I try not to bring up AI that much, as it’s covered enough. And despite the urge to roll my eyes at times, this tech is continuing to change the way we work. Freelancers must adjust their approach to reap the benefits and minimize the downsides. One way to accomplish both is by creating your own IP.

Developing IP accomplishes what AI can’t, generating genuinely new ideas. The LLMs synthesize and remix available knowledge based on what already exists.

The IP you come up with on your own is net new, informed by your real-world experience, original thinking, and the credibility you’ve earned. It can solidify your relevance for the long-term and help ensure your expertise doesn’t get buried.

IP stands for intellectual property, which is an original idea you’ve developed that’s valuable and distinct from what’s on the market. IP for a freelancer comes in many forms, like an original tagline, concept, framework, book, methodology, curriculum, podcast, newsletter, keynote, or a training program.

It should align with the audience you support and the offerings you sell. And you need to legally protect your IP or at least reputationally, so it’s clear you’re the originator.

In practice, IP from the self-employed looks like Val Ries coining “Chief Inspiration Officer” as the title of her book, signature framing on leadership, and a licenseable management course.

Other examples include the Career Season Finder assessment from Mary Jantsch, the tagline “Your Rich BFF, Your Favorite Wall Street Girly” from Vivian Tu, or the 5 Types of Wealth framework from Sahil Bloom.

Coming up with your own IP isn’t something you develop right away; it takes months, often years, to formulate new ideas through immersion in your field and testing to see what resonates.

Depending on the format, your IP can benefit others by simplifying complex topics, providing a repeatable process they can apply, or reframing a widely held belief to influence how they act.

At the same time, IP benefits you by helping you stand out, building trust in your perspective, improving your visibility, and anchoring your expertise into a referenceable and repeatable asset.

And as AI continues to commoditize information, making lots of knowledge and data more widely available, you’re better protected when your IP is a source of original insight. New, original ideas stand out as a differentiator, given these insights are more exclusive and valuable than ever amongst the sea of widely known, common knowledge.

IP acts as proof that your credibility is verifiable and you’re offering something not commonly available or recycled from other sources. Not everything you share needs to be new, but a portion should be to ensure you stand out as a freelancer, as general information becomes nearly impossible to tie back to your expertise. IP can help you become better regarded as a primary source of fresh thinking that people can associate with you for the long-term.

Speaking of the long haul, it’s not just an AI play. IP can support the continued profitability of your freelance business if it resonates with the intended customers. IP that strikes a chord can drive recurring revenue when it comes in the form of a course, program, framework, or book.

You create the IP once and do most of the work upfront, and offer it to audiences repeatedly over and over again. This is an oversimplification. There’s always effort involved, but less so when it is a concept that’s packaged in a scalable way that compounds your income.

This has played out for me in the form of courses I’ve developed with various e-learning platforms and universities. Most of the work is delivered upfront in sharing my perspective on marketing and/or career development, that’s the IP component.

From there, my POV is paired with best practices, as some of the instruction I’m providing is common knowledge in the industry. And once published, I earn recurring royalties and sales from these courses long-term. Not all of these courses took off, but from the ones that did, I’ve earned six figures in total.

In addition to income, IP can earn you continued visibility when it makes an impact and drives a response from audiences. This happens when your idea is not only strong but aligned with an important, timely challenge of a particular group. If your IP takes off, it becomes bigger than you, as people will advocate about it and share it with others on their own without prompting.

I often think of the PESO model by Gini Dietrich as the blueprint. The model is a framework used by marketers and communications to integrate four types of media into a unified marketing operating system. In other words, I’ve used it for years to organize campaigns for clients and have repeatedly taught it in the classroom as a way to make marketing more tangible.

I’m an example of someone who found her IP so useful in my work that I’ve been thrilled to share the framework with others. Suffice to say, this model has a following that builds momentum and visibility for the IP as it’s valuable and applicable to a substantial audience.

Dietrich isn’t a solopreneur as she has a team that she’s built by translating the attention from her IP into a certification program, enterprise solutions, training, and more to grow the business.

Architecting IP is a creative exercise with tangible implications for the longevity of your practice and it happens when you’re willing to design and share your ideas with the world.

[This article was originally published in my newsletter: Career Freelancer.]

Consulting is experiencing a boom right now. More seasoned professionals are pivoting to self-employment as consultants. Becoming an independent consultant is one the 25 fastest-growing roles in the U.S., says LinkedIn, and the number of independent individuals offering services to businesses grew by 3 percent after five years of continued growth, according to MBO Partners’ State of Independence Study.

This is a response to the unemployment rate being the highest since 2021, in part due to an uncertain economy, and the adoption of AI and automation altering industry dynamics.

The shift is also driven by opportunity, as accessible and affordable freelance marketplaces, business tools, and global clients allow professionals to manage their practices with fewer barriers to entry. Because of this, the competition for consulting jobs has also gotten more fierce.

As a marketing consultant for over a decade, I’ve learned a lot about how to get new clients and grow a sustainable consulting business. I’ve also interviewed experienced consultants on their best tips for starting and building a consulting business for the long haul. If you’re thinking about starting your own consulting firm this year to gain more creative control, career security, or financial rewards, here’s how to get started. 

1. Choose a focus based on demand

What should you offer to clients as a consultant? You’ll want to focus on where there’s demand to hire you right now, given you’re just getting started. But that doesn’t mean taking on any project that comes across your desk haphazardly. This is a process of reverse engineering what you’ve done in your past positions to pinpoint the tangible value you can offer clients externally.

That might be delivering improved reliability and security across retail infrastructure as an IT consultant, or higher employee engagement and retention as a fractional HR leader.

Determining the result of your contributions from the customer’s perspective helps ensure you’re not just creating a practice around your key strengths, what you enjoy doing, and the services you think are valuable to offer, but prioritizing what outcomes clients will actually hire you for.

“Don’t start by selling your time for what you think might work. Have calls and figure out the bottlenecks,” says Brandon Smithwrick, a content consultant and creator who went independent in 2025. “I chatted with people in the medical space, podcasters, agency owners, founders, and Realtors before figuring out the largest pain point I can help people with without burying myself in work.”

As you determine what to offer and how much to charge, get feedback from past colleagues on the meaningful outcomes they’ve seen you deliver and assess the competitive landscape for insight on priority setting.

“It helps to identify and fill a niche that is not being served. It is much easier to be successfully filling a need that isn’t being addressed by most competitors,” says Paul Aubin, an author and architectural consultant for over 20 years.

He’s built a career training architects and firms on Autodesk’s Revit software, authoring numerous books, and as a result creating a niche around his expertise in this tool.

Your niche can involve associating your consulting with a certain tool, job function, type of client, company maturity level, or industry, all in the service of delivering a specific set of outcomes.

While not every gap is an opportunity, thinking through a niche that’s recognizable in your industry and at least somewhat unique to you is a good way to find traction. 

2. Productize your services to capture more business

Consulting is a service offering, but it should be packaged like a product so what you’re offering to freelance clients is clear, like a menu of options, and while also protecting your bandwidth.

“Treat consulting like a product business from day one. Define your scope, define the outcomes, and build a simple, repeatable system for discovery, onboarding, delivery, and follow-up,” says Alicja Spaulding, marketing AI consultant and fractional CMO, who’s been running her own consulting business for nearly two years.

Creating packages to treat your services like a product helps to clearly document the work you offer in terms of the deliverables, project timeline, expected outcomes, and associated pricing. 

This way you can convert more business by creating packages aligned to clients with different budgets or organizational complexity without stretching yourself too thin.

“It also protects your margins and your time because you’re not reinventing your process for every new client. Over time, that repeatability becomes your advantage: It’s easier to scale, easier to refer, and easier for clients to trust,” adds Spaulding.

That’s another benefit of packaging your offerings, as you’re able to accurately estimate the time commitment and revenue expected per project, so you’re operating with greater predictability.

3. Turn past employers into your first clients

Landing your first clients is a challenge, as you’re not yet known as an independent consultant and you’re still building trust in what you offer. One of the best ways to attract the initial set of clients is pitching past colleagues and partners at former employers.

They likely already view you as a credible and competent professional, so there’s less need to convince them that you’ll deliver results. More effort should be focused on aligning your pitch to address their most timely challenges and how you’ll solve for them as an outside contributor.

Think of it as early business development where you’re connecting with the people you already know professionally over email, LinkedIn, and one-to-one meetings. The best-case scenario is there’s alignment to hire you or refer you to others as a trusted vendor. At a minimum, each interaction is an opportunity to do research and get feedback on what you’re offering as a consultant.

4. Market your business in a way that energizes you

You can’t rely on referrals alone to build your customer base, as there’s a definitive limit to how much word of mouth will convert to clients. Investing in marketing as a routine part of your consulting business is necessary to reach new, qualified prospects outside the people you already know.

Attract new clients via public forums like posting on social media or through podcast interviews, as well as private forums like hosting an event or getting active in an industry-specific Slack channel. Prioritize developing marketing with a point of view you’re excited to share consistently for the long term that’s related to what you offer as a consultant. And most of all, make sure it’s a subject of interest to your ideal clients, such as creative ways to invest in employer branding if you work with HR professionals, or balancing speed and compliance in regulated industries.

Consultants often overcommit to a publishing cadence they can’t sustain—or focus on an idea they’re not enthusiastic about—leading them to abandon marketing after a few weeks or months.

Avoid this by pinpointing a topic you’re energized by that’s easily connected to what you sell without being too promotional and aligned to the challenges and goals of potential customers.

5. Complement advising with execution support

I’ve seen an uptick in companies saying, “I’m looking for a consultant to do more of the work, not just tell me how.” In many circumstances, there’s an expectation you’ll be providing implementation in addition to your advising support. 

The speed of change is demanding consultants help clients roll out new tools and systems, train teams to react more quickly, and assist with the launch of programs and campaigns. 

While you don’t need to focus purely on execution, remaining competitive in today’s market requires that you’re able to turn some of your recommendations into a reality. Whether that’s implementing a suggested tactic, rolling out an initiative, or instituting an operational change, tangible value must be a result of more of your contributions, rather than just a constant flow of advice.

6. Capitalize on AI to meet demand and scale your productivity

Being mindful to avoid the hype, it’s necessary to incorporate AI into your client offerings, as companies are asking for it and also to scale your own processes as a solopreneur.

You’ll position yourself as a consultant with authority if you’re able to combine it with the job functions you support, whether that’s integrating AI with PR, HR, engineering, or sales. You should ride the AI trend to gain immediate visibility for your practice, but supported by your subject matter expertise and actionable applications that go beyond the surface-level advice.

For instance, consultant Alicja Spaulding offers a course on AI in food marketing catered to marketers working in food service, grocery, hospitality, and food and beverage based on her background leading 200-plus food product launches across retail, food service, and DTC.

7. Be an adaptable expert for longevity

Agility is a critical skill for consultants given you’re jumping between the contexts of different clients, working both in and on the business. And part of that is paying attention to trends in the market to decide which to embrace, which to pivot to, which to ignore, and which interest you. 

Continuing education is required to embrace many of these shifts so your skills stay sharp, you remain relevant, and you’re able to provide leading-edge recommendations to clients. It’s an ongoing effort of experimentation, earning credentials, and adding services to meet demand.

You can accomplish this with passive learning, like listening to podcasts, following industry experts, and reading articles, balanced with active learning like completing online courses, joining a coding boot camp, or connecting with industry professionals at a conference.

“To build a sustainable consulting practice, diversify your income streams so when one dips, another can rise. Stay flexible and adaptable, especially with rapid tech and AI changes. Continuously upskill—not just for your own growth, but to demonstrate to clients you’re current and relevant,” says Dina Shapiro, change management consultant and author with 14 years in consulting.

Staying on top of trends helps you stay nimble for clients and keeps you engaged in the work for the long haul.

[This article was originally published on Inc Magazine.]

Even with a background in marketing, I was just chatting with another solopreneur about how I’m feeling stretched thin. I’m in a busy season, so I’ll adjust my marketing to be more sustainable later, but what’s working is that I’m energized by it, and that’s really important.

When it comes to promoting ourselves as freelancers, what we’re sharing marketing-wise not only has to be of interest to the intended audience, but needs to be energizing to you. A level of enjoyment in what you’re sharing helps make self-promotion far more sustainable long-term. It’s supposed to be fun, at least to a degree. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Energizing marketing consists of promotional activities on topics of interest to you, that you’re eager to discuss, clearly meet a demand in the market, and are a doable part of your routine.

Done wrong, marketing yourself can feel taxing, fake, or ineffective when you’re forcing yourself to show up on topics you’re half-interested in or when it’s simply burning you out.

Let’s avoid that circumstance, and instead intentionally take the time to develop energizing marketing that impacts the right people, supports your business, and feels enjoyable for you.

Pick a topic area you’re excited about that ties to your business

It’s one thing to put yourself out there, publishing your ideas and highlighting your work publicly for six weeks in a row, but what about the next six months or even six years? While you’re not married to discussing the same topics forever, you’ve got to pick topics you’re thrilled about covering for the long haul.

This is where a lot of solopreneurs fall short when they decide to cover something in their industry because it’s of interest to others, but eventually they lose interest themselves as they were never that ecstatic about the subject and fizzle out on their promotional efforts.

The “thrilled” part of your topic choice is essential as excitement is what’s necessary for you to stay committed to repeatedly covering it publicly. A genuine interest in what you’re sharing will help you show up with better ideas that people can see you’re passionate about. Plus, a strong connection to the topic will help you show up in those moments when you’re less motivated to spend the time on marketing.

With excitement for the topic, you need to land on a topic area or two where there’s a larger category tying together tons of subtopics, so there’s no shortage of angles to address.

For instance, a topic area could be “design in healthcare” as that’s specific enough, given it’s discussing the intersection of the discipline of design as it relates to a particular industry. And it’s broad enough where there’s plenty of ideas to explore within it, like design thinking in healthcare, accessible design in the context of wellness, or service vs product design at healthcare facilities.

Some solid examples of self-employed folks who cover expansive, yet specific topics they care about are Melissa Doman, an organizational psychologist, covering mental health in the workplace, and Jeff Toister, a keynote speaker who discusses how leaders build service cultures rooted in remarkable customer service.

And this topic area needs to relate to your business in some capacity, so buyers can easily make the connection between your expertise and your offerings. This topic has to speak to the needs of your ideal customer, so the insights you’re sharing encourage a portion of your audience to purchase your product or services as you’re a credible expert in this realm.

Publish at a cadence you can actually maintain

In an attempt to be consistent with marketing, it’s common to overcommit. You want to aim to publish engaging messaging regularly, as repetition is key, but at a frequency you can maintain.

I know freelancers who have started podcasts, newsletters, or built an ambitious social media schedule, only to give up after a few months or a year, as it becomes burdensome to sustain it.

You’ve only got so much time, energy, and resources to dedicate to marketing, so I want you to really consider what level of commitment you can make here before diving in.

My recommendation is to start at a reasonable cadence of publishing once or twice a week, depending on your bandwidth. Scaling up or down from there based on what kind of results you’re seeing and most of all, as you get familiar with the process of regularly drafting content.

Think of the first few months as a trial period to figure out how long it takes to create content you’re proud of, what tools help streamline, gain some feedback, and get a feel for the process.

The intention here is to publish often enough that your ideas don’t get lost and you’re showing up consistently so the right people come to expect to hear from you.

But at a frequency that’s a planned part of your routine, not a last-minute task that isn’t properly prioritized and that you come to resent because it’s overextending you.

Stretch a weekly tent-pole concept into different marketing moments

You’ve heard the advice “repurpose your content,” and that still stands. I recommend creating new iterations of what you’ve already published as an extension of the original idea.

The thinking is that not everyone will see what you’ve shared the first time, so showcase aspects of the same idea in different formats on a mix of channels to reach more of the right people. This still requires effort, but will save you some time as work was already put into the idea you’re building upon.

One example of this was an article I wrote for Inc about how to start a consulting practice, which I created a TikTok video and a LinkedIn post about, extending the original concept.

For this to work, aim to start with a tent-pole concept, or a strong idea that’s reflective of your perspective, important to your audience, and expansive enough for continued conversation.

That’s when the content you’re creating as an extension of the original idea is far more likely to be a helpful and effective resource for the intended audience, given the foundations are there.

I say “aim to start with a tent-pole concept,” because it’s not always possible to regularly come up with a really strong idea each week. Sometimes you’ll fall short and that’s okay, because forcing these ideas is often worse.

Follow positive signals for direction and to keep you energized

Earning positive signals from what you’re putting out there is helpful motivation to keep showing up, especially in the early stages.

These signals can be a review of your course, a comment on your post, or someone buying your digital products. Indications that others are enjoying what you’re publishing can inform your future coverage and even help build up your confidence.

For early signals that your message is reaching the right people, show up in front of the audiences of established, trusted voices and institutions. Whether you’re interviewing another practitioner in your field or writing for an industry publication, this is the fast track to gaining relevant exposure and impacting the right folks. One ideal outcome is that a portion of this audience decides to follow along and get future updates from you.

You’ve likely heard the advice that you shouldn’t build your platform entirely on “rented land” like social media, where you don’t have full control. It’s not one or the other, but both.

Stay active on public and private forums where people can discover you and your message, at the same time growing your own audience on your website, newsletter, or podcast. This way, you’re proactively protecting the distribution of your IP from being overly beholden to just being available on the channels you don’t own.

Outsource the process, not your thinking

Not every part of marketing yourself is going to be enjoyable. I like most of it, but I’m a nerdy marketer. Outsourcing certain parts of the process to a contractor or automating it with the help of a tool can make it much more manageable, just don’t pass off your original thinking.

Formulating compelling ideas, arguments, and solutions supported with your experience, skills, and data is what’s unique to you and how others will likely connect to your expertise. It’s the difference between your marketing making an impact and just adding more noise.

You have to be the one to both draft and present the original insight, like writing a script and presenting the concept over video. It’s the other parts of this process, like editing the video and distributing it, that are a better choice for outsourcing. This can save you time and effort without diluting the concept into something generic that’s no longer reflective of you.

[This article was originally published in my newsletter: Career Freelancer.]

You can’t be defined by just one thing. There are a variety of ways to describe who you are, what you do and what you stand for. You’re multi-faceted and multidimensional and that’s important.

We all have many talents and attributes, a unique mix of traits that no one else has in quite the same way. Even if you aren’t sure what they are yet, they are there. Our work should reflect these varied interests, otherwise it’s easy to feel constrained if you’re focused solely on one job.

More than just a slanted piece of punctuation, a slash can help us quickly summarize the variety of ways we describe ourselves — especially professionally.

I’m a marketer / freelancer / coach / instructor / speaker, but it wasn’t always this way. I kind of fell into this path. I used to have a full-time job (12+ years ago) that I thought was my ticket to long-term stability and success. That feeling and reality didn’t last.

I’m certainly not alone in being a multi-career person as many people today elect to take on several jobs or projects at once.

This distinct group of people who have ‘portfolio careers’ are known for their original approach to working on their own terms.

Many choose to add slashes to their title to have control of their work life, act on their passions, create a new source of income and reduce risk.

My life got significantly better when I was able to create a flexible career for myself in the long-term, which brings me a lot of pride, control over my time, the ability to work on projects I’m excited about, and income from multiple sources.

Society is pretty good at making us feel like small parts of a larger system, as well as perpetuating an overarching need to fit in. This manifests in many ways like trying to limit your weirdness or most relevant to our conversation, the establishment of the norm that having a single full-time job is what’s “normal” to strive for.

Screw that. If you’re satisfied with your full-time job, then cool. Go do that.

But, if you’re looking for something more, then I encourage you to build a many-sided career for yourself that fulfills your different passions and interests, that makes you feel good, offers financial stability and provides you with more control over your circumstances.

Operating outside of the one track world isn’t a new concept as the term polymath has been around since the 17th century. The “old school” version of having a portfolio career if you will.

A polymath is a person that has expertise across different fields, often referred to as the gifted and geniuses of our time. But really, everyone can become versed in different professions with the right approach.

For ten years Nyomi E. worked hard as a healthcare professional to help support her family. It felt like she was doing what she was supposed to be as a 43-year-old mother of two. But, it was far from a perfect arrangement.

She was frustrated to not have a creative outlet. She wasn’t paid what she felt she deserved and her schedule was too rigid with her supervisor always breathing down her neck. And for a long time, it felt like she didn’t have options.

“It seemed like I was just spinning my wheels, doing what you’re supposed to do to make things work,” she said.

One Sunday morning, Nyomi decided that she’d start doing wedding and event planning on the side as it was something she’s always wanted to try.

“Even if it didn’t make any money, it felt good to take a crack at it and do something different for once,” she added.

Nyomi did event planning on nights and weekends for six years from there forward and she absolutely loved it and she kept getting booked.

The additional income for her and her family was a wonderful benefit as well, but not enough to quit her full-time job quite yet.

With the success of her event planning side business and the confidence it brought her, Nyomi wanted to leave her restrictive full-time job, but still needed another source of income first to equal her current salary.

She decided to become a licensed notary and drive for Lyft in addition to her event planning business to make it all work.

Is she as passionate about being a notary or driving for Lyft? Not really. But by testing out Lyft one weekend and asking a colleague about their experience as a notary, she learned she wouldn’t mind doing either job.

Both roles offered a great deal of freedom and flexibility that she didn’t have before and that was worth it for her. Once she got setup with Lyft and got certified as a notary, she quit.

Nyomi is now a Lyft driver / event planner / notary working 40 to 50 hours on her own schedule, making more than she did at her full-time job and above all, is happy to get to spend more time with family.

She didn’t have a trust fund to rely on or extensive training in multiple fields prior to exploring career diversification.

Like her, it’s up to you to craft a fulfilling career that suits you and your varied interests. And now is the time to protect yourself for the future and no longer rely on one job for all your needs.

Opportunity amongst uncertainty

Career diversification isn’t new, but it is becoming more prominent and less optional every year. Taking on independent work is becoming the new norm for many reasons, mainly good ones.

I’m defining independent or alternative work as any project, role or gig where you’re not a full-time employee of a company.

This could mean you’re a freelancer with multiple projects, a contractor taking on one long-term job at a time, or otherwise.

The prominence of taking on multiple gigs today can be linked to many factors, one of which being the greater availability of alternative work arrangements on established tools and platforms from Airbnb to TaskRabbit.

This specific type of independent work is often called on-demand jobs, the gig economy or the sharing economy.

Most of the on-demand jobs found on these platforms only require entry level skill sets, so the learning curve is low, making it quick and easy to take on these types of gigs.

Doing independent work is becoming more normalized too as 29.8 million solopreneurs working today represent 81% of all small businesses in the U.S and contributed 6.8% ($1.7 trillion) of total economic activity in 2022.

One big difference is how much more accepting people are today of the idea of going freelance, given many of us have seen entrepreneurs featured on Shark Tank or stayed in an Airbnb where the hosts are earning side income from running a short-term rental.

Likewise, increased access to educational resources online has provided professionals with the ability to learn new skill sets across industries at their own pace with course-driven sites like LinkedIn Learning, edX or Coursera, online classes from most universities, the ability to connect with mentors and colleagues across the world, and more.

At the same time, a Princeton University study found that a majority of the net employment growth in the U.S. economy from 2005 to 2015 appears to have occurred in alternative work arrangements, not full-time roles.

Rising costs for employers have also led to a smaller number of workers receiving health care or pension benefits than they did in the 80’s, according to Pew Research, reducing access to one of the main benefits of full-time employment. Capitalism at its worst.

Sadly, layoffs are more common now too as they’re the highest they’ve been in the U.S. since 2020, the unemployment rate is 4.3% higher than its was in 2021, and nearly 26% of unemployed people have been jobless for more than six months.

All the more reason to start taking control of your circumstances and protect yourself with a few different sources of income so you don’t get stuck.

Author Charles Handy said it best, “No longer is there the feeling that somewhere someone is thinking about your future, watching your development, planning your next steps.” It’s up to you to get things in motion.

It does take nerve

Without knowing it at first, I cultivated two career paths at once: one as a marketer and another as a writer, mainly covering marketing.

While working at LunaMetrics, a marketing analytics agency in Pittsburgh, and then at Marc Ecko, the clothing brand in NYC, I wrote regularly in my free-time.

Writing about best practices and how to guides for marketing gave me a voice in my industry at large, supported the work I was doing full-time and was enjoyable, almost therapeutic to share my ideas and experiences as a marketer.

After writing publicly for three years, companies started to reach out to see if I did any freelance writing after they’d read my articles in industry publications.

At first I was like, “No thank you, I have a job.” I’m sure I wasn’t that rude over email, but that’s what I was thinking. As if I was allergic to actually getting paid to write instead of doing it for free.

Eventually, my job start to go south and I was seriously unhappy with working at Ecko, so I started interviewing at lots of other agencies, brands and startups in all different industries to see what my options were. I also decided to start taking on paid writing gigs, reaching out to everyone I previously said no to.

I received a couple job offers at great companies, but something felt off. I wasn’t thrilled to be starting a new job at any of these places even though the roles I was offered were cool, I got along with the people there and they paid well enough.

The freelance writing I was doing at the same time was going well and I enjoyed the flexibility and the hard work needed to bring on more clients, so I decided to quit my job, stop applying to new full-time roles and focus on writing full-time.

I didn’t know it, but I had been learning how to improve my craft as a writer for three years in a non-risky way. So now, when I needed to fall back on this skill I was well prepared to do so.

One of my favorite quotes from RuPaul is, “Don’t take life too seriously, don’t take your identity too seriously. We are all shapeshifters.”

I’ve done both things RuPaul called out. Early in my career I took myself too seriously as I hesitated to start writing publically at first because I was nervous and insecure of what others might think and when approached with the option of doing freelance writing gigs at first I thought, “that’s not for me.”

I was eventually able to get over my mental barriers and find the nerve to shapeshift into a freelance writer in the early days, running my own business. It was scary at first, but then quickly became empowering to focus on a new path.

From there, I continued to evolve what I’m doing to move into consulting for companies on their marketing, teaching courses, coaching marketers and business owners, and speaking at conferences and company events.

I want you to work up the nerve to start diversifying your own career ASAP as it’s usually a lengthy process and it’s better to start taking action now.

This starts with understanding why it matters to diversify your career in the first place.

Designing your version of stability

Feeling trapped, powerless or apprehensive about your work situation is a shitty feeling that most of us have experienced at one point or another. I know I have.

Whether you’ve been laid off, too afraid or unable to quit a dead-end job or not progressing in your career like you think you should be, it is easy to feel like the only other option is to find another job.

Mainly because that’s what we’ve been taught for generations. Ever since we were little it’s been made quite clear that holding a full-time job to support yourself is the standard.

You work hard at your job, advance at your company, maybe move to few other employers throughout your career and you’ll have enough to thrive at life.

But more than ever, that’s just not the case anymore. Focusing on one job alone with blinders on is riskier than we’ve been taught as U.S. layoffs are the highest they’ve been in years and economic uncertainty is the new norm.

The speed at which technology is progressing is also disrupting, evolving and even shuttering entire industries and companies.

You actually have to design your own stability in order to protect yourself from unforeseen circumstances, get out of professional situations that no longer suit you and control your life. And the exact definition of “stability” looks different for each of us.

The most successful professionals across industries are already doing this to have a greater command of their finances, mitigate risks and guarantee the longevity of their careers.

When you think of the term ‘Renaissance Man’, people like Leonardo da Vinci, Oprah, or Kara Swisher come to mind. I tend to think of RuPaul immediately, but that’s just me. This makes sense as these are some of the most visible people to reach high levels of success in their careers with multiple endeavors.

But there’s also an understanding that their level of success is unattainable. They’ve struck it big through some semblance of luck, hard work and charisma that you or I can’t duplicate.

And there is a reality to that. It is unlikely you’re going to become the next da Vinci and that’s actually a wonderful thing. We’ve built up this pressure of what success is “supposed” to look like, what success is “supposed” to feel like and in actuality, it’s all defined by you.

The element you can duplicate that each of these Renaissance people have in common is that they’ve got multiple slashes in their titles to reflect their variety of talents, projects and professional ventures they’re invested in.

Oprah for instance is a producer / magazine owner / philanthropist / actress / brand spokesperson / and more, while Kara Swisher is a journalist / podcaster / documentary host / author.

What they distinctly have is options and control of their careers by diversifying. And you can too by embracing a portfolio career to develop the stability you’re after and reduce risk on your own terms.

If you are successful at focusing on different projects, you’re able to generate money from a few sources, instead of relying on just one means of income to fund your life.

Additional streams of income can support you during a gap in employment, as a jumping off point to work for yourself completely or help you more quickly take your dream vacation.

This might mean you’re a business owner, independent contractor offering a variety of different services, you’re employed full-time but also work part-time once a week or you’re focused on a few side hustles in addition to full-time work.

You could deliver food for Postmates, do freelance writing and hold a full-time job in an unrelated industry to better secure your finances for the good times and the bad.

That’s what Rick R does. A 46-year-old Philadelphia resident, Rick works full-time as a senior mortgage loan officer, while also driving for Lyft eight to ten hours a week on the side. He likes the additional income to support his lifestyle and vary how he spends his time working.

This way he’s limiting the risk of his full-time job going south and cutting off his only means of making money, while having extra spending money to enjoy the Jersey shore every year.

You can’t control getting laid off or hitting a dead-end at work. It is out of your hands. But having other career options to focus your time on, that develop additional skills or allow you work on your passions is under your control.

Prior to adding more endeavors to my career, I stayed at a job that I was no longer happy with simply because I didn’t think I had anything else lined up.

I actually did have options. Had I better understood going after multiple career pursuits sooner I could have saved myself from six months of soul-crushing work and spared my employer from having another jaded worker impacting their bottom line.

I don’t want you to be in the same situation I was.

You’ve got too much ahead of you to oversimplify your work and put all of your time and energy into one role.

Think of each slash in your title as one step closer to controlling your circumstances and one step further away from being boxed into a corner.

Key Takeaways:

• There will always be certain aspects of your career that can’t be controlled like being laid off or hitting a dead-end on your path to a promotion.

• Most of us have bought into the myth that having a single full-time job is the norm, when in actuality, we set the norms for ourselves.

• Investing all your energy in a full-time job alone is too risky. Instead, spread your time across multiple career pursuits.

• Career diversification allows you to create stability for yourself to mitigate risk since you always have more than one project to rely on at a time.

• Stability looks slightly different for everyone. A portfolio career provides you with the framework to protect yourself financially, act on your passions and develop consistency in your work life.

Move beyond the rainy day fund

With more unemployed people being out of work for six months or longer, having some sort of savings is a smart idea.

What if you lost your job tomorrow? What if the company you started fails? Do you have enough money to sustain yourself and your loved ones for a month? Two months? Six maybe?

This is where setting up a rainy day fund comes in handy to help account for a time when you’re unexpectedly unemployed or need extra cash like when your basement floods or you’ve got a mountain of medical bills.

But there’s an even better way to protect yourself. Multiple. Sources. Of. Income.

Instead of just saving some of the money you’ve earned, protect your ability to keep generating income for the future.

If something goes wrong, like a lost job or a failed business, you’ll have another source of income to focus on right away that you’ve already figured out.

This way you continue to make money, while you sort out what other your projects you’ll take on as a part of your overall mix to fill the recent opening.

Ideally, your stress will be reduced significantly as you don’t need to scramble and search for the next opportunity right away.

It’s the plan B for your career that you’re cultivating as you go.

There are two types. Passive income, which are sources of income that require time and effort initially, but far less upkeep in the long run like owning real estate.

And then there’s active income, which is any project or role you’ve got to consistently spend your time and effort on in order to earn money like graphic design work or being an au pair.

Supporting yourself with the income provided by a variety of jobs you already have in motion can help protect you during the good times and the bad.

The improved financial security resulting from multiple sources of income allows you to:

• Support yourself during any gaps in employment.

• Collect extra income for both rising daily expenses and spending money.

• Allocate extra money to real estate and other investment opportunities.

• Invest in your career to create the ideal mix of jobs you’d like to take on.

Think of a slash in your title as a form of insurance, so if your company goes under, a project falls through or you get laid off, you’re not left high and dry without scrambling to find a way to make money.

Before I quit working at Ecko, I saved $15,000 to support myself for a few months and took on two freelance writing gigs to start collecting income from elsewhere.

At that point, I hadn’t quite matched my salary of $70,000. But I still quit because I had a safety net of savings and additional income to rely on while I focused on building up my freelance writing business.

I was able to reduce the risk ahead of me, decreasing the chances I’d go broke as I fully immersed myself in a new career direction.

Today I’ve got a six-figure income coming from a mix of consulting projects, teaching courses online and IRL, hosting corporate training workshops, and one-on-one coaching sessions. But this took years to come together and is still a work in progress from where I started.

Originally, freelance writing was an additional source of income before I left my full-time job. But once it became my sole means of making money, it became clear that it was time for me to diversify into other areas for a few reasons.

Freelance writing paid well, but I didn’t want to lock myself into just one discipline as there are multiple ways to package my expertise and provide value.

The whole process of job diversification is an ongoing, long-term evolution with different stages.

That’s what Chelsea H experienced firsthand.

29-years-old and working at a bakery full-time, Chelsea was frustrated by how little she was making as compared to the high cost of living in New York City.

To earn extra spending money, she started selling the clothes she didn’t wear anymore on Poshmark, an online marketplace for women’s clothing.

Throughout the process she slowly started to notice that certain brands sold really well on Poshmark.

Since she genuinely enjoyed the process and is really interested in fashion, she decided to not only sell her own clothes, but begin sourcing clothes from Goodwill stores in the area to sell on the platform for profit. Instead of flipping houses, she’s flipping outfits.

For eight months she sold over 1,000 pieces of clothing, while maintaining her bakery job, generating the much-needed money she was looking for to feel more comfortable.

Eventually, she listed another 1,000 items to her account, accumulated 105,000 followers and earned an additional $28,000, giving her the financial cushion she needed to leave her job and focus on Poshmark full-time.

Focusing your time across projects can not only help you earn enough to protect yourself on a bad day, but give you the ability to invest in the projects that help take your career to the next level.

Key Takeaways:

• Working on a few gigs at the same time protects you financially by splitting your income across multiple sources.

• In addition to saving some of the money you’ve earned, diversification protects your ability to keep generating income as you go.

• A diversified income allows you to support yourself during gaps in employment, generate extra spending money, fuel investment opportunities and advance in your career.

• The whole process of job diversification is an ongoing, long-term evolution with different stages.

[This article was originally published in my newsletter: Career Freelancer.]

You’re not taught that going freelance is even an option to consider, so here’s how to build a long-lasting career as a freelancer.

A common misconception about freelance is that it’s primarily a stopgap for professionals to leverage in between full-time roles or a side hustle you spend time on outside of work. But now more than ever full-time self-employment is also a viable option as a long-term career path. 

In fact, 64% of the estimated 6.7 million freelancers working in the U.S. today are full-timers focused solely on self-employment and not employed elsewhere. Many decide to stick with full-time freelancing for the long haul given the unique benefits of this employment arrangement and its alignment to their professional preferences.

That said, there’s no prescribed path to follow compared to how familiar we are with career options as employees.

This past June, I hit my 10th year of self-employment as a marketing consultant, and along the way I’ve discovered what it takes to maintain the momentum, grow my business, adapt to changing circumstances, and minimize the downsides like burnout, loneliness, and bad clients.

Here are key lessons from my career on what it takes to freelance for the long run, as well as advice from other self-employed professionals who have built lasting practices on their terms.

Define your niche

To find the sweet spot between the unique expertise you offer and the in-demand industry skills companies are looking for, define your niche as a freelancer. Whether you’re focused on a highly specialized offering, serving a particular type of client or industry, or offering a complementary mix of services, choose a niche that reflects your strengths, is easy to quickly understand, and that’s providing sought-after support.

For example, I partner with tech companies, media brands, and nonprofits to consult, teach, and train on developing social media and content marketing strategies that drive results. This breakdown of my niche succinctly highlights the types of clients I support and the specific services I offer to help them address a distinct marketing-related challenge.

Customers are looking for contractors with specialized skill sets to assist them in completing important tasks, so they’re more likely to discover you with a niche focus to your offerings. Plus, concentrating on a few areas of expertise can help you further hone your craft and better articulate your specialty with confidence, helping you foster trust with potential clients.

Share your ideas publicly

Another way to build trust with customers is to show instead of tell, by consistently sharing your opinions, experiences, or recommendations related to your focus in a public forum.

Whether through social media, blogging, podcasting, or otherwise, publishing content on topics linked to your expertise can help clients discover you and learn directly from your expertise.

Regularly publishing my ideas on marketing across LinkedIn, industry publications, and as a guest on podcasts has helped me continually stay top of mind with clients and attract new ones.

By providing value free of charge through sharing your knowledge, you ideally won’t need to stress your credentials to prospects because they’ll be able assess your expertise on their own.

Focus on your network

As a freelancer, your network is vital. The way you expand, nurture, and engage with your network, that is the closest thing that replicates the value of being in a company as an employee, says Lola Bakare, an inclusive marketing strategist and a CMO adviser who’s been self-employed for more than eight years. 

If you’re able to show up for the people in your network consistently and intentionally, you’ll build a reciprocal support system of like-minded people who will happily refer clients to you, support your projects, champion your successes, and offer guidance when you’re struggling.

“Be very willing to not just ask for help, but surround yourself in help,” Bakare says. 

Diversify your income

Establishing more than one source of income is how you build longevity with self-employment, especially avoiding the feast-and-famine cycle often associated with freelancing. This happens by purposefully developing different service offerings, working with a range of clients, or operating in multiple industries for greater career security.

To date, I’ve primarily developed four sources of income all related to my focus in marketing: career coaching, teaching courses, consulting projects, and leading training engagements.

This mix of offerings really keeps me engaged and excited about the work I’m doing, allows me to provide value to customers in a variety of formats, and protects me monetarily. When there are shifts in the marketplace that are out of my control and demand for one aspect of my offerings is reduced, the other income sources usually remain consistent to help fill the gap.

Build your credibility

“Early in your career, it’s essential to ensure you’re being taken seriously,” says Dorie Clark, a strategy consultant, keynote speaker, and the author of The Long Game, who’s been self-employed for 17 years. “The best way to do this is to gather as much ‘social proof’—easily understood and verifiable symbols of your competence—as quickly as possible.”

That can include guest lecturing at universities, working with well-known clients, being quoted in or writing for prominent publications, or having testimonials from important people in the field, Clark says. This kind of social proof can boost your credibility, increasing the chances you’ll land more of the opportunities you’re after.

“Some people throw up their hands if they don’t already have these laurels, but a far better plan is to strategize around how to get them,” Clark says. For instance, early in her career, she sent emails to dozens of universities pitching herself as a guest lecturer. Today she teaches at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business “without an MBA or PhD,” she says, “and it started from that original push to gather social proof.”

Be reliable

An all-too-often overlooked aspect of being an effective independent contractor with staying power who gets hired again and again is being a reliable partner to your clients.

“Be consistent, reliable, and communicative,” says Melissa Doman, an organizational psychologist, former clinical mental health therapist, and author who’s been self-employed for four years. “There are countless people who drop the ball, have excuses for why they didn’t complete something, and don’t communicate about it. Clients need to be able to trust you.”

In other words, be easy to work with. While the services you deliver need to fulfill your client’s needs, the experience you provide is what makes a lasting impression that will determine whether they’ll hire you again or recommend you to someone else.

This doesn’t mean you always have to perform perfectly. “It means that you need to show that you value the relationship and have appreciation and respect for clients who’ve hired you,” Doman says. “That means doing what you’ve committed to doing, when you’ve committed to do it, and ensuring open communication around that process.”

Grow your skills

Once a year I invest in trying something completely new in my business or an in-depth learning opportunity to grow my skills in a particular area of my practice.

This year I completed a program to earn a certification as an executive coach from the Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute to expand my offerings as a career coach for marketers. 

The goal of committing to one yearly growth opportunity is to guarantee I’m scheduling the time to actively expand my skills and experiences in a considerable way beyond passive learning.

As a result, I remain a valuable asset to clients, adjust to emerging technologies and market fluctuations, discover new professional interests, and ensure my work remains engaging.

Freelancing requires you to take the initiative to increase your skills to maintain your relevance and stay at the forefront of your field, so prioritize this by scheduling the time on your calendar.

Learn from mistakes

Recognize that you’re going to make lots of mistakes along the way as a freelancer, but as long as you learn from them, they’ll benefit you in the long run.

That’s a key lesson Nicte Cuevas, a bilingual brand strategist and graphic designer, has learned over 12-plus years of self-employment.

“We will all make mistakes, and in my early years, I made a costly error when I relied on a verbal agreement with a friend,” Cuevas says. “That experience taught me the indispensable value of contracts. They are my silent partners, ensuring that every transaction is transparent. 

Now Cuevas is careful to get all details in writing. “By clearly defining what our services include—and do not include—we eliminate confusion and potential disputes. It’s a preventive measure that has saved me from challenging clients,” she says.

Prioritize what brings you joy

Self-employment is not for everyone. But when you’re clear on the pros and cons of freelancing you can work mindfully to tap into the benefits of this work arrangement and minimize the downsides.

One major benefit of freelance is having more flexibility and control over the clients you collaborate with, the projects you take on, and the schedule you follow. This is often the aspect of self-employment that brings many freelancers the most joy.

And finding which part ignites and maintains the joy of freelancing is what can help sustain your interest in this career path for the long haul.

For me, some of the most enjoyable moments of freelancing have been building out a range of service offerings and income sources. Each task requires me to leverage different skills, I’m working toward challenging goals that I’ve set for myself, and there’s a sufficient amount of variety in every workday.

Don’t be afraid to say no

Experiencing moments of overwhelm happens across every career path, but it’s particularly common when freelancing if you’re not intentional about how you’re structuring your practice.

According to Josh Garofalo, a SaaS copywriter and consultant who’s been freelancing for more than eight years, you need to put yourself in a position to say no.

“Many freelancers burn out by working for difficult clients at low rates and then quit. They do this because they need the work—any work,” he says. “If you can help it, don’t go full time until you have enough savings to confidently turn work down. Even better, don’t go full time until your business is threatening to interfere with your job.”

Prospects will feel your confidence on sales calls, and you’ll be able to close more easily at higher rates because of it, he says.

Embracing these lessons early on can help you better navigate self-employment for the long term and define what a sustainable career as a freelancer looks like for you. 

[This article was originally published on Fast Company.]

As LinkedIn evolves, more C-suite executives are posting on the platform to connect with their customers and employees.

According to LinkedIn, C-suite leaders have increased their posts by 9% year over year on the platform, resulting in a notable 37% uptick in post engagement. (Disclosure: I teach marketing and career development courses on LinkedIn Learning.)

In line with this shift, many CEOs are moonlighting as LinkedIn creators, publishing content and interacting with others on the platform as company ambassadors.

Of course, there can be challenges when representing your brand in a public forum, from being mindful of regulatory compliance to avoiding coming across as tone-deaf or disingenuous. (No one wants to be the next “crying CEO.”)

Here’s how three CEOs are making the most of their LinkedIn presence:

1. Express Your Genuine Self

Relatability isn’t attainable overnight, but a result of a continued effort of showcasing your perspective, values, and priorities.

Purposefully incorporating aspects of your point of view and background into what you’re publishing, like your interests, challenges, and ambitions, can help people build a connection with you as a leader.

Morgan DeBaun, the CEO of Blavity, a media and tech company that caters to Black millennial and Gen Z audiences, often incorporates her own experiences into her LinkedIn posts, making topics more conversational and relatable by providing helpful context.

For example, she has mentioned how her personal history correlates with an upcoming company event, reflected on her worries as an early founder, and discussed lessons learned from reframing what brings her joy professionally and personally.

“My advice to other leaders is to use social media as an opportunity to show the human side of your brand,” says DeBaun. “Don’t be afraid to share your personal journey, the challenges you’ve faced, and the lessons you’ve learned. People connect with stories and authenticity, so use that to your advantage.”

The goal isn’t to center everything you’re sharing on your experience as the CEO, but instead bring some of your personality to every post.

2. Prioritize and Acknowledge Employees

The popular assumption is that you’ll use LinkedIn to promote your firm to customers, shareholders, and external audiences, but some leaders say it can be helpful for communicating with employees.

You can tailor your updates to speak directly to your team by highlighting their contributions to the company’s progress, showcasing the brand’s culture and mission in action, and addressing employees one-on-one in the comments.

LinkedIn is a low-effort way for employees to stay informed but can help drive a noticeable improvement in their engagement, especially when you’re recognizing their work publicly.

Vas Narasimhan, the CEO of pharmaceutical giant Novartis, comments on his employees’ LinkedIn posts with encouragement, helpful context on their contributions, and with personal thank yous.

“We use the platform to share our journey—our successes, the ways we overcome challenges, and our vision for a healthier world,” says Narasimhan. And as a leader of a global company, he says, it also gives him another opportunity to engage with employees across the world without constraints of travel.

“It’s not simply about showcasing our achievements; it’s about creating a community united by a shared purpose to shape a healthier future and encouraging emerging leaders in our company and beyond to leverage their leadership and talents to tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time,” he says.

3. Attract and Recruit Talent

“I think the most unique thing to me about LinkedIn is the recruiting aspect,” says Everette Taylor, the CEO of Kickstarter.

“I don’t recruit people on Instagram. I don’t recruit people on Twitter or Facebook. Imagine someone trying to recruit you on Facebook, it’d be mad creepy.”

Taylor has a twofold approach to recruiting on LinkedIn as a CEO. 

He personally searches for talent on LinkedIn, sometimes directly sending messages to qualified candidates about open positions he’s looking to fill.

In tandem, he attracts talent by regularly posting about standout Kickstarter campaigns and creators, the company’s culture and accomplishments, and benefits like the company’s four-day workweek.

It’s an opportunity to show versus tell prospective candidates how the company is taking action on its goals, and done right, can increase your talent pipeline.

4. Share Your Experience and Expertise

Building an audience on LinkedIn involves sharing relevant insights that help people learn, especially given the way the site’s algorithm appears to reward content that offers knowledge and advice.

“By offering advice on entrepreneurship and navigating the business landscape, specifically targeting founders and small-business owners, I aim to support others on their paths and connect them with tactical advice and resources,” says DeBaun of Blavity.

“It starts with listening to what the community is discussing and understanding the challenges and opportunities within my field. From there, I share my insights, stories of overcoming obstacles, and strategies for success, always with the aim of offering tactical advice,” she adds. “You’ll often see me pose a question or problem I am frequently being asked, as well as my general approach. I want people to leave my social posts with clear next steps and to feel less alone!”

Meanwhile, Narasimhan of Novartis often shares information about advancements in the medical field. “Science today is advancing at an unprecedented pace, and as a CEO I have access to many conversations at the leading edge of progress, such as on AI in medicine or on new approaches to medicine that will define the future of health,” says Narasimhan.

“Through LinkedIn, I work to not only democratize those insights and conversations so others can benefit from them, but also to start conversations about emerging trends and topics so I can bring wider perspectives into those conversations and to the work I do every day.”

Because you have limited opportunities to capture and maintain attention on social media, make sure the advice and resources you are sharing are useful and identify the takeaways for your audience.

5. Exercise Mindfulness

“I think the biggest thing you have to think about is the perception of the consumption of whatever you’re saying,” suggests Taylor, Kickstarter’s CEO.

While it’s not possible to anticipate every reaction to what you’re publishing on LinkedIn, you should be intentional about which topics you’re covering and how you’re addressing them.

Be clear about why it’s important for you to contribute to the discussion on a particular topic as the CEO, given the weight your input can have on the dialogue.

Setting thoughtful guardrails can help ensure you don’t chime in on misaligned subject matter or hastily address sensitive topics that’ll cause unnecessary issues.

For example, avoid providing real-time updates for many projects and developments currently happening at your company as it’s often more prudent to wait before discussing them publicly.

“I don’t want to post about anything that I’m currently dealing with at a company that someone could potentially take personally,” adds Taylor. He aims to avoid unintentional connections between what he’s posting publicly and what’s happening privately at the organization.

Guardrails like these can help minimize mistakes, but missteps can still happen. Even Taylor has occasionally deleted posts right after publishing them, realizing the potential for complications. 

[This article was originally published on Fast Company.]

When you publish an ad, there is always a risk that it won’t work. 

Launching your company’s very first advertising campaign tends to be one of the riskiest and stressful investments you’ll commit to as there isn’t a precedent to follow.

Your first ad campaign will not only help set the tone with customers but will be closely monitored by company leadership trying to gauge the impact advertising can have.

To offset this pressure, recognize that marketers that develop a strategy to plan their ad campaigns are 356% more likely to see results from their efforts.

Proactively planning a TV commercial back in 2008 helped Progressive Insurance establish its brand and unexpectedly create Flo, the company’s mascot. 

The initial strategy for this ad was to showcase a superstore where people could easily shop for insurance, as a way to make their offerings more tangible to customers.

Focusing the campaign on what would connect with their customers and humanize the firm, the spotlight moved from the store to their now popular brand ambassador.

Progressive set the stage for a lasting campaign that’s kept the company relevant for over a decade — increasing revenue from $13.6 billion in 2008 to over $35 billion today.

By setting expectations for the campaign, focusing on their customers’ needs, sharing a value-driven message, and being mindful of the medium, the ad was a big success.

And it’s possible for your organization to earn results on your first big campaign by strategically planning the process with your goals and customers in mind.

Set realistic expectations

It’s helpful to consider your first ad campaign as the start of a series of investments in advertising for the long-term until you pinpoint what approach drives results.

“You need to understand that you’re not going to get optimal ROI until you do it for a while,” says Neal Schaffer, marketing consultant and author of The Age of Influence.

Incremental results should be the aim of your first campaign, as it’s uncommon to make a significant impact until you’re able to experiment to learn what resonates first-hand.

“Incremental daily progress (negative or positive) is what actually causes transformation,” says Seth Godin, a leading marketing speaker and author.

Whether a series of Facebook ads or an out-of-home campaign, each ad will provide your team with data and insights to inform future changes to your approach.

That’s how Intuit improved their advertising initiatives by learning from their first ad campaign’s performance across TV, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat.

Focused on earning awareness and consideration for their ecosystem of financial software, the campaign earned 25 million online views and increasing brand awareness by 17%, according to a YouTube brand lift survey.

With these results in mind, the company decided to focus their next ad campaign on storytelling across digital channels as a first priority, according to a CMO interview with Lauren Stafford-Webb, a marketing executive leading the campaign at Intuit.

Beyond experimenting to improve the results of your campaigns in the long-term, an immediate consideration to understand is what budget you’re able to allocate initially.

The exact cost will depend on the ad’s objective and the profitability of your business.

“Brand awareness at the very beginning is a great strategy,” but most firms focusing their first campaigns in this manner tend to be funded by venture capital, says Schaffer.

For most organizations that are self-funded with a tighter budget, it’s a better approach to focus on direct response — messaging that earns an immediate reaction at the start.

“You want to be looking for more impactful messaging that brings potential customers into your marketing funnel quickly,” adds Schaffer. 

Encouraging a purchase, a sign-up or an offer redemption is a cost-effective objective for a campaign initially as you can choose to only pay for conversions from the ad.

Launching a direct response campaign has never been easier using ad platforms from Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others, but with this ease comes more competition.

Empathize with your customers

The key to differentiating your campaign from others is targeting the right people. 

“We’ve all been on the wrong end of poor segmentation, meaning that the message was not relevant to us,” says Andrew Garberson, SVP of Marketing Services at Bounteous, a digital agency.

This is often the result of failing to be strategic with who you’re trying to reach and neglecting to take the time to empathize with your customers.

No one enjoys seeing a retargeting ad from a company right after you’ve made a purchase with them or seeing an ad for an item that’s out of season, says Garberson. 

Avoid offering ad experiences like these and instead, think critically about the interactions customers have with your messaging to be a more empathic advertiser.

By researching who your customers are, what they do, and why they do it, you’ll be able to craft more personalized, less intrusive messaging that encourages the right actions.

In addition, conducting this research can help your company distinguish its messaging as less than 40% of marketers are making decisions based on consumer research.

Surveys, diary studies, and focus groups are effective methods of collecting these insights from your customers directly, known as primary research.

There are affordable ways of gaining these insights in a short period of time through services like UserTesting, dscout, Hotjar, and SurveyMonkey. 

Like how the team at Wrike, a work management software, used SurveyMonkey to collect survey data on swearing in the workplace in two days to inform their new study.

The 1,120 collected responses helped the company produce a research study informed by consumer insight, and as a result, earned over 100 pieces of press coverage.

And there are also time consuming and costly processes for conducting customer interviews, usability testing, and similar techniques to gain deeper customer insights. 

For example, Pepsi spent nine months researching how its customers’ viewed the brand ahead of the launch of their first global campaign.

An alternative approach is to inform your messaging initially with secondary research, which are insights gathered by third parties about different industries and customers.

Available to purchase from large research companies and often accessible for free from government agencies, reviewing these insights can save you time ahead of a launch.

Choose a value-driven message

With the right customers in mind, it’s time to craft the right message for your campaign.

The message describes the themes you’ll address in each advertisement to encourage action from customers.

Focusing on your values is always a strong starting point as it’s a more interesting conversation starter than solely promoting your offerings, says Schaffer.

For instance, the first national ad campaign from Thinx, the period proof underwear brand, featured a fictional world where men have periods in everyday scenarios.

The commercial, airing on eighteen television networks and in audio segments across podcasts and Spotify, ended with the line “If we all had periods, would we be more comfortable talking about them?”

Instead of touting the benefits of their product, the brand focused their message on destigmatizing menstruation and only showcased their underwear at the end of the ad.

Starting a conversation as it relates to the brand’s values made the ad far more memorable, while still closely aligning with the interests of their ideal customers.

Leading with your organization’s values when possible is essential as “more than half of consumers said it is important for companies to have a mission beyond making a profit”, according to a PRWeek and Morning Consult poll. 

The values expressed in your campaigns won’t always reflect social causes as sometimes they’ll highlight how your company operates or the solutions you provide.

This is best seen in the series of playful videos and out-of-home placements that Olly, the nutritional gummy brand, released visualizing the solutions their products provide.

One ad features a person tossing and turning, removing numerous sleep masks and then finally falling asleep with the help of Olly’s sleep gummies. 

Another shows a person wrapped in a giant ball of string to symbolize their stress level, until they completely unwind after taking the brand’s stress gummies.

Highlighting the solutions Olly’s products offer to common challenges makes for a straight-forward campaign that isn’t overly promotional.

When depends on what and where

“My client’s best ad campaigns stand on three legs: the right person, the right message, and the right time,” says Garberson.

And each of these ‘legs’ informs the other as what message your campaign is focused on and where it’ll be distributed should inform when your customers see the ad.

For instance, Pinterest launched its first ad campaign focused on the message of “What If” to illustrate the variety of ways people can use the social network to try new things.

The goal was to earn brand awareness, highlight different use cases of the service, and showcase the company’s values around taking action and trying things offline.

With that message in mind, TV commercials and billboard advertising seemed like the right channels for showcasing the campaign offline.

In addition, the campaign was featured in native ads in the New York Times and Mic to reach potential users across different channels.

Each of these choices impacts their team’s decision on when to publish the campaign to ensure its message reaches the right people at different touch points simultaneously. 

“You have to realize it takes multiple touches until someone likes, knows and trusts you enough to actually buy your products,” says Schaffer.

While advertisers often aim to reach their customers with a campaign across different channels throughout the duration of an initiative, there is no ideal timeline to follow.

Sometimes the channels and tactics being used to distribute a campaign can help an organization reach audiences months after the initial launch of an advertisement.

For example, partnering with influencers can drive long-term visibility for a campaign.

An influencer’s content often has a longer lifespan than a traditional ad spend, says Schaffer, the author of The Age of Influence.

These influencers are more trusted by consumers and the content from individuals is often favored by the algorithms, he adds.

For over three years, Pampers has partnered with Chrissy Teigen, a model and TV personality, to promote their Pure Collection of eco-conscious, fragrance free diapers.

Taking part in the design of their products, starring in the campaigns, and sharing her participation across social media, the model and TV personality drives long-term awareness to the product line and the values behind the campaign.

Due to the longevity of the campaign, when it is promoted depends on the channel, new updates about their products, and ensuring they’re not promoting it too much.

While not every campaign is meant to be promoted or extended for the long-term, influencers are one approach to maintaining the momentum, especially since 89% of advertisers report the ROI of influencers is “comparable or better than other channels.”

Deciding when an ad campaign is best served to customers ultimately depends on who you’re trying to reach with a particular message and which channels are the right match.

Stay mindful of shifts in consumer behavior

Regardless of when you plan to launch your first campaign, it’s important to understand current trends in advertising, as well as consumer behavior in your industry.

Being aware of what’s relevant in the marketplace will provide insights into the most effective ways of structuring and positioning your advertisement for success.

For example, the streaming service Twitch featured the platform’s top creators in the company’s first advertising campaign as influencers are a topic of interest in 2020.

Consider what topics are most relevant to your audience at the moment and relate to your organization to naturally align your advertising with important conversations.

In addition, recognize that the channels your customers prefer to access for entertainment, news consumption, communicating with loved ones, and job-related tasks will always be in a state of flux.

While certain channels will continue to be a worthwhile investment, it’s important to reassess how you’ll distribute your campaign at any given time for maximum impact.

Recognize that every campaign involves a level of uncertainty, but by following these guidelines — the success you’ll achieve with your ads will far outweigh the risks.

What’s your favorite advertisement to date and how could you incorporate aspects of that ad into your own campaign? Please share in the comments.

Many organizations want to work with influencers to gain attention and drive results, but few have the budget to make it happen.

When working with a non-existent or limited budget, identify what your company can uniquely offer to influencers instead of always paying for their support.

The goal here isn’t to take advantage of influencers as I’m a big proponent of reasonably paying them for the value they’re able to provide.

Instead, my advice is to find a mix of approaches to incentivizing influencers so these partnerships don’t require a budget or are less costly.

Recently the Clorox Company set up an advisory board comprised of influencers to help the brand learn what kinds of content people want to see and to guide them on co-producing more impactful campaigns.

A takeaway here is that Clorox identified a way to work with influencers on an ongoing basis where both sides benefit, beyond just exchanging payment for promotion.

And that’s what you should do as well, whether you work at a non-profit, small mom-and-pop business, a midsized-organization, or even a large brand.

To start, think critically about what your business uniquely offers that would directly benefit an influencer enough to collaborate with you.

What you’ll offer to influencers depends on the products and services you provide, who your customer base is, the organization’s size, the industry you’re a part of, how long the influencer has been active, how engaged their audience is, and more.

In most cases, these non-monetary benefits to offer influencers fall under three categories: Exposure, Access, and Association.

1. Exposure – One of an influencer’s motivations is to continue to grow an audience interested in the content they create about their passions and expertise. If you can provide them with exposure to more of the right people, then it’s a benefit worth offering. This requires that your organization has an audience on its website, social media, email list, or elsewhere that aligns with the influencer. Here are ways to provide exposure as a benefit of an influencer partnership:

• Interviewing them on a relevant topic based on their expertise and including the discussion within a social media series, article, or video.

• Retweeting, sharing, or commenting on social media posts they create about your organization or relevant topics worth discussing.

• Allow them to contribute an article, video, image, or another type of media on one of your organization’s most popular channels.

2. Access – The ability to access products, people, events, and experiences that aren’t widely available is another distinct benefit that can be offered to an influencer. Like most people, influencers like receiving free things, particularly relevant items and experiences that help them continue to create and curate interesting content for their audience. Here are a few ways your organization can offer access to an influencer as an incentive:

• Send them free products to test, review, and create content about to inform them of your company’s offerings.

• Invite them as guests or participants in your organization’s events, which can be anything from having them contribute to an in-store demo or be a panelist at a conference you’re hosting or attending.

• Introduce them to relevant people in your network, whether that’s other business owners, marketers, or event planners that they might be able to partner with in the future.

3. Association – One partnership often leads to another for an influencer, which is why being aware of this and helping them land their next project is beneficial. Whether your organization is known locally, within an industry, or due to its philanthropic work, create opportunities for influencers to benefit based on your reputation or brand equity. Here’s how to help influencers associate themselves with your organization to better position them for future collaborations:

• Involve them in the production of an upcoming campaign by allowing them to provide creative input that they can showcase to other advertisers.

• Create a program that allows influencers to be an advisor or ambassador for your organization, similar to the idea behind Clorox’s advisory board. The goal is for them to provide useful support to your organization in the form of advice, take part in company activities or offer promotional support. In return, they can list this role as part of their bio on social media, add this collaboration to their resume, meet other influencers in the industry, and reference this work to land new campaigns.

• Facilitate volunteer opportunities that directly impact philanthropic causes, relate to your organization’s focus, and would benefit from the exposure participating influencers could offer. This provides influencers with an opportunity to see what it’s like to collaborate with an organization before committing to a paid campaign and its a volunteer experience organized for them to seamlessly participate in.

This isn’t an exhaustive list as there’s many ways to drive results with influencers without spending the big bucks.

Apply this advice by finding distinct ways of working with influencers on a regular basis that provide value, but don’t always require a budget. 

Maybe that’s offering a free meal to a mukbang star from YouTube or inviting a group of local influencers to be ambassadors for your non-profit.

Recognize that earning results from influencers is a viable option for a wider range of organizations than it may appear at first glance.

How could your organization work with influencers beyond just paying them to collaborate on a partnership? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Follow the leader is not only a children’s game but a concept ingrained in the social psychology that drives us to emulate what’s popular.

Marketers are notorious for paying close attention to what’s resonating in their industry amongst their peers and capitalizing on it, but often to a fault.

Whether duplicating a company’s branding outright or adopting an identical tone on social media, many marketing strategies today are exactly the same.

This sea of sameness in marketing doesn’t benefit advertisers as it quickly dilutes the effectiveness of a tactic when everyone adopts it at once.

And it doesn’t serve customers either as it’s difficult for them to distinguish one company’s offerings from another when they communicate so similarly.

While cost and product quality are top considerations, the distinctiveness of a company’s messaging can simplify the consumer’s decision-making process.

For example, if a health-conscious customer was choosing between products, they might select the organic option if they were aware of that benefit.

Mimicking a brand’s promotional efforts is more common today due to the ease of starting a company in the modern economy, considerably increasing the number of organization’s competing for a customer’s attention.

The numerous marketing tools that make it easy to monitor the progress of others is another factor increasing the overreliance on doing the same thing.

Many marketers, myself included, have fallen into the trap of following the lead of competitors and best practices because it’s an indicator of what works.

With pressure to perform for their boss or drive results for their clients, marketers embrace the methods that are likely to succeed and are less risky.

Reviewing the activity of competitors isn’t inherently a bad practice as it can be informative and provide ways to alter your own approach.

The problem is when we become dependent on following the activities of others as justification for a majority of our work as marketers.

Here are three ways to avoid following inline with industry norms by communicating distinctly with your customers.

Aim For Better, Not Just Unique

Touting the eco-friendly nature of a company’s approach used to distinguish it from the pact, but sustainability is now a key focus for many brands.

Yet certain company’s products are still sought out for their green approach to their industry like Patagonia’s apparel and Dr. Bronners personal care items.

The effectiveness of their distinct marketing has lasted for the long-term because they not only have a unique perspective but offer better products.

Customers aren’t actively looking for what’s different about a product, but for what items consistently delivering better value as advertised.

First, evaluate how your products and services benefit your customers over the other available options on the market.

These benefits could be the usability of your products, the convenience provided, the durability, flexibility or even the comfort level they offer.

With these benefits in mind, review how competitors talk about their offerings to determine what topic areas aren’t adequately being addressed.

Align your marketing to address this sweet spot between what benefits your products uniquely provide and what competitors aren’t covering.

Being distinct with the focus of your marketing will attract attention, but what drive purchases are products and services that are better than what’s available.

Experiment To Challenge Norms

Instead of following what others are doing, experiment regularly to see what new tactics and channels might be an effective investment outside the norm. 

“Marketers need to continually experiment to find new answers to today’s problems as well as answers to tomorrow’s challenges,” said Cheryl Burgess, author and CEO at social brand consulting firm Blue Focus Marketing.

“This means, look at the data, test, and test again. There are big opportunities for marketers to fundamentally understand their customers’ needs and to make the brand more relevant to capture the moment, and of course the sale.”

Most companies don’t experiment enough as testing a few times a month is often what it takes to find what works, or when they do test, they approach their experiments incorrectly.

Marketers should consistently run experiments based on a hypothesis that can be tested and measured to determine whether their assumptions are correct.

A hypothesis is an educated assumption about what outcome will result from a particular activity and must be able to be proven or refuted through testing.

One could be — Sending promotional emails to customers during warm weather conditions will lead to higher open-rates and coupon redemption.

Consider testing underutilized tactics and new feature sets on a marketing channel that are uncommon in your industry like Blue Moon being the first beer brand to release a national Pincodes program on Pinterest.

Another experiment to run is testing new and upcoming channels early to see if they’re worth further investment and to get active there prior to competitors.

Paramount Pictures, for example, is testing an account on the growing social network Vero to see if the channel can drive visibility and engagement to their upcoming films amongst a wider demographic.

Make a list of ideas for marketing experiments and then identify how to structure them inline with a hypothesis that can be measured effectively.

Build Moats To Diversify Your Marketing Mix

An economic moat, a term coined by Warren Buffett, describes sustaining an advantage over competitors for a company’s long-term success.

One way marketers can create their own moat is by building an engaged audience across channels to diversify where attention is earned and limit the reliance on any one medium.

Strategically choosing a mix of channels where customers are being reached is one way to stand out as each company’s marketing mix can be quite different.

This mix should consist of owned channels like gaining traffic on your website, as well as shared channels like building a subscriber base on YouTube.

For example, Peloton has built a large community of subscribers accessing live classes from their exercise bikes and a vast audience across multiple Facebook groups, one for all members and one for mothers.

Communicating with customers at different touchpoints is an opportunity to invest in a range of channels and distinguish your activity from others.

Addressing industry gaps with your product benefits, experimenting often and diversifying is key to becoming the leader that other marketers want to follow.

What’s your process for developing unique marketing that reflects your organization’s distinct perspective? Share in the comments below!

[This article was originally published on The Next Web.]