I put up the widget a while ago, not expecting much. But you guys have surprised me, and I’m so pleased to see that this little blog has 42 followers now! Welcome to everyone, and please, join in!
Chuck posted yesterday (hey, Chuck!) with some advice and a link to a pretty neat marketing blog – www.highprobsell.com I checked out the blog, which had some pretty cool articles on prospecting and sales. If you think you’re not in sales, you’re quite mistaken. We’re all selling.
So how are you selling? Are you expecting the same clients and industries to feed your sales? If so, time to sit down and really consider what other industries could use your expertise. For instance, if you write for insurance magazines, why aren’t you also approaching insurance companies or brokerages to take on some of their corporate writing (bonus points if you say because that’s where Lori specializes and I don’t want to steal her clients)? If you write for any industry, you can also write client and company profiles in that industry, or take on their weblogs, or suggest marketing pieces. I had a reader here ask me recently for some ideas on how she could get into freelancing. She worked in a firm that focused on environmental issues. My gawd, the things she could do given the current focus on all things eco! She was so excited to hear how her current job could map over into writing gigs, and frankly, it was there for her all along.
Look at your own background. Some of you are great at math. Some of you are nature buffs. Some of you enjoy astrology, astronomy, alternative medicine, medical writing, etc. How can you expand on your own experience to gain more work? I’m not talking about specializing, though that is something to consider if you want to really kick up the income potential. I’m talking about expanding what you already know or do into new areas.
So what market have you always wanted to break into? Let’s see if we can come up with some ideas and grow our job possibilities.
On a side note, it came as a bit of relief to see that our own Secretary of the Treasury, Tim Geithner, navigated Turbo Tax in the same fashion I did. I don’t feel so badly now. If the man running our banking system can get the same error I did, I’m pretty convinced the estimation portion of Turbo Tax may not be accurate. Though Geithner blames himself, I wonder. Yes, he should know better, but should I?
Taxes, smaxes! I have a professional do mine and even she has to scratch her head at times.
I see the words, Craig’s List, mentioned on many occasions in this blog.
Consider this: The Paerto Principle is usually at work in most businesses. It is in mine. The 80/20 rule. 20% of our clients produce 80% of the revenue, etc, etc.
The challenge then becomes how do we increase the number of clients in that 20%?
Chuck
Well there’s the challenge, Chuck. Most freelancers work on a client-by-client basis. BUT…that’s not to say we can’t build the 80/20 factor into our marketing. Why not market more to clients with a greater chance of needing repeat business?
When I was in real estate, we were taught what I now call the rule of seven – contact seven sellers and seven buyers every day. Okay, we can adapt that to fit the freelance writing world pretty easily – sellers become past clients, buyers become future clients. But seven? A day? Yes. Based on the idea that the more people you talk to the greater your chances are of finding work, why not?
It’s time consuming, but contact doesn’t have to be. Contact could mean an email, a brochure, a phone call.
Hi Lori,
First: We have to establish some workable ground rules for our actions.
Second: We have to break down as many components as we can that identify those clients in the top 20%.
Third: Once we glean those qualities we can create an algorithm that allows us to set boundaries.
Fourth: That algorithm could look something like this,
Company or organization must have sales or revenues in excess of $1M.
Have a professional marketing communications staff with whom to communicate.
Have a published Mission Statement on their website
Have an ongoing budget and a willingness to pay for professional services at my rate of $100 hr or $1K minimum per assignment.
Be in a field or industry I am knowledgeable about.
Etc, etc.
One can buy lists from list brokers that can identify most of what I’ve listed above, along with “decision makers” of record with sufficient contact information to get started.
The 7/7 rule you refer to above is great, but since you are the technician who’s engineering the product you are selling, you don’t have time to consistently use that formula and make it work. You and I need to create a formula to hit home runs every time we come to bat.
I look forward to researching your marketing ideas on previous blogs.
Chuck