Pretty Freakin’ Easy Branding for Freelance Writers

I’m a specialty writer. Most people who visit this blog know that.

But does anyone else?

I’d say fortunately, yes. Plenty of people who are in a position to hire me know that.

But I can’t say “fortunately.” They know that because I made sure they did.

No matter what type of writing you do (including general writing), you can control your own fortunes, as well.

I’d say it starts and ends with branding, but it’s really a combination of branding and consistent marketing. While it can be argued that you can get by with just one or the other, why not make your life easier and do both? They’re close cousins, anyway.

I’m in the middle of redoing my website, but even my rudimentary site shows pretty clearly what my specialty is. I don’t have it on the front page for a few reasons — I think writers who can handle plenty of projects in a specific space can pretty much handle the same kinds of projects in nearly any space, with a few exceptions. I state my capabilities and the types of projects I’ve handled.

But when I’m on social media, I’m hanging out where the clients and potential clients hang out.

Here’s a primer for how to build your brand easily (without breaking a sweat):

Create your message.

How are you describing yourself? Mine is one line (and again, it doesn’t speak to the specialty for a reason): “simply great writing every time.”

That’s my promise. That’s my goal. What’s yours? To get to your message, try this:

• Name three things your clients need that you can deliver
• Name five things you do well
• Find the correlation between things on both lists
• Write your message using that

Suppose you can deliver:

• Concise, accurate results
• Creative collaboration
• Listening skills

And you do these things well:

• Write quickly and accurately
• Edit as you go
• Marketing acumen (you can spot a troublesome word and replace it with a positive one)
• Handle multiple projects
• Mirror your clients’ voices

So what’s your message? If it were me, I’d choose the last bullet in the first list and the last bullet in the second list, and have something like this:

Writing that fits you because it is you.

Optimize your website.

It’s why mine is under construction behind the scenes right now — I want to make all my messages mesh. While my message is right there at the top of every page under my name, I want the rest of my words to relate to that idea.

Show off your samples.

Create links to your published stuff (I have mine broken into categories). While some of the work you do may not have URLs, you should list where you can the companies you’ve worked with and the projects you’ve handled.

Make social media work for you.

Join groups related to your specialty on LinkedIn (and complete your profile — make sure to use relatable keywords). Take your same messaging to Twitter. Twitter does allow for more free-flowing conversation, but make sure your profile relates to your overall message in some way. Schedule tweets that speak to your audience’s needs. Promote good ideas of others a lot, and promote yourself a little. Be known for sharing interesting things, and for sharing things your clients can use. The writer who’s constantly self-promoting is the writer who is overlooked quite a lot (even by other writers). Also, don’t be the one begging for work — be the one talking about the projects you’re working on, promoting client success, linking to an article you wrote….

Go where the potential clients go.

Know the associations that cater to your specialty or your client base. If you can swing it, attend at least one event per year. Not always possible to be there in person (which is ideal), but even a web conference or seminar can turn into work. I was hired by a company who’s Twitter chat I’d attended. In fact, the number of jobs I’ve gotten from social media has increased quite a bit over the last few years. But I still like the meet-and-greet opportunities as you are now a face to the name, and they remember you, even if they don’t know your name. And if you’re following up in your marketing, you can help them remember.

Writers, what’s your brand? Do you have one? How did you land on it?
If you don’t have a brand, where is your sticking point?
What do you think is essential to either building or promoting your brand?