Comments on: Market Through the Seasons – New AFW Feature

By: Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:21:03 +0000

Same thing here lately – there’s this odd client flood. It’s lasted for maybe 2 months or so now without really doing anything differently though (although I’ve done much better with releases when I raised my rates, so I get what you’re saying on that front – baffling sometimes, right?). lol The key is to never let yourself get too comfortable.

Very smart move letting them know about the rate increases early to get orders in. I have to do that to a sub-set of clients at the end of this year when their lower rate extension ends. Luckily the timing is good in that I have plenty of regular rate clients filling up time so I have that “safety net,” but it will still be sad if I lose a few of them – just a part of doing business though. Keeping in touch with clients is usually a great way to bring in more work – need to let them know you’re alive once in a while, right? :)

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On another note entirely, the new feature will actually be called our “Monthly Marketing Mix” rather than whatever I referred to it as in the above post.

By: Leigh

Leigh — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:16:33 +0000

Good point, Jenn. I honestly don’t know where all these clients came from. I mean, I know, but the funny thing is I just tripled my rates and I have more clients now than ever. Funny how that worked out.

Two people found me through LinkedIn, two people responded to pitches I sent out in August, I sent one pitch out to an SEO company, and I also reached out to a company who had expressed interest in my services but never followed through. I sent them an e-mail saying, “hey, my rates are increasing, but if you get me your project info in the next 3 days, I’ll lock you in at the rate I quoted when I responded to your ad.” Amazing what a little marketing effort can do for business.

By: Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:20:59 +0000

Leigh – just don’t make the mistake of cutting down too much. It’s vital to keep on marketing, even during your busiest times. It’s much better to have too much demand, and have the ability to be choosy, raise rates down the road if the demand continues to be high, etc. than to bask in it now only to have another slow time creep up without as much interest because you slowed down the marketing. The marketing you do now can still determine the clients you have months from now (such as articles now being ranked well and bringing attention to you down the road). Just saying that as someone who’s made that mistake. :)

I’m in a similar boat these days actually, and I’ve been thinking I need to increase my marketing efforts – want to be prepared and keeping options open at all times, and it’s something I’ve slacked on a bit lately. :(

By: Avid Writer

Avid Writer — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:42:18 +0000

Jenn I’ll definitely be tuning in.

@ Leigh: oh yeah, that’s certainly a good “problem” to have. ;)

By: Leigh

Leigh — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:33:35 +0000

Sounds like a great plan. Except I’ve got to slow my marketing down a bit, as I am now officially booked to capacity with work. It’s a good problem to have. :)