I can’t Find Real Freelance Writing Clients!
At least once or twice per week I receive an email with the subject: Help – I can’t find any real freelance writing clients. As you can imagine, the body of all these messages is pretty much the same. An aspiring freelance writer needs help breaking through to the “next level†of the industry.
When somebody asks me to help them find real clients it always puts me in a difficult spot. First off, what does the word “real†mean? To some, a real client is anybody that is not associated with a content mill. To others, a real client is somebody who pays a particular amount of money (set in their mind) for each project.
When answering this question, time after time, I always start with the same information. What are you doing to market your services? If you want to find the right freelance writing clients you have to market, market, market. Believe it or not, most people end up writing back and saying, “I don’t do much to market my services, but how can I get started.â€
As you can see, those who are not finding the right clients only have themselves to blame. Believe me, there are many webmasters/companies that are willing to pay a lot of money for the services of a professional freelance writer. Just remember that finding these clients takes time and effort. If you are not willing to market your services you will more than likely find yourself wondering why none of the “real†clients want to work with you.Â
January 12th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Chris, you are absolutely correct that marketing is essential to establishing a career as a freelance writer. I would also say that finding the particular niche that you want to work in is key. When I started looking at freelancing a year ago and was in your freelance course, I had no clear idea of what I wanted my freelance career to look like. I soon discovered that freelancing is not “one size fits all”, and that writing print and online articles was more my cup of tea than marketing copy.
Still, if you want to write articles for traditional magazines or if you want to write advertising copy you have to consistently query, market, and write good material to build a solid reputation. If you are not on an assignment then you have to be marketing yourself. That is the only way to keep work flowing in. There is always something you can be doing as a freelancer to find work.
January 13th, 2010 at 12:11 am
Your advice is really good, Chris, and has proven to be very helpful for me. This post is good, as is this article, which is the first article of yours I read: http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/835/how-to-find-and-secure-freelance-writing-clients/
Preach it, and congrats on your continued success!