We\u2019ve already established that we\u2019re not finding work online. Just get that idea out of your head right now. So, that begs the next question \u2013 where are we finding them? Well, er\u2026 online.<\/p>\n

Let me clarify \u2013 we\u2019re not finding jobs online anymore. But the clients are there, and they are waiting for us to locate them and convince them they need us.<\/p>\n

But you shouldn\u2019t charge willy-nilly online and choose just any random client. You need a game plan, a process by which you will locate that client and subsequently pitch to them. And you need to understand that online is not your only hunting ground – everywhere you go, everything you read, everything you overhear is a lead. So is your newspaper. So is your phone book. So is your Chamber of Commerce meet-and-greet.<\/p>\n

I must say right here that if you decide upfront to special in a niche area, your search will be infinitely easier than if you decide general is the way to go. By this I mean find an industry or a pocket of an industry that has always interested you. Like shoes? Did you know there are associations, publications and conferences all dealing with shoes? These publications target the wholesalers and retailers, so you\u2019ll need to rethink your approach. It\u2019s not enough to love buying shoes \u2013 you have to want to know the trends in selling and in marketing them in order to specialize in them.<\/p>\n

Some of you may be interested in trade writing, such as writing for sales professionals or real estate professionals. Start with the publications in the industry of your choice. Scan the online ads on that site, and look for the golden nugget \u2013 the Resource Guide. Most trade magazines have these supplements that list tons of advertisers \u2013 all of whom are vendors who may need a press release, a media kit, a white paper, etc., etc.<\/p>\n

Still, if you want to market more generally (remember, I warned you), you can start with advertising and marketing agencies. It may help to start locally, as you can stop in on occasion and meet with the management or owner. It makes you a known entity rather than an expendable Internet contact. For those agencies that aren\u2019t afraid to work with remote consultants, you could score work in nearly any city in the world. <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for magazine work, there is no shortage of places to look. I keep a Writer\u2019s Market subscription, but even WM doesn\u2019t contain all the markets available. Try this handy trick: in your search engine, type the words \u201cwriter\u2019s guidelines\u201d or \u201ceditorial guidelines\u201d. You\u2019ll be surprised at how many markets exist that you\u2019ve never heard of or considered.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re willing to brainstorm and identify specific interests that you could turn into a client list, you\u2019ll have no shortage of possibilities, and no shortage of potential work.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow: The Approach<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve already established that we\u2019re not finding work online. Just get that idea out of your head right now. So, that begs the next question \u2013 where are we finding them? Well, er\u2026 online. Let me clarify \u2013 we\u2019re not finding jobs online anymore. But the clients are there, and they are waiting for us…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[550,1],"tags":[42,133,32,585,372],"class_list":["post-1789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-resources","category-uncategorized","tag-finding-freelance-work","tag-finding-work","tag-freelance-writing-advice","tag-marketing-101","tag-marketing-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordsonpageblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordsonpageblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordsonpageblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordsonpageblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordsonpageblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1789"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wordsonpageblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6335,"href":"http:\/\/wordsonpageblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1789\/revisions\/6335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordsonpageblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordsonpageblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordsonpageblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}