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Big question: If there was one thing you wished you’d known when you first started your portfolio career, what would that be?
Your answer may or may not appear in a TPC article in the next few weeks
10 Comments-
1) Proposals can be super simple to get started – an e-mail or word document. It’s about communicating the value, not making it all look like it’s a professional company. If you can provide value, just make it simple and get it communicated.
2) Write more articles – I am still amazed at what some good articles have done for me – they can turn cold leads into instant enquiries.
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3) Don’t try to do too much at once or frequently switch tactics. Value your thinking space and focus on 1-2 key goals or themes each quarter e.g. mastering a skill, building community, getting paid work.
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Silvia Janska you might have some good tips to add to this!
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Oh I love questions like this!!
I wish I’d have had more conviction in my pricing from the get-go. I was SO reactive at first to people who would talk me WAY down on my rates to fit their budget, and would end up working for less than minimum wage for work that other’s would have charged thousands for.
I know now that the right clients really understand the value that your skillset brings them, and if they don’t then its okay to accept that the relationship isn’t the right fit.
TLDR: if someone walks into a Mercedes dealership with a Skoda budget, they’re not leaving there with a car. It should be the same for portfolio work
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oh boy, it feels like a big question! I promised I’m not primed here but community is amazing for support – for me Facebook groups (before TPC obviously) are a great source of insight, information and support for anyone starting out.
Also knowing what you’re about – getting really really specific about what you do, how and who for. If people don’t know how to talk about you, they can’t sell you! Think – if you told the average OAP in the street what you did, how would you explain it – can you make it super clear. At the start I had some pretty awkward conversations with very disconnected people because my mum (not an OAP yet) had the wrong end of the stick when she ’sold’ me 🙂
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I LOVE this Nicola. In fact, Alex Pitt lets build this into our future workshop! Nicola Twiston Davies we will make sure to credit you
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That is a genius approach- how would you explain what you do to an OAP, a simple enough idea but HARD to achieve. Love it Nicola Twiston Davies!!
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haha thanks Alex Pitt and Fiona Chorlton-Voong – it’s definitely been super helpful for me 🙂 I look forward to seeing my name in lights!
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I would have three:
1) Don’t obsess over perfecting your sales pitch, as most likely you will end up selling something else.
2) Don’t try to do all the client work yourself – work out what you need to do yourself vs outsource to others.
3) Don’t be too keen to say yes in the early days just because you have a bit of free time, as one day soon you will run out of free time and it is hard to extract yourself from those ’nice to have’ commitments.