Freelancing, advertising and all that fun stuff October 20, 2010

What started as my blog throughout my weight loss journey, sort of graduated to a different type of blog, which I thought would be all about my new journey of being a Freelancer.  But seeing as I am just starting as a freelancer and still trying to build up a substantial client base, and I don’t yet have enough writing material on the subject, I figured that my blog shouldn’t be just about 1 thing, but rather a big melange of various information that I can share about various subjects that I know of and can write about extensively.

The things that are appropriate for my life right now and that I am living on a daily basis are health and wellness, as well as marketing, advertising and social media and how to properly use it.  I am still learning about the latter and have much more to learn, but as I acquire new information and gain experience, I’ll gladly share it here, so that others can feel as enlightened as I am about the whole thing.

I’ve recently designed and built my own personal website as a means of advertising my services.  I think this was an essential step in becoming a freelancer, as the first question that usually comes out of potential clients mouths is ”Do you have a website?”.  So as not to look like an amateur, I thought that should be my first order of business.  It has worked out okay so far, I’ve had a lot of visitors to my site, and I’ve even gotten a couple of contracts from clients as a result.  I’ve done a lot of advertising for my site as well to attract potential clients, such as creating a Google AdWords campaign, which has been pretty good.  I average about 2 clicks per day on my ad which directs people to my website, so there is undoubtedly an interest there.  I’ve also used social media as a means of advertising, such as creating a Facebook page to gather fans and promote my services.  I’ve also used Twitter and tweeted several times about my site as well as my Facebook page.  I’ve also placed an ad on a couple of classified ads sites, which have garnered some interest as well.

The only problem is that there is an interest in my site and all the services that I offer, but seeing as I’m not yet a well-known player in the Event Planning / Virtual Assistant game, that I think people are hesitant to call me and try out my services, because they are unsure of my competency.  Thankfully, some of my clients are people who know me and know how well I work and know of my impeccable work ethic, and they will surely spread the word about me and more and more people will contact me.  Word of mouth is a very powerful tool and I think it is my golden ticket right now to augment my client base, and really start seeing those contracts role in.

Things are starting to move August 24, 2010

Business is actually starting to move ahead, and i am thrilled!  I’ve been doing some work for my 1st client, and best friend and not only designed a logo for her, but started building her website, which I am having a blast doing.

I’ve also got 2 upcoming contracts which will be really interesting.  One of which I am very excited about, as it is to plan a big party, which is the part of my job that I love the most!  And if this one goes well, I’m sure there will be plenty more events for me to plan after that…word of mouth is a powerful thing.

I’m currently working on advertising, and trying out different means, that are either free or at low-cost to get my name out there and drive people to my website and gain clients.  I’ll give it about a week, and if nothing more really comes of it, I’ll move up to paid advertising and hope that generates a bit more business for me.

But for now, I’m happy, at least the word is out, and I’m starting to get contracts, so hopefully, before long, I’ll be loaded with new contracts and finally start to actually be able to live as a freelancer.

Week 1 of Freelancing August 20, 2010

My first week as a freelancer is already over, I can’t believe how fast the time went.

My week was basically spent doing research on how to go about being a freelancer, as this is all very new to me.  I met with my 1 client this week for our first business lunch and it was great!  I can hardly call it a business lunch really seeing as my client is my best friend, and our business lunch was basically talking about what I would be doing for her, and we also worked on designing a logo for her company.  So yes, there was work involved, but it was fun and we spent a good part of the afternoon just hanging’ out in general.  But at least we got everything we wanted to accomplish done, and that was the whole point.

I’ve registered as a freelancer on some website, which I hope will help in building a clientele.  As it is now, I only have the one client, and if I want to start making money, i really need to expand that client list.  This is where I am putting my time at the moment…trying to figure out the best ways to get clients.

Thank goodness for the Internet, I don’t know how I could live without it.  I am finding all kinds of useful information and with time, I’m sure I’ll be able to really put my name out there and see the clients start rolling in.

New life challenge! August 14, 2010

A couple of years ago I took on the biggest challenge of my life and embarked on a year-long weight loss journey which yielded an 85 lb weight loss.  I thought that was the scariest and hardest thing I’ve ever had to do…until now!

I have jumped from one job to another for over 17 years now, and I still haven’t found the one job that makes me happy or feel like I am fulfilled.  I have done many different jobs, such as receptionist, administrative assistant, graphic designer, marketing coordinator / event planner and project manager just to name a few.  And although I have certainly liked and appreciated some aspects of these jobs, especially the marketing ones, I haven’t been able to find the right company to work for.

I also have to add that I’ve had some bad luck in the jobs department…there were lay-offs, bankruptcies and most recently department restructurings.  And unfortunately for me, the last restructuring I’ve had to live through, ended in my having to quit my job, because it had changed so much, and my responsibilities had gotten far too overwhelming for 1 person to handle.  This was for a huge, multi-national company, and so I thought to myself, that I would be better off with a smaller company, with better structure and communication.

And so my journey took me to a small Ad agency, which sounded promising at first, until about a month into it!  I was looking for good communication and structure and boy did i not get it here, quite the opposite.  I was given half-finished projects, with ZERO information on them and was expected to manage them and deliver them perfectly!  I was never communicated any information, and not only that, but my immediate boss, always by-passed me, gave my clients and my team instructions or information that was not only impertinent for the project, but just confused everyone and resulted in constant chaos and me having to always manage crisis and do my best to pick up the broken pieces and try to calm the clients down and make sure they got what they asked and paid for.

I managed to deal with this constant chaos for 3 months, until i just cracked and realized that I was miserable, and that this is not at all what i wanted to be doing and that life is far too short to stay in a place that makes me so unhappy.

That is when i decided to quit and try my hand at becoming a Freelancer.  A friend of mine just started her own business, and I made her a business proposition to help her out with all the budget aspects of her business, as well as all other administrative tasks I knew she was not so happy about taking on.  Not only that, but i offered her my services to help her out with her business cards, website, translations and event planning.  She was elated at the thought and so our partnership begins.  This got me thinking that I could just freelance and offer up my services to the general public.  Seeing as I have so much experience in so many different fields, I know I could be an asset to anyone, looking for a master multi-tasker who’s most precious asset is her organizational skills.

This is why I will be blogging more often, trying to build up my client list as well as my web presence, and I have just started building my web-site, which I will be completing and updating very shortly, seeing as I have all this free time on my hands now!  I invite everyone to visit my site often and spread the word in Montreal!