Comments on: Double-Duty Marketing

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:25:20 +0000

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.

By: Devon Ellington

Devon Ellington — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:46:59 +0000

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.

By: Anne Wayman

Anne Wayman — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:25:00 +0000

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

By: Lori

Lori — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:40:35 +0000

Claim it, Jake! It's a good one. 🙂

By: Jake P

Jake P — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:28:28 +0000

Haha, no, I just made that up to be a smartaleck. But I may use it!

By: Lori

Lori — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:02:49 +0000

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.

By: Paula

Paula — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:53:24 +0000

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.

By: Jake P

Jake P — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:06:21 +0000

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.

By: Cathy Miller

Cathy Miller — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:13:02 +0000

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.

By: Damaria Senne

Damaria Senne — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:25:28 +0000

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.