13:00:33 From Peter : Hello. 13:00:47 From joannemasterson : Hello - Joanne here for the first time!!! 13:00:57 From Peter : Sound fine. 13:00:58 From ilhan : Hello 13:01:12 From ilhan : I’m not hearing anything, just changed settings. Can you say something again please? 13:01:28 From ilhan : I’ll try rejoining 13:02:01 From joannemasterson : My favorite holiday family tradition is making a big dinner and eating it. A close second is baking and decorating cookies. 13:02:08 From ilhan : OK, now I head. I hadn’t “joined with computer audio”. 13:02:12 From ilhan : Now I hear* 13:02:44 From ilhan : Mr. Bean episodes on CBC 13:02:51 From DavidSautter : Hey everyone - Hope you're all doing well. 13:04:26 From ilhan : W - Got my website up with updated copy! profitablewords.com 13:05:16 From ilhan : Took most of the week. 13:05:27 From Peter : Submitted first web copy draft for review today. 13:05:32 From joannemasterson : W: finished the Game Plan update submission for Ed’s feedback. (Yes, i’m off to a slow start) 13:07:42 From Peter : I found watching the reviews of other people's sites very helpful. Encouraged me to stop procrastinating. 13:08:13 From joannemasterson : I don’t have a game plan yet but I’m working on my USP. 13:08:21 From ilhan : I - I’ve been reviewing warm email prospecting, LinkedIn, and now the 1-2-3 LinkedIn strategy — anxious to get started with them! 13:12:42 From Chuck to Ed Gandia(Privately) : finally got connected, sorry for coming in late. the 616 call is also me. 13:12:59 From joannemasterson : Q: I need help deciding if/how to dump a client. I am doing a minimal amount of work for him and it’s very frustrating because his wife is his marketing advisor and overrules my recommendations. I don’t feel respected as a professional and it’s a huge energy drain. How to get out of this politely? 13:13:04 From ilhan : Q: I’ve noticed in the “warm email prospecting” modules that the typical approach is to send an email, then possibly follow up for 1-2 days (with a phone call or letter mailing), and then ONLY follow up again 30 days later. Why don’t we try calling them every week? I have a recruiter who was mentoring me on cold outreach and he’s very persistent with his follow-ups. He always says “Please feel free to let me know at any time if you don’t think it’s worthwhile to have a conversation.” 13:15:34 From ilhan : He leaves a voicemail and sends an email “RE: [The original email]” with each follow-up. 13:16:30 From joannemasterson : OK - he is turning down a package. 13:16:46 From DavidSautter : Q- This might be a two-part question, so feel free to break this up, if need be: Do you have any suggestions for how to price in regards to articles vs. e-books vs. copywriting vs. online courses? I have been charging a per-word rate for articles and e-books. With copywriting and online courses, I’ve charged both a per-word rate and an hourly rate, but I’m not sure which felt more proper. Is there something of a best practice for this? Also, in your pricing, should you charge per feature? Or have everything included in that per-word or per-hour rate. Example: unlimited revisions, SEO, attribution-free pictures, etc. 13:16:56 From joannemasterson : Helpful! I will have to figure out to step up 13:17:31 From Chuck : Q- sorry if this is something that's already been covered but one of my biggest hang ups has been pricing my services. can you share any guidance or resources that would help 13:23:47 From joannemasterson : sorry it was helpful! 13:24:07 From joannemasterson : I love pricing questions thank uyou! 13:26:54 From ilhan : Q - OK, it sounds like, if I want to keep busy with prospecting, it’s better to keep finding new leads and reaching out to new people in a way that allows me to stick to Ed’s 30-day spacing VS. Keeping to a list of 100 leads and cycling through it every week. For me, this looks like it might mean a list of ~400 people in the end (maybe not all will end up on a “Hot List”). 13:29:58 From DavidSautter : Absolutely. Thank you very much. 13:30:43 From ilhan : Ed’s Podcast “001” is about pricing. My notes: https://www.evernote.com/l/AAjfDpfUuuVBdaGZveFL0MAjVLZZivq7vDw 13:32:06 From DavidSautter : Q- (for when we go through everyone else's question) Is there a training session for developing packages? And how to properly bundle things and price accordingly? 13:35:19 From Peter : Ilhan - You can also take a bit more time to carefully consider what clients need. For example, one o f my previous clients has really appreciated some unsolicited website feedback from me, even though we're not currently doing any paid work together. 13:37:26 From ilhan : The Economist effectively uses 3 options for pricing: https://conversionxl.com/blog/pricing-experiments-you-might-not-know-but-can-learn-from/#the-economist-and-decoy-pricing 13:38:35 From Chuck : Q - I have a (possibly) silly question. I keep getting work in the industry I'm passionate about, which is boating. I'm going to try adding RVs into the mix. Do you think I'm making a mistake if I try to focus on those two instead of IT, which had been my real career? 13:38:42 From ilhan : Q - How do you like to accept/receive payments from your clients? PayPal? Freshbooks with CC payment link? Cheques? Other? What is best for speed, cross-border, and low fees? 13:40:53 From ilhan : Q - I noticed you used the term “ghostwriter” to describe your services on your LinkedIn video. Is this a term best reserved for working directly with C-level professionals? 13:41:44 From Chuck : I originally choose it as my niche but I have yet to do any writing work in the industry. Work keeps finding me from the other two so I keep meaning that way 13:41:57 From Chuck : leaning 13:42:27 From joannemasterson : Ihan - I am in the same boat (pardon the pun). I do marketing and marketing technology setup but I have a hard time blogging about it because my passions are recipe creation, and horsemanship. I wonder what’s the easiest for you to keep building an audience around. 13:42:48 From Chuck : yup 13:43:21 From Chuck : q- would you advise being two different entities in that case, one focusing an IT and one focusing on boats? 13:43:43 From joannemasterson : Oops - I meant to address my comment to Chuck re: boating focused business 13:44:16 From joannemasterson : I love fresh books and have used it for years. I love how it helps me with reporting at the end of the year and tracking expenses too. Plus the invoices work in any country 13:49:16 From ilhan : V - The idea of focusing on building relationships vs. “putting in the numbers” with prospecting. Takes the pressure off somewhat. 13:50:06 From Lucia Stern : V How to deal with 2 specialties by building a landing page for the second. 13:50:15 From joannemasterson : I love the idea of focus on the relationship and caring about how the business is working and how you can provide business solutions, not piecework. 13:50:47 From Chuck : for me, everything has been valuable. :) 13:52:30 From Lucia Stern : Q I am struggling with how to list my contact information. Not ready to get another phone line, so considering using a google phone number. But they people see you mobile number when you call them back. How do others deal with this? 13:53:35 From Chuck : did I mention that my career is IT... :) 13:54:23 From ilhan : Lucia - I use an OpenPhone number on my website (whose app receives calls on my smartphone), but when calling cold, I use my own phone number. I find that OpenPhone doesn’t have the best call quality. 13:54:34 From Lucia Stern : Thanks 13:55:00 From ilhan : Lucia https://www.burnerapp.com is another option 13:55:20 From joannemasterson : V: Pricing resources to check is really helpful 13:55:24 From Lucia Stern : V The pricing tiers discussion was valuable 13:55:48 From ilhan : Q - About how the 6-month coaching program works: Do we lose access to all course materials after 6 months? Or just coaching support? 13:57:31 From joannemasterson : Q: Do you have a way to put your focus on business goals in your USP so saying “I focus on business solutions” sounds unique and not like a sales pitch? 13:58:13 From joannemasterson : I really struggle with USPs 13:58:28 From Lucia Stern : Q I’ve had a call from a recruiter who deals with contractors, and she wants to meet. I have some misgivings (if you work for a company through them, the company has to pay their fee for posterity…) I would like to meet her in case I have a dry spell or lose my current freelance gig. 13:59:53 From joannemasterson : V: The idea to google competitors sounds great - (Thanks I needed the reminder!) 14:00:13 From ilhan : Q: How would you include the idea that you are a valuable consultant (who writes) on your website? Add consulting services to your service page? Describe this value you add in a section on the “Why Me” page? Other? 14:02:49 From Lucia Stern : Yes, my freelance gig is NOT in the area I want to work in—it’s medical advertising (editing). 14:04:52 From Peter : V - "Be the strategist" and take the initiative. 14:06:19 From Greg Reid : Email said today’s call starts at 3 pm? 14:06:36 From ilhan : Greg - I asked, it was an error. 14:07:01 From Greg Reid : Too late for a Q? 14:07:44 From Greg Reid : ohhhh Gotcha. Q Re: LinkedIn contacts who don’t list their work email address: Is it better to warm email via LI message or by note to their personal email address listed? 14:08:04 From Greg Reid : Oh and Hi, Susan! 14:08:35 From DavidSautter : Q: I write blog posts for my business website as a form of SEO and marketing. I have an editor who reviews these posts and gives me feedback before I publish them. A common issue that I have is when I write a post, I tend to go into detail about a potential solution or tip. My editor always requests that I be brief and save the additional content about that tip as a separate blog post. For example, I recently wrote an article on how to write a fitness article that engages prospective clients. One of my tips was using hook sentences. I listed six types of hook sentences and during the review process, my editor suggested removing the list of types of sentences and save it as a separate blog post. I feel like a reader wants to know the information in that post without clicking off the page. My editor recommends saving extra information as standalone content. Is there a best practice here? I know what she’s doing is great for SEO, but is it good for readership? 14:08:37 From Lucia Stern : Q: Recently I had an inquiry from someone who is a friend of my husband. She self-published a book of short stories, really vignettes, and it’s terrible, unreadable—they’re like ideas for stories that she hasn’t developed, and many many not even have what it takes to be a short story. It’s a semi-memoir. My instinct is to just say no. I don’t want to offend her, and everyone has told her that it’s okay. She thinks the problem is it needs editing, but that’s not what I think. I’m not a writing teacher, but I kind of like doing it (I’ve edited memoirs about 4 or 5 times. Do you think it’s worth considering a pricing strategy, or should I just refer her to a writers group? 14:10:00 From Chuck : does Manta do that? 14:10:28 From Greg Reid : Great, thank you! 14:10:46 From DavidSautter : Sorry for the novel! 14:12:31 From joannemasterson : Q: If i want to market myself as a copy editor do you have suggestions for putting that on my website? 14:13:38 From ilhan : Q: Susan, when you connect with people on LinkedIn (as described in “LinkedIn for Freelance Professionals”, and they accept, AND you close the loop with a friendly message — do you ever then follow up with email or phone afterwards? Or with these LinkedIn leads, you simply leave it at that? More broadly, how do you mix in connecting on LinkedIn with your prospecting outreach sequence? 14:18:48 From Lucia Stern : Can I refer her to you? :) 14:19:27 From Lucia Stern : Thanks 14:24:28 From Lucia Stern : Thanks, Susan. I did find your website! 14:24:29 From ilhan : Thank you for all of your advice! This is definitely a call I will re-listen to. 14:25:50 From Greg Reid : A Rework my web copy! 14:25:57 From ilhan : A - Start applying warm email prospecting and 3-2-1 LinkedIn prospecting as a habit. 14:26:11 From Chuck : same as Greg... 14:26:33 From DavidSautter : A: Perfecting my website copy, and finding a reliable freelance writer to outsource some of my work to. 14:26:38 From Lucia Stern : Still: completing website writing samples, LinkedIn Profile update, business cards, marketing plan. 14:27:06 From DavidSautter : Great idea. Thank you! 14:27:13 From Chuck : and review pricing strategies so I can get more confidence about prospecting 14:29:09 From Greg Reid : Thanks Susan!