Did You Get a Tiny Megaphone with Your New iPhone? I Did...

I finally broke down and bought one of the 16GB iPhones a couple of weeks ago, and yes, the packaging (box, instructions, etc) was a sleek and sophisticated as everyone says it is - what can I say - it's a nice presentation. Discreetly tucked away in the box, Mac cleverly included a tiny megaphone for me to use.

Okay, it's not a real megaphone, just figurative - but it's no less powerful. See, Mac includes 2 little Apple stickers that you can proudly display to the rest of the world, and the funny thing is, most Mac owners are happy to do this. In effect, Mac has provided discreet, inexpensive but extremely powerful megaphones for their customers to shout to the world, "I have a Mac and I am proud of it!" It's free advertising...and it's brilliant.

So if you're running a creative freelancing company, what can you learn from this? Well, I am not advocating sending your clients stickers with your company's name on it, but you'll want to help your clients feel empowered and equipped to spread the word about you. Develop a referral program, ask them what would get them motivated and follow up. I've found that freelance graphic designers get most of their business through referrals, but they don't have an effective process to get them - they don't give their clients megaphones. The bottom line is, their clients don't often tell a lot of people, and they don't get nearly as much business as they should.

If you're unsure or nervous about how and when to ask for referrals, I cover this pretty extensively in the Being a Starving Artist Sucks book, you'll also be able to obtain the actual custom communications I send out to clients to get their referrals and testimonials (I've been using them for years!) in the Work Smarter NOT Harder Contract Package, if you haven't already, at least check 'em out.