Still waiting for any of the six promised projects to show up. Any day now, but let’s hope not all of them at once. Meantime, I kept busy yesterday with more marketing. I now have eight meetings lined up for the conference,and a few more on the way. I’ve lined up enough “stop by your booth” meetings to fill those hours between other meetings. It pays to be organized.
CatalystBlogger Jen Williamson has a neat post up this week on Landing Ongoing Clients. It’s a great reminder that in order to stay busy, you have to keep the clients open to more projects.
Her one point — Know where the work is — sounds harder than it actually is. Jen uses the example of SEO gigs, but let’s suppose you’re wanting to write for a new magazine or you have this great idea, but you’re not sure where to look.
Time to know where the work is.
Last week’s Trade Magazine Webinar showed participants not only how, but where to find magazines in any particular industry. It doesn’t have to be a trade magazine — you can find a fit for your idea fairly easily if you know where to look.
The Google Way. Open the browser. Type in “writer’s guidelines” if you simply want to browse, or go more specific. Try your topic. Let’s assume you’re writing about buying the right cell phone. Type “cell phone reviews” into your search engine. Now look for magazines and online publications, not those aggregate sites that are in it strictly for ad revenue. What magazines/online sites are printing these ideas already? Start researching there.
The Association Way. If it’s a trade (and sometimes even if it’s not), there’s almost always an association connected to that industry. Type in “mobile technology association” or “cell phone users society.” What comes up? Don’t discount some of the results simply because they’re not associations or actual societies. You’d be surprised what kind of research appears in these types of searches. Those are great for cementing your idea with an editor. Also, don’t forget the associations themselves. What kind of research or writing do they need around these topics?
The Corporate Way. Oh, there are plenty of cell phone manufacturers, companies, and retailers who need case studies, white papers, and blog posts. Go on. Check them out, and definitely query them with your idea (framed to their particular needs, of course).
The Direct-to-Consumer Way. There are any number of ways in which cell phone information (or any other information) is conveyed to consumers. One is the direct-to-consumer way. Often tied to the pharmaceutical industry, the D2C method of advertising has morphed into things like newsletters sent from say insurance agents to their customers or from real estate agents to the neighbors of their latest clients. Someone has to write the copy. If you know a retailer or company with its own blog or newsletter, pitch your idea to them.
How do you know where the work is?
Where do you look?
Is there a particular method of searching you do in order to find clients?
7 responses to “Worth-inducing Wednesday”
And, ultimately, no matter where you find them, you convince them that they can't live without you and hiring you makes their lives easier and their bottom line grow!
Custom publishers a great way to find multiple markets at the same time.
Each year I try to focus on a new niche – last year it was crafts, the year before it was food. While I'm still making progress in those areas, this year I'm concentrating on custom publishers.
Why? Because they generally have multiple clients in different types of businesses, and they all need lots of copy. Their custom content can include magazines, newsletters, websites, collateral materials, and these days e-magazines designed specifically for tablets and e-readers.
Most of my clients come from referrals or they find me online; however, I use LinkedIn a lot when I want to zero in on particular markets. I use Company and People search (if I have access to a specific name).
Like you suggested, I also use Associations specific to my niche.
Devon, I agree totally. Ongoing work comes from convincing them they need you enough to continue to trust in your skills.
Oh, nice one, Paula! Might ask you to put together a blog post on that, if you don't mind….
Good advice, Cathy. I just had a conversation with a writer friend today on the value of LinkedIn. She was about to drop it, and I may have convinced her it's worth keeping.
Associations — my bread-and-butter sources for potential clients.
Anytime, Lori!
I found yet another one to investigate today.
Associations are also great places to find (and vet) expert sources.
I try to keep in touch with people in the communications, PR and publishing industry who I met through my time as a journalist or assignments since I became a freelancer, and I constantly remind them that I am looking for work. They in turn let me know if they hear that someone is looking for a writer on a project, or they may even recommend me directly to the person looking for a writer.
In the shameless self-promo department,we often publish leads to $1+/word gigs there at the 5 Buck Forum – find out more at http://www.aboutwritingsquared.com – hosted by me and by Lori !