So in part one about branding as a small business or freelancer I talked about you being the brand and that everything your clients are aware of you doing reflects on your brand.
The second issue with you being the brand and what you are marketing is time; there isn’t enough! There are only so many hours in a day that you can (or want to) work. If you can find the right person to work for you, or with you, and project your brand values, then you can expand in this way, but this is hard. Just think how hard it is to get people to go to a class with a cover instructor, or what people do when their wellbeing provider goes away; they don’t go, or have appointments earlier or later than usual as they don’t want anyone else. I believe the best option here is to work with someone who complements what you offer, but has similar values, thus maintaining the brand reputation, but developing the services on offer.
So what other options are there? If you look at how you spend your working week, there are the hours that you are actually with your clients, and then there are the hours of non client contact tasks, which could be substantial, or there could be a “to do” list which never gets any shorter as you are always trying to squeeze clients in. These tasks may be essential, but they don’t generate income directly; if you could use these hours for physical client contact, you could be earning more money and developing your brand further. Yes interaction on Facebook is building your brand, but can someone else do it in the background? Yes, why not. As long as your brand values are clear, someone else can post on your behalf, reply to comments etc, taking on more as the relationship strengthens. It’s even easier to outsource other admin tasks which do not involve client contact. And so long as what you make by working with clients during that time, or the value of being with friends and family during that time, is greater than what it costs you to outsource those tasks, it’s win win for you and the person you outsource to.
So how do you select someone to work with you behind the scenes? The closer you want someone to work with you, the more important it is to choose someone with similar values. Obviously they need to have the skills to do the job you are asking them to do, but ideally for both parties you are looking for a longer term relationship, as the more they understand your business and how you operate, the easier it is for them to help you grow your business.
