I've been out and about quite a bit in the last few months. Networking events, hanging out, and just trying to be present. Here's how I think it helped me.

According to an article in Forbes, "loneliness might be a bigger health risk than smoking or obesity." Loneliness and social isolation has a big impact not only on your psychological self, but your physical health! Mind you, most of the research this article points to is centered around geriatrics (hell, I'm almost there myself), but the effects on us as human beings is the same, no matter your age. 

"In the last decade alone, physicians and researchers have begun looking deeply into the impact of loneliness and social isolation on health, well being, and mortality, and the data on the subject is overwhelming: a lonely person is significantly more likely to suffer an early death than a non-lonely one."

"And, interestingly, this is true whether the person feels lonely or not."

If it's anything like the other two things, it means that it's a slow, creeping killer, one that you may not notice until it's too late. A meta-analysis of literature on the subject by Brigham Young University and reported on by Time, found that social isolation is pretty much a death knoll—increasing your risk of death by about 30%!

What does this mean to us specifically as freelancers? It means that too much of that part of what we love about freelancing—the doing-our-own-thing part—can be a very bad thing. Just like all wonderful things (ice cream, wine, exercise, pie, vodka… you get my drift), moderation is, of course, the key. We've known this already about food & drink; now we need to schedule in human connection time. If you're not having human contact daily, or at least weekly, something's gotta give.

According to the Time article,

"More Americans are living alone than ever before, and technology like texting and social media has made it easier to avoid forming substantive relationships in the flesh and blood. Yet research shows that relationships can improve health in a variety of ways, by helping us manage stress, improving the functioning of the immune system and giving meaning to people’s lives."

In-person good juju is the key not just to making new connections for growing your business, but to staying alive!

Thanks for reading. Now, set down your device, and go talk face-to-face with another human being. I want you to live!

​—Cami  =)

You made it through school; you've been creating / designing / illustrating / whatever for awhile now; you got into a groove. Great. But now the groove has become too predictable. You find your designs start looking the same. You dread getting out of bed and getting to work. You start your ideas and projects by opening software before you even have a clue what you’re going to do. You go to an old design annual and start from someone else’s idea. You base your color choices on what your client’s favorite colors are! (*cringe*) 

​Your groove has become too deep—it’s not just a rut, it’s a trench that's now too high to see out of, and it feels like a stinking prison!

Stop and think… What caused you to be here, stuck in such a predicament? Are you afraid of leaving your comfort zone? Do you need a boost of integrity? How about confidence? ​Are you holding a grudge about something? Or are you just bored?

From here, there are only two directions to go. Either you keep trudging on in your rut, making it deeper by doing what you’ve been doing, getting more of what you have (and you already know what that’s like)—or you stop digging, put down the damned shovel, and get the hell out! It seems like a no-brainer—I mean if you're stuck in a rut, you've got to do something different than what got you there, right? But what?

Try something new, try anything new. Look elsewhere for clients. Start with pencil sketches if you're always jumping on the computer first (be honest, we all do it sometimes). Ask for the kind of work you've always wanted to try, but didn't know how to do (Adobe After Effects, anyone?)—then figure out how to do it! Go talk to the people you've only dreamed of associating with who have the work you want to do.

Look, my point is just start, just do. Don't pause to think or feel, because you can talk yourself out of almost anything that's not comfortable), just do. Once you're in motion, the sky's the limit.
​
Once you’re free of this rut, you start creating fresh ideas, connecting the dots no one thought of before. You operate with integrity as well as an abundance of confidence. You practically jump out of bed with ideas that you can’t wait to get to work on. You fearlessly try new things. You explore unique ideas with a pencil and paper, or even with mashed potatoes and asparagus, before you ever touch a computer. You trust your color choices and can explain it clearly to your client. Other people start coming to you to help spark their own ideas. You are the powerful, creative force you were meant to be, spreading good juju in everything you do.

What are you waiting for? Let’s get started! ​

Thanks for reading. Good juju to you!
—Cami  =)

According to the Freelancers Union's fourth annual Freelancing in America study, 57.3 million Americans are independent workers, and they project independent workers will be a majority of the U.S. workforce in just a decade. I googled the phrase, "finding & keeping clients" and got 124 million results. Yep, confirmation that the subject is top-of-mind for a rapidly growing number of us. ​​

I've been freelancing off and on for more than 25 years, so I can say I've been around the block more than once. Or more than twice. I've had what seems like more than my share of crappy clients. Ones who didn't want to pay what I was worth, wanted projects done literally overnight, or insisted that the design changes they wanted would "make it pop" (insert violent cringe here). I even let one client convince me to create 82 proofs! What was I thinking?!

Since learning the hard way seems to be the only way I learn things, I figured out the hard way how to weed out those crappy clients, find the awesome clients, and how to keep them happy.

Here's my nutshell advice for finding your ideal clients…

• Identify who they are (just saying “anyone who will pay me” isn’t enough)
  The more specific you can be, the better chance you have of finding out where they go and how to find them. If you don't know who they are, how do you know where to look for them? 
• Go where they are (yes, you have to talk to people face-to-face)
  Having a great website shows people what the end result could be, but it isn't enough to determine what it's really like working with you. That happens much faster if you talk in person. So much information is gleaned non-verbally!
• Practice your elevator pitch (“I help [who] do [what] ”)
  The who comes from the first bullet point, the what is the end result. For example, "I help [who] small businesses [what] compete equally with the big businesses," or "I help [who] marketing departments [what] clarify their marketing messages." You get the point. Your ideal client knows instantly how you can help them! Saying it this way also helps people you talk to identify people they know who need you.

Here's my nutshell advice for keeping your ideal clients...

• Set and maintain clear expectations from the get-go
  This includes a solid paper trail of proposals/estimates, contracts, email communication, invoices, etc., that show when things are due from whom. When something looks like it could derail the project (like missing a deadline), say something before it's a problem! 
• If they don’t like it, don’t take it personally
  I explain to all my customers ahead of time that if they don't like whatever it is I've produced, that they have my permission to say they hate it, and that I will not take it personally. Then I ask clear questions so I know how I've missed the mark and I start again. It's the process you must love, not the end result—because the process is the only thing you have control over anyway. 
• Under-promise, over-deliver, every single time 
  This has been the single most important piece of advice I've ever received. If your clients requests a project proof by Thursday, you deliver Wednesday. If your estimate shows the project costing between $120-$150, you bill for $145, not the full amount. It's all about managing expectations. You get to choose how your client sees you, so choose to be the hero!  But if you're delivering a day late or you bill over budget, you're choosing to not be the hero they could have had—you're that person, you're the asshole. Choose to be their hero!

Finding and keep great clients is about solidifying a relationship built on trust. There's no shortcut—it takes time.

But there's more to running a successful freelance business, isn't there? There's just as much internal work as there is getting-dressed-and-doing-stuff work. The internal work takes time, too. We need to get out of our own way, and trust the process. But as creatives, we like to do things our way, by ourselves, and against the grain. I get you—I mean, I am a creative after all. A rebellious one at that.

If you want help growing an awesome freelance business and become your own Freelance CEO, I can help. Just let me know.

That's it for today, thanks for reading. Good juju to you!
—Cami  =)