In the run up to my new e-course’s launch on Wednesday March 10th, I’ll be giving away 10 courses for free.

The offer is inclusive to fans of the Red Lemon Club Google+ Page

For a chance of getting hold of a free, instantly downloadable copy of the course: ‘The Freelancer’s Guide to Winning Incredible Clients through Google+ Mastery’ (and several bonuses), which shows freelancers, and entrepreneurs, everything you need to know to use Google+ for winning great, ongoing projects and clients, you need to do the following:

1. Log in or sign up for a Google+ account.

2. Go to the Red Lemon Club Google Page, and add us to one of your circles if you haven’t already.

3. Write a wall post or comment stating why you want the course.

..And that’s it!

The ten winners will be announced through the Google+ page, as well as the Red Lemon Club site on Tuesday Feb 6th.

Good luck!

Make sure you don’t neglect that element of you. You can do this by using your imagination, and then using it some more. Spend time writing down or sketching out your imaginative ideas whenever you can, like a child would plan building his fort. Bring a notebook around with you to document your plans, dreams and ideas.

Quit using up all your imagination on worrying, and create a vision that motivates you.

The thing is though, they really are important, and really can get you some awesome achievements if you stick to them. But how to stick to them? Sometimes it’s hard to motivate ourselves towards goals.

The reason for this is probably that you haven’t set your goal posts wide enough, and you’re simply not aiming for something that moves you. Another reason could be that, even though you’ve set yourself a big goal, deep down you lack the belief that the goal really is for you.

To get round this, and to really motivate you, create a ‘career-shifter goal’.

This is a major goal that, were you to achieve it, it would noticeably change your own career for the good. Such a goal might be to write a best-selling book, get on the radio, work with a particular dream client, and so on.

This is the kind of goal that will re-kindle any sense of excitement you have about what you do.

Spend some time thinking about the goal. Make sure the prospect of achieving it is something that really excites you and make sure it has a specific deadline. Often this one goal will help you reach other goals associated with your business too.

Here are some more ‘career-shifter’ goal ideas:

• Have a solo gallery exhibition of your work by Sept 13th 2013
• Host an event by 1st January 2015
• Sell 50 products in a month by March 1st 2014
• Win a BAFTA by January 30th 2017
• Write a newspaper article by Sept 1st 2014
• Work with a fortune 500 company by February 3rd 2015
• Get 5000 hits on YouTube by December 24th 2012
• Receive fanmail by July 23rd 2016

Best of luck! What career-shifter goals will you set?

Surely having a presence on Facebook, blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter and more, is enough for sharing content and promoting ourselves! Facebook alone can prove to be an enormous time-burner.

I’ve spent a lot (I mean a lot) of time researching Google+ and I’ve had had plenty of experience on Facebook, including writing some guides on it. From this, I’ve discovered a wealth of great things that highlight Google’s new project. What Google has on offer is something that really will, and already is, shaking things up in a big way.

Even though Facebook has its uses, particularly in engaging with a source of already established friends, the benefits Google+ can provide for creative freelancers like us are really worth noting.

Here are 10 ways Google+ is better for creative freelancers than Facebook:

1. Better for a portfolio.

Google+ is ideal as a secondary portfolio for your work. Images can be presented with more variation and there are some great editing features through Google+’s Creative Kit to add further variety and tweaking. You can also have a set of 5 recent portfolio pieces right at the top of your profile.

Sharing your work is really good because you can choose exactly who sees your updates and various albums (art directors for example), and you can add Google’s ‘+1’ feature to images so that they can be bumped up to the top of image searches in Google, for added exposure.

For videos, as Google owns YouTube, videos can be integrated easily within Google+ too.

2. A better system for people actually looking for creatives.

Art buyers and others looking for talent will want access to a stream of new work from people they are interested in following. The ‘circles’ element of Google+ allows users to organise streams into various groups so that they don’t have to see every update from everyone. Buyers can filter through just ‘illustrators’ for example. This is what the creative industry needs.

3. More professional environment.

Google+ is attracting a more professional crowd, mainly for its features and benefits for businesses.

This is where creative freelancers need to be to make the most of a presence of other professionals that can work with them and provide work for them. For the time being, Google+’s user-base is smaller, which means being able to stand out more too.

Google has made it easy to reduce clutter and noise on Google+ through allowing users to restrict the content they see and take out elements within profiles themselves. This combined with the fact that the interface and overall design is cleaner and better designed, adds to the professionalism of it.

4. Integration with other Google products and services.

Google+ has the benefit of being part of the Google family, and this means being able to integrate them into the system. A lot is yet to come, but things like Google’s superior search engine, Gmail, Picasa for pictures, YouTube and Documents will bring big benefits to a presence on Google+.

5. Better security of personal data.

As well as allowing you better control over who you share things with, Google+ is much better for security than it’s less experienced Facebook.

With Google’s ‘Data Liberation’ tool, you can be very explicit about what gets shared, and where, as well as what doesn’t. There is total control for all your creative work, and all your information on Google+.

6. Have critique circles.

The circles feature in Google+ is great for being able to share certain updates with people you’d like to gain feedback from over your work. On Facebook, sharing work means all your friends see it, which is impractical.

7. Ability to bookmark.

Google+ allows you to bookmark content you like that come through your friend’s feeds, as well as your topic-specific Sparks feed from around the web. If you see something that inspires you that you want to keep, you can share it with one of your own circles, names something like ‘Creative Inspiration’ and be able to refer to it later.

8. Better for collaboration.

Adding people you want to collaborate with to a specific circle, if they to do the same, allows you to send through updates that can be shared with the ‘team’ you are collaborating with. This also allows you to manage projects with multiple people involved, in a similar way to Basecamp, but for free.

Apart from chat, Google+ ‘Hangouts’ is another method for collaboration, which allows groups to discuss projects via a simple video feed.

9. Better for building a focused professional network.

Because Google+ allows you to follow the updates of anyone, you are in a great position to build connections through being aware of people’s content, and then engaging with that content. Engagement is what builds relationships and builds networks.

This kind of interaction is restricted in Facebook through only allowing people to see the updates of people that have accepted them as a friend.

Google+ even allows you to share content with people who haven’t yet chosen to follow you. If they have selected ‘Incoming’ under their ‘Home’ page, this opens up their stream to people who have them in their circles. This is another way to get your work and your brand out there and build a network.

10. Great for getting inspired.

Google+ has some excellent features that allow you to specify certain topics you want to follow in real time from over the web, for one, in the form of the Sparks tool.

Use Google+ to follow well known creatives if you wish, to see their own streams of content, that you can categorise into specific circles.

The photos area in your profile allows you to see all the pictures coming through from you circles, which can provide for some very quick inspirational reference as well.

These aren’t the only cool elements on offer that I’ve seen, so have a look at Google+ yourself.

If you want in-depth guidance on using Google Plus properly, check out our new course on using Google+ tailored just for freelancers that we are launching…

What else do you think creatives can use Google+ to benefit from?

Although I was aware of the importance of defining purpose in what you do to keep you motivated, Simon Sinek revealed the importance of the need to define a belief or purpose as a key element of attracting a following in highly successful businesses, companies, projects and even movements.

For a company or a leader to truly inspire action in people, they need to clearly define a purpose or a belief behind whatever it is they do. People will support, buy from and follow a leader or organisation that has a belief in something that they too believe in.

From that point on, it’s no longer the quality of the leader per se that inspires the participation of his followers, but the shared belief delivered by that leader that people want to be a part of.

What does this mean for a freelancer, where inspiring a following is central to one’s success as a brand?

Think about how you can transmit a sense of purpose or a belief to those around you. This will set you apart.

See the talk here.

Comments are encouraged!

By this I mean that the gradual and more long-term approach will beat the rapid-action, ‘all at once’ approach many of us take to try and hurry things along. It’s better to send out 5 personalised and appropriate promotional emails every weekday than sending out 200 non-personal emails each month.

Instead of doing some self promotion once a month, do something small daily and stay consistent. You’ll find it’s easier to stick with doing small steps over the long-run than having to remind yourself to occasionally bulk email, for example.

This business is about gradually developing relationships with people, whether you like it or not. Being impersonal and occasional in your marketing effort will mean you lose out in two ways:

1) People will not respond to advertising from you or anyone that is impersonal or looks like you put little effort into it.

2) You lose out on gaining constant exposure, because you’re putting in more less frequently, rather than less, more frequently.

So, as you commit to promoting yourself and your brand, I recommend you apply the little by little approach in attracting prospects and keeping in touch with people already in your network.

Promotion of some kind should really be something you are doing everyday.

Good luck!

Just be unexpected. We are all creative. Creativity has nothing to do with originality. Come up with all kinds of unexpected solutions to things in life.

This can apply to projects you work on, as well as the way you promote yourself. Being unexpected will get you noticed.

Get thinking! Go with your instincts. Unexpectedness pays off.

With UK and international clients spanning publishing, design, advertising & new media, he’s illustrated everything from book covers to advertising campaigns, installations and iPhone apps. He’s also the illustrator behind the bestselling Where’s Stig? books for the BBC’s hit TV show Top Gear.

He’s also Chairman of the UK-based Association of Illustrators. The AOI was established in 1973 to advance and protect illustrator’s rights and encourage professional standards.

Rod regularly lectures on self promotion & the business of illustration in the UK & Internationally for organisations including The Association of Illustrators, ECCA, Own-It and The Illustration Conference (ICON5 New York & ICON6 LA).

I’m a big fan of his intricate work and asked him a few questions to find out more about him and the promotion methods he uses…

How did you get into illustration?

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Comics were my big passion as a kid and the reason I was inspired to draw and choose a career as an illustrator.

After graduating from the Cambridge School of Art at Anglia Ruskin University I spent 2 years working on my portfolio and starting to get my work seen by clients to gain commission.

I graduated in 1994, which was pre Internet portfolio days, so I sent potential clients sample postcards and visited London to pound the streets with my portfolio.

Once I moved to London in 1996 I used to do two mornings a week every week with my portfolio seeing clients, doing in excess of 120 meetings a year.

Pretty much all my work was for newspapers and magazines to start with, and it built from there. Then everything changed with the advent of affordable digital technology and the Internet, and I decided I had to change with it.

In 2000 I taught myself web design to create my first website, and in 2001 I completely reinvented my work, abandoning paint and mess for a Mac and Adobe Illustrator.

What are some of the ways you currently promote your work?

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The Internet is probably the first port of call for most clients these days when sourcing an illustrator – website portfolios, blogs, inspiration sites, interviews, Twitter, Flickr. I do all of these and more. Sites like Behance and AOI portfolios are also excellent portals for clients to find creative talent too.

I’m still a great believer in the value of quality print promotion targeted direct to a client.

I usually send out a set of A5 postcards twice a year but this year I decided to produce a 28 page full colour brochure – essentially a complete portfolio in a book.

To date I’ve sent out over 2000 copies to clients in the UK & US (via my US rep), and I’m targeting the European advertising agencies next in the autumn. An expensive exercise but it is proving to be fruitful.

I buy a mailing list for the contacts from Bikinilists, and the AOI also produce affordable Client Directories which I’ve used in the past too.

This way I have up to date contacts and don’t have to spend my valuable time researching thousands of names.

What have you learnt about the way people promote themselves as creatives, both working as an illustrator and as chairman of the Association of Illustrators?

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I feel that many illustrators don’t invest enough time and resources in promoting their work, or explore all possible markets and outlets for their work. In the past even I didn’t do enough.

The most important part for me is the art, but to be successful and build a sustainable career you have to put the business first. 

At the end of the day it doesn’t matter if you’re selling widgets or illustration; the business principles are the same; have a great product and market it well.

I budget at least 10% of my business turnover on promotion a year, you have to “Speculate to accumulate” as the saying goes.

If you could tell someone new to freelancing, one essential thing about promoting themselves, what would it be?

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You might be the best illustrator in the world, but if clients don’t know about your work you won’t get commissioned. Get out there, be seen and get remembered.

Rod’s Studio in East London, above.

What are some of the things that you cover in your workshop?

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I’ll be looking at how I have successfully promoted myself to gain commissions and grow my business, including what I’ve found works and what doesn’t, the value of building a brand for yourself, raising the profile of you & your work, and successfully exploiting the opportunities to promote your work with the internet.

Plus much more. It’ll be a jam packed 2 hours.

Rod Hunt will be giving his lecture The Art of Self Promotion on Monday 19th September 2011 as part of the Illustrators Guide To Business season of events by the Association of Illustrators.

When I thought about it, I knew the reason why I wasn’t getting any commissions. Being away for a while meant I was not in any potential prospect’s field of vision (on their minds). Because I had not been talking with prospects or people in the industry for a while, and wasn’t updating my work and generally networking; online and offline. I was out of sync with my industry.

And this is more than likely the reason behind your ‘work slump’, or your ‘not getting any commissions’ phase. People just aren’t thinking of you. Horrible, isn’t it? If people aren’t thinking of you or talking about you, you are less likely to get commissioned, especially by previous clients. Simple as that.

Some of you guys might be guilty of spending too much time working creatively and wondering why you aren’t getting commissioned when you haven’t been out and about talking about your work.

Well, I’ve scraped together a few of the key methods you can use to get back in the minds of those that can hire you quickly, so that you can get back to working again!

- Begin pinging people. By this I mean reaching out to people to get back in their ‘headspace’, via phone or email or social media. This can just be a hello, without any mention of work. It can work wonders just to re-establish contact with someone, even if they’re not directly a potential client.
Continue the dialogue if the first ‘ping’ leads anywhere.

Ongoing dialogue with someone is a good thing when it comes to promoting yourself, especially when it gives you a chance to mention what you are working on and your availability.

- Start some online conversations. This could be through a social media status update that gets people engaged with you, which could lead to discussing your work and so on. Going to an online forum likely to attract prospects is another good place to start contributing.

Online conversation is good, because it allows you to expend your digital self on the world without exerting too much energy. In a world where physical energy is scarce, this is a good thing. Obviously real-life interaction takes precedence.

- Go to one or two events this week that centre around your industry/field. It doesn’t need to be a ‘networking’ event, just something that draws in people that share an interest that relates to the work you do. Get talking. Just take it step by step.

- Talk and share a little more about your work than usual with people. That’s right, you need to spend the next week sharing and talking about your stuff as much as you can without annoying others. We’re talking about getting back on track in terms of getting commissions as quick as possible, so this will help.

This also includes adding work updates to a set of creative sites for example, making a point of handing out your business card when you otherwise wouldn’t, and contacting new potential prospects and people indirectly linked to your industry like bloggers.

- Share your knowledge. Write a good blog post about something you know about and promote the heck out of it or write an article or two for some other sites, especially those that are well-visited.

It would be a good idea to start a bit of a dialogue with the owner of a better-known blog before you start offering your writing services. This will build your credibility as a creative pro and get your name and thus work out there.

Your comments and further ideas are encouraged!

This is not something that just applies to physical products, but is essential in its application to your own business as a creative professional.

In marketing jargon, a unique selling point/proposition is what a product or service possesses that states clearly that it will provide a certain specific and unique benefit to the customer.

It is a very good idea to know what makes you unique and what people will remember you for, before going about promoting yourself.

As creatives, one of the biggest challenges we face is in standing out from the crowd of others all trying to make a name for themselves. Many will be using the same tools as you do, and this increases the potential for you to miss out on your ideal projects.

What is it about your work that will turn the heads of potential clients or head-hunters?

It’s not enough to simply state that you provide a great service and that you are highly skilled. People need to see what you do and they need to be sold on your work.

This means having work that stands out in such a way that your prospect would not consider looking anywhere else for other talent and professionalism.

The way to hook prospects in this way (not to mention fans, friends and people who will talk about you and promote you) is to create work that people won’t find elsewhere.

For repeat clients, they will be able to recognize what is yours straight away. This doesn’t mean that you are stuck with the same materials or tools forever. You should exhibit your own style in all that you do. This will apply more to certain professions than others, but the principle still stands.

To go a step further, you not only need to be expressive in the work you create, but you need to express yourself and the way you are through your work.

Steps to Developing a USP

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1. Identify your main strength and milk it.

Coupled with active self promotion, success in the creative world comes with communicating your strengths effectively. Making others aware of what you are good at should be at the forefront of how you showcase your work as well as your engagement with prospects and others, but in crafting a unique selling point, you need to go a step further.

Focus on one single element that you know you are good or skilled at, or what can be honed to make you stand out more, whether this be in your ability to create beautiful minimal design, drawing people as an artist, writing descriptive fiction, or producing black and white photography. Work on it and get even better at it.

2. Improve your skills in one or two areas.

Identify the skills you need to support your main strength.

This could be in improving your vector illustration skills with Adobe Illustrator, improving your vocal or copywriting skills or learning more about using automation within Logic for music production, for example.

3. Find what makes you truly unique as a person.

This might sound cheesy, but it is an awareness of your quirks that will add depth and personality to your work and the way you go about doing business with people, including promoting it.

Ask yourself these questions to get you going:

1. What are the three things that make you memorable?

2. What do people always compliment you on?

3. What are you passionate about that you never get tired talking about?

4. What unique experiences have you had?

Once you have found what makes you unique, work on incorporating it into your work, and ultimately your brand.

This includes through the writing you do, in the way you describe yourself, in the way you communicate with others, and, ultimately through your own work.

It is this expression of character in all that you do that will set you apart from the rest and cement your success.

4. Hone your style.

This is where a bit of hard work and practice comes in. Once you have achieved a style that people can associate as yours, your promotional efforts will be made much easier.

5. Make your speciality obvious.

Through the work you produce, and when you display your work on a website or elsewhere, make sure that your skills and specialties, as well as the main things that make you unique, are made clear to those looking at it.

Most of what makes you unique will speak for itself through the work you do, but you can emphasise your strengths and unique selling point in your bio, ‘about me’ section, or site tagline as well.

Make sure you share past projects that you felt demonstrated your strengths and showcase and search for testimonials from clients that highlight your skills.

If you’re on a team, make sure you volunteer for work that allows you to utilize your strengths too, so they don’t go unnoticed and unused.

A USP is an important element of your own brand. Once you have this set, you need to go about living up to your personal brand, adding strength to it and transmitting its message in everything you do.

This is achieved through the design of your personal site, the way you communicate with people, the content you share with your network, the enthusiasm you put into your work, the professionalism you display, and the originality you bring to new projects.

The importance of your recognisable personal brand can’t be overlooked.

As Tom Peters puts it:

“In today’s wild wired world, you’re distinct…or extinct. Survive, thrive, triumph, by becoming Brand You!”

I would recommend reading his book: ‘Re-inventing work. The Brand You 50’ for more information on transforming yourself into your own brand.

Demonstrating the right attitude and acknowledging internet etiquette is a key part of your personal brand, and is something that will benefit your online self promotional effort as a whole.

Your thoughts below would be really interesting!