No query or letter of introduction (LOI) goes anywhere until I’m sure who’s on the receiving end. I don’t mean who they are by name, but who they are by company, but focus, by audience, by customer, by \u2026.<\/p>\n

Take the time to get to know the person you’re about to approach. My system involves a few stages, and goes something like this:<\/p>\n

\n
• Preliminary screen:<\/strong><\/em> Before I bother to put their contact info on my spreadsheet, a prospect\/company has to pass my initial sniff test. I spend up to ten minutes reviewing their website and social media accounts to find out what their business is, who their customer is, what their focus is, and if they’re a business I want to approach. And yes, there have been a number of prospects that never made the cut. It’s saved me tons of time and aggravation.<\/li>\n
• Deeper screen:<\/strong><\/em> Once I have them on the spreadsheet, I follow them on social media, and I pay attention to their messaging. Some companies will have a place to sign up for news. I don’t typically do that, but it’s an option if the client is a particularly attractive one you’d like to court. I look more into the info I found during the preliminary screen. I look for what their differentiator is, how much time they’ve put into marketing (and where), what message\/branding they’re going for now, and anything else that stands out.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  Engage with them.<\/h3>\n

  For me, engaging a new client might start on social media. I’ll follow them on Twitter, read and share what they post, or use the same hashtags they use when sharing. The idea is I’m trying to show up where they are, and build a little bit of name recognition. That helps when I reach out with my LOI — I’m not a total stranger to them. I got out of the habit of showing up on LinkedIn groups. It’s still a good idea, though in my particular specialty the groups seem to have gone a bit dormant, with one or two exceptions.<\/p>\n

  Other ways I engage:<\/p>\n

  \n
  • Attend a webinar\/chat they’re holding<\/li>\n
  • Share info put out by associations they follow\/belong to<\/li>\n
  • Thank them for returning a follow<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Not that you need to spend oodles of time engaging with potential clients (most of mine happens after I’ve approached them), but do get to know their social media habits. That’s a big clue into what they are focused on.<\/p>\n

    Approach them.<\/h3>\n

    Once I’ve done the research and reached out in some small way, I send my note. My LOI includes something specific that they’ve talked about recently, or some aspect of their marketing that I’ve noticed, or anything that’s a good conversation starter. Recently, I reached out to a company and complimented them on what I felt was a great use of social media to get their message across. It was obvious someone had built a solid marketing plan, and I wanted them to know people were noticing.<\/p>\n

    Then I mention what I do. I include three short lines that touch on the projects I’ve taken on. And each sentence points back to the client in some way. “I have helped companies such as \u2026. create branded content….” A few URL samples, an ask for a conversation, and done.<\/p>\n

    What that approach does not have — a lengthy, me-me-me note. Short, to the point, with just enough info to interest a client who may be looking for a freelancer.<\/p>\n

    That’s showing consideration for your potential client. And it’s keeping the conversation on their needs, not on you or your needs.<\/p>\n

    That’s how I get clients to yes.<\/p>\n

    How do you do it?
    \nWhat’s your favorite method of attracting client business?<\/p>\n

    <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It’s nearly a holiday weekend, so of course I’m thinking about marketing. Then again, when am I not thinking about it? Monday’s post was about where to focus your energies when marketing to get the best results. Today, it’s about using that same focus to convince clients that you are the freelance writer they need….<\/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":[404],"tags":[4,42],"class_list":["post-7252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-finding-freelance-work","tag-client-advice","tag-finding-freelance-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordsonpageblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7252","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=7252"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wordsonpageblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7253,"href":"http:\/\/wordsonpageblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7252\/revisions\/7253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordsonpageblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordsonpageblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordsonpageblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}