://www.phrases.org.uk/ Plain English Dictionary https://sandralmuller.com/plain-english-dictionary/ oTranscribe https://otranscribe.com/ Word Hippo https://www.wordhippo.com/ Calendly https://calendly.com/ RhymeZone https://www.rhymezone.com/ Later https://later.com/ The Most Dangerous Writing App https://www.squibler.io/dangerous-writing-prompt-app Our interview with the creator of The Most Dangerous Writing App https://www.rachelslist.com.au/blog/we-chat-to-the-creator-of-the-most-dangerous-writing-app/

A successful Facebook group can be a powerful thing - whether you're using it to create a community of like-minded people, to teach others, to gather feedback or to sell stuff. But how can you build a successful group, keep people talking - and stop it taking over your life in the process? In this episode, we chat with Freelance Jungle founder Rebekah Lambert, who knows a heck of a lot about FB groups and community management. Tune in to listen to us cover: Why you might want to start a FB group What Rebekah wishes she'd known before starting hers Her tips and strategies for creating a thriving group that doesn't take hours of her actual day Dealing with different personalities and member requests Management tips for coping with groups that become bigger than Ben Hur Getting help running your group with moderators Monetising a FB group And lots more! More about Rebekah Her website, Unashamedly Creative: https://unashamedlycreative.com.au/ Freelance Jungle website + directory https://freelancejungle.com.au/ Sign up to the Freelance Jungle https://www.facebook.com/groups/freelancejungle

Does your writing need work? In this episode, we share ten essential tips for making your writing better - from making it more accessible, to ditching filler words, to how much time to spend on your opener and closing paragraphs, and much more.

As a freelancer, you're probably always juggling a few different projects, with some weeks busier than others. And if you don't have systems in place to track how you're going and meet your deadlines, things can get hairy, fast. In this episode, Lynne and I talk about the different ways we juggle our workload, the systems we've created to ensure deadlines are met, and how we assess whether we can fit another project in. Hope it gives you some new ideas!