Your Freelance Writing Career: Commit to Daily Marketing

While browsing through my archives, I came across this article on marketing that you’ll find valuable, whether you’re a new freelance writer or an established pro. If you’re not making as much money as you wish, there’s one answer and only one: market yourself consistently… and that means, every day.

Marketing is vital for all freelancers. It’s especially vital when you’re just starting out as a freelance writer, before anyone knows who you are, and what you do.

However, it’s equally vital established professional writers. One of the major benefits of developing your own Web sites is that once you create a site, it works for you 365 days a year. I get all of my new clients via my angelabooth.com site these days.

OK – here’s the article. Enjoy.

Your freelance writing business success is built on marketing. Look at any successful enterprise, from Pizza Hut to the solo home business operator. They all market consistently. There’s no way they can survive without marketing.

If you’ve recently made the transition from paid employment to your own freelance writing business, you may find the marketing concept difficult to get your head around. When you’re working for someone else, they handle all the marketing.

An employer’s marketing efforts may be invisible to the staff. The marketing may consist of: a yearly Yellow Pages ad, local advertising, attendance at trade shows, private networking, and outsourced telemarketing.

If you’re a solo operator, at least 40 per cent of your working time each week needs to be spent on marketing. You need to have processes in place so that you can simply get it done without thinking too much about it. If marketing is difficult for you, it’s because you don’t have the processes in place which make it easy.

You can choose to spend half your daily working time marketing, or you can devote a couple of days each week to marketing. Your choice. But you must get it done.

What’s best? Online or offline marketing?

That depends on your client base, and your own comfort level. Where do your clients come from? If you’ve just started your own freelance writing business, you may feel more comfortable dealing with local businesses, by which I mean businesses within easy driving distance. On the other hand, you may feel comfortable dealing with national and international businesses from the start.

I’m happy dealing with international businesses, because I started my professional writing career working with a British publisher almost 30 years ago. (I’m in Australia.) In those days, international phone calls were an event, and if my editor and I wanted to get in touch quickly, we sent telegrams.

Nowadays working with someone on the other side of the world is just as easy as working with someone locally. Easier, in some ways, because of the time difference. A US or UK client can email me a brief, and I can usually have the work done for them by the time they hit their office the next morning.

If you’re starting out, I suggest a mix of both online and offline marketing.

Here’s a good starting place: combine intensive local telemarketing (cold calls), with creating a quick blog (Web log).

Remember the name-recognition factor

Nothing will derail your marketing efforts more quickly than misunderstanding the marketing cycle. As a rule of thumb, consider that it will take around three months for your initial marketing efforts to parlay into a viable professional freelance writing business. Therefore, if you’re just starting out, make sure that you have sufficient funds to keep you going for at least three months.

Your prospects need to see your name over and over again before they buy your services. Make sure that when they want your services, they recognize your name! Build the relationship.

Take time every day to market your business. It’s a certain route to a successful freelance writing business.

Resources

* Super-Fast Money-Making Web Sites For Writers: Join The Web-Publishing Bonanza

* You CAN Sell Your Writing Now: Marketing Skills For Writers

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