The Secret to Landing Long-Lasting Gigs

A Step By Step Method to Quickly Growing Your VBO Business (Free Template too)

As a VBO (Virtual Business Owner), the last thing you want to do is wake up every morning scrapping for your next gig.  The reality is, for many VBOs that is just a way of life. However, it doesn’t need to be.

Today, we are going to share a simple yet very powerful way to get long-lasting gigs AND avoid the commodity trap.

For starters, sites like UpWork, Freelancer, and Fiverr are a great way to cut your teeth and hone your skills, but they can also be a pressure cooker.  You are competing with at least 10-20 people for each job. What makes matters worse is many of the jobs are very short term.

Many buyers or employers on these freelance marketplaces are smaller businesses with very limited budgets.  You are also competing with many off-shore (non-North American) VBOs who have a much lower cost of living. You end up spending the majority of your time chasing low paying gigs that don’t last long.  I’m not saying this is always the case, but it tends to be a trend.

Again, if you're early in the VBO game, these sites can help you get immediate jobs, quickly grow your portfolio, and let you build your confidence in going after bigger fish.

Once you’ve done that, it’s time to switch gears and go after the higher paying, less competitive gigs.  Here’s how you do it:

1. Go After Budget Clients - A budget client is typically a larger company that is actually making a choice between hiring a VBO or a full-time employee.  They understand what’s called the burden and benefit of hiring an employee. You know, salary, taxes, health insurance, vacation, sick pay and so on.  The smart ones understand the value of hiring VBOs, even if that means paying more per hour than they would an employee.
2. Communicate with Mid-Level HR People - Many senior-level HR people are a bit older and don’t fully understand the whole on-demand worker concept.  We are seeing that Millennials and Gen-Xer’s in a hiring capacity are much more open to hiring a VBO over a traditional employee.
3. How To Find The Gigs - So this all sounds good, but how do you know who is hiring and what is the best way to communicate with them?  Here’s where the secret sauce comes in:
   • The first thing you’ll want to do is figure out 10-20 companies that appear to have a need for the services you offer.  You can determine this by reviewing their website or looking at several of the job sites.
   • The next thing you’ll want to do is go to LinkedIn and do a search for your target company and find people in their HR department.
   • Once you find the person you want to speak with, you’ll need to get their contact information.  There are quite a few paid services and some great free Chrome plugins you can use to find their email.  Several examples include:
     1. SellHack
     2. www.hunter.io 
     3. AeroLeads Chrome Extension
   • Now it is time to send them an email. You will want to make the words your own, but if it is easier, I’ve created a template you can download that communicates the advantages of hiring a VBO and helps you explain your skills and why they should consider you.  To get the template, CLICK HERE.
   • When sending your email, here’s what typically gets the best results:
     1. Have a specific and compelling subject line.
     2. Start your template email with a sentence or two that speaks specifically about the company.  Try to find an angle that clearly communicates you get what they do and what they need.
     3. Give them 3 bullet points why they should consider a VBO (included in the downloadable template).
     4. Provide your website, phone number, and email.  If you don’t have a website and haven’t created your Digital Portfolio, you need to read this blog - CLICK HERE.

Make a commitment to send out two of these emails every day for a month.  This is going to work like a champ. I really, really want to hear how this increased your business.  Finally, you’ll want to read my next week’s blog “Land & Expand”. It tells you exactly how to get into a company and then cast a wider net.  I’ll give you the exact steps you need to take to guarantee you consistently grow your VBO business with BUDGET CLIENTS.

Thanks.  Go get’em!!