I’m always a little embarrassed when people ask me what marketing methods I use.
The truth is, I don’t do a lot to market myself. It’s something I should do, or at least that’s what I tell myself. But it seems like every time I start to gear up one marketing plan or another, one of my existing clients reaches out to me or sends a referral my way, and then I find myself busy enough that I don’t really get to my marketing.
It’s a bad habit. I would see a lot of benefit from consistent marketing efforts.
But I also know that a lot of writers hear that I don’t really market myself and think, “How can I get to the point where I’m staying busy enough to not need to market myself?”
I should say that in the early stages of my career, I did market myself. A lot. I wasn’t as systematic about it as I wish I had been… but I was putting in an effort pretty much every day to contact potential clients, to publish, and to network.
If you don’t yet have a roster of clients you’ve done work for (and would enjoy doing more work with), then doing some marketing is unavoidable at this stage.
But if you are starting to land clients pretty consistently, here are the steps I went through that led to me not needing much in the way of marketing.
First, let people know exactly what you do. If you write email newsletters for professional service providers, get very comfortable saying that. If write homepages that help a company get more leads, say so. If you do a lot of stuff for a lot of different businesses producing a lot of different results, pick your favorite and tell people — friends, family, former colleagues, the guy in line with you at the coffee shop — about it.
Next, be willing to say yes to projects, even if they’re a little outside your comfort zone. That’s a great way to improve your skills, add to your skill set, and make more connections. By saying yes more often, even to projects you’re not so sure about, you’ll put yourself in the path of more opportunities and some of them will be exciting to you.
When you find yourself saying yes to a project you’re a little nervous about, spend time preparing before you start working. Think of this as a pre-research stage. Read up on the industry. Attend a couple of virtual events. Interview someone who works in the industry. Review several examples of the project type. The goal is to make the topic and project feel familiar. (I check how I’m doing by explaining what I’m learning to my husband. If I can convey it clearly to him and feel confident I’m doing it correctly, then I’m on the right track.)
Then, on every project you accept, do really good work and be a pleasure to work with.
Finally, keep in touch. For the clients you work with who you enjoy, send them new ideas, let them know about your availability, ask them for referrals, and share resources. Regularly.
Along the way, you will work with and meet people who aren’t clients yet, but who you get to know — subject matter experts, designers, industry experts. Keep in touch with them, too.
Eventually these connections — combined with your reputation for doing good work — will bring more opportunities your way, and you can start picking and choosing your favorites… and you won’t have to do much to stay busy with things you enjoy and that pay well.
It’s a good place to be. It takes work to get there. But it’s definitely worth it!
New on the Site
Do you want more clients in 2022? How about better clients? If you’re nodding your head vigorously, then maybe it’s time to implement a lead magnet on your freelance website. For writers, writing the lead magnet is the easy part. It’s the set up that slows us down. But Rebekah Mays has you covered in her final business challenge of the year.
Do you ever run out of content ideas? It doesn’t matter how long you stare at that blank screen… you still can’t think of a single thing to write about. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking towards the deadline. There’s a simple, effective way to generate relevant content ideas using nothing more than Google (or your favorite search engine). Andrew Murray shows you how it works in this latest Tech Corner.
Sometimes when you reach the end of a year, you realize the year has taken on an unexpected theme. It can be useful to recognize that theme and reflect on what it’s taught you. That’s what this week’s Reality Blog is all about. You can give it a read right here.
Mark Your Calendar
Today (December 7 – 1pm ET): Email welcome messages are a big, overlooked opportunity for a lot of companies… one you can help them with. Learn more about this great break-in project in this live webinar. I’ll be reviewing professional examples of welcome messages as well as submissions from your fellow writers. You can join us here.
Thursday (December 9): Are you ready for a little end-of-the-year fun? Come away from this Member Update webinar with 12 ideas for finishing your year in a memorable and productive way. I’ll be sharing some of my favorite end-of-the-year traditions that help me get off on the right foot for the New Year. Plus, we’ll look at top content added to the site and finish up with a live Q&A. You can find your access instructions here.
December 16: For our final event of the year, we’ll be exploring ways you can add depth and interest to your content. With so much being published every day, you want what you publish to be special… unique… memorable. I’ll be sharing some of the most effective ways to do that. More details coming soon.
Around the Web
Networking = “the process of building meaningful connections with others so you can support each other.” And it’s a far more rewarding way to find clients than most of the other strategies out there.
Here you’ll find five simple tips to help you feel more comfortable with networking.
These 15 tips for doing great work for an employer can be easily adapted to doing great work for a client.
Some very helpful advice on eliminating distractions, both internal and external.
That’s all for now. Make it a great week.
