“First step in clawing my way to the top in the freelance world.”

The winning entry came from Stacey Colinger.  We’ll be getting ahold of her posthaste so we can send her the awesome prize!

Thanks to everyone who participated.  I’m hoping to do more contests in the future, although I’ll have to work hard to find as cool of a prize as this one had.

Awesome picture courtesy of reneethb.

So, Tamara and I have been thinking about doing a caption contest for a while now, and it seems that all the stars have aligned and the time is right.  We have a fun concept, a great picture, and a really, really cool prize.  Now all we need are your entries.

The contest is to caption the above photo of this fellow we’re going to call Freelance Cat.  You can do the whole lolcats thing, or you can just demonstrate your own sparkling wit for our amusement.  You may enter as many times as you’d like, but please make each entry a separate comment so we can keep them straight.  The contest is open until 11:59 p.m. (Pacific) on Sunday, April 5th.  Once all entries have been received, an unbiased panel of guest judges (who happen to be freelancers) will be brought in to determine the winning entry.

Here’s the deal, though.  You have to make sure we can contact you if you win.  Throw us a bone, people.  Give us an email address or a link to your blog with a contact page or something.  If you win and we cannot contact you and get a response within a week, we’re just gonna pick a new winner.  Got it?

So, what do you win?  Well, it’s something that several of you have already mentioned you’d really like to own.  See those awesome punctuation marks hanging on the wall above my desk?  It turns out that we have an extra set of these three.  You want ‘em, you gotta earn ‘em!

Just what is going on in Freelance Cat’s mind?  Let’s find out what you think.

(Oh, and you are definitely encoraged to Tweet, Facebook, and blog about the contest!  Tell us how you spread the word, and there may be an extra prize in it for you…)

Small-print-type mumbo jumbo: 

Retail value $19.99. Open to legal residents of the United States 18 years of age and older. No purchase required. Void where prohibited by law. By submitting your name and email address, you agree to receive relevant promotional emails and contest follow up communications from Sparkplugging.com, in compliance with our strict privacy policy and giveaway rules. Your information will never be rented or sold to third parties. Frequently Asked Questions.

The Best Freelance Marketing Advice We Ever Got

When the Berry-Brewer Freelance Agency came into being, you could say that my business partner and I were wet behind the ears. I had tried the freelancing game on my own a couple of years before to no avail. My downfall: I was just dreadful at marketing myself.

It turns out that Tamara wasn’t all that great at it either. So, we struggled a bit as we did everything we could to learn the ropes and become successful. We even made “marketing materials” that we thought were going to be our ticket to the big time.

Why did we design these beautiful four-color brochures that would never even get printed? Because that was our understanding of what marketing was. The grand total of our marketing knowledge could probably be summed up as follows:

Business Cards + Brochures + A Blog = Marketing

(It turns out there’s a whole lot missing from that equation.)

The most important piece of marketing advice we got turned out to this: “Align yourself with other businesses who are already marketing to the clients you want.”

For example, we worked with a wonderful marketer when we decided to rebrand our company. Billie Gaura at Rainmaker Marketing was not only good at her job, but she also “got” us. We plunked down what was (to us) a pretty penny in order to have her on our team. (Don’t let that scare you off, her rates are actually really, really good.)

In the end, we ended up being on her team. Now, when her clients need a good writer, she’s quick to say, “I know this great agency…”

Another way that this has been so beneficial to us is by teaming up with graphic designers. For example, we hired Selene Bowlby of iDesign Studios to set up our Nonprofit Perspective blog. Since then, she has referred us to two of her clients. In fact, she is the second designer to do so.

As a final example, we’re also working with a search engine optimization company. They go out and find their clients. They set up plans and packages and prices and the whole nine yards. When they’ve got all that done, they turn around and ask us to write some articles. It’s very low-fuss for us, but it brings in a nice bit of our income these days.

If there’s one thing that has made a difference in our marketing strategy, it has been to have all of these other folks marketing for us. We’re all targeting the same clients, after all, and we have the opportunity to support one another by teaming up for a great customer experience.

If you’re interested in some of the other cool marketing techniques we’ve learned, check out Eight Creative Marketing Campaigns adapted for Freelancers.

The printer isn’t even the whole prize. As a matter of fact, the idea is that any small business can put this “WorkForce Work Horse” (oh, gee, Epson should pay me to market for them, don’t you think) to work to create its own professional brand. To sweeten the pot, they’re also throwing in a ton of paper, envelopes, inks, and other stuff. The scrapbooker in me is just seething with jealousy already.

But wait, there’s more. Randa Clay Design will also design a logo for the winner’s business. Seriously, this could be just the thing you need to brand your business and take it to the next level.

So, how do you enter? Visit Wendy’s Sparkplug CEO blog for details. You get two entries for participating in her group writing project, and another for leaving a comment about how you would use the prize if you won.

Oh, and the submissions for the group writing project are going to be included in a free ebook so that we can all learn from one another.

Since then, we have been given the go-ahead to allow a Freelance Parent reader to register for FREE. So, we’ve decided to run a little contest to see who gets to take the two-session course with us.

Here’s how it works:

• You get one entry for leaving a comment on this post saying why you’d like to take the class.
• You get two additional entries for mentioning the class on your blog or web site and linking back to this post. (Just let us know in the comments in case we don’t get the trackback for some reason.)
• The contest runs from now until noon (Pacific Time) on Monday.
• We’ll do a random-number generation to determine who gets to register for free! (If you’ve already paid to register, we’ll work it out for you.)

If you can’t take the class for some reason but feel like your readers might benefit from it, feel free to blog about it anyway!

So, since Freelance Parent readers are such awesome writers, I thought you should know about the contest!  It’s on his Derek Semmler dot com blog, and you should check it out!

 I’ve heard some whisperings that Freelance Parent will be doing another giveaway soon, so keep your eyes open!

I love the idea of supporting individual artists, so it was obvious that I needed to commission an octopus to give away here at Freelance Parent.  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Freelancing Octopus.  

I think the determined nature of this little guy really exemplifies how a lot of us freelancers feel most of the time.  Don’t you wish you had eight arms to get more done during the day?

 Our plan is to do a random drawing of freelancers who want to adopt this adorable cephalopod.  He’s 5″ x 7″, is in full color, and is ready to be framed and hung in your home office.  There are two ways to be entered into the drawing.

1. Get one entry for leaving a comment here telling us how you just can’t live without the Freelancing Octopus in your life.  (Or just say something like, “I want to be in the drawing.”)
2. Get a second entry for mentioning the contest in your blog with a link back to Freelance Parent.

The prize value is $20, and entries will be accepted until 12:00 midnight (Pacific Time) on Sunday, October 28th.  Unfortunately, only U.S. participants can enter.  For any other fine-print-y-type stuff, check out http://emomsathome.com/contests.html.