A few conversations I’ve had with writers recently underscore how uncomfortable it can be to send a direct message or email pitching your services.
Now, I can’t emphasize enough that outreach through email and social media is a proven, effective way to land new clients.
But, if you’re looking for another method — something that feels a little more like connection and less like pitching — you might try marketing to local companies.
Why local?
Well, you automatically have something in common — where you live — and that can serve as an ice breaker… and a great point of connection.
When you market your services to local companies, you have the potential to sit down and talk to prospects face-to-face. In my experience, face-to-face conversations lead to faster conversions… and often they just feel more satisfying.
Also,a lot of local companies feel a little lost right now with changes to SEO and the rise of AI search tools. This is an opportunity for you to position yourself as a genuine expert, when compared to their level of knowledge about these things.
In all, local marketing can be refreshing and highly successful.
So, let’s take a look at how you might get in front of local clients.
Strategy #1 — Consistently Show Up at Meetings
Over the years, I’ve discovered that meeting face-to-face in the same room speeds up the sales cycle for freelance professionals.
Something about a personal encounter accelerates the know/like/trust factor that’s essential to getting hired.
The easiest and most affordable way to make this start working for you is to start attending local events.
Ideally, you want to focus on events that occur every month (or even every week). Become a regular. Take advantage of structured opportunities to talk about what you do. Have conversations with people. Keep repeating this process, and the other regulars will get to know you and understand what you do. This makes it more likely some of them will hire you or refer you to people they know who need your kind of help.
Here’s how to go about this:
Step 1: Use Meet-Up, Facebook Events, and Eventbrite to find local, live networking events for business professionals. Check the calendars of local Chambers of Commerce, too.
Step 2: Pick two or three recurring events and add them to your calendar.
Step 3: Go to the event. If there’s a time built into the agenda when you get to talk about your services, make sure you come prepared for that. A lot of small-business owners don’t know what a copywriter is, so rather than naming what you do, talk about how you help companies achieve specific goals or solve specific problems.
Step 4: Relax and enjoy meeting people.
Then do it all over again next month!
As you have those conversations with people, listen for opportunities. For example, if you hear someone say, “My homepage just isn’t generating calls like we want it to,” you can say something relaxed and low-pressure in response like, “I might be able to help with that. Would you like me to take a look?”
Then, if they say yes, get their contact information and be sure to follow up within a day or two.
By attending the same meetings consistently, you’ll build name recognition and relationships, and both of those can quickly turn into projects and paychecks… sometimes faster than you expect.
I attend a breakfast business meeting every month. During the meeting, everyone has the chance to introduce themselves and their services… and then, toward the end, there’s time to mingle. The very first time I attended, a local-business owner approached me and asked for help with his homepage. So… I got a free breakfast and a new client.
Give it a try. It could work for you, too.
Strategy #2 — Send Out “I’m your neighbor” Mailings
Try doing a mailing to local businesses — an actual snail-mail letter in an envelope with a stamp on it and everything.
Even better… is if you take the time to handwrite the address and hand sign the letter.
Local-business owners are working hard to keep up with the shifts happening in digital marketing. But attorneys, dentists, veterinarians and other professionals want to focus on their skillset… not the marketing side of things.
Which means, in a lot of cases, these folks have websites that could be working a lot harder for them. That’s where you come in.
Try putting together a one-page letter that talks about how you can:
- Update their website homepage, so it gets better visibility on search engines and gets more calls from real, potential clients.
- Help them create a monthly email newsletter that keeps their services top-of-mind with their clients and new prospects.
- Work with them to improve their presence on Yelp, Google Business, and other similar sites relevant to their industry.
Mention in the note that you’re located in the same city, you enjoy helping your neighbors, and you’d be happy to chat about their needs. Make sure you include the best way for them to connect with you.
Then — and here’s the really important part — write a second letter to follow up on the first.
In that letter, share a few statistics relevant to the type of project you’re offering. Or, if you’ve done work for a similar client, do a brief case study on how it went. And then ask them again if they’d like to connect.
Finally, put together a third letter that follows up on the first two.
Why mail each of your potential clients three times? Well, marketing is a lot like soccer, in that you score more goals on the follow-up shots than on the initial strike. Plan follow-up into your marketing strategy and you’ll see more success.
Bonus AI Tip: When it comes to doing a local mailing like this, the most tedious part is building your list of prospects and addresses. Fortunately, your favorite AI tool can do that for you. Try asking ChatGPT or Claude to give you 10 local dentist offices, along with the address and owner’s name for each. Then ask for 10 veterinarians, 10 CPAs, 10 chiropractors, and so on. Building a list of 50 to 100 names will go much faster!
Strategy #3 — Host Your Own Event
This is a more advanced strategy, but one that can be very effective.
Pick a topic business owners want to hear about and you feel confident talking about. Your goal is to put together a 20-minute presentation with one to three actionable takeaways.
Then reach out to the Chambers of Commerce and pitch your presentation. Or, find a restaurant that will let you do a lunch-and-learn session, and promote your event through Meet-Up and Facebook Events.
Finally, have a door-opener offer that you make exclusively to attendees. For example, you could offer $500 off a website audit.
Or, you could offer a free 30-minute editorial brainstorm session.
Or, something in between.
Teaching or putting on your own event establishes you as an expert and is likely to get you some solid leads you can pursue. Just remember, during follow-up is when good things happen.
Bonus AI Tip: Unsure what local businesses want to hear about? Ask ChatGPT to scour Reddit and other internet forums for the most common marketing questions being asked by small-business owners.
Give Yourself an Edge — Go Local
Marketing to local prospects has two big advantages — many of these businesses would really like someone to help them navigate the changes happening in digital marketing, and these are folks you can meet face-to-face. That’s a powerful combination that can lead to fast conversions.
Happy prospecting!