AnywhereMan

Is the title of the latest podcast episode fitting or what?! In this edition, Brian and I spent some time…a lot of time…chatting with my good friend Phil Montero of TheAnywhereOffice.com. We talked about things like building trust, working in virtual teams, and the future of the “anywhere lifestyle” – being able to do the work you want, where you want.

Phil and I actually met (virtually) soon after I launched AnywhereMan.com. Someone recommended that the two of us connect as we were both doing the “Anywhere” thing with our respective sites. The difference is that Phil actually makes a living by consulting businesses and individuals about the anywhere lifestyle.

If you already work where you want or if you’re thinking about it, listen to this episode. It will be worth your while and you can tell Phil knows what he’s talking about. I’ve been working remotely for almost five years now and I even learned quite a few things in this interview.

It’s only fitting that it’s already Thursday, I haven’t blogged all week, and I’m blogging about a podcast episode about blogging.

That being said, this past week’s episode of Freelance Jam was a lot of fun. We talked blogging with Amber Weinberg and she shared some of the ways it’s helped her grow her business. It ended up being a really good episode packed full of stories and great tips.

There, I blogged.

Sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed as a freelance web developer in the sense that I am the commodity, manager, CEO, bookkeeper, salesperson, and customer support representative all rolled into one person. This is nothing new and I can guarantee most freelancers have moments where they feel stretched (to say the least).

However, from a sales perspective this is something that offers us a huge advantage.

Who better to sell the services that you offer than YOU? YOU are the expert. YOU can give people the most accurate information related to the service that YOU are offering to them. YOU can make promises that YOU know YOU can keep.

When I am working with a potential web client, I am able to give them a first-hand demonstration of what I can bring to the table in terms of knowledge of my craft and assurances of the success I’ve had with past clients. They can ask as many questions as they want, as specific as they want, and I can answer them. I don’t need to make a call to the experts or make something up. I do what I am selling, and that’s worth a lot.

In fact, that’s probably why I’ve never really felt like I’ve had to sell: People inquire about what I do and I tell them about it. I even give away a lot of my so-called secrets for free. I don’t really need push any harder than that, and I don’t.

Accurate knowledge and first-hand experience build trust, and people either make the decision to do business with me or they don’t. Likewise, I can choose to take on their project or I can refuse it if I feel we’re not a good fit. I am, after all, the person who will be doing the work.

This post was inspired by Gary Vaynerchuk‘s new book The Thank You Economy which I just started reading this week. At the beginning of the book he talks about how he built up WineLibrary. He spent a lot of time just being helpful, and success followed.

So get out there, do what you do (and do it well), share what you know, and let the business come to you. Sometimes being the person that has to do everything in the company can be a chore, but it can also be an advantage.

We had a blast talking with Jason Schuller about the web design process on last night’s Freelance Jam.

This post could be more professionally titled “AnywhereMan Interviewed On The CasJam Blog.”

Earlier this week, Brian Casel of CasJam Media published an interview with me. We had a great time discussing topics such as co-working, freelancing, WordPress, and more. I loved the way he ran the interview as he did a great job making it more of a natural conversation.

You can visit the CasJam blog to view the entire interview. Thanks to Brian (who I have interviewed in the past), and I hope to see some more interviews in the future.

I sell time.

Yes, people pay me to build WordPress websites, but what they’re really paying me for is the time it takes to complete their projects. It’s something I love to do, but lately I’m seeing some limitations.

I’m a “sky is the limit” kind of guy. While I’m staying rather busy these days, I’m realizing that the commodity I am selling is my own time…and a finite amount of it. There are only so many billable hours available in a day, month, year. My development schedule is absolutely full and I’m finding that it’s forcing me to turn off my phone, keep conversations shorter, and focus on the work to be done.

That should be a good thing.

But I like talking to people. I like the conversations with current and potential clients. In fact, I think I enjoy those connections more than the actual projects and development.

I’m looking for ways to “productize” some aspects of my business so that I can free up some time for the connection aspects like conversations, meetups, and even blogging.

I’m re-thinking my approach with my TweakMyTheme sub-service. Are there ways I can productize that? I think there are.

Are there new products I can launch to create a passive income stream? I’m exploring the idea of selling premium WordPress themes. I’m looking at some affiliate income-generating options. Maybe I can sell custom tutorial materials. I don’t think it hurts to diversify a little bit.

The beauty of being my own boss is that I can always be refining and re-defining what I do and what I offer. Maybe that’s foolish to some incredibly-focused folks, but I don’t think it is in my case. I think it’s a part of staying relevant.

What have you done to expand the limits of your business? What are you selling?