Cheaters Guide To Earning Better Money In The Gig Economy

Kanye West once said “People always tell you, ‘Be humble. Be humble.’ When was the last time someone told you to be amazing? Be great! Be great! Be awesome! Be awesome!”

He could have been talking about gigs. I will be real with you, Kanye was. Private contracting is the underappreciated central business model of the entertainment industry. Stars and practically everyone else contracts with the production company for the duration of the job.

But I digress. This is about how you can pick the lock to better recognition and money. The first part is easiest, demand reasonable compensation for your work. I aware that it is a challenging feat in the content industry and surely most of the industry. It’s been my experience that customers frequent the lowest bidder. However this race to the bottom is the result of our own desperation to close the deal. In reality you could earn more. Research the market rates for your specific industry.

Yet it is impossible to market value without building value. You are in the business of building value for your customers, not executing jobs. In order to succeed you need to break into the consulting business.

adjective: consulting

Engaged in the business of giving expert advice to people working in a professional or technical field.

“a consulting engineer”

It is your business to listen to your clients problems and present a solution. Ideally you should present several options to their problem. Contractors at the pinnacle of their craft know the value in upselling. You can present an expensive option that exceeds the scope of the original client.

“Time for something different!”

Part of the job of consulting is being an expert in your field. That equates to continuous improvement in all aspects of your business. Life is a school and practice makes perfect. It is your job to continuously study new methods for crafting your brand better and faster. Success will always equal advertising.

Paid ads can work, but how do I know that you can help me? That is the kernel of marketing.

Blogging

The pen is mightier than the sword! Good plan until you are in a sword fight. Writing is the easiest option for sharing your expertise. For best results, keep your stories short at about 500 words because people are busy….you too. Don’t constrain yourself to user manuals, their boring to anyone else but Amy. Write real life stories about your adventures, mishaps, and best wins. You are selling your presentation skills.

Podcast

More ambitious entrepreneurs might consider launching a podcast. The utility of this approach is debatable. Just like with blogging, the market is saturated. In order to stay relevant the podcast must be very relevant or overly dramatic. I recommend the Marketing Mentors podcast to Freelancers and This Week In Startups to business leaders.

Business management is the definitive goal of the freelancer. Like it or not, you are in the enterprise of solving similar problems for your clients. In order to succeed you will also have to investigate your product fit and scaling. More on that later.

Youtube-Webinar

Finally there is the webinar or Youtube for the rest of us. This is the pinnacle of content marketing. Just as before, don’t play unless your product is very dramatic or informative. In this field it should ideally be both. Since we are here, I recommend downloading Michael Hyatt’s webinars on brand management.

You’re here right now and you are reading this. Obviously you want to score more clients, better paychecks, and in time agencies. Maybe you want to launch your own agency someday.

Briefcase Pitch

To stay competitive, businesses frequently branch off into related industries. For instance, as part of my services I analyze the market and write advertisements for my customers. However this industry is already deluged with similarly qualified bidders. Interactive marketing is the future! Soon I intend to branch off into bots.

And this brings us to the pinnacle of marketing, the Briefcase technique. It is better that I show you.

“Play dramatic music………………………….not in the budget?”

According to a Verizon report, 70% of employees reuse their passwords at work. This laziness is costly. A recent breach cost Equifax half a billion dollars and much more in loss of reputation. One way employers can avoid this disaster is by securing strong passwords in a keychain accessible only to IT.

But keychains can be hacked!

You can build your own custom keychain using my free RPA guide.

Can you write a better Briefcase pitch?