How to set up Hubspot CRM for use by a content creator/blogger

Smart CRM & Sales Hub CRM
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Hello you wonderfully knowledgeable people!

I am a content creator and blogger and have a large database of 1K+ contacts of people I can work with (brand contacts, SEO agencies, etc). I email them periodically and use a spreadsheet to make a note of our conversations around potential work opportunities, rates of pay, and work completed.

The busier I become the harder this is getting to manage and so I am wondering if a free CRM such as Hubspot could be the answer to my growing struggles.

I have used various CRMs (mostly custom built) when I worked as an employee in the past and know how wonderfully seamless and stress-free they can be when they’ve been built and administered correctly.

I spent several days a couple of weekends ago trying to do just that on Hubspot but kept hitting brick walls. I am sure this is 100% down to me not understanding the product properly! I really want to stick to the free plan if at all possible as I cannot afford extra expenditure at the moment.

I am able to upload contacts with no trouble, and I have connected my email so can send an receive from within Hubspot, but what I still need to work out is how to:

  • Know if I am doing sales or marketing (or both?). I run my blog/website and sell collaboration opportunities to my contacts, so that seems like sales, but when I contact them is that marketing? This seems to make a difference with how Hubspot is set up and used so I don’t want to get it wrong. Honestly feel like I am trying to work out the meaning of life right now LOL. Even working out where to post this question was an absolute minefield and I’m still trying to decide as I type - another thing not helped by my neurodivergence, I realise.
  • Make notes on/track potential work opportunities - I think I need to do this via the deals pipeline? But I got so stuck on what to call everything (and what things were already called), and then when I finally thought I’d cracked it, I realised I hadn’t. The point at which I stopped was that I could add contacts to the pipeline if they had all been sent an intro email, for example, but then they all would have to move along it together at the same time and it wasn’t possible to separate them (e.g. if Client A is still at the intro email sent stage, but Client B has responded and we’re discussing opportunities). I even asked the AI helpbot about this and was told it wasn’t possible. This truly stumped me as I felt as if I should be able to crack that particular nut but my brain would not compute it.
  • Note rates of pay, both proposed (either by me or the contact) and agreed
  • Track work in progress (e.g. write blog post)
  • Track work completed (e.g. blog post published)
  • Track approval from client and any notes re payment method/timeline
  • Track payments (even if this is as simple as ticking a box when payment has been received - I do not necessarily wish to invoice or be paid through Hubspot, although I saw these are available as options, amazing!)

I was able to work out parts of the above, but not how to do all of it without it feeling cumbersome and as if I’d made even more work for myself, and some things I could not work out at all.

To clarify, I don’t want to blog through Hubspot (although this is another cool feature); I just want to use it as my CRM tool.

The spreadsheet I currently use is very basic and completely manual, so mistakes/omissions can occur all too easily, and that concerns me. I have also missed work emails because I have been distracted by/busy with other tasks, so I am hoping a CRM could help avoid this.

I am blessed with both ADHD and ASD so my brain has the constant struggle of being hyperfocused whilst also constantly distracted all at once. Is there anyone who can explain in simple terms how I could set up a system such as I have - sort of - described above on the free plan, please? Please let me know if I need to clarify anything or if I have omitted any crucial details (highly likely that I have).

My dream is to get to grips with Hubspot and then get all my blogger friends to use it, too! I think it could be such a useful tool for us all once we have cracked it. If I really get myself sorted on here I would even write a ‘how to’ post on my blog :slightly_smiling_face:

Thank you so, SO much in advance for any assistance given by this brilliant community.

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Hi @EyeSpy! Welcome to the Community-- happy to have you here :blush:

HubSpot is a robust tool, so I can totally understand how overwhelming it can be to get started, but you have come to the right place. When using a versatile platform like this, you would definitely benefit from working with a partner or HubSpot consultants to set up your CRM to best suit your specific business needs. I also highly recommend checking out the HubSpot Academy for Account set up training in addition to exploring the Community!

That said, I would love to invite some of our community experts to share their best practices for setting up your CRM. @Jnix284, @trevordjones, @jolle, @Shadab_Khan any insight or resources you can share?

Best,
Kennedy

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Hi @EyeSpy and thanks for the tag @kennedyp ,

Kennedy is right, you have a lot you are trying to accomplish here and the support of a partner would be helpful. With that said, I understand the budget constraints and can offer a little insight that might help get you going in the right direction:

  • Know if I am doing sales or marketing (or both?). I run my blog/website and sell collaboration opportunities to my contacts, so that seems like sales, but when I contact them is that marketing? This seems to make a difference with how Hubspot is set up and used so I don’t want to get it wrong. Honestly feel like I am trying to work out the meaning of life right now LOL. Even working out where to post this question was an absolute minefield and I’m still trying to decide as I type - another thing not helped by my neurodivergence, I realise.

In the above case, think of marketing and sales in this way: If you are sending the same email to many people at once. That’s marketing. If you are sending a single email that is highly customized to a single recipient, that’s sales.

  • Make notes on/track potential work opportunities - I think I need to do this via the deals pipeline? But I got so stuck on what to call everything (and what things were already called), and then when I finally thought I’d cracked it, I realised I hadn’t. The point at which I stopped was that I could add contacts to the pipeline if they had all been sent an intro email, for example, but then they all would have to move along it together at the same time and it wasn’t possible to separate them (e.g. if Client A is still at the intro email sent stage, but Client B has responded and we’re discussing opportunities). I even asked the AI helpbot about this and was told it wasn’t possible. This truly stumped me as I felt as if I should be able to crack that particular nut but my brain would not compute it.

This sounds like you are trying to automate things. Unfortunately, that is a feature of a Professional Edition HubSpot subscription, so you can’t do it out-of-the box. There are, however, free tools that might help you with automating some tasks in HubSpot, such as Zapier, and it is free as long as the volume of automated tasks is low.

  • Note rates of pay, both proposed (either by me or the contact) and agreed

Track this by creating a custom property on your Deal record for the rate of pay.

  • Track work in progress (e.g. write blog post)

I would use tickets for this. You could have a ticket status for “In Progress.”

  • Track work completed (e.g. blog post published)

In this case, the ticket status would be “Complete.”

  • Track approval from client and any notes re payment method/timeline

I would have ticket statuses for “Pending Client Approval” and “Approved by Client”

  • Track payments (even if this is as simple as ticking a box when payment has been received - I do not necessarily wish to invoice or be paid through Hubspot, although I saw these are available as options, amazing!)

I think you could have a custom property track which tickets (jobs) have been paid and which have not, as well as a property for this amount, if needed.

I hope this helps!

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Hi @trevordjones (and thanks for tagging him, @kennedyp!),

Happy New Year!

Thank you SO much for your comprehensive and incredibly useful response. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to look at it properly and voice my appreciation but I am so grateful for the time and trouble you took to answer my queries with such detail and clarity.

I am going to have a go at getting myself properly set up on HubSpot in the next few days hopefully and will be using your response as my guide. I know I will thank you many times over in my head as I do so!

Best wishes.