Welcome to another episode of Silence Is Golden. Despite some technical difficulties, as well as Troy getting derailed by thoughts of using the phone in the bathroom and the giggles (once again), we got a lot done today.
In this episode, Simon and Troy talk about how to grow your freelance business with predictable products and productivity hacks.
Oh, and don’t forget to check out the VUM Black Friday promotion around the 10.20-minute mark. It’s a helluva deal.
Watch the Video
What Made the Wee Come Out?
After a bit of fun with the guys on the show, at 16.15, Simon introduces a tool he recently encountered called Krisp.
In essence, it is a noise-cancelling app for Mac users that reduces background noise from both ends of a phone call. What’s nice is that it works with any calling app – like Skype, Zoom, or Google Hangouts – so you don’t have to change your meeting software in order to use this.
It’s powered by AI which means that it learns to recognise the sound of your voice so it can more accurately drown out ambient noises like a screaming baby at home or a screaming group of girls at the nightclub.
Clearer phone calls are a win for all!
The Golden Nugget
At the 20.05 minute mark, Simon and Troy get to the Golden Nugget:
Growing your freelance business with predictable products.
Our focus this month has been on profitability and financial security. And for those of you who are tired of it feeling like an unattainable fantasy, Troy and Simon want to point you towards one of the ways to make it yours.
In sum, turn your service into a product. (Just as Troy did with Video User Manuals.)
Think about it like this: Someone asks you what you do. You say, “I’m a web designer.” But that’s not really what they were asking. They don’t care about your job title. They want to know what the end results are. It’s easier to explain and easier to sell because you’ve packaged it up into a neat little package.
What’s more, it makes it easier for your happy clients to pitch it over to others in need of the same solution. Rather than have to explain what it’s like to work with a web designer, writer, videographer, etc., they just say:
“Buy this product. This is the end result. And here’s how much it costs.”
And there are so many ways in which you can productise your business.
If you’d like to hear more about creating irresistible offers, check out Episode 35 of Silence Is Golden.
If you’d like to hear more about turning your service into predictable products, check out Episode 27 of Silence Is Golden.
Tool of the Week
At the 28.40 minute mark, Simon introduces the tool of the week.
Stripe
Stripe, or “everything you need to get paid online”, is the first tool suggested for boosting profitability. It is a payment processor and merchant account you can connect to your WordPress site to send invoices and collect payments from clients.
Simon uses Stripe in conjunction with Better Proposals. After he’s sent a proposal to a new client and they’ve accepted, they have the option to submit their first payment through Stripe.
If you’d like to learn more about the tools we use here at Agency Mavericks to boost profitability and productivity, be sure to visit the Tools We Use page.
Wrap Up
If you like what you saw (or read) today, be sure to visit us on YouTube and Facebook and subscribe for more Silence Is Golden awesomeness.
Also, don’t forget to join our Digital Mavericks Facebook Group to gain access to exclusive live videos, frameworks and guides on how to scale your digital business.
