What I’m reading upstairs: Absalom! Absalom! by William Faulkner
What’s playing on the iPod: Sometime Around Midnight by The Airborne Toxic Event
You?
Toddle on over to Anne Wayman’s site for my latest post.
Sometimes when work is slow in coming – like now – I nudge clients. I send out emails. Nothing new there, except what I’m sending isn’t exactly what you’d think to send. I’ve started to send articles I’ve written that echo something I’ve either seen in the news or seen in their publication. In my head, this is going to remind them I’m a good writer, and it may even show that this good idea they printed was something I’ve already thought of and maybe – a stretch here – they should entertain more queries from me? Okay, a stretch. But I like the idea of sharing links to my articles because it keeps the conversation going.
And that’s what I want. I want to keep talking to them and with them. I want them to remember me when they need a writer, and to do that I have to build a relationship with them. I don’t ask for work all the time. In fact, most times I don’t. I just want to talk to them about something that affects their industry or their business. I enjoy that. It forces me to stay on top of the industry and stay aware to what’s happening in their businesses. Those kinds of habits can only make me a better writer.
Here are some ideas for nudging your clients:
Send something you read that reminded you of them or their business. I know an editor who hikes. I could send him articles on the best hikes in his area or some challenging hike in another part of the world. It shows him I’ve taken the time to know him.
Send them one of your own. Why not? If it’s relevant or if you’re trying to establish a pattern of monthly email updates, this is a good way to start. It says, “Here’s what I’m up to” and gives them something to discuss or think about.
Set up a quick call. Had a long-time colleague call me this week just to catch up. He’s moved from one major company to another, and had the need to fill a full-time position. I couldn’t help directly, but I passed on the info to someone who might be able to help. The result: He wanted to chat for fifteen minutes. Because of his schedule, it had to be arranged. We got ten minutes, but it was great catching up and hearing about his job. He also got to hear what I’m doing these days, which relates directly to his company’s business.
Send new offers. One client in particular has been the focus of my campaign to get them to build a blog. The hints are clear, but infrequent. I don’t want to pester, but I think they could get excellent mileage out of a blog. And hey, I know how to keep one going, do I not? Find something your clients are missing and convince them you can give it to them.
Generate killer queries. You know you’ve got a ton of ideas with no home. Take one, work it out on paper, then find a market and slant it toward that market. Sell something terrific to a new or existing client. Go on. It’ll be good for you.
What do you do to nudge clients?
8 responses to “Nudging the Client”
When I'm on my game, I send postcards every three months, a hey, how are you, what are your needs? type of thing. That usually gets a strong response — both from former client and from clients I sent direct marketing pieces to, but didn't use me from the intial mailing.
I was just thinking about this since Memorial Day always heralds a slump for me. Fortunately, just as I was contemplating how I would contact all my former clients (which I should add is always the quickest and easiest way for me to secure business), several small projects came in. However, two points I'd like to make:
1. My initial idea was to send each client a promotional offer, maybe 20% off the last item I wrote/edited for them.
2. I need to get a better system in place for keeping my clients' contact info close at hand. If I've worked with them in the past year, it's easy enough to do an email search. If I haven't, yikes! And when I do find that info, what are the chances it will even work anymore?
Any suggestions regarding #2?
Hey, IF (may I call you IF? It's so much easier than typing Irreverent Freelancer) – If you haven't done so already, I'd suggest joining LinkedIn and connecting with as many clients and colleagues as possible. Why? When people change jobs, they tend to update it on their LinkedIn account, and you don't need their new e-mail addresses since you can contact them directly through LinkedIn.
I recently learned a rather irksome editor has switched to marketing, so I might pitch something to that market again. I deal with a lot of publicists, and publicists have a habit of job-hopping; PR agencies merge, fold and re-emerge with new names, so the easiest way for me to keep track of which publicist is working where is through LinkedIn. Heck, today I learned a long-time publicist is packing it in to become a psychologist!
I've got it on my calendar today to check in with two editors who should have more assignments coming up soon. Sure, I just turned in two articles to one of them last week, but it never hurts to ask if he has any questions about it.
I was also going to check in with another editor I knew should be assigning soon, but she beat me to it and called with four assignments yesterday. They're all short, but sweet.
Kathy, I need a similar system. I used to use Excel, but damn if I'd open that thing. It works only if you work it, I guess. 🙂 Love your offer idea. I may try that myself.
Devon, great idea. I think it's time I bust out some postcards.
Paula, good idea. LinkedIn has been great in connecting with clients. Not as great as Twitter for some reason, but different tools for different people, right?
Lori-Don't know if I hit the cancel-or what-but the comment went into LaLa land-sorry if this is a repeat…
Great ideas! Because of my niche (health care/insurance/wellness), I routinely send articles or reports to my clients that I find while researching-not too much to be annoying, but enough to stay on their radar.
The other thing I do that they LOVE is give referrals or introductions-when it's a good fit & okay with both parties.
I also occasionally send a gift of fruit (wellness :-)) for no special reason–bribery works!
I love LinkedIn. It's been my most productive social media for new business.
Bribery works for me, too! LOL Great ideas, Cathy!
Oh – forgot to mention, The Sound and the Fury is perhaps my favorite novel. So I tried to read Absalom! Absalom! but never made it through the lengthy descriptions of the old neighbor lady's parlor. (Am I remembering that right? It was withing the first 50 pages. Images of heavy dark dusty drapes and Victorian furniture – perhaps a birdcage or two – are coming to mind.)
But I loved me my Quentin in Sound/Fury. (Not so fond of Sound/Fury's Quentin2 – upon first reading I thought maybe Quentin had undergone gender reassignment surgery … but I digress.)
And me? No iPod. I'd love one, but can't justify the cost. A friend said my Mac is too old to download iTunes….which I doubt since it came with an iTunes application built right in.
Paula, my sister's kids have MP3 players that cost a fraction of an iPod with the same or better capacity. Fifty bucks versus $150-$300? Yea, I'd take that, too!
Sound/Fury – loved it, too. If you love Faulkner, you'll like Toni Morrison. She's a Faulkner scholar, and it shows.