Howdy friends! As freelancers we have to wear a crazy number of hats ?. We're accountants, marketers, web developers, social media managers, DTP experts, sales representatives and of course translators! Managing all these roles is quite a daunting task so I was wondering if there's something you don't like doing and you would like to outsource it?

Dmitry Sales, sales, and sales!! As an introvert this is by far the hardest part of freelancing for me, and I truly wish I had a whole team of sales representatives. I suppose a full-time accountant wouldn't be bad either... 🤔

KarenMontaldi I feel you @KarenMontaldi ! I'd do the same things, if I could! Sales are freaking hard, I also have almost no patience for outbound sales tactics (such as cold/warm emails). It's really discouraging when you have to hear people saying No on a daily basis. This is why I focused on my online presence so much, so I could have people coming to me when they need my services as opposed to going around the block and asking if anyone needs a translator. They also take so much time too! It's easily a full-time job in itself, and it seems like you just can't cut corners in sales or "do it a couple minutes per day" - that won't work.

What is one thing you wish you could outsource?

eleonorang

I'll jump on that wagon too, @KarenMontaldi and @Dmitry: sales and marketing are the hardest things for me to deal with.

Dmitry It's easily a full-time job in itself, and it seems like you just can't cut corners in sales or "do it a couple minutes per day" - that won't work.

That's SO true! Even if I find, say, 30-60 minutes a day to deal with that, it always feels like I didn't make any progress and that I'm still on day 1!

Dmitry

eleonorang That's SO true! Even if I find, say, 30-60 minutes a day to deal with that, it always feels like I didn't make any progress and that I'm still on day 1!

I'm right there with you! Selling requires doing something consistently over long periods of time. You gotta nurture those leads like they're your babies! And hopefully they'll pay you back years later... ?

eleonorang

Dmitry ....or turn into rebels and runaways ?

KarenMontaldi

Dmitry They also take so much time too! It's easily a full-time job in itself, and it seems like you just can't cut corners in sales or "do it a couple minutes per day" - that won't work.

So. true. It's so easy to feel frustrated with sales, because you're constantly feeling like you're literally accomplishing nothing ? But it really is a matter of nurturing them and hoping for the best! My biggest issue is always finding the "right" person to contact. I hate wasting people's times, and there's nothing worse to me than sending a detailed email to someone who isn't really the person you should be contacting haha

How do you guys make sure you're contacting the right person?

Dmitry

KarenMontaldi So. true. It's so easy to feel frustrated with sales, because you're constantly feeling like you're literally accomplishing nothing ?

Story of my life.

so true

I guess, I'm just easily frustrated and want quick results. Life, however, taught me many times that there's no such thing as a quick result.

KarenMontaldi My biggest issue is always finding the "right" person to contact. I hate wasting people's times, and there's nothing worse to me than sending a detailed email to someone who isn't really the person you should be contacting haha

How do you guys make sure you're contacting the right person?

Hey! That's an awesome idea for a new topic @KarenMontaldi! ? Would you like to start a new thread? Or do you want me to create it? ?

KarenMontaldi

Dmitry I'm on it! ?

Dmitry

KarenMontaldi Awesomeness! I'll join the discussion in there. If anyone else is interested it can now be found here: https://forum.theopenmic.co/d/140-how-to-contact-the-right-person-when-you-re-prospecting/

Teresa

I couldn't agree more with all of you on marketing/sales. I'm just awful at promoting myself ? I haven't even built my web page, yet, I keep putting it off... I really wish that all I had to do was translate as, well, I'm supposed to be a translator, but as I love all the pros of being a freelancer, I have to embrace the cons too... that's the price of freedom, I guess!

eleonorang

Teresa I feel you, Teresa!
Have you tried planning your goals and giving yourself deadlines to complete promotion/marketing tasks?

Dmitry

Teresa I'm just awful at promoting myself ?

Don't be so hard on yourself, @Teresa! At least you take some time to socialize with other translators. That's also a self-promotion of sorts. ?

Teresa I haven't even built my web page, yet, I keep putting it off...

When you put things off for too long I think what could really help if someone could help you accountable. Someone who could say: "No website? No more cookies for you, young lady." ?

Teresa I really wish that all I had to do was translate as, well, I'm supposed to be a translator, but as I love all the pros of being a freelancer, I have to embrace the cons too... that's the price of freedom, I guess!

Yep, freedom is quite costly these days. This is why many newcomers struggle so much because they thought it will be all about freedom and that they'll just do nothing and sit in their pajamas all day long and work will land magically on their lap. Sadly, this is not how the story goes. Freelancing means working 10 times harder than at your regular 9-5. Often without any visible results of your efforts during very long periods of time.

Dmitry

eleonorang Have you tried planning your goals and giving yourself deadlines to complete promotion/marketing tasks?

I do this all the time and then I fail to meet my goals and end up giving up on this system. I think I need to have less goals/tasks, which is hard for somebody who has so many things going on ?

eleonorang

Dmitry Does this mean you should be the one cookies are taken away from? Maybe that would work? ?
Anyway, you're right, setting achievable goals for ourselves is important just as much! You can still do a pretty nice job if you work on them and adjust them accordingly ?

Sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed by all the things I'm supposed to get done and to know how to do well, then I take a deep breath and try not to really think about it, but rather to take a look at all the baby steps I'm taking that hopefully will lead me to reach my goal(s) one day...

Dmitry

eleonorang Does this mean you should be the one cookies are taken away from? Maybe that would work? ?

No! Not my cookies! PLEASE! They're my fuel! ?

eleonorang Sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed by all the things I'm supposed to get done and to know how to do well, then I take a deep breath and try not to really think about it, but rather to take a look at all the baby steps I'm taking that hopefully will lead me to reach my goal(s) one day...

Congratulating yourself even on small accomplishments also helps to keep motivation levels up. It's not about achieving big goals, it's about understanding the journey and appreciating all the steps you take and celebrating small milestones.

Teresa

@Dmitry Oh no! I need my cookies! ? Maybe I might reward myself with cookies any time I manage to accomplish a task... just like dogs. ?
Thank you for the suggestion, @eleonorang! I kind of go into panic mode if I know I absolutely have to do something, actually... but a bit of planning does seem to work. Speaking of which, I have been working more on marketing/promotion lately, finally starting to work on my webpage and business cards. So there is hope even for a serial procrastinator like me.

ClaudiaBefu

Coaching! I'm also always full of ideas, jumping from one project to the next. But in order to achieve something, I need to learn to concentrate on one thing at a time. Focus, focus, focus...

https://oliveremberton.com/2014/if-you-want-to-follow-your-dreams-you-have-to-say-no-to-all-the-alternatives/

eleonorang

ClaudiaBefu Thanks for bringing up the topic! That article does provide food for thought...
Multitasking eventually becomes part of our work routine and possibly of our day life too... as freelancers and entrepreneurs we always have dozens of things to worry about and we cannot let any of those slip from our grasp, as we wear those "multiple hats" we mentioned before ? My boyfriend always tells me I keep too many tabs open in my mind-browser ?
That being said: is it really feasible for us to succeed with just one thing in mind? Can we let go of, say, the CPD in our field to worry only about our website renovation or our client hunt?

amirsalr

Hello , everybody! You are discussing about awesome things, sales, and marketing.
Although E-mail is helpful in marketing, but do you have marquee customers? How you could at least attract prospective customers?