Fearless Freelancing

In previous articles on this subject I have talked about how the internet – email and blogs and web sites – have given us a powerful marketing tool that was unavailable a decade ago. And that we would be crazy not to take advantage of them. I also talked about the importance of joining at least two associations – one writing-related so you can share in the wit, wisdom and warmth of your colleagues who are in the same boat as you are. And one association that has nothing to do with writing but everything to do with the niche market you are trying to service.
I suggested that there was futility in sending out unsolicited hard copy marketing materials willy nilly hoping to get a hit. Dumping your junk mail [and that's exactly how your brochures/resumes/work samples/testimonials will be regarded] on someone else’s desk unasked is a big no-no.This takes us back to the basics of marketing, the purpose of which is to develop one-on-one relationships with potential clients. Because in the end of course, that is where your business is going to come from. A single individual making the decision to buy from another single individual – specifically and hopefully you.

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February 29th, 2008
Comments:No Comment Category: From the Fearless Files

Last issue I suggested that the power of presence via the Internet (email – web sites – blogs) has really changed the face of marketing our services. They all allow us to very easily and fairly passively market our services and information related products.
Certainly there is no excuse not to have customized signature lines in your emails. And if nothing else your blogs can serve as an online repository to some of your writing samples. That way you just direct potential clients to your work with a simple hotlink. As for your signature lines, you might want to consider having more than one, depending on the point and purpose of a particular message to a particular client.All that said, that is a relatively passive way to market your services. If I were starting my business all over again, I would get my butt out the door and meet people- for no other purpose than to start the process of developing dialogues.

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February 29th, 2008
Comments:No Comment Category: From the Fearless Files

I don’t do any marketing anymore. I market all the time. Huh? A little contradictory.

The second statement reveals a basic truth about the freelance life. You are marketing all the time whether you intend to or not. If you choose to answer the phone and talk to a potential client you are marketing. If you let the answering machine pick it up, you are still marketing your message – such as you can in a short annoying machine message. And if unplug your phone entirely, you are still marketing, albeit in a very negative way by your silence.

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February 29th, 2008
Comments:No Comment Category: From the Fearless Files

Pretend for a moment that you were starting over. That you were setting up your writing or consulting business for the very first time. What would you do differently? It’s a brand new world out there. Or is it?If you are slightly fossilized like me, then perhaps when you first hung out your shingle, fax machines were so “de rigueur” that you actually charged your clients for each page you faxed to them. Not for the content, but for the cost of toner! You think I’m joking right? Not so. In the mid-80s I worked for a PR firm that did exactly that. Apparently this was quite common “back in the day” – when email and the Internet were virtually non-existent. And a corporate web site was unheard of, well, because it was unheard of.

It’s a little ironic. At one time, not having a fax number would be considered very strange. In the fast-paced world of the 80’s, a fax machine gave you the edge over your competition down the street that depended on courier service. Then everyone got fax machines and the playing field got level again. We still have these anchor weights around, but they act mostly as dust catchers because email and Acrobat have made them almost redundant.

So here we all are in 2008 chained 24/7 to our cell phones. Our Palm Pilots are our diaries of choice, and our BlackBerrys are not just a food choice anymore. We get anxious about conversion rates on our web sites; we wonder whether our intranets are worth their high cost of maintenance; and is anyone reading our double opt-in newsletter anyway?

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February 29th, 2008
Comments:No Comment Category: From the Fearless Files

Last month I received three very similar e-mails. What they had in common was a disheartened and disheartening plea for advice on how to fix their sagging freelance careers.They were all bright people. They were all more than competent at the services they were offering. Since they had been successful in the past, all had been down the marketing road before and knew the rules. Yet somehow, as their businesses were in a bit of a down period, they were feeling “the fear”. So much so, they were even considering going over to the dark side of corporate employment.

There is not a freelancer alive, yours truly included, who doesn’t go through this from time to time. Every once in a while, a recruiter will approach me, dangling the possibility of a fat paycheck and lifetime benefits, and I am tempted by the siren call of security. Then I think of my stomach. Having been there before, I know I would have a knot in it the first day I stepped on the elevator to go to my new job. That snaps me back to reality right quick. So if you have always hated an office environment you should resist too. Listen to your gut….it gives you a very strong signal of who you really are. Read more…

February 29th, 2008
Comments:No Comment Category: Landing Clients