What the hell am I doing.

[DesignerOne.]

Between Upwork and working through facebook groups I've been getting solid returns for my time invested.

However I'm still really struggling with cold emailing/calling and trying to figure out how the hell to get started, I do cold emailing and calling just fine...I think, but it's the "who" that I'm struggling with, who can I actually help?

I do logos and marketing material such as social media campaigns, ads, flyers, store headers, and more.

Now that being said, who the hell needs this stuff that’s going to give me the actual value for what I'm offering? Rather than getting all the low hanging fruit- AKA- people who are starting off and need a boost in their campaign because it's easier, and low risk. I need to go high risk.

Any ideas or suggestions?

I have a long a$$ thread that's my progress and It's easy to get lost in there, so I'm starting a new thread for discussion on this topic with anyone who has experience, or anyone who is struggling and we can just brainstorm/help each other out.

 

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[theag]

who the hell needs this stuff that’s going to give me the actual value for what I'm offering?

Nobody needs "logos and marketing material such as social media campaigns, ads, flyers, store headers, and more". Everybody needs sales or leads. So adjust your offer, or (better) create your own product and market it. Everybody and their dog is already a webdesign/marketing freelancer and fighting over peanuts.

 

[DesignerOne.]

Everybody needs sales or leads. So adjust your offer, or (better) create your own product and market it. Everybody and their dog is already a webdesign/marketing freelancer and fighting over peanuts.

So it seems to me, I have to figure out what I can offer and adjust based off that. Branding and logos was a good way to learn how to communicate and play the game.

I'll chalk it up to a fail and try a new approach in something I just got success in yesterday and led me to post this thread, I'll try that out, thanks for the insight.

I'll start cold emailing and following the money in another way.

 

[Raoul Duke]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DPYI982/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20

https://etouches-appfiles.s3.amazon...826072&Signature=/V2JP5ENeyhhFTowEivy0Suq4JY=

 

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[c_morris]

Everybody and their dog is already a webdesign/marketing freelancer and fighting over peanuts.

I have to admit, as someone that is learning web design with the intent of selling that service, I find this discouraging.

 

[Ravens_Shadow]

I have to admit, as someone that is learning web design with the intent of selling that service, I find this discouraging.

Don't feel too discouraged, he is the Most Aggressive Guy on the Internet on the Planet after all.

 

[Xavier X]

I have to admit, as someone that is learning web design with the intent of selling that service, I find this discouraging.

If a mild line like that significantly affects your resolve to head down a certain career path, then you haven't given it enough thought.

NO MATTER what path you choose, there isn't 100% consensus to be found. So, run your own numbers and make your own moves.
The guy doing the hokey pokey during a line dance might annoy some, but he'll eventually steal the show.

 

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[mark51669]

I have to admit, as someone that is learning web design with the intent of selling that service, I find this discouraging.

Do you want to be the BEST? If yes, you can name your price after a few years of blood, sweet and tears. If no, do something you WANT to be the BEST at.

 

[c_morris]

If a mild line like that significantly affects your resolve to head down a certain career path, then you haven't given it enough thought.

NO MATTER what path you choose, there isn't 100% consensus to be found. So, run your own numbers and make your own moves.
The guy doing the hokey pokey during a line dance might annoy some, but he'll eventually steal the show.

Thanks. It was just an emotional response after a long day at the office working for the man.

 

[theag]

I have to admit, as someone that is learning web design with the intent of selling that service, I find this discouraging.

Its a good skill to have. I (painfully) taught myself coding, design, media buying, analytics etc too (and still do). Its just way easier and more profitable to use those skills for your own business than to compete with thousands of other freelancers.

 

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[Nicoknowsbest]

Between Upwork and working through facebook groups I've been getting solid returns for my time invested.

However I'm still really struggling with cold emailing/calling and trying to figure out how the hell to get started, I do cold emailing and calling just fine...I think, but it's the "who" that I'm struggling with, who can I actually help?

I do logos and marketing material such as social media campaigns, ads, flyers, store headers, and more.

Now that being said, who the hell needs this stuff that’s going to give me the actual value for what I'm offering? Rather than getting all the low hanging fruit- AKA- people who are starting off and need a boost in their campaign because it's easier, and low risk. I need to go high risk.

Any ideas or suggestions?

I have a long a$$ thread that's my progress and It's easy to get lost in there, so I'm starting a new thread for discussion on this topic with anyone who has experience, or anyone who is struggling and we can just brainstorm/help each other out.

Hi @DesignerOne.

A little background: I am freelancing in a very similar field, after quitting my previous job in a high position at a digital agency. If you want to have a chat, feel free to PM me.

I've had an incredible journey over the last 6 months. I started out with $5 gigs on Fiverr and went to creating semi-passive monthly income, collecting royalties for assets I created every month and just closing a mid-4-figure deal last week that pays me around 5.5x the hourly pay of my previous job.

Now, let's look at this in detail.

Is it peanuts? Yes.

Is it fastlane? No.

Am I making progress? Yes.

Am I engaging the market to find out what it really needs? Yes.

Am I learning to run a business, talk to business owners and work with other freelancers? Yes.

Does it give me freedom to go meet somebody on a Tuesday morning at 10 for coffee? Yes.

Does it give me freedom to spend my time accordingly without reporting to a boss? Yes.

When I started out, somebody very wise pointed me to the following podcasts:

Tropical MBA 227 is talking about services - http://www.tropicalmba.com/services/
Tropical MBA 218 is talking about consulting - http://www.tropicalmba.com/consulting/

Since then, I have the sliding scale concept in my head that keeps pushing me to think critically about my journey:
Employee < Freelancer < Contractor < Agency < Marketplace

Nobody needs "logos and marketing material such as social media campaigns, ads, flyers, store headers, and more". Everybody needs sales or leads. So adjust your offer, or (better) create your own product and market it. Everybody and their dog is already a webdesign/marketing freelancer and fighting over peanuts.

100% agreed. If it generates leads, but is ugly, nobody will pay you to make it look nicer.

If you are good in what you do and have manners, you stick out very easily. This helps set you apart from the competition, doesn't fix the overall problem though.

I think you do too much. Become the "go-to-guy" for 1 thing. Do this exceptionally well.

Stop thinking in terms of services, start thinking in terms of assets.

I'll start cold emailing and following the money in another way.

Believe it or not, I haven't made a single cold-call until now.

Why?

I can hardly manage my workload right now, so no need to.

Spend your money on "diesel & coffee" (look for the thread) and "do things that don't scale" (article by Paul Graham).

Your personal network is the biggest and yet the most overlooked opportunity provider ever.

Do you want to be the BEST? If yes, you can name your price after a few years of blood, sweet and tears. If no, do something you WANT to be the BEST at.

I'd suggest to start with "grow what you know". Become the "go-to-guy", but don't spend years learning another technical skill.

Focus on learning commercial skills from now on.

Its a good skill to have. I (painfully) taught myself coding, design, media buying, analytics etc too (and still do). Its just way easier and more profitable to use those skills for your own business than to compete with thousands of other freelancers.

Agreed.

You can replace "freelancers" with agencies and employees, the story stays the same.

Key is to stay engaged, cover your expenses, learn what you have to learn, save money AND to FIND your fastlane business.

Hope that helps.

 

[Andy Black]

Check out @Fox's thread.

Check out some of the calls I've had with fellow forum members. The ones with @Nicoknowsbest, @Scot, @SinisterLex, @Fox, @The-J especially.

Check out the two tropicalmba podcasts Nico linked to.

Go through Russell Brunson's podcast "Marketing in your car".

Google for "#AndyTalks The Big Vision".

 

[Fox]

I have to admit, as someone that is learning web design with the intent of selling that service, I find this discouraging.

It is a good truth to learn when you start off - If you can't think differently and differentiate yourself then you will be scrambling for crumbs.

That isn't just web design - that is everything.

One person sees millions of competitors and thinks the market is full.
I see even more of a need for the best businesses to work with someone who knows how to solve their problems.

A saturated market helps me - my approach stands out even more.

 

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[Fox]

I do logos and marketing material such as social media campaigns, ads, flyers, store headers, and more.

Instead try...

- I create a way for businesses to stand out and clearly showcase their best strengths, extensive experience and ability to get their clients results.

There is no shortage of businesses willing to pay money to have these issues solved. Of course this has to be backed up with solid work and actual results.

 

[DesignerOne.]

A saturated market helps me - my approach stands out even more.

Love this, Definitely something to think about with my approach.

There is no shortage of businesses willing to pay money to have these issues solved. Of course this has to be backed up with solid work and actual results.

Right, so now it's a matter of how to solve their problem with my approach, my struggle is still who to target, who actually needs the service, it isn't fast lane I think, so I need to figure out how to build it up and make it fastlane.

 

[Andy Black]

my struggle is still who to target, who actually needs the service, it isn't fast lane I think, so I need to figure out how to build it up and make it fastlane.

Help the people in motion.

Target people who are *already* spending money to solve problems you are uniquely positioned to solve.

One of those tropicalmba podcasts introduced me to the concept that your market isn't a demographic - it's not the women in New York under 35 who like tennis. Instead, your market is a "demonstrated cashflow" - the women who bought a tennis racquet.

Attach yourself to a demonstrated cashflow.

Some people are Infusionsoft consultants. Their demonstrated (monthly!) cashflows are the businesses who spend money on Infusionsoft.

I've attached myself to the large demonstrated monthly cashflow that is AdWords. There are many businesses *already* spending money on AdWords who would pay someone to help spend that money better.



What do people *already* spend their money on that indicates they could use the help of someone with your skills and experience?

Leadpages? Unbounce? Clickfunnels? They're all a demonstrated monthly cashflows of businesses/people who might pay for graphic design help.

Can you position yourself as the graphic designer who makes Clickfunnels pages look great? (I say this because they suck out of the box.). Where would you find such people? Maybe in the 40,000+ Clickfunnels Facebook group?


Authors spending money on software to help format books and put them on Amazon and other stores? Could you position yourself as someone who helps authors with the graphics for their marketing campaigns to sell more books? Can you find the ones who are *already* dipping their hands on their pockets to pay to do this? (I paid for a course that has a large FB group of authors trying to get books published. The number of questions about how to make a nice website, and the number of dumb and crap website examples used is astounding.)



I totally forgot you can't hear audios and podcasts. The only one I've had transcribed is the one with @Nicoknowsbest - who happens to be a graphics designer.

At the bottom of the first post in the thread you can find a link to the transcription:

• AndyTalks to Nico about Graphic Design & Selling Services

Finally... don't worry about Fastlaning it just yet. As @Fox said, millions of businesses need your help. Engage the market and keep moving. Your path will become clearer as you progress along it.

As you start finding your focus and "going deep", you'll see opportunities others don't.

 

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[DesignerOne.]

I'll review the transcript between you and Nico, who I'm currently chatting in private and there's a great exchange of information. This process is boosting my outlook on my approach and encouraging me to adjust. Just like MJ's 67 steps to success

@Andy Black I'll definitely look into the Clickfunnels and other markets such as Amazon book publishers looking to make book covers and building a marketing campaign around it solely as a learning process and building value and expertise. I'll keep my eyes peeled and look for the opportunities that others might not see. Thanks!