One of the reasons I wanted to start my own web design business was to get into a business that involved finding clients. Most of my friends and some family members have businesses that rely on this form of marketing. If I get good at it, then I can help a lot of people I know.

When I read about referral groups, I knew I had to check it out. So I went to the BNI website (www.bni.com), located some local chapters that had an opening for a web designer, and sent an email to the president of one of the lunch groups. She let me join them for lunch as a visitor.

A Little Background

Basically BNI groups meet either in the morning or afternoon for breakfast or lunch for an hour and a half. They meet once a week and attendance is required. This policy weeds out people who are not serious and gives the members a good chance to get to know each other.

Each group is run differently, but they all have the same purpose – to exchange business referrals with each other. The cost is a little under $500 for a whole year plus the expenses of dining out every week.

Only one person from each profession is allowed per group. For example, if you are a wedding planner, then no other wedding planners are allowed in your group. This policy is to prevent competition among members.

The Lunch

Here is a summary of what they did in this particular chapter.

1. I went in and selected my meal from the menu and was seated.

2. The tables were shaped in a U, so I got to mostly talk to the people that were sitting next to me, a member and another guest.

3. Everyone went around the table and introduced themselves and what they do.

4. One of the members, an insurance salesperson, gave a speech about insurance. It appears that each week, a different member gets to give a presentation to the group.

5. Everyone ate their lunch.

6. They passed around a box for members to put their business cards into (so that other members can give them out). They also exchanged referrals with each other, which were written down on a referral slip.

7. To conclude, they asked the guests what they liked and learned from the meeting.

8. After lunch, everyone left promptly. I guess since it was a weekday, everyone had to run back to work.

What I Liked

There were some things I liked and didn’t like. Here are some of the things I liked:

1. It is more organized than casual networking events. As a result, it is likely more effective for most people.

2. Regular attendance policy allows people to get to know each other, which is a critical aspect of REAL networking. At casual networking events, you meet a lot of people and quickly forget who they are.

3. They take it seriously – Having a group of like-minded professionals who are serious about generating leads for each other can no doubt be a powerful source of business success. There is no doubt in my mind that members in this group generate far more leads for each other than people at casual networking events.

4. Camaraderie – This setting allowed freelancers to make friends with others. It’s good to be part of a group that wants to help you succeed.

5. High Standard of Service – Members must agree to provide a high standard of service and integrity in their business dealings. This ensures that you as the referrer will look good to the person you are giving the referral to.

What I Wasn’t Too Crazy About

There are a few things that I wasn’t crazy about and a lot of these things are debatable. I’m sure some people will disagree, but here are my opinions:

1. Strict Attendance policy – You are required to attend every meeting and if you cannot, then you must get someone else to go in your place. I see the logic in requiring attendance, but I would allow some flexibility. Perhaps a few weeks off for the whole year along with sick days. Sometimes I like to travel and go away for weeks at a time, so this would be a hard option for me unless I had a readily available substitute. As long as people attend often enough, I think the effect will still be the same.

2. Meeting Times – All the BNI groups in the area meet either at 7:30am (zzz) or lunch time during the week. These times are probably inconvenient for a lot of people as this is when people would normally be working.

3. Time Commitment – By joining BNI, you are committing to 2 hours per week of your time (if your chapter meets weekly, which most do). Not to mention the time it takes to travel to the meeting location. Another thing to consider is the shift in energy that occurs when you disrupt your normal routine.

4. Only One Member Allowed from Each Profession – Some people might see this as a positive, but there are many negatives as well. Sometimes the best referrers can be someone in your own profession that is too busy to handle all their leads.

Also, your “competitors” aren’t necessarily competitors. For example, two people that make websites: one might be a WordPress specialist and another might be a Flash programmer. These two people might actually be a good fit for each other in terms of cross referring business.

Also, imagine that there are 3 referral groups in your area, but you are only allowed to go to one of them. Wouldn’t you rather be able to go to all three and have 3x as many potential lead generators? Even if it meant a little potential competition?

5. Not Much Time to Connect with Other Members – The entire meeting was planned out, so there wasn’t time to freely mingle with other members. Everyone left right after too because it was a work day.

6. Felt a little “exclusive” – A few of the group members introduced themselves to me, but not most. I felt like until you join the group, you are sort of an outsider. Smart networkers try to connect with everyone, but then again, maybe it was due to the meeting structure and time.

7. People are suppose to recommend other members of the group to friends, family, and clients. But what if I know someone else that is a better caterer or real estate agent for example? This could result in a conflict of interest. Essentially, I would like the freedom to recommend the best person because who I refer reflects on me and my reputation.

Some Tips

1. If you join BNI, pick your group carefully. Once you are in a group, you can’t leave and join another BNI group. It’s all about the people in the group, so be sure you connect with them well and that they seem like people who you can exchange leads with. I recommend you check out multiple groups before signing up, because each group will be different depending on who is running it.

2. Pay attention to the people and how the group is run. Some groups are more laid back and some are more structured. Also, be sure you can connect with the people there. People are more likely to refer people that they know, like and trust.

3. If you don’t join a referral group, then consider forming your own. Think about some of the things you like and don’t like about BNI. I would suggest making your own group free.

To sum it up, I think BNI and other referral groups are definitely worth checking out if you are a freelancer. There were a lot of open groups in my area. However, visit different groups to see how they are run and think carefully about the time commitment.

One important thing to think about before pursuing a freelance career is the client life cycle. In other words, will your customer use your services just once or on an ongoing basis. Most freelancers don’t enjoy sales and marketing and if the idea of continually promoting yourself to get work drains you of energy, then consider some of these freelance professions:

1. Admins / Data Entry – Administrative professionals can do a lot of different things for a business and any business will eventually need admins. There is a ton of competition for admin positions, but there are a few things you can do to stand out and command a reasonable salary rate.

Firstly, attention to details and being organized is very important. Finding someone with sharp attention to details is actually quite difficult and sometimes I have to sift through close to 100 applicants to find one that even qualifies. Check over your work carefully before submitting it.

Communicate well and be reliable with your employer and anyone else you might come into contact with. Communication can prevent misunderstandings.

Admins do often get hired for one time gigs, but keep an eye out for ongoing positions. Another key is to specialize in an area to stand out from other admins. An example would be specializing in accurate e-commerce data entry and catering to e-commerce businesses.

2. Bookkeeper – For people with good attention to details, bookkeeping is a good field to consider. Once you find your clients, they will need you to update their records regularly.

3. SEO / Social Media Marketer – Although many people will hire internet marketers only for a little while, smarter businesses know that marketing needs to be done on an ongoing basis. If you are good at marketing, sustaining work for a long duration will not be difficult.

4. Ghost Blogger – Writing can be a spotty gig as people might just need a few articles or an e-book. However, if you find a blogger that is tired of updating their content or is running out of ideas on what to write about, then ghost blogging can be a good field to get into. A good idea is to approach bloggers to offer your services to them, particularly blogs that are generating income.

5. Customer Service – There are many companies that need customer service support and some will even allow you to work at home. Make sure your customer service philosophy is in line with the company’s policy. For example, some companies will want the customer to be satisfied at any cost while other companies will want you to adhere to policy. Sometimes familiarity with certain industries, like IT support, can allow you to specialize in a field and make more money than general customer service.

6. Coaching and Consulting – Coaching has risen in popularity over recent years. Life coaches can make $100/hr easily and business coaches and consultants can make even more. To become a coach, you need to be self driven to learn about the field that you are interested in. Once you get to the point where you know more than your target prospects and can help them with their problems, finding long-term clients should be no problem.

Of course there are plenty of other professions where you will have ongoing clients, but these are some of the ones where you don’t need an advanced degree or years of schooling.

Other Popular Freelance fields

Here are some other fields where people sometimes need to market themselves on an ongoing basis. It is possible to find long-term clients in these fields as well, but you have to look in the right places:

1. Graphic Designer – A lot of people will hire graphic designers to do logos, banner ads, and graphics for their website. Graphic designers also get hired for a variety of other short term projects. For longer term projects and ongoing clients, look for businesses that need regular advertisements, like nightclubs and local businesses that distribute flyers. Also, consider targeting or partnering with web design companies and other website developers.

2. Programmer – On freelance sites like Elance, programmers and developers are often called on to fix problems or create solutions. Some of these projects can be short and some of them can last longer. A good programmer should always develop their skills and stay up to date with the latest trends.

After building up a portfolio and reputation, it becomes easier to find longer term projects and clients. Bigger companies are also worth approaching because they often have ongoing needs and bigger budgets. Programming is also a higher paying profession than some other freelance gigs.

3. Writing – People that write articles, do press releases, and do copy writing can also find themselves looking for work regularly. Good marketing and word of mouth can be helpful in finding more work. For longer term clients, target companies with ongoing marketing needs.

Looking for work and new clients is very time consuming and it’s work that you have to do that you don’t get paid for. So before you decide on a freelance profession, take this factor into account.

A few tips for getting more regular work

In the world of freelancing, it’s not always possible to avoid losing clients or having contracts end. Sometimes these things are sudden and out of your control. Here are a few ways to make sure you have enough to sustain yourself:

1. Take a Close Look at Your Rates – Consider raising your rates if your work is truly excellent. If not, then do what it takes to develop excellence in what you do. There are always clients that are willing to pay well for good quality work. Seek out those clients first and make sure you can deliver to their standards. Save some money so that you won’t have to panic when slower times arrive.

2. Develop an ongoing process for marketing your services – Create a systematic process to market yourself, even when you still have work. Don’t wait until you run out of work. Dedicate a certain amount of time each day or week to do these activities. Write down your step by step process so that you know exactly what to do.

3. Always be on the lookout for ongoing long-term clients – You don’t need to apply for every job that comes by, but if you spot a potential customer that might provide ongoing work, then try to connect with them at the very least, even if you are busy at the moment.

4. Gather testimonials and strengthen your portfolio – Get testimonials from previous satisfied clients and gather them in one place. You can place these on your own website or create a testimonial page. See if some of your best customers will allow you to list them as references with their contact information.

Create a portfolio of your best work. Anything else that you can think of that might cause someone to hire you, be sure to include it.

A Little History

I always wanted to start my own business and had thought about it even during my college years. I purchased the make money in real estate course, make money typing, make money on the web, etc. Most of the information wasn’t useful, but at least it got me thinking about business and gave me some ideas.

After college, I worked for a year before getting laid off. I started looking for another job, but was getting unemployment at the time. At the time, I purchased an ebook about making money on Ebay and started selling some of my junk. I them purchased and sold some fragrance oils as an experiment and that went well too. I decided that this was the time to just go for it and for 2 years, I made a living off Ebay auctions.

After 2 years, I got tired of Ebay and made a big change in my business. I started my own website selling baby shower favors, which was a completely different market and a different marketing channel. Since then, I have also experimented with Adsense sites and selling other types of products and services.

Over the past 8 years, I’ve been working while occasionally traveling around the US with my laptop. Several friends and family members have gotten inspired to start their own businesses too. But because I don’t see everyone every day, I don’t always get to give them the guidance that they need.

What I Hope to Share

Asides from real experiences, I also have learned a lot about other types of business and marketing. I’ve realized that there is not enough time to try everything, so hopefully if I discover good ideas, then other people will find them useful.

I’ve used search engines and social media to get website traffic, but have also started to explore other marketing methods. I’ve played around with outsourcing and automation. I have also learned a lot about the mindsets and psychology of success and some of the mental things that hold us back.

For me, continuing to learn has always been an important part of creating success. There’s a lot of garbage information out there when it comes to running your own business from home and there’s a lot of good information too.  But ultimately, I’ve discovered what works and what doesn’t work by actually doing it.

Starting a business is hard and most businesses fail within a few years. But if you succeed, it can be one of the most rewarding experiences. Hopefully, this blog will help provide my entrepreneurial friends with the tips and inspiration they need and I hope that other people will find it useful as well.