Happy Thursday! This is The Gig, aka the morning paper for freelancers looking to build profitable client businesses.
Mentioned in today’s issue: Twitter, Google, Facebook, Instagram, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Plus why you should know your numbers, the importance of looking the part if you want to get paid, and how to lose friends and annoy people.
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes and 44 seconds
Making the Rounds
- Twitter testing new Notes feature that could eventually replace threads. These new long-form posts can have images, videos, and even other tweets mixed in. One upside is the content could then be indexed by Google, giving it the potential to drive inbound traffic from search.
- Meta agrees to revise ad targeting for credit, housing, and employment ads. The agreement settles a complaint from the Department of Housing and Urban Development alleging the company broke the law by targeting housing ads based on age, race, and gender.
- Facebook and Instagram hold off taking a cut of creator revenue until 2024. Meta had originally planned to start taking a cut of creator’s revenues in 2023, but then announced the change on Tuesday alongside a bunch of other monetization updates.
Working With Clients
Know Your Numbers
What gets measured gets managed.
That’s why, when it comes to working with clients…
You should be tracking your prospecting numbers on a weekly basis.
- How many people you reached out to
- How many calls you booked
- How many proposals you submitted
- How many clients you landed
This allows you to identify where the constraint is — just like analyzing a client’s underperforming sales funnel — and then try new things until you crack the code.
Working For Yourself
Look the Part, Be the Part
One of the best parts about working remotely is the dress code.
As in, there is none.
But as nice as it is to spend the day working in sweatpants and a hoodie…
Here’s the thing…
When you’re on video calls, it’s important to “look the part.”
If you want to be taken seriously as a service provider…
Meaning you want to be seen by your clients as someone who knows how to get results…
(and is paid handsomely for it)
Then you need to come correct.
That doesn’t have to mean business formal attire, but it should mean a clean and wrinkle-free outfit.
Studies have shown that what you wear can and does affect how you feel…
So leverage the science of fashion to show up the way you want to inside your business.
Tools We Love
How to Lose Friends and Annoy People
Ever been on call with someone who had lots of background noise?
It sucks.
But… it’s even worse when you’re the one with the bad background noise.
Fortunately, that’s where Krisp comes in.
It’s a free software solution that completely eliminates background noise.
And when we say completely, we mean it.
Whether it’s a barking dog, crying baby, or a computer fan so loud it could pass for a vacuum cleaner…
Krisp uses AI technology to cut out background noises from your mic and speaker so you (and more importantly, your clients and colleagues) can finally enjoy distraction-free calls.
Quote of the Day
“I begin to speak only when I’m certain what I’ll say isn’t better left unsaid.”
— Cato