We’re in the best period in history to be a freelancer or solopreneur. There’ve never been more opportunities and there’s never been lesser of a barrier to entry.Portfolios of work, pitches, and resumes might still have some relevance — but they’re no longer nonnegotiable pre-requisites to attracting clients.

The Freelance World Has Changed

The best way to attract clients in 2022 is to build your own brand online.When people see your build an engaged following, when they see you write so well for yourself, they want you to do the same for them.This is just how the human brain works today. We’re conditioned by conglomerates to compare and contrast our lives with what we see online. We’re hard-wired for comparison, we see something appealing online, and we want it too.Leverage this inherent human tendency to attract clients without even trying.

Building Your Online Brand

The reason proof of work is overrated in the online world today is that your online presence — if you’re good enough, is the proof of “work”.You see, as creators — we build our following online for fun because we genuinely like the process. We sometimes forget how much “work” that process actually is. Only when we get offers to be paid for it do we actually realise how much “work” we’ve put in.Clients trust you when they see that you’ve already written a whole library of great content for free.

Proof Of Your Work Is There For All To See

<ol><li>Try out different things until you find something you love doing.</li><li> Once you find what you love doing, prioritize it.</li><li>Go a few months at the very least without getting any money or attention in return.</li><li>That’s why you have to really love what you’re doing — in order to keep going without any validation and reward in the beginning.</li><li>Practice in public and get good at it.</li><li>Focus on getting better and don’t think too much about the returns. </li><li>If you’ve stuck to it for long enough and gotten good, opportunities will finally start coming to you without you having to go looking for them.</li></ol>

A Blueprint To Follow

Pitching, scouring freelance platforms for gigs, and trying hard might work — but they’re extremely boring and demotivating. Rejections hurt.Building your personal brand online takes boredom and rejections out of the equation.You won’t get bored because you’ll be doing what you love. You won’t get rejected because they’ll be coming to you.

Branding Yourself

<ul><li>Everyone likes talking about themselves, that’s all you really have to do when it comes to building a brand online.</li><li>‘Building a content brand’ is just a fancy way of saying — speak about yourself in a way that will help your audience.</li><li>If you do this with patience and persistence, you’ll get all the rewards you can possibly imagine.</li></ul>

The Bottom Line

We’re in the best period in history to be a freelancer or solopreneur. There’ve never been more opportunities and there’s never been lesser of a barrier to entry. Portfolios of work, pitches, and…

Stashed ideas

F*ck Pitches. Do This and Clients Will Come To You Instead.

In today’s information-saturated age, people are often too preoccupied to notice what you’re offering unless it’s packaged and presented appealingly enough to break through all the noise.<ul><li>When people ask, “What do you do?” or “Why should I buy this?” it’s your job to make a long story short.</li><li>If someone can’t repeat your message back to you after you’ve told it, they didn’t “get it.” </li><li>If someone can’t remember your message, you wouldn’t get their business.</li></ul>

POP!: The Premise

You need to answer the “9 Ws” for your message/product/service:<ul><li>What am I offering?</li><li>What problem does my idea or offering solve?</li><li>Why is it worth trying and buying?</li><li>Who is my target audience?</li><li>Who am I and what are my credentials?</li><li>Who are my competitors and how am I different from them?</li><li>What resistance or objections will people have to this?</li><li>What is the purpose of my pitch?</li><li>When, where, and how do I want people to take action?</li></ul>

The Nine Ws You Need To Ask Yourself

<ul><li>The first requirement of a POP pitch is to be purposeful. People need to be absolutely sure of what you do/offer from your image/introduction/slogans alone. Examples of memorable slogans are given.</li><li>A pitch also needs to be original or one of a kind. Things that are original are appealing or, at the least, novel enough to try.</li><li>Pithy means concise and precise. The top slogans of the 20th century, as selected by Advertising Age magazine, are all less than seven words.</li></ul>

Your Pitch: The Three Requirements

The “alphabetizing technique” is where you take some of the “core words” relating to your product/service/message and make them more original by going through the alphabet and changing the sound of the first syllable.A bar used the alphabetizing technique with their “happy hour” to produce “yappy hour”, a special hour for dog owners.The “spell chuck” technique is switching out words or parts of words with homophones, such as “Curl up and Dye” for a hairdresser, “VoluntEARS” for a Disney customer service program.

Word-y Techniques

Try to “capture conversational catchphrases.” Pick up on unique phrases used in your industry or in relation to your message/product. Build a Rewarding Career, Job Search Techniques sounds dull but  I Don’t Know What I Want, But I Know It’s Not This sounds catchy and conversation oriented.Come up with catchphrases that are linked to what the customer/reader wants to hear in relation to the product. For example, for a toothpaste company making a child’s toothpaste: Look, Ma. No cavities!

Catching The Conversation

Anytime we elicit a laugh, people are more likely to like us and whatever it is we’re offering.Use all sorts of humour (except adult, rude, offensive) in your message and pitches. Trashy newspaper headlines, etc.Rearrange clichés to end up with fresh sounding phrases. For example, “I rub people the right way.”To Michael Jordan, it was said “Remember, Michael, there’s no I in team.” Jordan replied, “Yeah, but there is in win.”

Using Humor

The “Half-and-Half Technique” is when you make columns of related words that are based on your message and then try combinations of them. This is a common technique for coming up with domain names.Blend two words into one, like giraffiti, staremaster, Internut etc.

Two To Tango

The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth

The “contraband” technique is when you take a contrary position in a message, such as a “TV is good for your kids” or an upside-down Christmas tree (“leaves more room on the floor for gifts!”) .Difference stands out.Think “how can I introduce something that causes people to rethink their assumptions and question their current beliefs?”

Saying The Unexpected

<ul><li>Alliteration is given as a technique to make powerful titles. Examples: Weight Watchers, King Kong, Boombox, Dirt Devil. </li><li>Do remember to never sacrifice clear for clever.</li><li>Change a message to fit a beat or natural-sounding flow if one presents itself (e.g. rhymes). </li><li>Is your slogan in a beat that’s easy to repeat?</li></ul>

Sounds Good To The Ears!

<ul><li>Make your content come alive with first-person stories.</li><li>Examples are better than explanations.</li><li>Re-enact stories rather than “telling” them. Be visceral and active in your storytelling.</li><li>People remember stories, even if they don't remember anything else.</li></ul>

Keeping The Interest: Storify

<ul><li>Comb newspapers for current quotes.</li><li>Quote yourself, if you wish.</li><li>Quotations are a quick way to establish precedence. (And to validate ideas.)</li><li>Open eyes, ears, hearts, and minds with Aha! quotes.</li><li>Craft a memorable money phase. “Show me the money” from Jerry Maguire is given as an example. Money phrases drive word-of-mouth marketing.</li><li>You can “rip off” quotes by changing them to include your message in a funny way. For example, “I think, therefore iPod.”</li></ul>

The Power Of Quotes

Pop! is a lively, fun, and inspiring guide to getting heard, getting remembered, and getting results.

An inspirational handbook introduces the POP! process--to make messages Purposeful, Original, and Pithy--in order to promote one's ideas successfully, discussing such concepts as Muse It or Lose It, the Eureka Moment, the Jerry Maguire Rule, Contra-Brand, and Idea Chemistry.

Pop!: Stand Out in Any Crowd

There are limits to the human attention span, which is why a pitch must be brief, concise, and interesting.

You can have all the knowledge about your subject, clearly state your most important points with passion, you can be well organised and still not be convincing.This is because a great pitch is not about procedure. it's about getting and keeping attention. To do that,<ul><li>You have to own the room with frame control.</li><li>Drive emotions with intrigue pings</li><li>Get to a hookpoint quickly. A hookpoint is where your listeners become emotionally engaged and involved.</li></ul>

The presenter's problem

We must know how the brain works if we want to pitch successfully.The brain consist of three basic parts.<ol><li>The inner part is referred to as the "crocodile brain" and is concerned with survival. It filters all messages for fight or flight responses.</li><li>The midbrain tries to make meaning of things and social situations.</li><li>Finally, the neocortex use reason to think through complex issues.</li></ol>When we pitch, the message is first processed by your target's crocodile brain, which is why you must bring something new, exciting and positive, to enable the "croc brain" to pass on to the next part.

Why pitching is difficult

Once you gain attention, you have to convince. You should become the prize and the object of desire. Show your audience that you are not desperate to sell and don't depend on anyone. Successful prizing means your target chase you and ask to be involved in your deal. Ask your target to qualify themselves to you. Set a time frame for when the offer expires.

Turn yourself into the prize instead of chasing your target

Frames are like lenses through which we view a situation. When people come together, the stronger frames will overpower the weaker frames. The winning frame governs the social interaction.  <ul><li>The power frame: Defiance and light humour at the same time are the keys to seizing power.</li><li>The time frame: Establish that your time is important, not that you intrude on your target's time.</li><li>The intrigue frame: As soon as your target thinks they know and understand your idea, they stop paying attention. Tell a short story about you overcoming an obstacle.</li><li>The prize frame: "I'm choosy who I work with."</li></ul>

Use multiple frames to get people to favour you

<ul><li>Set the frame. Every meeting is governed by a frame or point of view. The strongest frame always wins.</li><li>Tell the story. People often fall back into an analytical mindset. Grab attention with a provocative story that breaks the analytical mindset.</li><li>Reveal the intrigue. Use risk, danger, uncertainty, and time constraints to keep your audience's attention.</li><li>Offer the prize. Know how to change the tables so that your target chases you.</li><li>Nail the hookpoint. Most final decisions are made on emotion, not logic. Get your audience emotionally engaged in your idea.</li><li>Get the decision without acting needy.</li></ul>

The STRONG method

<ol><li>Introduce yourself and the big idea. Do it fast, clean, and problem free.</li><li>Explain the budget and secret sauce (an unexpected gain)</li><li>Offer the deal: Describe what your audience will receive when they decide to do business with you.</li><li>Stack frames and hot cognitions: A hot cognition is when you decide you like something before you understand it.</li></ol>

Pitch in four sections

Gold Medal Winner--Tops Sales World's Best Sales and Marketing Book “Fast, fun and immensely practical.” —JOE SULLIVAN, Founder, Flextronics “Move over Neil Strauss and game theory. Pitch Anything reveals the next big thing in social dynamics: game for business.” —JOSH WHITFORD, Founder, Echelon Media “What do supermodels and venture capitalists have in common? They hear hundreds of pitches a year. Pitch Anything makes sure you get the nod (or wink) you deserve.” —RALPH CRAM, Investor “Pitch Anything offers a new method that will differentiate you from the rest of the pack.” —JASON JONES, Senior Vice President, Jones Lang LaSalle “If you want to pitch a product, raise money, or close a deal, read Pitch Anything and put its principles to work.” —STEVEN WALDMAN, Principal and Founder, Spectrum Capital “Pitch Anything opened my eyes to what I had been missing in my presentations and business interactions.” —LOUIE UCCIFERRI, President, Regent Capital Group “I use Oren’s unique strategies to sell deals, raise money, and handle tough situations.” —TAYLOR GARRETT, Vice President, White Cap “A counter-intuitive method that works.” —JAY GOYAL, CEO, SumOpti About the Book: When it comes to delivering a pitch, Oren Klaff has unparalleled credentials. Over the past 13 years, he has used his one-of-a- kind method to raise more than $400 million—and now, for the fi rst time, he describes his formula to help you deliver a winning pitch in any business situation. Whether you’re selling ideas to investors, pitching a client for new business, or even negotiating for a higher salary, Pitch Anything will transform the way you position your ideas. According to Klaff, creating and presenting a great pitch isn’t an art—it’s a simple science. Applying the latest findings in the field of neuroeconomics, while sharing eye-opening stories of his method in action, Klaff describes how the brain makes decisions and responds to pitches. With this information, you’ll remain in complete control of every stage of the pitch process. Pitch Anything introduces the exclusive STRONG method of pitching, which can be put to use immediately: Setting the Frame Telling the Story Revealing the Intrigue Offering the Prize Nailing the Hookpoint Getting a Decision One truly great pitch can improve your career, make you a lot of money—and even change your life. Success is dependent on the method you use, not how hard you try. “Better method, more money,” Klaff says. “Much better method, much more money.” Klaff is the best in the business because his method is much better than anyone else’s. And now it’s yours. Apply the tactics and strategies outlined in Pitch Anything to engage and persuade your audience—and you’ll have more funding and support than you ever thought possible.

Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal

A great pitch is describing your business or product within two sentences. Buyers and investors are experts at summing up a product's potential at a quick glance. They need to know within a minute if they should part with their money or else they'll stop listening.

Keep it concise

When you can make a buyer laugh or engage, you are a step closer to getting a deal. If you show confidence and energy, you can get any buyer to act.

Be exciting

An investor pays attention to how well you listen and other qualities that show that you're easy to work with. If entrepreneurs don't listen to questions that are asked during a pitch, they won't hear you down the road, and won't be a good partner.

Sell yourself

The buyer won't find everything right, such as selling female-oriented products to male buyers. But buyers know their customers. One determining factor is whether consumers won't be able to live without your product.

An opportunity that can't be missed

You need to be aware of every unit in the warehouse, the numbers on the books, the orders coming in. You need to be ready with answers for how you intend to plan for the future.

Cover all your bases

Know your facts about whether the product has been or can be profitable. If you need to regularly explain why your product is unique, you probably have a gap in your market research.

Base it on data

If you have a tangible product, come to your pitch with a flawless prototype. If you decide on giving a demonstration, treat it like a performance where you have to practice until it becomes second nature.

Practice

When Lori Greiner gives a pitch to customers, she can almost guarantee that the product will sell out in a few minutes. Before you make your next pitch, look at her tips on what makes a pitch work. 

"Queen of QVC" and Shark Tank star Lori Greiner shares seven tips for making your company pitches stand out. Get social with Inc. on: Facebook: http://on.inc.com/ilqUryJ Twitter: http://on.inc.com/8FGInRj LinkedIn: http://on.inc.com/gt7KsIn Instagram: http://on.inc.com/wLObvE2 Pinterest: http://on.inc.com/8lPoT0r

Shark Tank's Lori Greiner Shares 7 Tips for a Perfect Pitch | Inc.

If you’re not telling a compelling story, then you’re losing your audience before you’ve even started. Numbers and other data will make your audience believe but stories will make them engaged listeners.
There’s a big misnomer whereby people perceive storytelling as telling a little ice breaker or making some jokes. This isn’t the case. Storytelling actually dates back thousands of years in the form of artifacts and literature. It’s the way information was conveyed when language first originated in the cave days and that’s how our brains and communication developed.

The Importance Of Storytelling

One of the biggest mistakes that many people make is putting together disjointed pitch decks that are very heavy on numbers but don’t have a story element. Presentations have an overload of information with endless bullet points while still failing to highlight critical aspects such as the customer experience.Instead, go easy on the data. Don’t just add everything with the hope that something will stick. You should be giving a distilled, clear, concise view because you come across looking much smarter that way — and then let them ask you questions.

Too Much Information

The best way to highlight the problem is with a story. “You can weave the storytelling into the storytelling framework. Talk about your origin story. Where did you come up with the idea? What was the pain you identified in your lives or in the life of someone that you cared about?  Think about how your journey began and your inspiration to start. You can then expand it from your micro to the macro by introducing the bigger problem supported by relevant numbers to drive the point home.

The Best Approach To Create A Pitch Deck: The Problem and the Genesis

Ensure you can explain your product or solution simply in a solution statement. For example, “we do X for Y by Z.” It’s important that your solution statement is easy for anyone to understand. You can then show your audience a demo. Take them on the user journey and showcase your product through a user story because it’s a lot more impactful. “It could be a video. It could be screenshots. Use a real client if you can because it’s much more powerful.

Your Hero: The Product Or The Solution

You need to give a bit more insight into the business element by clearly explaining your business model, the market, the facts and figures, the competitive landscape, and the go-to-market strategy. People often start off with the hero’s plan as the first act, which isn’t the best route to take. While you absolutely want to highlight that there’s a big market among other factors that show the viability of your product or solution early on, you don’t have to get so deep into it at the very beginning.

The Hero’s Plan: The Business

This step details what the future looks like and the direction your business will take moving forward. “Where are you going? What’s your big vision? What will the company have shifted in the market when you are successful in three, five, or eight years from now?” Establish the different milestones that will get you to your destination, including the additional markets you’ll look to penetrate and everything you’ll need along the way to turn your vision into reality.

The Future: The Direction Of The Business

When it comes to numbers, you want to include things like growth metrics, engagement, and revenue. Stay away from meaningless vanity metrics that add little to no value. Instead, go for the measurable statistics like monthly active users that’ll truly make an impact.

The Data In The Deck

If you’re not telling a compelling story, then you’re losing your audience before you’ve even started. Learn how to create the perfect sales pitch deck!

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

#pitching

IDEAS ABOUT #pitching

F*ck Pitches. Do This and Clients Will Come To You Instead.

Pop!: Stand Out in Any Crowd

It's time to

READ

LIKE

A PRO!

Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal

Shark Tank's Lori Greiner Shares 7 Tips for a Perfect Pitch | Inc.

How To Create The Perfect Pitch Deck ⎪Predictable Revenue

Bite-sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

#pitching

IDEAS ABOUT #pitching

F*ck Pitches. Do This and Clients Will Come To You Instead.

Pop!: Stand Out in Any Crowd

It's time to

READ

LIKE

A PRO!

Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal

Shark Tank's Lori Greiner Shares 7 Tips for a Perfect Pitch | Inc.

How To Create The Perfect Pitch Deck ⎪Predictable Revenue

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career