How to Market your Freelance Writing Services
Time and time again I have preached that freelance writers need to treat their work as an actual business. Just because you do not work for somebody else does not mean that you should throw all business theories out the window. One of the many details that go into running an effective business is marketing. Do you know how to market your freelance writing services? Believe it or not, the ways that you market and advertise your services will have a lot to do with your success; at least early in your career.
Here are three of the best methods for freelance writers.
1. You need to have a website which offers the following: a bio, pricing information, samples, and several methods of contact. It is not necessary to spend thousands of dollars on a website; something functional will do just fine. A website will give you a place to send interested clients, while hopefully bringing visitors from the search engines as well.
2. More and more freelance writers are finding that a blog is a great way to market their services. Although the main point of this blog is not to increase my freelance writing workload, I have received several quality jobs from readers. The nice thing about a blog is that clients will be able to get a good feel for who you are, as well as your writing style.
3. It is not fun for most people to make cold calls, but this is a sales and marketing method that freelance writers should not overlook. When you call somebody on the phone they are more or less forced to deal with you on the spot. At the very least you will be able to tell them who you are, and give them some information on yourself. You are not going to be successful with every cold call that you make, but you never know when your big break will come. And remember, just because somebody tells you no the first time you call does not mean that they won’t get in touch when their needs change.
This is not my first post on how to market your freelance writing services. The reason that I talk about this so much is that it is one of the more important aspects of the industry. If you are going to be a successful freelance writer, a lot of it will fall back on how well you market your services. Use the three points above to put together a killer marketing plan for 2008.
December 17th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
Hi Chris,
I just found your website, and I’m really glad I did. I’m a freelance writer also, though still pretty new to it as a serious business. I wanted to add to your marketing plan to include cold emailing. That’s a technique I use because my time during the day is extremely limited. I write about it on my blog too.
Anyway, keep up the good work. I’m learning a lot about better blogging and a better freelance writing business from your blog.
December 17th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Theda - Great to have you here! I hope that you can find some useful information that will help you with your career. If you have any specific questions, feel free to send me an email!
December 17th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Hi Cris:
Found your blog sometime back. Good work here!
I just posted a comment under your post about GAF.
Another suggestion I would give is to get connected.
Start with local chamber of commerce. attend other business events. and then when you have made some money, you could go to conferences. Make yourself BIG and standout in the crowd. The big money is with the serious marketing players and we need to be visible to them.
December 17th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Those are all good points. My main website receives solicitations from advertisers several times a week.
This past weekend I decided to contact a few of the advertisers who had contacted me a few months ago. I knew they had liked my website, and its content so I emailed them to see whether they needed a freelance writer. I picked up two more projects that way.
I treat freelancing similar to my regular business. I put a lot of time into marketing my company. Why should I treat this any differently? I don’t. I’m new to freelancing (almost three weeks) but In all I’ve already picked up four jobs.
I had emailed you at the end of last week but if you’re like myself you get hammered with emails. However, I did figure out what I needed.
December 18th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Nadin - You are so right about that. If you network with the right people, you are sure to increase business and profits.
Opal - That is great that your main site gets traffic; this is very important to building your business. I must have missed your email? Sometimes they get filtered out, and I never find them. If you need any more help, try me again!
December 19th, 2007 at 8:27 am
Those tips were really wonderful Chris…
Still, I have a burning question: I understand that having a website and a blog are really vital but how do i get people to visit my sites? Do I just go around posting in forums with the link in my sig? And do places like Craigslist or USfreeAds help in this regard? I’m not new to writing but I’m definitely just a newbie when it comes to having my own site.
Thanks for all the help
December 19th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
God of writing - Driving traffic to your site is something that a lot of people worry about. This all comes down to SEO so that you get quality organic traffic. You can definitely start out by adding your link to your signature in related forums. Additionally, I know some who have had success posting on Craigs List; so this may or may not work for you!
December 20th, 2007 at 2:44 am
God of writing:
While traffic driving tactics work (different ones to different extents) nothing beats really good content.
An organic traffic driving method would be to post comments in related blogs. And of course forum signature definitely works. However, you will receive long term benefits only when your blog posts, comments at other posts and forum posts are relevant and attracts attention.
Controversial topics, debatable topics, catchy headlines all work as link bait too - when other people quote you in their blogs…