There’s no shortage of information and awesome blog posts, podcasts and videos. And while reading, listening and watching content like this is helpful, like you I know that when I need to do something to improve my business, the toughest thing isn’t deciding to change.

The toughest thing for me (and for everyone else in the world) is actually making that change.

You see I’ve always been a ‘thinker’, but I haven’t always been much of a ‘doer’.

In fact, I used to be genuinely confused as to why my business wasn’t doing as well as I expected. I knew everything I needed to know, but something was missing.

Then on a whim a few years ago I joined a coaching program with a local business coach. And that’s when everything clicked for me.

I discovered that we aren’t judged by what we know, but by what we do.

And I wasn’t doing much of anything.

And that coaching program transformed me step-by-step into the doer I desperately needed to be.

Honestly I wouldn’t be writing this today if it weren’t for that program.

And that is why I created the Freelance Formula Private Coaching Program – to help you make the changes necessary to reach your full potential as a successful independent business owner.

You can see what the program has to offer here. When you watch the video, you’ll see what this private coaching will mean for you and your business.

I’ve personally invested thousands on my own business coaching, and now you can reap the benefits for just a fraction of that. If you are interested in becoming a ‘doer’, this is one of the best ways I know how.

Top photo by Brian Hillegas

We all judge others. You do it. I do it. My 80-year-old Jewish Grandmother does it.

And whether we pay attention to the judgements we make or not, it’s just human nature. Our brains like to pigeon-hole other people for easy categorization (brains are remarkably lazy and efficient that way).

What I’m trying to say here is that first impressions matter, because that first impression is when you get categorized in someone’s mind as attractive, smart, witty, slow, jerky, or whatever.

And when you’re a freelancer, first impressions really matter, because sometimes landing that next big client can mean the difference between a 4-star dinner and PB&J (again). So the trick when you’re first meeting with a client is to appear smarter than your competition.

Notice I said “appear” smarter. Listen, we’re all smart and talented here.

Andy Warhol didn’t have more talent than countless “unknown” artists from the 1960s. In fact, he tried to remove all signs of his talent from his work.

The difference was that Andy Warhol was a marketing genius. He could sell the crap out of his ideas – I mean, he painted Campbell’s Soup cans for crying out loud. Try painting boxes of Lean Cuisine or Hot Pockets and see where that gets you.

So when you’re selling your services, talent and intelligence take a back seat to marketing and sales.

Unfortunately, when we’re in school they only teach us the talent part, and they leave out the valuable business skills we really need to make money in our industries.

Well, through trial and error (mostly error) and a ton of research, I’ve found some simple, proven sales techniques that you can use to look smarter today. And I made a video to show them to you.

The best part is that these aren’t “sleazy” sales tricks. These are bona fide strategies that will make clients think you’re the cat’s meow.

So go check out the video and let me know what you think.

“It is the job that is never started that takes longest to finish.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien

Today, April 30, marks the final day of the Business Cleanse, my 20-business day experiment to “cleanse” myself from my bad business habits.

I’m glad I went through this process, although I admit that this cleanse was more difficult than I expected. While this was probably the most productive month I’ve ever had, I still found myself wasting time on the “low hanging fruit” tasks rather than focusing on more challenging priorities.

One of the best things I accomplished this month was finally finding a virtual assistant who is capable and takes initiative. I’ve tried several VA’s in the past, but none of them have been a good fit for me.

Moving Forward

“The end is my beginning.” – T.S. Eliot

During this cleanse I avoided some of my worst workday habits, and hopefully that will translate into new, more effective ones. I plan to use the lessons and successes of this month to keep myself on task.

One area where I can use more improvement is focusing on myself. While my work habits this month were stellar, one of the purposes of the business cleanse was to spend more time on personal enjoyment, like bicycling.

So I may give another update at some point in the future, but for now, the business cleanse experiment is over. The results were truly amazing, and I highly recommend this process to anyone looking to become more productive at work.

If I could boil the effects of this month down to one primary benefit, I would say this process has made me more aware of how I spend my time, which has already proved invaluable.

Top photo by sashafatcat

“I know I can, I know I can, I know I can …” – Adapted from Watty Piper’s The Little Engine That Could

This first week on the business cleanse has been a roller coaster. In the spirit of productivity, here’s a brief summary of how things are going.

Monday was amazing. I laughed at 8:30 a.m. after spilling coffee grounds all over myself and the kitchen, and smiled while I was cleaning it up. That’s when I realized that my ideal morning routine is amazing. I was in a great mood and nothing could change that.

Tuesday was the opposite. Scattered, stressful, exhausting — yet still very productive.

I won’t go into the details of each day, but I have to be honest: I didn’t think the business cleanse would be this hard. Apparently work habits are hard to change.

But I’m determined.

Overall, I give my performance this week a B- for my effort. Not bad, but I can do much better!

Are you joining me on the business cleanse? Leave a comment and let me know how things went!

Top photo by Beyond Neon

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao-tzu

Today marks Day 1 of the 20-day business cleanse.

As we begin this process I think we should determine what we hope to accomplish by April 30. For me, I intend to develop a more productive business day and a healthier work-life balance. This is important to me because I am entering what will be one of the most stressful 3-month periods of my life so far, during which I will launch a new product and move across the country to a state I’ve never set foot in.

What intentions do you have for your business cleanse? Why is this important to you? Leave a comment with your intentions, and I’ll be sure to hold you to them.

Practice Makes Perfect

“Do, or do not. There is no try.” – Jedi Master Yoda

Notice the two meanings of the word “practice” in this article. In the article headline, practice means “habitual action”, while in the subheading above, practice means “actions trying to form a habit”.

To me, both of these meanings are a bit narrow. I believe that life is practice, which means practice is living (my TV yoga instructor would be thrilled with that definition).

As Yoda intimated in The Empire Strikes Back, there’s really no such thing as trying, only different degrees of doing. So as we move through this month, we must remember our intentions and hold on to what our ideal day looks like in order to do the best we can each day and avoid slipping into our old routine.

The purpose of this business cleanse is not to reinforce our existing habits, rather it is to break these ineffective habits and move us closer to our goals.

The Life You Have Is The Life You Lead

“Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.” – William James

My wife and I watched Paris, je t’aime this weekend (a series of 5-minute short films on love in Paris). One of the short films began with a man getting ready to tell his wife he is leaving her for his mistress. But before he can break the news, his wife tells him she has terminal cancer. In that moment he decides to rise to the occasion and he recommits himself to his wife.

In his wife’s final months, the man finds, to his amazement, that by acting like he loved his wife, he in fact fell deeply in love with her once more. Even after she passed he remained in love with her for the rest of his life.

You see, these new habits don’t have to “feel right” in order for us to implement them. If we wait to make a change until things feel right, we’ll be waiting forever.

Instead, if we act in accordance with the results we want, our enjoyment, and our success, will follow.

I’ll write an update about my week on Friday. Until then, let’s continue our discussion in the comments.

I know you can do this. Have a great week.

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”
– Henry Miller

My wife and I have been trying a new dietary program called “Clean”. It’s not one of those juice fasts or anything; it’s more about eating foods that get rid of the excess toxins your body has stored like a squirrel saving for winter.

Now I’m not recommending you go on the program. Far from it actually. It’s been tough: no red meat, no alcohol, no gluten, no dairy, no eggs—no tomatoes for crying out loud!

But the program has forced me to shake up my routine and examine how I eat and prepare meals.

You see, I take a lot of shortcuts when preparing food. I buy pre-made stuff. Sometimes I buy frozen items. I make things simply because they taste good even though they have little or no nutritional value.

And that got me thinking: don’t I do the same things in my business?

I seem to get stuck in the day-after-day business routine where I do the same things, take the same shortcuts, and goof off in the same ways without ever coming up for air and examining why I’m doing things the way I am and how well they’re working.

So I’m issuing a challenge to myself, and I’m wondering if you’ll join me.

I heard recently that it takes a full 21 days to form a new habit. So starting Monday, April 5 and ending Friday, April 30 I’m going on a business cleanse. (Okay, so that’s only 20 days, but who’s counting?)

The purpose of this business cleanse is to clean out the crappy work habits and replace them with good ones.

How The Business Cleanse Will Work

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi

If you’re still reading, that means you’re at least somewhat interested in joining me on this journey, right?

Well it’s no secret that if you want things to be different than they are (in your business, your life, whatever) you must first act as if that change has already occurred.

Now this doesn’t mean that if you want a million dollars you should go out and buy a Lamborghini (although if you can, that would be sweet).

Instead, consider what your life would look like if you already had the Lamborghini. What would your ideal workday look like? How would the “new you” handle difficult situations? How would others see you?

What we’re going to do on this business cleanse is act like we’ve already “made it”. (Wherever “it” is for you.)

For these 20 days in April, we’re going to cut out all the crap that typically fills our time and makes us unproductive, and we’re going to replace it with our ideal work habits.

Here’s what I’m doing for my new habits:

1. Only check my email and social media accounts twice daily.
2. Start each day by focusing on the one thing that is most important to my business.
3. Take a short break each hour to let my mind recharge, even if I don’t think I need to.
4. Drink more water (it fuels your mind).
5. Write a short list of accomplishable tasks each day and work only from that list.
6. At the end of the day, give myself permission to relax (work will still be there tomorrow).
7. Allow myself time to exercise for 20-30 minutes each day.

Will This Work?

“To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions.” – Sam Keen

I have no idea if this will work. But what’s the worst that could happen?

I learned from Donald Trump in The Art of the Deal that if you can live with the absolute worst-case scenario then a deal is solid. By that measure, this is a no brainer.

I know I can live with the worst-case scenario of the business cleanse, because I’ll be implementing my ideal workday. So the worst thing that could happen is—what? I learn that my ideal day sucks? Fine, then I’ll reformulate it, and strive for something different.

Will You Join Me?

“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” – Tim Cahill

Now, if you already think your work habits are perfect, then this whole business cleanse experiment isn’t for you. Lucky you. You’re perfect. (And why are you still reading this?)

But I think the rest of us could benefit from this crazy idea and I’d love to have you as my partner. We can hold each other accountable and whatnot.

So if you’re interested, leave a comment and we’ll be sure to stay in touch. And remember, the business cleanse starts Monday, April 5, so this weekend think about what your ideal workday looks like.

Here’s to you, and to happier, more productive, and more profitable businesses for us all.

Top photo by lrargerich

Today I’m announcing a new marketing presentation I’ve created for freelance professionals called the Freelance Marketing Machine.

This presentation and website are a bit of a departure from what I normally put out there, so I’m hoping you’ll check it out and share your feedback.

I created this presentation for freelance professionals like you who struggle with marketing their services (I know I sure used to!). The fact is, we’re not trained to market our services; we’re trained to draw, write, program, code, photograph, etc. But as you know, all the talent in the world means squat unless someone is buying your stuff.

To make matters worse, all you hear about how to market yourself is to use Google AdWords, the Yellow Pages and other paid advertising, and those things all cost money and have low return with services like ours.

A few years ago, I was in dire need to market my freelance business. The problem was my wife and I couldn’t afford to buy groceries, let alone spend $20 a day on Google AdWords or $1200 per year on the Yellow Pages. So without a large advertising budget, what are you as an independent freelance professional supposed to do to get the word out about your services?

Out of necessity I started researching cheap, effective marketing techniques that actually get results, and within a couple of months, my business was already starting to see signs of life. And while it took me a little while before my wife and I could afford to eat at fancy restaurants, we now enjoy an all-natural organic diet.

Now I’ve put the best techniques I’ve found together in one presentation!

The freelance marketing techniques I discuss in detail in the presentation are:

• The “Low-Maintenance” Method For Getting Referrals
• Easy Self-Promotion
• Effective Online Marketing (Other than Facebook and Twitter)
• Cronyism (a.k.a. Networking)
• Give To Get (Getting Clients Through Free Charitable Donations)

So why don’t you go give it a try? Here’s the link again.

Oh, by the way, there’s a special bonus presentation once you get on the inside. It’s a video on how I attract ideal clients, and I’ve never shared it with anyone before (but I can tell you it works brilliantly for me).

So go check out the presentation(s), and let me know what you think.

Enjoy!

If you were guaranteed success doing whatever you wanted, what would you do?

Evolutionary psychology tells us that our brains like to sabotage us when we think about making changes in our lives. You see, our minds enjoy the status quo. They prefer situations that are “expected” and actions that “normal.”

According to evolutionary psychologists, this “risk avoidance” mindset helped us survive in the wild all those thousands of years ago. When we were chasing prey and we reached the edge of our known hunting ground, our brain would signal that we should stop because the Dangerous Unknown lay ahead. When some people’s brains didn’t fire a warning signal and they entered the Dangerous Unknown anyway, they were probably eaten by wolves or something. That’s natural selection’s explanation for why we fear change.

Well guess what? We really have little to fear now from venturing into the unknown (certainly not death or maiming), so why do we still listen to our brains when they tell us we can’t do something?

We listen because our brain is a tricky, tricky beast. Since it has access to our deepest feelings and our darkest fears, it exploits us and makes compelling arguments that on the surface appear logical.

“Who are we to do this thing that no one has done before?” your brain might reason.

“How can we possibly succeed at this when there are so many other people who are already more successful than us?” it might justify. (This argument is ludicrous by the way—there will always be more success stories.)

Guess what? These are just thoughts. Your brain doesn’t know if you’ll be successful or not. How could it? (Unless you are clairvoyant, in which case you could probably become a success by predicting other people’s successes.)

So how do you argue with your brain? Do you do your best “Rosie the Riveter” impression and proclaim to yourself and everyone, “We can do it!”?

No, trust me, this does not work. I can tell you from experience that you’ll never win an argument with your own mind. It always has a comeback and it always knows which blow will cripple you. You simply cannot fight evolutionary psychology.

Instead of arguing with yourself, simply recognize that your mind is up to its old tricks, and say, “Thank you, Brain, for letting me know that I’m thinking or doing something new.”

After all, you do want to do something new, don’t you? Isn’t that what life is all about, living and trying new things? Personally, I think we should strive to be defined by our choices, not our fears.

So, I’ll ask again:

If you were guaranteed success doing whatever you wanted, what would you do?

This time, when your brain starts saying, “No, we’ll never be a famous musician,” or, “I doubt we’ll ever become a successful writer,” just thank it for its comment and move on with your life and toward your success.

My bet is that despite what your brain says, you have what it takes, and with the proper amount of desire, effort, and determination, you will succeed.

After my last post about the psychology of body language mirroring, my old high school friend Sidney commented that since most of his sales calls are over the phone, he uses a technique called verbal mirroring (or vocal mirroring). You use this technique to match the tone, intensity and jargon of the person you are speaking with over the phone. I had learned about the psychology of vocal mirroring from my mom, who is a public relations expert, so I told a few people about it. They couldn’t believe that something like this existed, so I decided to make a video about it.

In this video, I also describe a disarming technique that allows you to take a frustrated or aggressive caller and get them to be more friendly and open with you. Basically, you calmly yet forcefully ask the person to explain what they want. Simply by venting, they will calm down a bit and you can then use the vocal mirroring technique to make them feel more comfortable. In fact, I used this just the other day, and the woman who called me and was super aggressive ended up being one of the nicest people I’ve spoken with in a long time!

Also, I screwed up in the video. Turns out that the woman from the non-profit organization who called me the other day is named Angie (not Alice), and she works with the Children of Promise Mentoring Program here in Iowa City. It’s a really great organization, and I’m happy that in the end I am able to help them out.

So, what do you think about these new videos I’m making? If you like ‘em, love ‘em or hate ‘em, let me know! Also, please Leave a comment and let me know when you use these vocal mirroring techniques or how you’ve used them in the past because I’ll use your feedback for future content. Thanks!

Update: You should also check out my video on the psychology of verbal mirroring.

Hey, this is my first YouTube video, so be kind! If you have trouble loading the video, you can watch it here. I recorded this today because I literally just used this technique and I’m interested to know if you are interested in seeing more of this type of thing.

I discovered this simple body language technique from a $0.99 iTunes audiobook about four years ago, and it has been an incredibly effective in-person sales technique! Basically, the technique, called “mirroring” allows your body language and your client’s body language to be in sync. This helps them like you more (because they think you’re like them), and it also helps you get them to literally open up to your sales presentation. Awesome, right?!?

This technique uses some pretty interesting social psychology that shows that we like and respond best to people who are who are most like ourselves. I’m not exactly sure why this is (there is research to support it), but I just try to remember that “like attracts like.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone into a meeting with a “scary boss” and left the room thirty minutes later with him feeling like I was a good friend and ally. And trust me, I’m no expert, so if I can do, you can too!

By the way, I have a new newsletter that I’m starting (over on the right side of my website). If you haven’t yet, you should subscribe because I’m going to try to put some really awesome “off blog” content there just for the newsletter subscribers (I’ll be kicking this thing into gear around mid-March).

Anyway, let me know if/when you try this sneaky mirroring technique and how well it works for you.