Professionalism 101
In order to build your business effectively, you need to establish yourself as a professional that people know, like, and trust.
It can be extremely difficult at times to control everything that people know about you, but you still need to brand yourself as a high-quality professional if you want people to pay premium prices for your services.
Here are 7 ways to promote your services as being highly professional:
- High Quality Business Cards: Honestly, this one seems like it’s not a big deal…but a poorly designed business card can do more harm than good. If you have a business card that is unique and grabs people’s attention, then you have a much better chance of getting a call-back in the future. Check out FreelanceSwitch for 18 Smokin’ Hot Business Card Designs.
- Attend Professional Meetings: It’s hard to be recognized as a professional if you aren’t getting your name out there. There are tons of ways to get involved in local professional organizations, so do it! Find out all you can about your local Chamber of Commerce, Board of Trade, Rotary Club, and civic associations. Then all you need to do is attend… and bring your fancy business cards with you!
- Become Actively Involved: It’s great to attend meetings, but to take your name recognition to the next level you should become actively involved. But don’t just attend for the business because people will quickly find you to be more of a taker than a giver. Instead, make honest contributions and build relationships.
- Stand out in Your Field: You need to make your products or services unique to the industry if you want to grab people’s attention. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a photographer, restaurant owner, plumber, or lawyer… find a way to make your business different. One way to do this is find out what people dislike most about your industry and then turn that into a positive. Example: car mechanics are stereotyped as being dishonest, so go out of your way in everything you do to offer the most honest service in town.
- Get Published: The written word carries a lot of weight both online and in the real world. By publishing advice articles you will portray yourself as somebody who knows what they’re talking about. The more articles you write, the faster you’ll build your reputation and relationships with prospective customers. One place you can publish your work is right here.
- Network with Your Competition: The word “competition” sounds harsh, doesn’t it? While you have been trained all your life that your competition is against you, it’s time to make them work for you. By building relationships with others in your industry, you will set yourself up for success down the road. When people are swamped with work and need some help, who do you think they’re going to call? Somebody that they know, like, and trust that provides the same services that they do… that’s who!
- Advertise: Nothing says “legit” like high-quality advertising that is aimed directly at your target market and nobody else. When people hear a professional ad on the radio, it sticks. When people receive direct-mail that pertains to their needs, it resonates. By developing high-end sales letters, landing pages, and email auto-responders you will always be on your customers mind as being a professional… as long as you aren’t too pushy.
These seven tips will help you build name recognition and establish yourself as an expert so that you can charge premium pricing for professional services.
Take note, however, that you always need to over deliver on value to establish long-term clients and earn referrals. People pay for quality… so it’s time for you to deliver.
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