How to earn money being freelancer

Are you freelancer? Do you want to enlarge your income? Follow these  proven basic rules.

1. Brand yourself

Make a brand from yourself. Remember  your primary task is to sell yourself to job offer. Use the marketing rules.

2. Manage your time

Find in your schedule time for marketing activity. It may be 1 hour a day, or 1 day a week.

3. Make your customers remember your

Write a letter with a new idea, send an interest link, make a call, etc. When your customer think about you, he can charge you with new work.

4. Meet with job offer every time you have possibilities

Do not keep off any meeting. It proposes good opportunity for finding new task. And remember: meeting is more preferable than online chat.

5. React as fast as possible

If you are freelancer you have an irregular working hours. You can work at night and sleep till midday. Or go out at any time. But you should constantly check your email and react fast in any offer.

6. Make your website

Your website is your business card and your ad. Every client wants to a see all the information about his future employee.

7. Analyze the products of your client

Become an expert in their domain. It helps you to create more effective ideas. And customers will respect you.

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1. It’s better to be first than it is to be better

It’s much easier to get into the mind first than to try to convince someone you have a better product than the one that did get there first.

The first desktop laser printer was introduced by a computer company, Hewlett-Packard. Today the company has 5 percent of the personal computer market and 45 percent of the laser printer market.

Gillette was the first safety razor. Tide was the first laundry detergent.

2. If you can’t be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in

There are many different ways to be first. Dell got into the crowded personal computer field by being the first to sell computers by phone. Today Dell is a $900 million company.

When you launch a new product, the first question to ask yourself is not “How is this new product better than the competition?” but “First what?” In other words, what category is this new product first in?

3. It’s better to be first in the mind than it is to be first in the marketplace

The world’s first personal computer was the MITS Altair 8800.

The law of leadership would suggest that the MITS Altair 8800 (an unfortunate choice of names) ought to be the No. 1 personal computer brand. Unfortunately, the product is no longer with us.

Is something wrong with the law of leadership in chapter 1? No, but the law of the mind modifies it. It’s better to be first in the prospect’s mind than first in the marketplace. Which, if anything, understates the importance of being first in the mind. Being first in the mind is everything in marketing. Being first in the marketplace is important only to the extent that it allows you to get in the mind first.

You want to change something in a computer? Just type over or delete the existing material. You want to change something in a mind? Forget it. Once a mind is made up, it rarely, if ever, changes. The single most wasteful thing you can do in marketing is try to change a mind.

4. Marketing is not a battle of products, it’s a battle of perception

All that exists in the world of marketing are perceptions in the minds of the customer or prospect. The perception is the reality. Everything else is an illusion.

If you told friends in New York you bought a Honda, they might ask you, “What kind of car did you get? a Civic? an Accord? a Prelude?” If you told friends in Tokyo you bought a Honda, they might ask you, “What kind of motorcycle did you buy?” In Japan, Honda got into customers’ minds as a manufacturer of motorcycles, and apparently most people don’t want to buy a car from a motorcycle company.

5. The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect’s mind

A company can become incredibly successful if it can find a way to own a word in the mind of the prospect. Not a complicated word. Not an invented one. The simple words are best, words taken right out of the dictionary.

This is the law of focus. You “burn” your way into the mind by narrowing the focus to a single word or concept. It’s the ultimate marketing sacrifice.

The leader owns the word that stands for the category. For example, IBM owns computer. This is another way of saying that the brand becomes a generic name for the category. “We need an IBM machine.” Is there any doubt that a computer is being requested?

6. Two companies cannot own the same word in the prospect’s mind

When a competitor owns a word or position in the prospect’s mind, it is futile to attempt to own the same word.

Volvo owns safety. Many other automobile companies, including Mercedes-Benz and General Motors, have tried to run marketing campaigns based on safety. Yet no one except Volvo has succeeded in getting into the prospect’s mind with a safety message.

7. The strategy to use depends on which rung you occupy on the ladder

While being first into the prospect’s mind ought to be your primary marketing objective, the battle isn’t lost if you fail in this endeavor. There are strategies to use for No. 2 and No. 3 brands.

All products are not created equal. There’s a hierarchy in the mind that prospects use in making decisions.
For each category, there is a product ladder in the mind. On each rung is a brand name.

What’s the maximum number of rungs on a ladder? There seems to be a rule of seven in the prospect’s mind. Ask someone to name all the brands he or she remembers in a given category. Rarely will anyone name more than seven. And that’s for a high-interest category.

The ladder is a simple, but powerful, analogy that can help you deal with the critical issues in marketing. Before starting any marketing program, ask yourself the following questions: Where are we on the ladder in the prospect’s mind? On the top rung? On the second rung? Or maybe we’re not on the ladder at all.

Then make sure your program deals realistically with your position on the ladder.

8. In the long run, every market becomes a two-horse race

Early on, a new category is a ladder of many rungs. Gradually, the ladder becomes a two-rung affair.

Ex: In photographic film, it’s Kodak and Fuji.

When you take the long view of marketing, you find the battle usually winds up as a titanic struggle between two major players—usually the old reliable brand and the upstart.

Are these results preordained? Of course not. There are other laws of marketing that can also affect the results. Furthermore, your marketing programs can strongly influence your sales, provided they are in tune with the laws of marketing. When you’re a weak No. 3, like Royal Crown, you aren’t going to make much progress by going out and attacking the two strong leaders. What they could have done is carved out a profitable niche for themselves (see Rule № 5).

The customer believes that marketing is a battle of products. It’s this kind of thinking that keeps the two brands on top: “They must be the best, they’re the leaders.”

9. If you’re shooting for second place, your strategy is determined by the leader

In strength there is weakness. Wherever the leader is strong, there is an opportunity for a would-be No. 2 to turn the tables.

You must discover the essence of the leader and then present the prospect with the opposite. (In other words, don’t try to be better, try to be different.)

By positioning yourself against the leader, you take business away from all the other alternatives to No. 1. If old people drink Coke and young people drink Pepsi, there’s nobody left to drink Royal Crown cola.

Yet, too many potential No. 2 brands try to emulate the leader. This usually is an error. You must present yourself as the alternative.

10. Over time, a category will divide and become two or more categories

A category starts off as a single entity. Computers, for example. But over time, the category breaks up into other segments. Mainframes, minicomputers, workstations, personal computers, laptops, notebooks, pen computers.

Each segment is a separate, distinct entity. Each segment has its own reason for existence. And each segment has its own leader, which is rarely the same as the leader of the original category. IBM is the leader in mainframes, DEC in minis, Sun in workstations, and so on.

11. Marketing effects take place over an extended period of time

The long-term effects are often the exact opposite of the short-term effects.

Does a sale increase a company’s business or decrease it? Obviously, in the short term, a sale increases business. But there’s more and more evidence to show that sales decrease business in the long term by educating customers not to buy at “regular” prices.

To maintain volume, retail outlets find they have to run almost continuous sales. It’s not unusual to walk down a retail block and find a dozen stores in a row with “Sale” signs in their windows.

In other words, you keep those coupons rolling out not to increase sales but to keep sales from falling off if you stop. Couponing is a drug. You continue to do it because the withdrawal symptoms are just too painful.
Any sort of couponing, discounts, or sales tends to educate consumers to buy only when they can get a deal. What if a company never started couponing in the first place? In the retail field the big winners are the companies that practice “everyday low prices”— companies like Wal-Mart and K Mart and the rapidly growing warehouse outlets.

12. There’s and irresistible pressure to extend the equity of a brand

One day a company is tightly focused on a single product that is highly profitable. The next day the same company is spread thin over many products and is losing money.

Take IBM. Years ago when IBM was focused on mainframe computers, the company made a ton of money. Today IBM is into everything and barely breaking even. In 1991, for example, IBM’s revenues were $65 billion. Yet the company wound up losing $2.8 billion. That’s almost $8 million a day.

In addition to selling mainframe computers, IBM markets personal computers, pen computers, workstations, midrange computers, software, networks, telephones, you name it. IBM even tried to get into the home computer market with the PCjr.

Along the way, IBM dropped millions on copiers (sold to Kodak), Rolm (sold to Siemens), Satellite Business Systems (shut down), the Prodigy network (limping along), SAA, TopView, OfficeVision, and OS/2.
When you try to be all things to all people, you inevitably wind up in trouble. “I’d rather be strong somewhere,” said one manager, “than weak everywhere.”

Marketing is a battle of perception, not product. In the mind, A-1 is not the brand name, but the steak sauce itself. “Would you pass me the A-1?” asks the diner. Nobody replies: “A-1 what?”

More is less. The more products, the more markets, the more alliances a company makes, the less money it makes. “Full-speed ahead in all directions” seems to be the call from the corporate bridge. When will companies learn that line extension ultimately leads to oblivion?

Less is more. If you want to be successful today, you have to narrow the focus in order to build a position in the prospect’s mind.

For many companies, line extension is the easy way out. Launching a new brand requires not only money, but also an idea or concept. For a new brand to succeed, it ought to be first in a new category (Rule 1). Or the new brand ought to be positioned as an alternative to the leader (Rule 9). Companies that wait until a new market has developed often find these two leadership positions already preempted. So they fall back on the old reliable line extension approach.

The antidote for line extension is corporate courage, a commodity in short supply.

13. You have to give up something in order to get something

If you want to be successful today, you should give something up.

There are three things to sacrifice: product line, target market, and constant change.

First, the product line. Where is it written that the more you have to sell, the more you sell?

The full line is a luxury for a loser. If you want to be successful, you have to reduce your product line, not expand it.

The second sacrifice, target market. Where is it written that you have to appeal to everybody?

Take the cola field. Coca-Cola got into the prospect’s mind first and built a powerful position. In the late fifties, for example, Coke outsold Pepsi more than five to one. What could Pepsi-Cola do to go against Coke’s powerful position?

In the early sixties Pepsi-Cola finally developed a strategy based on the concept of sacrifice. The company sacrificed everything except the teenage market.

Within one generation, Pepsi closed the gap. Today it is only 10 percent behind Coca-Cola in total U.S. cola sales. (In the supermarket, Pepsi-Cola actually outsells Coca-Cola.)

Finally, the third sacrifice: constant change. Where is it written that you have to change your strategy every year at budget review time?

If you try to follow the twists and turns of the market, you are bound to wind up off the road. The best way to maintain a consistent position is not to change it in the first place.

White Castle has never changed its position. A White Castle today not only looks the same as a White Castle did 60 years ago, it also sells the same “frozen sliders” at unbelievably low prices. Would you believe the average White Castle does more than $1 million a year in revenues? (That’s more than Burger King and not too far behind McDonald’s.)

Good things come to those who sacrifice.

14. For every attribute, there is an opposite, effective attribute

In rule 6 we made the point that you can’t own the same word or position that your competitor owns. You must find your own word to own. You must seek out another attribute.

Too often a company attempts to emulate the leader. “They must know what works,” goes the rationale, “so let’s do something similar.” Not good thinking.

It’s much better to search for an opposite attribute that will allow you to play off against the leader. The key word here is opposite—similar won’t do.

Coca-Cola was the original and thus the choice of older people. Pepsi successfully positioned itself as the choice of the younger generation.

15. When you admit a negative, the prospect will give you a positive

It goes against corporate and human nature to admit a problem. For years, the power of positive thinking has been drummed into us. “Think positive” has been the subject of endless books and articles.

So it may come as a surprise to you that one of the most effective ways to get into a prospect’s mind is to first admit a negative and then twist it into a positive.

“Avis is only No. 2 in rent-a-cars.”

“Joy. The most expensive perfume in the world.”

First and foremost, candor is very disarming. Every negative statement you make about yourself is instantly accepted as truth. Positive statements, on the other hand, are looked at as dubious at best. Especially in an advertisement.

You have to prove a positive statement to the prospect’s satisfaction. No proof is needed for a negative statement.

16. In each situation, only one move will produce substantial results

Many marketing people see success as the sum total of a lot of small efforts beautifully executed.

They think they can pick and choose from a number of different strategies and still be successful as long as they put enough effort into the program. If they work for the leader in the category, they fritter away their resources on a number of different programs. They seem to think that the best way to grow is the puppy approach — get into everything.

If they’re not with the leader, they often end up trying to do the same as the leader, but a little better. Trying harder is not the secret of marketing success.

Whether you try hard or try easy, the differences are marginal. Furthermore, the bigger the company, the more the law of averages wipes out any real advantage of a trying-harder approach.

History teaches that the only thing that works in marketing is the single, bold stroke. Furthermore, in any given situation there is only one move that will produce substantial results.

To find that singular idea or concept, marketing managers have to know what’s happening in the marketplace. They have to be down at the front in the mud of the battle. They have to know what’s working and what isn’t. They have to be involved.

It’s hard to find that single move if you’re hanging around headquarters and not involved in the process.

17. Unless you write your competitors’ plans, you can’t predict the future

Implicit in most marketing plans is an assumption about the future. Yet marketing plans based on what will happen in the future are usually wrong.

It’s important to understand what is meant by long term versus short term. Most of corporate America’s problems are not related to short-term marketing thinking. The problem is short-term financial thinking.
While you can’t predict the future, you can get a handle on trends, which is a way to take advantage of change. One example of a trend is America’s growing orientation toward good health. This trend has opened the door for a number of new products, especially healthier foods.

The danger in working with trends is extrapolation. Many companies jump to conclusions about how far a trend will go. If you believed the prognosticators of a few years ago, everyone today is eating broiled fish or mesquite-barbecued chicken. (Hamburger sales are doing just fine, thank you.)

While tracking trends can be a useful tool in dealing with the unpredictable future, market research can be more of a problem than a help. Research does best at measuring the past. New ideas and concepts are almost impossible to measure. No one has a frame of reference. People don’t know what they will do until they face an actual decision.

The classic example is the research conducted before Xerox introduced the plain-paper copier. What came back was the conclusion that no one would pay five cents for a plain-paper copy when they could get a Thermofax copy for a cent and a half.

Xerox ignored the research, and the rest is history.

No one can predict the future with any degree of certainty. Nor should marketing plans try to.

18. Success often leads to arrogance, and arrogance to failure

Ego is the enemy of successful marketing.

Objectivity is what’s needed.

When people become successful, they tend to become less objective. They often substitute their own judgment for what the market wants.

19. Failure is to be expected and accepted

Too many companies try to fix things rather than drop things. “Let’s reorganize to save the situation” is their way of life.

Admitting a mistake and not doing anything about it is bad for your career. A better strategy is to recognize failure early and cut your losses. IBM should have dropped copiers and Xerox should have dropped computers years before they finally recognized their mistakes.

This egoless approach is a major factor in making the Japanese such relentless marketers. It’s not that they don’t make mistakes, but when they do, they admit them, fix them, and just keep coming.

20. The situation is often the opposite of the way it appears in the press

When IBM was successful, the company said very little. Now it throws a lot of press conferences.

When things are going well, a company doesn’t need the hype. When you need the hype, it usually means you’re in trouble.

21. Successful programs are not built on fads, they’re built on trends

A fad is a wave in the ocean, and a trend is the tide. A fad gets a lot of hype, and a trend gets very little.
Like a wave, a fad is very visible, but it goes up and down in a big hurry. Like the tide, a trend is almost invisible, but it’s very powerful over the long term.

A fad is a short-term phenomenon that might be profitable, but a fad doesn’t last long enough to do a company much good. Furthermore, a company often tends to gear up as if a fad were a trend. As a result, the company is often stuck with a lot of staff, expensive manufacturing facilities, and distribution networks.

Here’s the paradox. If you were faced with a rapidly rising business, with all the characteristics of a fad, the best thing you could do would be to dampen the fad. By dampening the fad, you stretch the fad out and it becomes more like a trend.

Forget fads. And when they appear, try to dampen them. One way to maintain a long-term demand for your product is to never totally satisfy the demand.

But the best, most profitable thing to ride in marketing is a long-term trend.

22. Without adequate funding an idea won’t get off the ground

If you have a good idea and you’ve picked up this book with the thought in mind that all you need is a little marketing help, this chapter will throw cold water on that thought.

Even the best idea in the world won’t go very far without the money to get it off the ground. Inventors, entrepreneurs, and assorted idea generators seem to think that all their good ideas need is professional marketing help.

Remember: An idea without money is worthless. Be prepared to give away a lot for the funding.

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