There’s a Twitter Page entitled Don’t Work For Free where freelancers can “out” companies and individuals requesting free labor. With over 16,000 likes and just under 2,000 followers, it’s evident that there’s a faction of society who considers working for free sacrilegious. As for me, I was torn on this issue. Then I began writing this article. As a freelancer, I understand the difficulty in locating work then asking for and receiving sufficient pay for the time, enery and training that went into creating my product. Even after earning billions and billions of dollars, Oprah Winfrey, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates still demand that mean green, so why should any of us ever work for no pay? Well, there is one reason working for free is justifiable and even beneficial. I’ll explore that first, then I’ll tackle the common reasons people use to rationalize working gratis and briefly discuss the resultant dangers associated with doing so.

 

To Gain Real-Life Experience

Working for free is a great method to gain experience in a field in which you’re interested, but have no prior knowledge. This is especially true if you’re about to invest years of your life in school or lots of money on training. Working for free could provide access to a field it would be challenging to penetrate otherwise. Take me for instance. My senior year of high school, my father arranged an unpaid gig on my behalf. The gentleman for which I worked, was an attorney. It had been my hope and intention, since the age of 3, to pursue the same profession. With unwavering doubt, I knew that law was what I wanted to do with my life. My Father wasn’t so sure and suggested an internship. Turns out, my Pop was right.
 

I discovered that while Matlock and Law & Order’s Jack McCoy spent much of their time making lofty speeches in courtrooms, actual criminal attorneys spend long hours in solitude completing paperwork. There were other discrepancies between what I thought being a lawyer was like and the reality. Working for free saved me hundreds of thousands pursuing a career that was nothing like I thought. Thanks Dad and thanks to the opportunity working for free afforded me.

Exposure

Defined as the act of exposing, laying open, or uncovering. As research for this article, I wanted to find out what my spiritual leader, Oprah, had to say about all this. This is where exposure as pay entered the conversation. Instead of an inspiring Ted Talk or an enlightening interview with Shonda Rhimes, I found hula hoop sensation, Revolva. In 2014, the performer penned an open letter to Oprah Winfrey, admonishing her for an invite to perform pro bono at Oprah’s Live Your Best Life tour. Revolva was offered compensation in the form of exposure.
 

Let’s be honest, exposure is essential for any business. How can people patronize you, if they don’t know you exist? But those in the market to live their best life, are not necessarily in the market for a hula hooper. Exposure doesn’t guarantee future earnings. Working guarantees future income, which is why we work and for it, we are paid. Exposure is not legal tender.

Resume and Relationship Building

I toyed with the idea of working for free in order to forge a connection with a truly impressive business mogul based in New York. I wanted this connection so badly that I was willing to do most anything to jumpstart the relationship. I figured that rubbing shoulders with this person and being able to say I worked for their company would be like steroids to my puny career. Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford to move to New York and live in New York or feed myself in New York if I were working for free. Even if I could swing it, my plan bordered on the absurd. Folly aside, what’s important is how I arrived at that thinking.

The Truth

I had never had my talents or skills valued in a traditional workplace or compensated at the level at which I performed. As a result, I struggled with my sense of worth and hoped to happen upon a benefactor that, after I’d demonstrated my worth for less, would happily offer me more.
 

After years of following this strategy, I found that it rarely works. No one or very few will give you what you’re worth, even if your value has been demonstrated. You must know your worth and ask for, some would argue, demand due compensation. Why is this essential? Because, it’s your contribution. It’s what you have to offer the world. It’s what will be left when you are no longer here. That, in itself, is invaluable. Your essence, your legacy, your mark. Don’t discount or give it away, unless it directly helps sustain your momentum or motivation towards delivering your contribution to whom it is meant. Exposure alone just won’t do. It can be a remarkable perk in addition to income. Relationship building doesn’t justify, unless that relationship is truly symbiotic where both entities are actually benefitting. Impressive resume additions are great, but if you’re in doubt over your own greatness, it won’t be enough and you may continue compromising in the future. Relish in your worth, stand in it, marinate on it, reach for it, rise from it, and then boldly and unapologetically ask for your check, please.

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MEET THE WRITER:

Tamika Page works as a marketing assistant and instructor in Atlanta, GA. Her first words were “increase market share.” Although her first words were far less remarkable than previously stated, she does have extensive experience in helping small businesses grow and discover their unique identities.

Want to chat with Tamika directly? TamikaMPage@gmail.com

Successful marketing takes more than coming up with eye catching advertising schemes and posting frequently on social. It’s about making a genuine connection with your customers – and to do that, you have to know who your customers are!

Customer personas (also called buyer personas) are detailed representations of your customers’ demographics, likes, dislikes, traits, and buying behaviors. Keep in mind that these traits are not made up, you need to discover them through comprehensive research.

Digging into the data and discovering who frequents your business will help you develop more effective marketing materials, allow you to boost sales, and make you an all around more effective business owner. 

Whether you’re a brand new business or a company that’s been around for a while, understanding who your clients are and how they shop will go a long way in building a stronger business. 

Focus on the Good & Bad

While life would be easier if we only focused on the positives, being a business owner means taking in the whole picture. In order to have a strong and thorough understanding of your brand, you need to be familiar with both your strengths and weaknesses.

If you’ve had negative customer experiences in the past, reach out to those clients and learn how you can avoid it in the futures. Unfortunately, not everyone will be in love with your company, but you can still use their constructive feedback to pinpoint who you should be focusing your marketing efforts on and what you need to improve in the future.

Alternatively, if you have your top customers who are always liking your social posts, and praising your products, find out what they love about your company, how they prefer to shop, and what they expect from your brand.

Understanding your ideal customers and customers that aren’t interested in your company can help you pinpoint who you should target and who to avoid. 

Creating Your Personas

When it comes to building your personas, the more details you include, the better they become. Here are a few areas to focus on:

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• Age

• Income

• Education level

• Location

• Occupation

• Goals

• Challenges

• Values

• Likes & Dislikes

• Favorite brands

• Hobbies

• How they discovered your brand

• Favorite social media accounts

• How often they shop

Your personas should provide a glimpse into who your customers are and how they think.

Now, let’s pretend that we own an organic juice bar. Here's what two of our personas might look like: 

From looking at the profiles of our two fictional customers, we’re able to better understand what they’re looking for in a brand. We also have a better idea of how they’d prefer to receive information.

When it comes to making personas of your own, don’t be afraid to reach out to people. Past customers and followers on social are the best ways to find information. Get creative by sending out email surveys, creating Facebook polls, or simply conducting phone interviews. Just be sure to offer an incentive for their feedback and time. Gift certificates, freebies, or discount codes all work well.

Now, get building those buyer profiles! Or, leave us a question below if you need more information.

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Graphic Design & Creative Marketing in Greensboro, NC

Need a second opinion on your current marketing strategy? We can help! Whether you need to spruce up your landing page or create a more engaging email campaign, Hue & Tone Creative can help your brand that extra touch it needs to stand out.

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"A content calendar is a shareable resource that marketing teams can use to plan all content marketing activity. The benefit of using the calendar format, rather than just a long list of content to be published, is that you can visualize how your content is distributed throughout the year." - Convince and Convert 

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When you’re swamped with meetings, deadlines, and daily work hiccups, squeezing in the time to create content to promote your business can be a hassle.

Creating a content calendar will save you time, provide consistency, and help you manage your communication channels. Chances are, if you’re not pre-planning your social posts and blogs in advance, you’re constantly struggling to find last minute material... usually resulting in rushed and irrelevant content.

Avoid stress and get organized with our 6 step process:  

Step 1: Brainstorm with no distractions

Need some fresh posting ideas? Checkout our What to Post series for, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Sit down with a pen and paper and set a timer for 30 minutes. In that time, write down a list of every blog/podcast/content idea that pops into your head. Making sure that you have no distractions is key. When the timer goes off, start divvying up what's appropriate for blog and social media.  

If you're a little low on ideas, you may need to do this process a few times. 

Once you’re done brainstorming, go on a fact-finding mission to study what other businesses and experts do. Then, add any new ideas you have to your master list. From here you can start refining things and decide what works best and what to toss. 
 

Step 2: See what worked

Sidebar: Perform an audit to determine how impactful your social presence is.

Before you start planning, take some time to revisit past posts. Which posts have the most likes and engagement? Which blogs and newsletters have been the most successful?

Once you’ve analyzed what your clients respond best to, you can tailor future content to fit their needs.

Step 3: Determine how often you should post

Tip: Plan content for holidays, anniversaries, product launches, or important events in advance. 

If don’t have a plan in place for how often you want to post on your blog and each social network, you run into the problem of inconsistency. If you’re posting on Facebook 10 times on a Monday, 3 times on a Wednesday, and 6 times on a Friday, your followers will probably get confused, annoyed, or simply unfollow you because they're overwhelmed.

Give your audience a routine so that they know when and how often you’re going to post (especially important with a blog, podcast, or email list). 

These are just general guidelines, so feel free to adjust to the frequency that works best for your business and audience.

Step 4: Create a resource library for social and blog images

Take time to compile a long list of post ideas and sources for material. Having a database of quotes, photos, statistics, relevant websites, and content ideas at your disposal will help you organize all of your content ahead of time. And, in the case that you need some last minute content, you already have quality content at your fingertips! 
 

Step 5: Select a tool

There are several great content planning calendars to choose from and many of them are free.

Sprout Social

Basecamp

CoSchedule

Asana

Google Docs/Sheets

Excel

Buffer

Requeue

We personally prefer to plan our content with Google Sheets, and then schedule things out from there on a weekly basis in Hootsuite. But, if you already have a tool you're comfortable with, try to fit your content planning tools into your existing work flow.
 

Step 6 : Plan everything out

While planning is great, don't miss out on trending tops and current events. If a post you have planned doesn't work don't be afraid to change things up!

Now that you’ve brainstormed and found out what works for you, spend time planning out your content on an actual calendar. Figure out how far you want to plan - we suggest planning at least two or three months out, all the way up to a year. 

Plan out big pieces of content like blogs, infographics, podcasts, and emails first. Once you've got that in place you can work your social content for the week around these big content offerings. Don't catch yourself getting bogged down planning out every social post -- you can always just put a general outline of content you’d like to post on the calnedar (quotes, stats, blog throwbacks, tips, etc.)

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Greensboro Marketing Firm: Hue & Tone Creative

Stumped on how to make the most of your inbound marketing plan? We can help you plan the traffic driving blogs, social, and email campaigns your brand deserves. 

File formats can read like a different language -- we've all been there. Whether you’re a design student or a small business owner, it is important to understand which formats are best for websites, social media, or logo and packaging design. Sending the wrong file can cost time, money, and a compromised final product.

To clear up some of the confusion, we've pulled together this easy file format guide. The perfect balance between basic and exhaustive, we hope this will answer all your file-related questions: 
 

.JPEG- Joint Photographic Experts Group

Best for: Web and social tasks where the image has a fixed resolution
This format is great for producing high resolution images for both print and web.  JPEGs work through lossy compression, which means that the quality decreases as the file size gets smaller.
 

.TIF- Tagged Image File

Best for large scale prints, banners, large signs
This format is popular with graphic artists and photographers because it’s great for large scale print images.  Because of its large format, it will cause a slow load time and is not recommended for web pages.

.GIF- Graphics Interchange Format

Best for social, small icons, and blogs
Gifs can be downloaded quickly and are often animated. They work through the bitmap image format and can use up to 256 colors in the RGB palate.
 

.PNG- Portable Network Graphics

Best for website headers, logos, any time you need a transparent background
PNGs are low resolution graphics that are typically used for web pages.  They support lossless data compression, so they can be reconstructed without a loss in quality.

If you want your image to have a transparent background (not white) then you'll probably want to use a PNG! 
 

.RAW

Best for: Editing photos before converting them to JPEGs
This format maintains all the data from the image sensor when you take a picture. Unlike a JPEG, a camera raw image file is unprocessed and not yet ready for print. Because RAW files have yet to be compressed, they are ideal for high quality images. Beware -- only certain computer programs will read .raw files! 
 

.PDF- Portable Document Format

Best for: Sharing graphics designed in Adobe, text documents, sending to printer
PDFs are a versatile file format that make it easy to share images and documents. Because of their accessibility, these files are a great way to share work designed in Adobe without the hassle of downloading design software. When in doubt about the software or operating system someone is using send a PDF! 

.AI- Adobe Illustrator Document

Best for: art files
An .ai file is one that was created in Adobe Illustrator -- meaning it was probably used for vector illustration or file manipulation. If you want another designer to be able to edit your original design .ai is one of the formats you could send them. 

.EPS- Encapsulated Postscript

Best for: sharing images to non-Adobe Illustrator users, sending advertisements and pages, and for sharing logos.
An EPS is a file extension for high resolution vector graphics created in Adobe Illustrator.  This format can contain both graphics and text.
 

.PSD- Photoshop Document

Best for: sending layered images, editing and retouching photos, creating logos and packaging
This raster file format uses layers to easily edit and modify images in Adobe Photoshop. This format is great for retouching photos, manipulating images, and for creating complex digital artwork.
 

.TTF- TrueType font

Best for: sharing fonts
Due to its precision and ability to maintain quality, TTFs are the standard format for sharing fonts.
 

.RSS- Rich Site Summary

Best for: sharing news stories, subscribing to blogs, monitoring social media
This format uses web feeds to publish updated blogs, audio, video, and news stories. The RSS format is popular for blogs because it updates subscribers to new content automatically.
 

.PHP

Best for: web development, e-commerce, application development
PHP is used for web development and serves as a programming language. It can be embedded into HTML code and can be used with web template systems.
 

.MPEG 4

Best for: Storing audio, video, subtitles, and stills, online streaming
This digital multimedia file format is used both audio and visual. It can also store still images and subtitles.
 

.MOV

Best for: saving movie, music, and text files, streaming on computers and mobile, downloading audio and video
MOV is a multimedia file container used by Apple’s QuickTime media software. Most videos online are saved in this format because the compressed format makes it easier to download and stream files.  Although it was developed by Apple, it is also compatible with Windows.

.WMA- Windows Media Audio

Best for: high quality digital audio and video
Developed by Microsoft, this format is used for audio data compression. This file format can only be played using Windows Media Player.

One more important note: It's not a file format, but color mode is an important distinction to make when exporting artwork. CMYK and RGB are the main two color modes. RGB is an additive color model used for web. Red, green, and blue light are added together to produce different colors. CMYK is a subtractive color model used for print media. Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (key) are combined for color printing. When exporting from programs like Illustrator or Photoshop it's important to make sure you've selected the right color mode -- or you'll be shocked by what you get back from the printer!

If you're ever unsure about what format to use, be sure to refer back to this guide! We've had plenty of our own file malfunctions -- and it's not a fun place to be. 

Tell us, have you ever had a serious file mishap? 

Marketing is a necessity no matter what your business. But, it’s important to remember that a solid marketing plan can come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and budgets.

Bootstrap marketing is all about making the most out of your resources, finding new ways to work with others, and becoming your own PR agent. It’s the best mindset for new business owners because it’s wallet-friendly and forces you to use your creativity.

Fortunately, there’s a vast array of tools that you can take advantage of...without depleting your bank account!
 

Gather quality research

Estimated cost: Free

Use a short questionnaire to gather the opinions of people on the street, outside of shopping centers, or events that fit your target demographic. Load your iPad with a set of quick questions to ask people, visual aids, and product comparisons -- then hit the street!   
 

Create a Contest

Estimated cost: Whatever you decide to give away

Contests are a great way to use social media to engage your followers. Create a small scale contest by having your followers respond to a question or share a picture accompanied with a fun hashtag. Have your followers share your business page or submit their email address for a chance to win a product from your business. For long term contests, be sure to drive excitement daily and encourage your followers to enter for their chance to win!
 

Give the inside scoop on social

Estimated cost: Free

When posting on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, keep the one in seven rule in mind. For every seven posts you create, make sure that one in focused exclusively on promoting your brand. The content of the other six should focus on providing information, testimonials, or entertaining images or videos.

Start a loyalty program

Estimated cost: A few discounts or free gifts

Keeping an existing customer is far less expensive than searching for new customers. Create a loyalty program to show your clients that they are valued with discounts, tier programs, exclusive shopping days, or points programs. Check out Belly, Perkville, PunchTab, or Brownie Points if you’re looking for an app to help get you started.  

“Remember to always keep your email list growing! Give your visitors several opportunities to register every time they visit your website.”

Launch an email campaign

Estimated cost: Free (until you reach a high volume sending list)

Use your creativity to keep your emails engaging and beneficial to your customers. Feature flash sales, rewards program perks, and anything new to your businesses.  Stream Send, MailChimp, and Benchmark Email are some easy to use email marketing services.  

Embrace guerrilla marketing

Estimated cost: $10-$500

Hand out custom t-shirts, stickers, or swag (like water bottles or dog toys). People love free stuff so give them something to remember you by!

Or, consider using sidewalk chalk or posters to get your message out around town.

Gather testimonials

Estimated cost: Free

Stand out from your competitors by providing success stories from previous customers. Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback from your satisfied customers. Most are happy to write a review when they’re happy with a purchase. You can also offer a free trial or complementary item to select customers in return for an honest review. These are great to use in marketing materials of all kinds!

Maintain a blog

Estimated cost: Free (assuming you already have a website)

Most people would rather purchase a product or service from a brand with a personality rather than a stiff corporate tone. Use your blog to relate to customers as a person or small business! If you are new to blogging you could start with a customer success story, market trends, a behind the scenes look at your business, or maybe a feature of some of your staff members.

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Things we don't recommend you skimp on?
An eye catching logo and an amazing website.

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Partner with other businesses

Estimated cost: $50+

Look for local businesses that share similar values, target customers, and experience as your brand. Most businesses welcome connections, especially when they benefit both parties. For instance, if you own a bakery, partner with a nearby coffee shop on a special rewards card, let local vendors sell their wares in your storefront, or let a local artist offer painting classes at night. 

Host an event

Estimated cost: $500+

Think about the interests of your target customer and invite them to exclusive events. Anthropologie often holds special events for Anthro card holders. Guests are able to attend DIY workshops, fashion shows, and even pet adoption days. You can make an even larger event by networking with other businesses in your area. Many local businesses hold special shopping nights where customers can travel from store to store and enjoy sales and refreshments. There are endless event ideas, the key is to get your customer excited and eager to come.

Now that you’ve learned some budget friendly tips, remember that working with a small budget doesn’t necessarily mean a small marketing presence. Spend your money wisely and business will be booming in no time!

Whether you’re starting a new business, turning over a new leaf, or just looking to streamline your current venture, you’re facing about a million (rough estimate) challenges at all times. But the good news is that for almost every problem you face there’s an app that’s here to make your life easier. And, to make things even easier, we’ve gone ahead and cut out the research process by compiling this list of essential business apps.

If you’re looking to streamline your marketing, finance, or internal communication efforts we’ve got an app for you!

Financial Tools

Keeping up with your finances can be one of the least fun parts about owning your business -- and, if you’re not careful, it can be one of the most time consuming.

MileIQ: Need to track your miles for tax purposes? The MilelQ app logs all of your drives and allows you to easily swipe left or right to categorize drives as work or personal.

Float: This cash flow forecasting app allows you to better predict the financial future of your company.

Quickbooks: Chances are, you’ve heard of Quickbooks. It’s accounting software specifically built for small business -- it’s essential for tracking your income, sending invoices, and managing your expenses.

Square: One of the easiest ways to accept chip + magstripe cards, Square is an app that pairs with a (free) card reader. It’s one of the easiest ways to accept POS payment!

PayPal: Send, accept, and request money with this online payment system. It connects with your bank account, and your information is secure and protected.
 

Marketing Tools

Now that we have your finances in place, we need to get you some new customers. These marketing tools will help you communicate effectively through every medium.

Hootsuite: Struggling to manage all of your social sites efficiently? Hootsuite allows you to manage all of your accounts one one screen. You can also schedule out your social media posts for multiple platforms at once, and track the results.

MailChimp: MailChimp is a cheap and easy email marketing platform that allows you to communicate with your customers. You can integrate the sign-up on your website to effortlessly collect email addresses, create branded templates, and send easily-trackable campaigns. If you want to learn more, check out our series on the benefits and basics of using MailChimp (here and here).

Canva: While we’re always in favor of bringing in a pro, we understand that sometimes you just need a quick fix. Canva is an easy app that allows you to create graphics for your business. There’s free templates for social media graphics, flyers, and more.

Hubspot: Hubspot’s a powerful inbound marketing software that helps you create powerful marketing materials, gather information, and convert leads into sales. It includes all the tools you need to market your business -- but may feel a little overwhelming for beginners.

Buzzsumo: Find out what your consumers really want! Buzzsumo helps you research your target audience so that you can ensure you’re spending time on the right content for your business.

Organization Tools

Organizing a team is no small task -- but luckily some of the best tools out there are meant to help you effectively manage your crew. Don’t count these tools out even if your business team only consists of just you! Project management apps can help you keep client work or new business initiatives intuitively organized.

17hats: Perfect for all the solopreneurs out there, 17hats cuts out the need for multiple apps. It simplifies everything and lets you keep track of your clients, projects, to do lists, calendar, workflow, templates and everything else all in one place.

Asana: If you’ve got a big team, Asana is the app for you. You can easily manage and assign tasks to different projects and teams. It cuts down on the need for unnecessary meetings and allows you to manage all of your to-do’s in one place.

Basecamp: A great alternative to Asana, Basecamp allows you to manage projects with a team. While Asana is our personal preference, the best thing to do is test out both apps for free and see what you prefer.

Evernote: A giant digital notebook, Evernote allows you to stay organized. You can store everything from big ideas to random musings in different digital notebooks. Add in images, audio, scanned documents, and files to keep everything organized. You can even forward emails to the different notebooks to keep everything in one place.

Wunderlist: Have a long to-do list? Wunderlist is a task management tool with a simple interface. It syncs to all of your devices so that you can easily check things off throughout the day.

Pocket: Ever spend hours looking for a link and wished you’d saved it? Pocket can help. Save everything and anything you come across on the web so that you can view it later.

IFTTT: An acronym for “If This Then That” this is a free web app that lets user automate web-based tasks. A little confused about what that means? That’s because it does almost anything!

Productivity Tools

It’s hard to stay on task when you’re feeling overwhelmed. These tools will help you keep your day-to-day routine on track!

30/30: A super simple task manager, this app guides you to work for 30 minutes/break for 30 minutes. It’s as simple as that!

FocusZen: Carefully engineered audio teaches your mind to block out all distractions and allow for maximum focus. The app also has timers for 10, 25, or 60 minutes of peace.

Spark: Emails can be a pain, especially unnecessary ones. This app collects and categorizes all of your emails so that they’re easy to process.

Slack: Slack is a cloud based messaging tool that promises to make you less busy by streamlining team communication.

RescueTime: RescueTime runs in the background to help you understand where your time goes from day-to-day. You can block distracting websites, set alerts for when you spend a certain amount of time on a task, and log highlights about what you accomplished.

Toggl: A ridiculously simple time tracker, Toggl lets you track your time per task so that you can recognize and improve it.

Misc

Google Apps: One of our personal obsessions, Google Apps are a powerful tool. You can create documents that are easily shareable, store files, comment on shared documents, and sooooooo much more. You can edit a document live with your team -- and it all syncs to your Drive. And -- purchasing an additional 100GB of extra space to store all your files starts at only $1.99 a month!

Skype: Have a remote client? Meet virtually with Skype and have a face-to-face conversation via your laptop or mobile device.

LastPass: Keep all of your passwords in one place with this password management app.

SignNow: A safe and effective way to get e-signatures in seconds from any device (for a very reasonable cost).

BidSketch: Use this tool to easily mix and match fees, projects, and conditions to create professional client proposals.

SurveyMonkey: Conduct free surveys and analyze the results with SurveyMonkey. With over 15 question types, you can easily gather information.

Don't be afraid to test out these different apps and see what works best for you -- finding just one tool that you love can make a big difference in your day-to-day efficiency! 

Tell us: which of these tools are you most eager to try?