February 13, 2021
Q&A Hijack
Last night, the inimitable Chris Do apparently did some sort of AMA on Clubhouse and I guess asked people to submit questions via the #futurpro hashtag on Twitter.
I saw the whole thing after the fact and couldn’t help chiming in with my two cents on a number of juicy questions.
Here are the questions I answered (with links to my response in case you want to ask follow-up questions on any of my replies):
Q: how do you plan for intentional slow/rest seasons?
A: Create leverage link
Q: Initially, how did you gather bandwidth to focus on other creative endeavors while still running your primary agency?
A: Delete all social media and video apps from your phone link
Q: How do you value your contribution when entering into a B2B collaboration?
A: Based on the results that you are confident in delivering link
Q: creative people are great at a ton of things, right? What’s a good way to distill down your skill set into a marketable venture?
A: Demonstrate results in terms that are meaningful to your ideal buyers link
Q: What mistake is made the most when starting a creative business?
A: Taking on clients that you know are a bad fit just because you need the money link
Q: how can I get over this initial hump of finding a niche and finding sales
A: Decide what you want to be known for, or who you want to help the most. And then go all in. link
Q: If I pick a niche which has good money opportunities, but I am not passionate about, should I stick with it?
A: You won’t stick with it, so no. link
Q: Where do you draw the line on "friends and family discount?
A: Do it for free or not at all link
Q: Pointers for charging for consulting?
A: Productize the repeatable stuff, value price the one-off stuff link
Q: Should I keep my fees lower when I move from in house to freelance?
A: Your fees should be aligned with the results you deliver. When you went freelance is irrelevant. link
Q: If I’m quite new in the industry, how do I tell a story that shows why I’m the one?
A: Deliver results that can be measured and talk about them using numbers link
Q: what does one do when they realize that their niche is not a smallest viable market?
A: Go smaller link
Q: How to deal with slow corporate structures that aren’t moving fast enough to keep up with the industry?
A: Blaze a trail with early adopters and the wallflowers will follow eventually link
Q: when do you switch over from your 9-5 and full time dive in to your business even if it means losing money at first
A: As soon as you have enough stability to confidently say no to bad fit clients link
Q: When do we hire a Business coach ? Before starting a business? Or already in business for years?
A: As soon as you can afford it link
Yours,
—J