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I’ve always had jobs that were hard to explain to other people. I started my career as a teacher. That was the easy one. “I’m a teacher.” That’s a very straightforward job description, one that everyone can relate to. After that, it became more complicated. “I run projects for people.” That can mean a lot of different things. I used to try to define my work by the types of projects I ran. “I run research projects, I design programs for teachers, I create products for companies.” When I started working for myself, it became even more complicated. Now, I had to explain what I could do in a way that made people want to hire me to solve their problems. When you work for yourself, it is crucial to be able to answer the question: “What do you do?” This seems like it should be an easy question to answer. For some solopreneurs, it may be. I’m what people refer to as a generalist. Project management is a skill set that is replicable across all content areas and applications. That doesn’t mean I am the best fit for any project, I am most efficient and effective when I am designing and managing projects in areas with which I’m familiar. It also doesn’t mean that everything I can do is something I want to do or should do. I started working for myself so I could make money doing what I love. That meant I needed to actually define what that meant for me and narrow my offerings for clients to things that gave me what I needed and solved their problems. Getting clear on your offerings and organizing them into replicable packages will not only make it easier to explain what you do, it will also bring you more of the right clients and help you write better proposals that lead to signed contracts and money in hand. This doesn’t mean that you are only offering a one-size-fits-all approach to your clients. It just gives you standard language and a baseline to operate from when you are designing customized solutions. There are four steps to doing this right: 1. Define what you doStart with a list of all of the things you can do. This is just a high-level list. Don’t try to categorize, organize, or think in terms of granularity (e.g., one-offs vs. packages vs. projects), just get it all out on the table. Following a basic brainstorming protocol here is a good idea. 2. Think about what you want to do and what you should be doingThis can be tricky. I know that we don’t all have the luxury of choosing our work. Depending on where you’re at in your career and life, you may need to take all of the work you can get right now, and that’s OK. You can start broad and narrow your focus as you build your client base and learn more about your work. Here’s what to consider:
3. Organize everything into packages, one-offs, and ongoing workThese are ways to not only think about your work but also your business model. You might only want to do packages and not ongoing work, or vice versa.
4. Get feedback from actual clientsAs you present these options to clients and do the actual work with them, you’ll be able to refine them to meet your needs and ensure that you’re delivering work that is relevant and effective for your clients. Put in a little elbow grease and you’ll have a beautiful overview of your work that you can share with clients, pull from as you write proposals, and use on your website. A solid description of your services will make you really stand out with your clients and help you narrow in on the types of work you can and should be doing. © Fruition Initiatives 2021 Fruition Initiatives is not a mental health professional, attorney, doctor, tax accountant, human resources expert, or financial adviser. This information and information contained at www.fruitioninitiatives.com is not intended as, and shall not be understood or construed as, professional advice. Please seek professional advice, that is specific to your context, as needed. via Freelancers Union Blog https://blog.freelancersunion.org/2021/02/23/how-to-tell-prospective-clients-what-you-do/
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AuthorI have 5+ years experience working as a medical transcriptionist. When I am not working, I enjoy sports like playing basketball or judo. I love making friends and connections. Archives
April 2023
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