Good enough day yesterday. For some reason, I couldn’t focus until sometime after lunch, but I did manage to get some client work done and some marketing completed. Today, reviewing the article and out the door with it. I’m pleased with it on first blush, so we’ll see.
I’ve been reading about the blogosphere various opinions on marketing. Michelle Rafter has a neat post up about cutting costs from your business (a good read). Her first point made me pause – twice. She says “Do as little marketing as possible.”
Once I quelled my initial reaction, which was to say “I disagree” I realized she’s on to something. So now I have to agree because it’s something I do, too. Here’s what I mean:
Michelle says to market smartly by securing markets within your specialty – she has a handful she writes for regularly. And she’s right. That’s the smart way to do it.
Even if you don’t specialize, you will write for magazines whose editors will get to know you. Or you’ll write for clients who really like your results. Those should be the foundation of your marketing strategy. That’s not to say you shouldn’t market at all (and I don’t believe Michelle says that at all). It means you should do as the sales people have always done – put the most effort into current clients and extend your marketing into other areas from there.
There are other ways to market that make it easier for you to increase your earnings with minimal effort. Here are a few:
Send multiple ideas. I have done this a few times. Most recently I sent two ideas to an editor. She responded with two more ideas. Four assignments in one note – pretty good odds.
Dangle a carrot. When talking with a current client, mention other projects, such as blogs, newsletters, etc. that you’re doing for other clients. Sometimes just the suggestion that they could have similar projects is enough to get one more project from them.
Remind them of your background. If they hire you for profile pieces, remind them that you’ve published exposes, investigative pieces, how-to articles, etc. I had a colleague tell me he was surprised to learn I did marketing and communications writing. As he put it, “I didn’t know you did anything beyond journalism.”
Ask. I’ve had several projects come from a simple email stating “How are you? Are you working on anything where I might be able to help?”
How do you increase the impact of your marketing efforts?
10 responses to “Double-Duty Marketing”
One of the ways I maximise my marketing efforts is to co-market my services with other writers. We formed a co-operative, so all the members are marketed as part of the team. We believe the cooperative gives us a stronger voice, as there are now 5 people marketing our services ( and potentially reaching more people). We write about different topics, so there is very little possibility of competition among us. The cooperative is loosely held and all members are also free to market themselves individually.
I think that's one of the biggest mistakes I did in the beginning. I needed to narrow the focus of my marketing.
One thing I've done that has brought business is sharing a post that deals with a particular form of business communication. For example, if I'm writing about case studies or a business blog, I might share that with a client, saying something like, I thought you might find this of interest.
One that was very effective for me was sending my posts on business blog topics. That received more than one request for help with their blog.
Interesting link, and I think you're right–she's not saying "don't market," but rather "don't throw around a bunch of money and pretend it's marketing." Same thing applies to spending a lot of time (which=money) on social media. If it's not showing ROI…do the math.
Bottom line, marketing is inextricably linked to where you are in the Freelancer Life Cycle™. My long-ago goal was to reach the point where I was spending the bulk of my time doing work rather than finding it; as a result, my marketing *spending* is negligible at this point, while the marketing *efforts* are always at a slow boil in the Crockpot.
It's simply targeted marketing instead of shotgun marketing. I tend to target specific types of publications, but still aim to a few markets outside my areas of specialty. Quite often it's with a pitch that ties my specialty to the new market.
Damaria, that's a super solution! How much of your business is through the cooperative?
I've used that sharing method, Cathy. Are you seeing success with it?
She's definitely saying not to go at it willy nilly, Jake. I agree.
And is the Freelancer Life Cycle your trademark? 🙂 I love it!
Exactly that, Paula.
Haha, no, I just made that up to be a smartaleck. But I may use it!
Claim it, Jake! It's a good one. 🙂
and Jake, Freelance Life Cycle would make a great guest post (hint hint)
Loved her post – thanks for the link.
Am still surprised how often "ask" works.
hugs
Batching ideas has always worked. Give them a few options, they're likely to pick more than one, and then return to you with more work, if they like the finished article AND you turn in clean copy on time.
Also, the keeping in touch works well for me.
I'm in the process of enlarging my marketing network here. So much in NY was anonymous/online/all over the place. So much here is dealing directly with individuals. So I have to adjust my marketing to meet the needs of the market.
Great insight on the differences in the markets, Devon. Not too many people think of that, nor consider it important. Clients are not cookie-cutter.