What I’m reading: The Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote
What’s on the iPod: Wasted Words by The Allman Brothers Band
In case you missed it, I have a post up over at About Freelance Writing. Check it out and join the discussion.
Busy day yesterday. Between vacation plans and trying to stockpile work, I didn’t move from the chair much between 7:30 and 5:00. I did take a break and run to the store to get a new umbrella and some socks for the hiking shoes.
A commenter on my post over at About Freelance Writing was wondering out loud how to sell articles for $1,500. She had struggled with trying to sell her ideas and had come up empty. To someone who’s not getting any work from her efforts, it must be confusing to hear someone like me label marketing as “simple.” But it is simple. Rejection? Yea, not so simple. Well, it is, but it’s not so simple to accept.
A few things may be going wrong with this poster’s marketing. She indicated she was targeting ad agencies. I like her approach – targeting a particular industry – but that industry has taken a huge hit in the pocket lately. As she found out, budgets for freelancers are not there.
But the larger issue may be this – she’s limiting herself to one market, one industry. Had she said “I’ve tried magazines, ad agencies, corporations, and small businesses and I’m coming up dry” I’d have said something in her approach may need tweaking. I’m assuming for the sake of argument her approach is fine.
This gal was so disheartened she went right back to ELance. Not the right choice. Instead, she needs to aim at a different market. In fact, she needs to aim at several different markets. This week, concentrate on magazine queries. Next week, focus on press releases. The next week, corporate work. The more queries in circulation, the better her chances of hitting her target.
If you try once at marketing and fail, welcome to freelancing. If you let that failure stop you from trying again, your career is going nowhere. Get up, dust off, and keep going. Think about where you want to be this time next year. Envision the clients you’d like to be working for. Then go out and get them.
How do you recover from marketing that doesn’t hit a target?
13 responses to “Why Marketing is Simple”
I reiterate what you said, Lori. You try a different industry. The primary industry I work in tends to attract a lot of new copywriters. When the supply is saturated and the demand is slower, that can hinder me attracting new clients. Earlier this year, a chance referral opened my eyes to the potential of a new industry that is underserved by copywriters and is burgeoning in this economic climate. It's been responsible for fully one third of my income this year. It has so much potential that I will probably put up a website just to capture copywriting business from this particular industry. As the market and the economy changes, it comes down to this: adapt or die.
Here's a totally different approach, admittedly, because it's what I know best.
If you do have a niche, consider ghostwriting. Target the busy executives about getting their message out without having to do all the legwork of research and the time writing the article.
Industry magazines love getting articles from industry executives and I have had more than one turn into an ongoing assignment. For the executive's company, it's advertising without advertising (no "sales pitch.")
Many times the company has a PR person/firm who is only too glad to pitch the articles to the industry publications.
I have written at my blog why I love ghostwriting-even if I don't get the byline. Some may not be able to get past that, but if that doesn't bother you, it can be rewarding in many ways.
Let your Hook always be cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be fish- Ovid
How many writers have tried to build a business in one area, only to find themselves successful in another one. One they never really considered. I originally targeted Corporate HR, then tried specializing in speech writing, but find myself in personal development and human services. When one wall went up, I turned around and went another direction.
I see in your other post that persistence is mentioned. That's absolutely true. You can't give up if one thing isn't working. There are so many other possibilities to try if you just keep looking.
Nice article over there, Lori–interesting how Carmen's comment jumped off the page. What caught my eye is that she bailed after just 100 calls. That's a pretty low threshold without experimenting with Plan B or C.
Wendy, I love the Ovid quote! Whenever we went fishing with my granddad, he'd always yell at us for reeling in too often (as little kids are wont to do) to check the bait. "You're not going to catch anything out of the water, unless it's a flying fish!" I think a lot of freelancers are hoping for a flying fish…
This reminds me of some "advice" I got from a highly competitive freelancer who was then writing for many of the same markets I wrote for.
After I came to my senses and dumped one of my biggest clients (the trade mag that had 100% turnover in the editorial department, replacing competent editors with ignorant hacks) I was having a hard time breaking into new markets. I'd begun edging into covering the TV industry, so I refocused my efforts there, but it was an uphill battle. The fellow writer kept telling me TV was "fluff" and I needed to diversify my markets, like she did. (Little does she know: the shows may be fluff, but the industry isn't.) While cultivating that niche, I still pursued other trade and consumer markets.
Fast forward a couple years. During the post-9-11 economic free fall, one of my $1/word TV trades folded. It used to assign long articles, too, so that was a huge blow to my income. I was desperately querying consumer magazines and sending LOIs to all kinds of trades, but finding steady new markets was rough back then. That's when the same fellow writer said, "You should specialize, like I do."
I don't think she realized she'd done a complete 180. Then again, her advice is often less about helping you than it is about making her feel superior.
The best marketing approach is probably somewhere in the middle. Have abroad area of interests, but have an area of specialty, too. And when you don't hit the target you have two options: Improve your aim, or get a bigger target.
Wendy & Jake-love the quote and the flying fish! 🙂
You know, as I read the comments here and over on Lori's great article on my site (bragging!) I'm also seeing that almost everyone of us has a different ao0000(cat tracks)approach… the real constant is persistence.
Hmmmm… yeah, I've done an article on that… maybe another is in order?
Eileen, that's really cool that by chance you found that new market! And I think I want to tattoo that comment on my arm – adapt or die. Amen!
Great idea, Cathy! I do a few of these myself. There's a bigger market in those articles than seen at first glance.
Wendy, you've managed to capture my fishing heart and my writing heart at the same time. 🙂 As I've said here before, like you I fell into my specialty. It's one I'd never have considered, and it's built my career.
Thanks, Jake. It's a recycled one from here, but it's still relevant. 🙂 And I think you're right – some are after that flying fish.
Wow, she is competitive, Paula! You did what was right for you. Your career led you to some extent, too. Nothing wrong with that!
Anne, you're right. Persistence is the takeway. And another one is in order! Yes, please! I'd love to read your take on it.
Jake's granddad is a very wise man. The flying fish bit is very cool. How often do those who fish tend to blame the bait, the line, the lake, the boat, the weather, etc. when we don't catch fish? It could be something as simple as casting out a little bit further, throw the line in at another spot or using a different kind of bait. For the person who made the 100 calls and got nowhere, maybe call #101 could've been the jackpot. Who knows.
Or it could be that the fish are on to us, Wendy. LOL
I remember a period during my first or second year of freelancing when I was faced with a similar problem. I think I sent out 100+ queries and introduction letters within a span of a week. I targeted everyone I could think of – publishers with editing needs, magazines, newspapers, ad agencies, etc. Needless to say, I quickly found myself back on track again.
Consistency is key, and you've proven that! It's why I try to market every week, even just a little. The more your name is out there, the more likely you'll be considered when there's work to be done.
@Jake P.: Well, there's a couple of reasons why I did stop there–not that I'm not rectifying the mistake now. #1 I felt like I was maybe bothering all these people, and if all of these people were ignoring my samples maybe they weren't good enough yet. So that was a confidence issue. #2, I did used to be in sales, and when I didn't realize the ad agency market was bad I was trying to figure out what had went wrong, because in my sales background 100 calls would typically net me 25 positive results. I was used to a ratio, and I'd never seen a ratio of 0:100 before. So inspired by these posts I am going to take marketing in a new direction, but in the meantime I am also a single Mom who needs to hit a certain monthly figure to stay afloat, and Elance is where I was managing to consistently do that. I didn't have a Plan B or C to work with…now I do though! 🙂 –Carmen