Happy Friday! It’s April Fool’s. But more importantly, Season 2 of Luxe Listings just dropped. So you know we’ll be spending the weekend binge watching behind-the-scenes tours of multimillion dollar mansions on Bondi Beach.
(it’s a vibe)
Now let’s get into it…
Freelance Economy News
- Meta launches PR campaign against TikTok. Meta has hired a top Republican consulting firm to place op-eds and letters from “concerned parents” in regional news outlets across the country. The campaign is focused on the threat posed by TikTok’s foreign ownership and promoting potentially dangerous trends among young people. Legal? Yes. In the gray zone? Definitely.
- Hackers forged legal requests to get Apple and Meta to fork over user data. Hackers posing as law enforcement tricked the two tech firms into giving up user data such as addresses, phone numbers, and IP addresses in 2021.
- Apple is working on a hardware subscription service. The software world is not enough for the iPhone maker anymore. They’re reportedly working on a hardware subscription service that would expand financing and payment options for devices.
Working With Clients
Sending Portfolio Pieces in a Word Doc Got Clients Like…
If you’re using freelance platforms to find clients and land gigs…
There’s one thing you can do when putting in a proposal that all prospective clients will appreciate, whether they hire you or not.
And that’s:
Sharing links to samples or portfolio pieces via Google Drive.
Don’t send over PDFs, Word docs, or Excel spreadsheets.
Why?
Because a client may take one look at your sample and decide they don’t like it.
Or that you’re not the right person for the job.
And if you (along with 9 other freelancers) have sent them a handful of docs to download, then they’re stuck with a bunch of useless documents on their computer they’ll never look at again.
So do them a favor and send them a Share link instead.
Working For Yourself
Early Morning Slack DMs Beware
Do you know what your chronotype is?
According to Healthline, a chronotype is “…a person’s circadian typology or the individual differences in activity and alertness in the morning and evening.”
In other words…
Your chronotype reflects when your most creative and productive hours are.
For your humble newsletter writer, that’s typically between 6 and 9 AM.
But for you, it might be later in the day.
Either way, the bottom line is:
Find out what time of day you’re usually at your best, and protect those hours like your very own Time Stone.
Because not all time is made equal.
And the secret to maintaining peak productivity is focusing on energy — not time.
From The Copywriting Gig
Can We Ask You Something?
Ever struggled to write the first line of an ad or email?
Ever wished there was an easier way to write great leads that get readers hooked every time?
There is.
It’s called a “yes set.”
A “yes set” is a series of 2-3 questions designed to create psychological momentum by getting the reader to answer “yes” in their head.
They’re super quick and easy to write…
And the best part is, they prime the prospect to perceive your offer in a much more positive light.
So if you’re ever struggling with what to say in the first few lines of an ad, email, or sales page…
Give it a try next time and let us know how it goes.
Tools We Love
Finally, An Email Service Provider Who Gets Us
As the publishers of a daily newsletter, email marketing is the foundation of our business.
And throughout our freelancing careers, we’ve had the opportunity to work with many of the biggest email service providers out there.
But the problem is…
Most of them have so many fancy bells and whistles that you need a PhD in computer science just to figure out how to make them do what you want.
(*cough* INFUSIONSOFT *cough*)
That’s why we’re proud users of ConvertKit.
It’s simple, intuitive, and incredibly easy to use.
Their Sequences and Automations features keep your account neat and tidy. And if you’ve ever been into a big Infusionsoft, ActiveCampaign, or Hubspot account, you’ll know this is rare.
No more Frankenstein workflows that span 27 segments and cover the entire lifespan of your subscribers.
If you’re looking to grow your audience with email marketing…
Try ConvertKit for free today.
Quote of the Day
“There is no right or wrong in this business. There’s only hits and misses.”
— Mike Acosta