RNTBLE

Author: Mak Pastrana

  • Financial Security as a Freelancer: Don’t Fear Eating Alone

    Financial Security as a Freelancer: Don’t Fear Eating Alone

    As a freelancer, my clients can fire me anytime.

    I could wake up tomorrow with no income stream for the next few months.

    Here’s why it doesn’t bother me:

    If you know what you bring to the table, you can’t be afraid to eat alone.

    Whatever you do for a living, you are being paid for your time in exchange for your effort, experience, expertise or insight. As long as what you bring to the table is irreplaceable, you’ll have a pay check.

    That makes you susceptible to change though.

    Nobody can guarantee your job. Only customers can guarantee your job.

    Jack Welch

    How do you protect yourself?

    Flip the script and build a moat around your specific skill set and talent so you can leverage a higher pay/better benefits while working less hours.

    This applies to regular employment as well.

    The sooner you realize that, whether employed or on your own, you’re always working for yourself and your interest, the better off you’ll be.

    Related: How to Future-Proof Your Career in the Age of Automation

    Featured image under copyright © Ismail Hamzah on Unsplash

    About the Author

    Mak Pastrana

    Top rated digital marketing consultant. I help architects, designers and personal brands get 2X leads from social media. Follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter.

  • Today’s Idea: Is it too late to start an online brand?

    Today’s Idea: Is it too late to start an online brand?

    “Is it too late for me to start an online brand?”

    I’ve been a digital marketing specialist for 7 years and I always get this question.

    So I finally took my own advice and started a personal brand and for the last 4 months I tried posting regular content on LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter along with publishing a regular article/newsletter online.

    The results:

    The goal was to post regular content on LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter along with publishing a regular article/newsletter online.

    • LinkedIn: Started with 324 connections ended up with 563 followers. 117% increase on post impressions in the past 90 days.
    • Instagram: Started with 100 followers, gained 25. Post impressions up by 27.4%.
    • Twitter: Over 32K post impressions, almost 6K profile visits. More than 2X the following count.
    • Articles & Newsletters: Published newsletters across Medium, Substack, GetRevue and, more recently, Beehiiv.

    From zero, manage to grow it to a list of over 200 subs in total.

    “But these are vanity metrics, not business results.”

    The fact is having followers in the hundreds won’t make me viral soon but that’s not the point. I’m not doing it to get famous. I doubt I ever will.

    But like I always tell my clients: building an online brand and publishing regular content is the best way to:

    a) get leads to your business and

    b) ensure that you stay relevant and top of mind to your customers.

    “What’s the net effect to my bottomline?”

    • Upwork profile views are up 3X.
    • Search hits on my name is optimized for the right keywords. Specifically, I wanted “top rated digital marketing consultant” to appear right next to my name search.
    • Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is up 11.63% in the last quarter of 2022.
    • Booked my first paid consult and a Facebook ad project in December.

    “Is it hard to publish content regularly?”

    Yes, but only at first.

    But once you get the hang of it, it actually gets fun.

    One of the things that prevent a lot of people from creating a personal brand or promoting their business online is ego — the fear of getting embarrassed or made fun of.

    Newsflash: no one cares that much and we’re all too self-absorbed online to mind small mistakes.

    Remember we all start from zero views, zero followers so get over yourself.

    How to begin? Pick a platform, and post regularly.

    Don’t know what to post? Pick a content creator that you like and write your own version of their posts until you get the hang of it.

    The point is to start and to keep showing up on a regular basis — that’s how you build an audience and a following.

    With the current crop of digital tools at our disposal and how quickly it is to learn, create and share content, it has never been easier to promote and market your own brand.

    All you need to do is start.

    About the Author

    Mak Pastrana

    Top rated digital marketing consultant. I help architects, designers and personal brands get 2X leads from social media. Follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter.

  • Road-Test Your Process and Tools: What To Bring For Every Trip

    Road-Test Your Process and Tools: What To Bring For Every Trip

    Keep shipping until something breaks.

    Eventually something will — that’s how you find your weakest point. Fix it and run an improved version.

    I apply the same philosophy for process and tools. When I travel, I take it as a chance to stress test my work process and gear.

    If your workflow suffers and your output dips because you’re in a different environment, then it’s not sustainable in the first place. The same goes for creativity as well.

    The goal is to produce the exact same quality of results regardless of where and how you’re working, so it frees you to just focus on getting better each time.

    Outsized rewards go to people who figure out how to master a skill or a point of view, and then commit to doing it again and again.

    Seth Godin

    Road tested, must-bring tools for every trip:

    1. Royal Kludge RK61 mechanical keyboard — affordable, durable, works anywhere and gives you a tactile feel to typing.
    2. Apple Magic Mouse — glides smoothly across any surface
    3. Foldable laptop stand — adjustable, stable and lightweight so you can avoid the neck strain when working on any table.
    4. Wrist rests — prevents wrist strain from typing for hours

    And always bring an extension chord — hotels are notorious for limited power outlets, always putting them in unreachable spots.

    Photo by manny PANTOJA on Unsplash

    About the Author

    Mak Pastrana

    Top rated digital marketing consultant. I help architects, designers and personal brands get 2X leads from social media. Follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter.

  • Today’s Idea: The Quickest Way to Learn Essential Digital Marketing Skills

    Today’s Idea: The Quickest Way to Learn Essential Digital Marketing Skills

    Here’s a list of digital marketing skills you need to know to successfully promote your business:

    1. Buyer Psychology
    2. Copywriting
    3. Content Marketing
    4. Search Optimization
    5. Social Media Marketing
    6. Funnel Building

    The benefits of digital marketing are numerous but what’s the fastest way to learn all of this skills? Just get started.

    If you want to learn sales and buyer psychology, talk regularly to your ideal customers.

    If you want to learn copywriting, write a weekly newsletter.

    If you want to learn content marketing, write a monthly blog.

    If you want to learn search optimization, start a website and try to rank for keywords.

    If you want to learn social media marketing, post everyday on Twitter/IG/LinkedIn.

    If you want to learn funnel building, find a way to use all of the above to get leads and clients.

    You won’t be good right away but here’s a guarantee of what will happen if you start NOW:

    1. In a month, nothing much. You will think this was a waste of time.
    2. In 6 months, you will be better at it and start to see results.
    3. In a year, it will change the way you do business.

    Just dive in and get started.

    About the Author

    Mak Pastrana

    Top rated digital marketing consultant. I help architects, designers and personal brands get 2X leads from social media. Follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter.