Double Your Freelancing Podcast

Links & resources can be found on the show notes page: https://dyf.link/episode115

Coaching series: Can Zach get this beginner freelancer (Brad) to a 6-figure income ($8,333/mo) within 6 months?

Follow their journey through the ups and downs and watch them grow!

Milestones from today’s episode:

• Refined service offering to create short-form content for social media
• Brad improved his video editing skills and is using his channel to showcase his abilities
• Using social media to find clients and demonstrate skills publicly

Coaching highlights from today’s episode:

• Specialize in one specific service to establish a clear niche in the market
• Identify target clients who are creating long-form content but struggling with short-form content
• Tag potential clients in social media posts to demonstrate skills and get their attention

Original coaching call recording date: 09/08/2023

Check out the DYF Accelerator community at dyf.link/community

What parts of your funnel should be automated? How can you create urgency without building extensive “limited time offer” workflows into your automation? Is it possible to give even better service with less person to person contact? In this first episode of DYF Podcast Season 2 on Automation, Franz Sauerstein addresses all of the various steps in his sales funnel and how he helps others automate thiers. He shares tricks of the trade like getting clients to self-qualify before he even becomes involved. He and Brennan also discuss the next step in optimizing automation: Personalization. Go in depth with Franz as he walks us through his process from beginning to end.

Key Takeaways:
How to create urgency with self-assessments
How to follow up with cooled leads
How to provide a better user experience through automation
The best way to segment leads following sales calls

Franz Sauerstein is a two-time DYFConf EU participant and was a Student Success Coach for the now retired, Double Your Freelancing Academy. His consultancy, Xciting Webdesign, specializes in optimizing European e-commerce stores through automation. By employing tools like Drip (marketing) and Pipedrive (customer relationship manager), Franz’s company primarily takes businesses generating 5 figure revenues and turns them into businesses consistently generating 6 figure revenues. In his own practice, Franz uses automation to find, qualify, transact, and follow up with clients. So how do Franz’s daily workflows break down? Let’s walk through his practices.

In the past, Franz has had a very involved process for drawing in leads. Although the steps of this process have not changed too much, the execution of each component has. Franz’s funnel starts with well-centered blog posts which he pays to have appear on social media venues like Facebook. These posts feature opt-ins with content upgrades including pdfs and ebooks that Franz says teach readers “how they can make their stores more successful and live the lives they want.” Content upgrades Franz has used include things like a guide covering “23 Ways To Increase Conversion Rates.” Because the topics speak to his target clients’ needs and provide relevant, accurate information, Franz is able to draw his leads’ attention and foster their trust in his expertise.

Previously, when a lead would opt in, Franz would nurture them and after a few weeks or a few months they would fill out a qualifying form and jump on a call. In addition to automating several steps along the way, Franz has flipped the script on the qualification process. Franz now offers a self assessment to the client that will show them how much revenue they’re losing by not acting fast to employ his services. Although there are great tried and true methods for creating urgency on the sales side of the equation (offer a limited sale, create limited availability, offer a bundle discount etc), Franz wanted to create a sense of urgency on the customer’s side. He created an online form with Brevity, Zapier and Drip software. When a customer downloads the PDF, Drip logs the event and triggers a follow up for the following day. Although the assessment is standard, the response is tailored to what the reader’s shop needs. The wording in the follow up message changes based on what else the customer has read and what info they’re pursuing, making this one area Franz has optimized for personalization.

The next step in this funnel is that Franz sends a suggestion of a 30 minute free consultation for qualified leads. If the lead accepts, then the workflow is complete and the info is then shuffled over to his CRM. If they don’t take the phone call then he will continue sending automated messages to the lead for 9 weeks with content along the lines of what they’ve shown interest in. These messages build trust with information-rich content and build urgency by asking if the customer has taken action yet. Franz says leads usually respond by the fourth or fifth email but if there is no response after 9 weeks, he will close the file. He says about 50% of the leads who are left by the time he sends the last email do actually respond at that point.

Brennan asks Franz how selling has changed for him now that he’s introduced so much automation into his business. Franz says that for starters, sales calls were awful before he automated. Without the trust and the qualification that he has since built into his automation, Franz found it hard to sell clients on strategy. He was also getting the wrong kinds of leads. Like most of us selling services, he doesn’t want clients who want to DIY. Instead, Franz needs clients who want to focus on other aspects of their businesses while he implements the strategy they’ve agreed to. The self-qualifying questionnaire helps ensure Franz is getting the leads he wants and clients know want to expect from his services before getting on the first sales call.

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Links & resources can be found on the show notes page: https://dyf.link/episode101

Coaching series: Can Zach get this beginner freelancer (Brad) to a 6-figure income ($8,333/mo) within 6 months?

Follow their journey through the ups and downs and watch them grow!

Milestones from today’s episode:

• Brad’s Organic YouTube marketing approach and the direct impact on lead generation and sales
• Using high-search keywords on Google and YouTube for video ranking
• Conceptualizing his dual-service offering for clients using authority building and existing content

Coaching highlights from today’s episode:

• Importance of research in content creation to ensure effective YouTube marketing
• Purpose of a well defined content creation strategy
• The value of performance-based agreements with clients

Original coaching call recording date: 06/28/2023

Check out the DYF Accelerator community at https://dyf.link/community

Links & resources can be found on the show notes page: https://dyf.link/episode102

Coaching series: Can Zach get this beginner freelancer (Maia) to a 6-figure income ($8,333/mo) within 6 months?

Follow their journey through the ups and downs and watch them grow!

Milestones from today’s episode:

• Booked out 1 month in advance while fine-tuning services for better client engagement
• Onboarded two new designers and aligning them with the studio's style and ethos

Coaching highlights from today’s episode:

• Leveraging Instagram interactions to build potential client relationships
• Importance of outsourcing repetitive tasks to focus on impactful activities
• Strategies for upskilling new designers to fit the studio’s unique design language

Original coaching call recording date: 06/14/2023

Check out the DYF Accelerator Community at https://dyf.link/community

My guest today is Gabi Logan, who offers one-on-one coaching and has a recurring revenue knowledge base/database business, retreat center offering events, and weekly webinar. She also does high-end consulting engagement for travel destinations and serves as a certified executive coach.

On today’s episode, we discuss hurdles she has experienced with roadmapping in her consulting business to get more clients and increase revenue.

Today’s topics include:

• Client Perspective: Addressing problems in time; clarifying what they
  need to work on
• Branding Project: The big picture, what’s hot now, and where people
  really want to go
• Consultation/Coaching Structure: Start with phone calls to determine
  client’s needs
• Send a form/survey in advance; give a list of recommendations based
  on responses
• What have you tried in the past? What worked and what didn’t?
• Final Question: Is there anything else you would like to tell me?
• Know mistakes client’s made in the past to avoid proposing the same
  option
• Use call as an interview - what’s on your mind? Let client do the
  talking
• If you’re not coaching or managing your client, engagement does not
  end well
• Don’t be an order taker - strategic input gets less value and rates
  go down
• Psychically know what clients want, but client does the work
• Value your strategic input; roadmapping is a plan for the client
• Give clients a taste of what it’s like to work with you, and what
  it’s like to work with clients
• Market being flooded with incompetent remote providers
• Curate relationships with clients; build trust and authority with
  clients early on
• Having a plan helps prevent imposter syndrome

Resources and links:

• Dream of Travel Writing