What I’m listening to: Your Long Journey by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
It’s been a good start to the week. After a busy, enjoyable weekend, I sat down on Monday with just one project in front of me, but with a few client calls to prepare for. It was nice to have the luxury to really delve into the companies and do some research.
Recently, I changed my letter of introduction (LOI) to get a little more personal. One of the changes I made was to accentuate my background in relation to their needs. It’s Marketing 101 – what I learned in college – but it’s the biggest mistake people make. They talk at their customers, not with them.
But part of that change included showcasing my purpose. Not my purpose for writing, but my business purpose. I’m there to help companies in the insurance and risk management industries find new clients, impart information, and improve the message. That’s my purpose. I may not state it verbatim, but I make sure that message is in every note I send to new clients.
So what’s your purpose? Don’t know? Don’t sweat it — I didn’t know for years myself. It took my sitting down and asking myself what I wanted before I could say with certainty the purpose that found me is the one I want.
You may get lucky like that, too. Maybe your purpose landed in your lap. Or maybe you’re lucky because you’re doing what the rest of the writing world is doing and actually scoring gigs/making money. Or not. If not, try answering these questions:
1. What kind of writing do you gravitate toward? Stop thinking in terms of what you think you should be doing. What do you read? What are you talking about after you read it? Is literary fiction your passion or are you more of a mechanic wanna-be? Do you enjoy writing marketing copy? You don’t have to be expert — just interested enough to want to pursue it further.
2. How would you define your career to this point? Pretend you’re writing a summary for your resume. What things would you want to list first? Chances are, that’s an area you’re inclined to enjoy. Follow it.
3. What one thing you’ve written has made you most proud? There’s always something that stands out as a moment you’d like to repeat, be it that time you were published in Elle or when you knocked that client brochure out of the park. Take cues from the things you are proud of. Those are things you’ve done well and apparently love doing.
4. What would you enjoy learning more about? For me, this was a pivotal question. I fell into this specialty, but once I was in, I really enjoyed it. I wanted to know more. It intrigued me. What one thing have you done or dreamed of doing that you’d enjoy knowing even more about?
Your purpose today isn’t necessarily the purpose you’ll have next year or even next decade. Times change, as do people, and you may find an area that excites you even more.
Writers, if you were to sum up your purpose in one sentence, what would it read?
12 responses to “4 Questions to Help You Find Freelance Purpose”
This is great, Lori! Love these questions. I'm still refining my purpose, and discovering new answers with every new client & new project.
It took me a while to learn the importance of #1. I don't really enjoy magazines all that much, so why should I try to write for them? On the other hand, I love blogs & online articles, and that's what I mostly write now.
I'd say my purpose right now is helping websites and online businesses to grow their audience through great content, optimized for readers AND search engines.
#4 is a great question, too. I enjoy learning in general, and I've found that researching & learning is one of the things I enjoy most about freelance writing! Lately I've been really enjoying learning & writing about internet technology, so I think I'll start looking for more clients in that area.
That's a pretty great purpose, KeriLynn. 🙂
I added #4 because I think the "write what you know" advice is a bit too limiting. If I'd written about what I knew when I was first starting, I would never be in the specialty I'm in.
Mostly it's to help people get their dreams into words… maybe even more than mostly.
Exactly that, Anne. It's a form of business planning, but a little less intimidating, and much easier to switch up. 🙂
To keep it simple. In life and in writing. 😉
Um, can I steal the answers from Anne & Cathy and combine it into one? In reality, I'm less about converting dreams into words and more about being a conduit between the people with the messages and the audiences they're trying to reach. So I guess my one liner is: I ask the questions the readers want answered.
There you go, Paula! Great answer. 🙂
Cathy, amen. 🙂
I don't know how you do it – whenever I feel "stumped", I come here and there it is, the exact thing I need to read, hear, etc. It's as if you are in my head unraveling my thoughts and lining them up so I can focus better.
Right now I can only answer #3 – My newspaper clips. I am really proud of the news writing I did and if I expand, the one I am most proud of was a feature on a woman who was burned as a child and what she has endured and how she is helping other burn victims. At that point in this career, I was hungry and excited about what I was doing. I don't think I can say that today.
As always, thank you.
I've invaded your brain, Nikki. LOL
So it sounds like feature writing is something you may want to explore more? That could lead you to executive bios, media kits (with those bios and "features" on the company), features for higher-end magazines, maybe even biography writing or ghostwriting someone's autobiography?
Lori I love the sound of that!
Until it happens, Nikki. Think Zombie Apocalypse. 🙂