Many people wonder how they can use the Internet to develop a freelance business.

I recently interviewed Jane Genova, a communications expert, indie journalist, and speechwriter.  She's seen and done it all for 20+ years for C-suite habitués and executives you've read about in the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

Her upper-level clientele depends on Jane to get the tone and content pitch perfect every time - and she does.  Contact her at MGenova981@aol.com.

Q:  Used to be that freelancers were just corporate transplants.  What’s the strategy now?

Jane:  Marsha, the strategy now is that being a free agent is now the best shot at any financial security.  Get fired or laid off, and that’s a crisis. 

But here as a freelance communications consultant and independent journalist [as well as a blogger], losing a client or having to offer deeper discounts to attract new prospects is just a situation.  It’s a problem to be solved and it will be solved, as least by those of us with hustle, flexibility and talent.

As a freelancer, I live in uncertainty, but not fear.  Most of my colleagues who are full-time employees are basket cases in this downturn.  That’s how I was every day, good times and bad, when I worked full-time for the Fortune 500.

Q:  What are clients asking for today that they didn’t have a clue about two years ago?

Jane:  They are asking for help.  Their business is usually in trouble or they sense it soon will be.  They ask me what I can do for them.  Before, they told me what they wanted me to do.  I was an order-taker.  In fact, I rarely opened my mouth.  That wasn’t my role as a vendor then.

Q:  Do you have more freedom now than when you started your business years ago?

Jane:  Yes.  That’s because I network and develop new business via my two blogs http://janegenova.com and http://lawandmore.typepad.com.

I used to have to tether myself to professional organizations and supposedly well connected people to be in the loop.  Now, if you’re adept online, you have it made.  Just take your laptop along, everywhere.

Also, the cost of transportation has freed me up from meeting clients in person.  We do most of our business by phone and by email.  Our pictures are out there online so they see I am professional looking or at least know how to put that persona together for the photo.

Q:  Has client knowledge of the Internet increased?

Jane:  No.  They are still in denial that it matters so much.

Q:  What tone shakes open the client’s budget in terms of giving you work and paying you well?

Jane:  The only tone that works is: The desire to be helpful.  Brand, credentials don’t matter as much anymore.

Q:  Have you seen business change as a result of the Internet?

Jane:  My business primarily comes from people who bump into me on the Internet.  Most of them want to find out how they can improve their business through the Internet – but they are ill-prepared to take the risks and do all the work.

Q:  What do you know today that you wished you had known in 2002?

Jane:

1.    Select clients carefully.  There is a ton of work out there but the wrong clients will exhaust us.

2.    Be humble and helpful. 

3.    Be more assertive in telling the client that such-and-such will not be useful to them.

Q:  What phrase inspires client trust?

Jane:  What do you want to accomplish?  Let’s see if I can be helpful.