AnywhereMan

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.

Lately, the virtual version of me has been hanging out on a few other sites. AnywhereMan.com is my main blogging/video home, but in the past few weeks some very exciting opportunities have been presented.

First, I am on a month-long trial as a contributor for a popular web app/software website called MakeUseOf.com. The site has lots of tips, tweaks, and reviews and I’ll be writing there a few times as they test me out (i.e. until they realize I’m just a wannabe blogger!). My first article was published this past weekend and was entitled “3 Ways To Use Google Reader As An Online Archive.” It’s been a fun experience thus far. I mean, I’m writing about web apps and even getting paid to do it. Perfect!

Next, you’ll recall that last week I did the first AnywhereMan interview with Lisa Kanarek. It was a blast! Much of the process of setting up the interview and recording it was made known to me through Andrew Warner at Mixergy.com: home of the ambitious upstart. Andrew’s a great and super bright guy, and my wife and I were lucky enough to spend some time with him when we were at BizConf last summer.

Well, Andrew took a look at my interview with Lisa and the next day one of his guests was unavailable at the last minute. He graciously invited me on his live program to discuss my interview experience and use it as an opportunity to emphasize to his audience the importance of doing interviews. He gave some awesome tips and I learned a lot from him describing some of the things he’s observed. You owe it to yourself to follow Andrew and his future interviews. He’s interviewed some amazing guests like Gary Vaynerchuk, Seth Godin, Tim Ferriss…and he’s just getting started.

Thank you, Andrew, for the opportunity! Folks, stay tuned for a future AnywhereMan interview with Andrew as he is definitely a fellow AnywhereMan (He’s currently doing all of his interviews from Argentina). Here’s my appearance with him last week: