Stephanie Helline, Owner of Strategic Design Studio, had a very surprising response to her latest email newsletter. The topic was, “Is the Business Card DEAD?” and she didn’t think much of it when she scheduled it to go out Friday morning. She didn’t even like the topic much, but she was committed to staying in touch monthly with her list of 150+ so she wrote it, scheduled it to send and forgot about it.

“A little after 10, the phone rang,” she says. “A client mentioned my newsletter; we talked about a small job, we talked about a larger job. The phone rang again. I looked and noticed there were voicemails. As I was on the phone, emails were popping into my inbox. I wouldn’t want to say this went viral, but viral for me, definitely.”

Stephanie had originally thought this topic would be a non-event. She thought everyone knew that business cards weren’t dead. When the calls started coming in, she had an ah-ha moment.

“Even though I’m constantly looking at marketing techniques, maybe not all my clients aren’t looking at them in the same way,” she said. 

“When I first started writing about the business card, I thought I need to add something more… So I took it one step further and talked about adding a QR code, and remembering to add your social media contacts. I mentioned that some people now scan cards so it’s important to present simply so scanners will work. I talked about digital printing for business cards.” (Read Stephanie’s newsletter here.)

Listen to this 13-minute interview, in which she shares: 

• How she decides what to write about
• How long does it takes
• What her process is?
• Whether it’s worth it?

She also shares four excellent tips for anyone who might be struggling to get their newsletter out consistently.

Listen here.

And if you need help creating your own email newsletter, check out this Marketing Mentor group that starts the week of March 19.

BTW: If you’re trying to decide with email marketing service to use, check out Myemma.com, a Marketing Mentor partner. You’ll get 20% off when you sign up.

Dyana Valentine is one of our favorite Creative Freelancer Conference speakers; we bring her back every year! This year at CFC (June 21-22nd in Boston) she is going to be talking about Pitch Perfect—and I interviewed Dyana to get a preview.

Listen to find out more about Dyana, hear her “working pitch,” and learn:

• The difference between a tagline and a pitch
• How to craft your pitch and tagline based on the “defining features” of your ideal client
• Why pitches are constantly evolving, and how often Dyana updates hers

Plus, get a little preview of what CFC attendees can expect to learn in her session, Pitch Perfect. Find out:

• How your pitch will evolve in the session
• What will make Dyana feel like a million bucks
• How Dyana helps shy people
• What Dyana is looking forward to most at CFC this year

Check out the full list of speakers and sessions.

If you aren’t yet registered, sign up here and take advantage of the combo $100 discount: $50 early bird before Mar 30th + $50 Marketing Mentor discount with promo code “CMM12”

“I've already landed 2 freelance jobs since I launched my website this week! Without your materials, I don’t think I would have been as prepared as I am now.”

This is what Jeff Tara emailed me after launching his website for Brand Vue Design with the help of the Freelancers Essentials Collection. 

I had to know more, so I interviewed him—and I was delighted to discover his passionate approach to his new business. Jeff reminded me that enthusiasm and fearlessness go a long way—sometimes even further than a plump portfolio (especially when you don’t have one).

Jeff told me about how, after being laid off a month ago, he dived right into his own business thanks to the preparation he’d done over the past year. In one instance, simply by sharing his honest opinion about his favorite wine company’s new label, he gained a client. He had a fearless, nothing-to-lose approach, and the “roadblocks” didn’t stop him:

• Obviously they already had a designer—but that didn’t stop him.

• The only email address he could find was an “info” address—but that didn’t stop him.

• He had no samples to show in this particular industry—but that didn’t stop him.

See the email that got him in the door and listen to our interview here.

And if you have a feeling you might be on your own soon or already are and need help getting your own marketing plan in place, take advantage of the free mentoring session to hash it out.

Last time I talked to independent journalist and copywriter, Bryn Mooth, from Writes4Food, she confessed to slowing down in December and paying the price in January.

When I asked her, “What could you have done differently to avoid this slowdown?” Bryn said, “I should have put more effort into marketing in October and November.”

Bryn realized, “This marketing stuff isn’t hard, except if you wait until you’re really slow and you’re desperate and have to do it all at once.” By plugging marketing into her calendar, and doing marketing steadily, she says, “It’s not hard, it’s not time consuming, it’s not overwhelming.”

In this 19-minute interview, we talk about the actions Bryn has been taking to ramp up her marketing machine, with a special focus on how she’s using LinkedIn to:

• Decide which groups to join

• Ask and answer questions

• Get introductions from her connections

• Turn connections into phone calls

See how her marketing efforts have paid off in just one month.

Listen here…

In this world where “content is king,” more and more of marketing is “content marketing.” With the need for content so vast—you can be a writer who specializes in exactly what a prospect needs, such as a web writer, content strategist, direct response writer or technical writer.

Stacey King Gordon, from Suite Seven, started as just a plain “writer” in 1998, and now she’s a “content strategist.” An evolution happened during that time, in which she realized what type of writer she wanted to be—for herself and for her clients.

In my first interview with Stacey, we talked about the process of renaming her business. In this interview, I wanted to delve deeper with Stacey to determine how the shift from “writer” to “content strategist” happened.

She answers these questions:

●      Was there a gradual shift in perception or positioning?

●      Where did the process begin?

●      How did confidence play a role?

●      How long did it take?

●      What marketing outlets did you change first?

●      How is she gaining recognition in the content strategy community?

Stacey also talks about her new elevator pitch, why she was choosy about which portfolio items to show, and more…

Listen here.