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How to Stay Safe on Your Freelance Journey

This may be your year to make significant changes like looking for a new job or looking to make some extra money on the side.

If you’re not quite sure what your next career move might be, then you should consider signing up for online freelance sites like Upwork. They allow you the ability to look before you leap 100 percent into your passion.

The beauty of online freelance sites is that you have the ability to do so from the comfort of your own home. Be sure to check out the blog post because I’ll be sharing a list of freelance sites that you can check out. Now before you start your freelance career I want to share some do’s and don’ts that you really need to think about when you work on online freelance sites.

It seems like there are new online freelance sites popping up every day. Needless to say, they are not all going to reputable. It’s really important to do your homework. So here’s a couple of ways that you can check to see if a site is reputable:

I always check company reviews. I want to see if there are multiple sources that can verify that the site is legit.

- I then check to see the company’s communication policy. I prefer to keep ALL of my communication about the projects that I’m hired for on the freelance website. That way both parties have access to the same information, documents, etc. This is extremely important because when you start working on multiple projects having one central location is going to make your life a whole lot easier.

What is the site’s refund policy? Again, there’s a lot of shady people out there. There are people who will try their best to get something for nothing. I actually had someone give me a 5-star review and then went to their bank 8 days later to try to cancel their order. They said I delivered the project late. This was a lie.

I literally delivered the project to this person within 24 hours. Now since all of the communication was on this freelance site’s platform, the company was able to see that this person was trying to run a scam. Everything worked out in my favor but I’m still upset that this site decided that the fake cancellation still went against my account profile. Even though that still makes me mad, I’m just happy I got my money back.

If you’ve gotten this far, then it’s time to check in to the most important thing, how are you going to get paid? There are a lot of scams out there. I NEVER ever work on any sites where I don’t feel comfortable that I will actually get paid. I don’t do any work without having money sitting in the freelance site’s escrow service or being paid for half of the project. I will NEVER work without being paid or having money sitting in the site’s escrow service.

Another thing that you will want to consider is your work sample policy. Depending on what services you offer, you may or may not want to offer samples of your work. I’ll give you a perfect example. I do voice over work. I have samples of various voice over projects on my profile. Therefore, whenever I see someone that asks for me to read a sample script of what is provided before they can hire me for the job, I typically skip over these projects for the majority of the sites that I belong to.

Mainly because I know that if that site has a lot of non-native English speakers many times this little audition is the actual project. Instead of hiring you to do the project, they choose to act like they are going to hire you by disguising the actual project as an audition. Again, I follow this rule on the majority of the sites I’m signed up to do voiceovers on but not all of them. You have to use common sense and decide which one is best for you.

Another scam that I have seen is when people ask to see samples of your written content. You have to go with your gut on this one. However, I know for a fact that sometimes (especially if your site has a lot of folks outside of the U.S.) people will then take those exact same samples that you shared with them and use them to build up their own profile. Again, you have to be careful. I know for a fact that I might have lost some customers based on my work sample policy, but I’m confident that I saved myself from the colossal headache of chasing people down so I can get paid.

Again, I hope I didn’t scare you, because working online has been an amazing experience for me. I’m confident it will be for you as well if you keep this advice in mind.

Click here to get my list of recommended website to help you get started on your freelance journey.

If you have any advice or have a freelance site that you would like to share and you’re listening to this on the Anchor platform you have the ability to call into the show. So be sure to let me know.

Thanks so much for listening to today’s podcast. I’m confident that my side hustle of helping others to invest in themselves via my youtube channel, podcast, and most importantly my online courses can be of assistance to you.

If you enjoy Starengu’s podcast, please consider becoming a supporter of by donating to help offset the cost of producing this show. 🙂

Remember, if you’re everything to everyone then you risk being no one. You never know who you may inspire.

In order to be notified when new content is available, please be sure to subscribe to my podcast on Anchor, iTunes, Spotify and Google Play.

How to effectively generate leads with Interact quizzes-Part 2

This is part 2 in the How to Generate Leads with Interact quizzes series. Click here to see the first post in this series.

If you’re looking for a quick, cost effective lead magnet, then I highly suggest you incorporate quizzes into your marketing campaign. It’s a free, subtle fun way to increase your mailing list. People love taking fun quizzes to see how accurate the quiz is and share there results with their friends.

In a previous post, I demonstrated all of the features that Interact’s free version has to offer. I was impressed with the free version, but the premium version is where it’s at people! I LOVE how Interact’s quizzes allow you the ability to increase your brand’s recognition while gaining insights about your consumers.

Discover how Interact’s premium version quizzes will help you easily convert your leads to customers.

Check out the below video and sign up for your free account right here.

Video Key Markers

Intro 0 to 6minChoose a template 6 Create Optin Form 8:30Customize Resuts Field 10:47Customize Questions 13Branding your quiz 16:31Creating triggers for your quiz( connecting them to you email address 19:10Create a group in Mailerlite 19:47Create an automation 22Create a trigger to connect to Mailerlite Group 24:20Test integration 25:43Promote your quiz 27Install plugin 27:48

Why it’s important to take time out to invest in yourself

Ever since I was a kid, my mom has always preached to me that is important to invest in yourself. It’s been many moons since I graduated from college, but I remember my college graduation ceremony like it was yesterday. I was elated and relieved because I had finally obtained the “key” (or so I thought) to unlock my dream job. It was also a sense of relief to me that I no longer had to keep up with the insane schedule of working from 8am to 4:30pm and then attending class from 5:45 pm to 9pm four days a week. I somehow maintained this insane schedule for four looong years. I was finally done!

I paid my dues and now it was time to experience success. However, as I grew older I quickly began to realize that true success involves your ability to continually invest in yourself.

In case you don’t have time to listen to the video in its entirety, below are points that I discuss in the video:

Degrees aren’t magical

When you invest in yourself you realize that your degree will only take you so far in life. You still have to do the work. You will be left behind if you don’t keep up with the new technology and concepts that are happening within your industry.

Your knowledge may not always be appreciated when you invest in yourself

I’ve worked with and for people who had all sorts of fancy degrees. Yet, these folks still somehow manage to be a few fries short of a happy meal.

When people notice that you’re starting to invest in yourself, some will go out of their way to get you to “dumb it down” so you can be on their level. Don’t fall into this trap. Force these folks to elevate themselves so they can be on your level.

Increase your creativity

When you invest in yourself, you will enhance your ability to see a variety of ways to solve an issue. You’re going to feel more confident in your ability to demonstrate the new skills that you learned. Once you feel comfortable with the skills you learned, you should think about teaching a course. If you’re not sure how to create a course or would be interested in receiving course creation assistance, I would be more than happy to assist you.

Diversify your income

Investing in yourself forces you to be more aware of opportunities outside of your 9 to5. When you start gaining new skills, you will realize that you have way more potential than what you may be able to demonstrate on your job. You’re going to end up taking the initiative to look for ways to gain income from doing something that you love.

Start a blog or start a side hustle

Take time to showcase those skills to the rest of the world! Be sure to create a side hustle focused on providing services or selling products that you’re confident you will be able to deliver. Start a blog to chronicle your journey so you can look back on your progress.

These are my main reasons why I feel that it is important to invest in yourself.

Why do you feel it is important to invest in yourself? How do you invest in yourself? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Don’t forget to join us in the Goal Slayers Facebook Group!

How to Generate Leads with Quizzes

This is part 1 in the How to Generate Leads with Interact quizzes series. Click here to see the second post in this series.

This is part 1 in our two-part How to Generate Leads with Quizzes series. Part of this series can be found here.

In order to spread the word about your business, you have to generate leads. There’s a variety of methods that many brands use in order to accomplish this feat. The majority consists of tactics relying on social media, content marketing, etc. as an attempt to anticipate and satisfy their customers’ needs. However, one often overlooked tactic are quizzes.

Quizzes are a fun, low-cost solution to help brands to reduce the time it takes to connect with their audience while capturing leads. People love the opportunity to discover and share insights about themselves.

Therefore, if you’re trying to increase your brand recognition with quizzes you really need to look into Interact’s quizzes. Interact’s quizzes have a very similar look and feel to a Buzzfeed type of quiz. You have the ability to create your own quiz or use a pre-designed template. The best part about this tool is that you can setup your quizzes to require people to input their email addresses in exchange for finding out how well they did on their quiz.

Not only are you gaining incredible insights from your customers, but you’re increasing the amount of time that they spend on that they spend on your website. The more time people spend on your website encourages them to explore additional content that your brand has to offer. Discover how Interact’s quizzes will help you easily convert your leads to customers.

Check out the below video and sign up for your free account right here.

This is part 1 in our two-part How to Generate Leads with Quizzes series. Part of this series can be found here.

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How to Create Infographics and Presentations with Visme

Bloggers are well aware of how important it is to have high-quality resolution photos. We use them on our blogs, social media, videos, etc. When you ask most bloggers what software they use to create their visual content, you will most likely hear Photoshop, Illustrator or Canva.

I’m guilty of this as well. Photoshop and Canva are my go-to software (I also use RelayThat which I discuss in my Brazen Brand and Design course). However, if I need to quickly create infographics or presentations I’ve been using Visme (especially for the infographics). Visme is incredibly user-friendly an allows you to create infographics, presentations, social media content, etc. in minutes.

Even though I highly recommend Visme, I do feel that there are areas where I feel that they could improve:

1.) I realize that you have the ability to customize your templates, but I would like to see an increase in the number of available templates. I rarely build my templates completely from scratch. I try to look for a template that has the layout I want and make adjustments from there. I wish there were more templates in Visme because having that variety can help spark your imagination.

2.) None of the major online visual content creation software allows you the ability to automatically create additional social media images without having to create only one image. This is one of my favorite features that RelayThat offers and one I hope to see become a standard in other software as well.

These are the only two areas I feel need to be improved and I’m sure you will agree. Check out the video and let me know your thoughts.

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How to Conduct Keyword Research with Ahrefs

If you’re looking to perfect your marketing and SEO skills then look no further than Ahrefs!Ahrefs is an amazing all in one solution that will allow you the opportunity to effectively gain data that will help you produce content and campaigns that will resonate with your audience. Check out the video below and be sure to sign up for their free 14 day trial.

Discover how to improve your keyword and content research efforts with Ahrefs.

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If you would like to learn more about how to market research can help you perfect your ability to connect with your audience, then check out our Master Your Niche course.

How to Create and Embed Social Share Links within a PDF

One of the best ways to build your email list is to create a lead magnet. A lead magnet is valuable content (i.e. checklist, cheat sheet, etc.) that your audience desires to receive in exchange for providing you with their email address.Getting people to provide their email address is not an easy feat to achieve. Therefore, you have to make the most of your opportunity. One way to do so is by creating social share links that you embed within your lead magnet.Check out the below tutorial and don’t forget to download our Social Share Links Guide.

125 Ways to Promote Your Brand

If you build it, they will come,” is advice that only works in the movies. In the real world, savvy business owners are all too familiar with the fact that customers aren’t going to “magically” appear.If you want your business to grow, then you have to find them. Easier said than done, right? Save yourself countless hours of frustration by taking this shortcut so your business can get the attention that it deserves.

ONLINE

Depending on your email campaign provider, look to see if there is an option to “broadcast” option. This feature will allow your blog posts to be automatically released to various social networks. Be sure to release your posts on social networks most frequented by your target audience. Emphasis on where your audience is located. If you don’t advertise where your audience is located then you’re just talking to yourself. In other instances that may be cool, but this is not one of them.
Publish your content on Medium.
Be a guest on a podcast within your industry. You can discover podcasts by checking out the following:
- RadioGuestList
- iTunes
- Stitcher
- Google Play
- Anchor
Livestream is extremely popular right now so you might as well jump on that bandwagon. 😉
Answer questions on Quora, Facebook pages, Facebook Groups, industry forums, etc.
Create How To tutorials
Create a montage of people wearing or using your product/service. If you create T-shirts, then ask your followers to send in a picture or video of them wearing the T-shirt for a chance to be featured on your website and/or YouTube channel.
Partner with an influencer on a joint webinar
Run an Instagram Hashtag contest. Have your followers use a particular hashtag and have them tag a friend who could also benefit from your offering.
Testimonials will help strengthen your credibility. If you’re not sure how to get them, have people beta test your product so you can use their feedback, get recommendations on LinkedIn, etc.
Do NOT sleep on Pinterest. I will admit it. I thought it was going to be a waste of time. I haven’t been doing it that long and have noticed an improvement in my bounce rates and average session duration time.
- Create a pin. Make sure it’s vertical and professional. Infographic type of pins tend to get a lot of shares.
- Join group boards and Tailwind Tribes
- Join Facebook Pinterest groups like Pinning Pals, Bloggers Unite on Pinterest, etc.
Design a referral program
Cross promote with other businesses by doing a Loop Giveaway Contest. Honestly, this is a great idea if you keep the number of businesses down to a reasonable number. In my opinion, keep it down to 3 to 5 and TELL people upfront how many businesses are participating in the group. If you’re like me and see that a company has failed to meet the aforementioned criteria, you’re just going to roll your eyes and continue scrolling your feed.
Create an amazing lead magnet (hint, hint, like this one or this one). Email courses, ebooks, etc. are really great subtle ways to get your content into your audience’s hands.
Sign up to be a source on HARO and you also have the opportunity to advertise with them as well.

OFFLINE

1. Host a free workshop at the library or co-working space.

2. Create a loyalty program using companies like Belly, Perksville, etc.

3. Join a business association.

4. Offer a no strings attached 15 to 30-minute consultations that can be done via Skype or in-person.

5.Create a product/service with another business that complements your business.

6. Record a masterclass and then use it as a lead magnet or as a tripwire.

7. Get listed in relevant business directories (i.e. Angie’s List, Trustpilot, Upwork, etc.).

8. Run or sponsor an event in your community (i.e. 5K, art festival, etc.).

9. Create exclusive products or services and offer them solely to your existing customers.

10. How many times have you attended a conference, looked in the swag bag only to find a pen? If you’re able to do so donate branded travel chargers, USBs, etc. You will automatically be remembered! 🙂

If you have enjoyed the ideas that I have shared so far, please be sure to download the rest of this list right here.Don’t forget to pin and share this post!