[100K] #22 Conversion Copy For Freelancers w/Graeme McLaughlin
Graeme and Chris discuss traffic, how to make the client care about what you’re selling, and how to develop conversion copy for closing freelance clients.
You Don’t Need More Leads. You Need More Work.
I will teach you how I maintained six-figure revenues for years by repeatedly selling to existing clients, without struggling to attract new, risky, stranger-leads. Sign up today for a free 4-part course preview.
You can find Graeme on Twitter or visit his company, optamo.com
Highlights:
Began w traffic acquisition
Dabbled in design
Enjoyed delivering the end business result
Taking a solid offering & tuning it up is enjoyable
Started in SEO & PPC
Wanted to make sure users take the right action when they arrive
Inquiral — Colona, BC
– lots of B2B and buyer research
– wrote the Buysphere
– eye tracking on search results (golden triangle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Triangle_(Internet_Marketing))
Believes in delivering on user intent
– match the intent with the page they land on
– the right action for THEM, not the business owner
– multiple micro-conversions before the big conversion happens
– the customer’s story comes from their numbers
Right now, word of mouth
– networking is the most direct route to client acquisition
– if they’re not a prospect, they know a prospect
High volume, low-quality content marketing is useless
Freelancing seems like a passive label — more consulting today
Network exploitation
Expanding network via clear positioning
– expand personal network
– outreach (podcasts)
– conference (Unbounce conference)
– be visible, be a good resource
– have lots of conversations
Bitten by the recurring revenue bug
– Golden age of Saas
– productized consulting
– on the CRO side orgs don’t know where to start
– instead of selling a big 12-month program, sell the research first
– some orgs don’t want another person in their code
– sell the research & let them DIY
I want to be small by design
– I’d rather be boutique and raise rates then grow by adding customer
“I’ll be the bumper lanes as you do your first round of testing.”
Conversion for freelancers
– segment audience, position against target segments
– segmenting too narrow from an SEO perspective isn’t a concern
– top of funnel keywords vs resource keywords
– not the same volume, but higher-quality, more appropriate traffic
– the biggest driver is the copy you use
– adjust words, adjust the flow
– it’s hard to explain what you do to someone outside your business
– dictate your copy, don’t write it — explain the problem and how you solve it
– talking through it is often a better starting point than writing it
– check your IA; the info may be there but not in the right order
1) what do you do
2) why should they care
3) what to do next
– cognitive burden — be careful of those clever headlines that don’t say anything
– don’t be nervous about niching down too soon
– 1 landing page per segment of your niche
– optimizing for conversion rate is the worst thing you can do
– optimize for *outcomes*
– lead-gen percentages may go down, but qualified leads, contracts & profits can go up
Solve specific problems, not general ones
Full Transcript:
Pending
Originally published at www.100kfreelancing.com.
