DEAR READERS,

Many things happened after our last freelancer.international news. While New Zealand is at number one in the Ease of Doing Business Report 2018, we will show you in this news, how your country performed.

Later on, our guest article will give you tips on how to successfully distribute business cards during events and in our freelancer joke at the end, a team member constantly fails to fulfil his team manager’s extreme expectations.

I hope you enjoy reading this news and as always I wish you success in business!

Rainer Kurz

Compiled from the input of over 13 000 experts from all over the world, the Ease of Doing Business Report 2018 shows how easy it is to do a business in each country. In total 190 different economies were rated.

The ranking is being determined by the Ease of Doing Business Index which rates countries according to 11 factors. These indicators cover varieties from starting a business to getting electricity. The ranking shows us how difficult or easy it is to start a business or to get electricity in different countries. These indicators are:

Starting a business
Dealing with construction permits
Getting electricity
Registering property
Getting credit
Protecting minority investors
Trading across borders
Paying taxes
Enforcing contracts
Resolving insolvency

So which countries are on top 50 list on this report?
1) New Zealand
2) Singapore
3) Denmark
4) South Korea
5) Hong Kong
6) United States
7) United Kingdom
8) Norway
9) Georgia
10) Sweden
11) Macedonia
12) Estonia
13) Finland
14) Australia
15) Taiwan
16) Lithuania
17) Ireland
18) Canada
19) Latvia
20) Germany
21) United Arab Emirates
22) Austria
23) Iceland
24) Malaysia
25) Mauritius
26) Thailand
27) Poland
28) Spain
29) Portugal
30) Czech Republic
31) France
32) Netherlands
33) Switzerland
34) Japan
35) Russian Federation
36) Kazakhstan
37) Slovenia
38) Belarus
39) Slovak Republic
40) Kosovo
41) Rwanda
42) Montenegro
43) Serbia
44) Moldova
45) Romania
46) Italy
47) Armenia
48) Hungary
49) Mexico
50) Bulgaria

Interested in details about your country? To see the whole report, here is the link for downloading it.

The freelancer.international group is happy to announce that Omer Can has joined our customer administration team. Omer will help us to improve the quality and responsiveness of our customer service and will also work in marketing to improve our perception in the market.

“I have a passion for self-development which helps me think of good ideas. By observing the problems and brainstorming solutions, I will bring them to life. I am looking forward to apply my skills now to help freelancers and their customers to cooperate successfully”, says Omer.

At the moment, he is sharing his insights and marketing knowledge during his current on-boarding. Right now, Omer is learning the customer admin processes. Omer will initially focus on freelancer activation before taking over full responsibility for our contractors. He will also support our marketing and social media activities.

Omer Can has a B.Sc. in civil engineering and worked for construction companies such as TAV Construction where he was employed as a data analyst and timeline controller. He also started his own online retailing business for mobile phone accessories. Omer’s hobbies include travelling, sailing, and outdoor sports.

We wish him lots of success in his new role in our team.

From Amor Dhaouadi
In my coaching sessions with freelancers and executives, we discuss different sales methods that employees should use in their sales activities. It is fascinating to see the different success rates of the different sales methods, depending on the industry segment (B2B or B2C) being considered. Below is an overview of the most commonly used sales channels and methods:

Networking: For many “old-school” salespeople, networking is the best and most effective way to attract people. In a previous survey done in the Freelancer.International Group, most freelancers indicated that they used this acquisition method. Networking is based on using one's own contacts to generate more prospects that can later be turned into business opportunities. Note: Millennials (the people born between 1980 and 2000) often do not know about this kind of customer acquisition because it is not about virtual contacts, but about real people, you have met in real life.

Email: Email is still the most popular way to make the first contact with a customer. Many people use email for customer acquisition because it is easy to send many emails with a single click. It also saves us from the unpleasant feeling of rejection. However, it is problematic if the emails are not customer-specific and do not represent any added value for the recipient. “Added value” here means information that the customer might need, such as invitations to relevant events or information about important changes in national or international legislation.

Telephone: Although a phone call actually opens up a direct dialogue with potential customers, this is the most feared method, especially among the younger generation. Many people even get scared when they proactively pick up the phone and enter into a direct conversation with an existing customer. Many people have not learned to talk to customers on the phone in their training. Although some online gurus want to declare telephone-based customer acquisition as dead, it remains the most effective method to me, because it gives me the opportunity to communicate effectively with potential customers. Although it is often frustrating to reach the customer's voicemail, there is no harm to leave your name on the tape and a brief description of what service or product you are offering.

Print media: Catalogues or brochures (e.g. about your products, services or company) are another old-school tool to increase awareness of your portfolio and your brand. Well-designed print media can reach and convince many customers.

White papers and case studies: Presenting independent opinions to the client on specific topics is a proven, yet expensive, tool. Once you know your potential customer’s issues, a carefully written paper will increase their interest in certain subjects and therefore he/she will want to discuss possible solutions with you. Additionally, you can create case studies on relevant topics or projects that you have done that may benefit the customer.

Fairs: Although this is the old world of advertising and marketing, many companies still use fairs to present their products and services and get to know their customers. They also provide an opportunity for networking (see above).

Social media: Social media is one of the favourite methods of many young salespeople. Both in B2B and B2C, it makes it possible to connect with large numbers of customers and increase awareness of their own products and services.

Digital marketing: The Internet has opened up new ways for us to communicate within the business world, through podcasts, blogs, online videos, and other channels. Although creating this content takes time, perseverance and, above all, commitment, it also offers the chance to reach a large audience.

The eight customer acquisition methods listed here can be used differently, depending on industry, market, product or customer segment. However, these methods only become useful if you have considered the story of the company, product and/or service before. You should think about how you solve your customer’s problems as a company/freelancer and why the customer should buy a product or service from you, and not from your competitors.

Oliver works as a freelance programmer on a very demanding project. After working late, he has difficulty getting up early. His ambitious interim manager was angry about his constant lateness, therefore threatened to fire him, if he comes late again. So on a Saturday, Oliver went to see his doctor who prescribed him a strong sleeping pill and told him to take them just before going to bed.

On Sunday evening, Oliver did what the doctor said, and slept very deeply. When he woke up, he felt very refreshed and his alarm clock showed 5 am. So he had time for a long great breakfast and drove luckily to work where he had plenty of time for the start. He even arrived before his ambitious manager, telling him how well the sleeping pill worked. His manager responded: 'That is all great, but it seemed to have worked too well. Today is Tuesday and you did not come to the office yesterday!”