Marketing Rule of Seven: Revisited

What’s on the iPod: Blue Eyes by Middle Brother

It’s been a slow start to the week. I’ve had plenty of time to focus on some marketing, and so far this week I’ve had more responses from potential clients than I had in all of February, what with those 51 LOIs. Pretty cool when their needs align with what you can offer.

I was reviving a few of my previous marketing processes, too. I like to do that now and again. If it’s worked in the past, it may work again. However, nothing is a guarantee other than change.

This process is simple. It’s one any freelance writer can implement this week without much thought or preparation. It’s something I learned when I had what I call a career diversion and went into real estate. In my training back then, I learned what I refer to as the Rule of Seven. It’s kind of simple:

Contact seven buyers and seven sellers every day.

Okay, it doesn’t map over identically to the writing world, but it’s just as useful to a writer as it was to me, a freshman real estate salesperson. So when I opened up shop, I decided to tweak it. Here’s what that Rule of Seven now looks like:

Contact seven buyers every day. Seven potential clients or even seven current clients or any mixture in between. It doesn’t have to be seven, but try it for a while before you decide. If you commit to getting in touch regularly, you’ll be more inclined to stick with it. Thanks to social media, you can reach out via LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. just as easily as you can send them an email.

Contact seven sellers every day. For me, these are partly a source for referrals. They’re “selling” you, right? They’re telling friends, colleagues, etc. about you. When I started this process, I included anyone who’d ever asked me to do a writing favor for them. I asked them to get in touch with at least one person that week that they could refer me to. Now I use this with regular clients. “Do you know anyone who might need some additional writing help?” They’re also going to contain people from the Buyers group. More on that in a second.

Contact seven of those seven every day. Here’s where it gets a little confusing, but only for a minute, I promise. If you spend this month getting in touch with seven new people every day (except weekends — let’s assume you have a life), you’ll have next month to get back in touch with them and ask if they’ve considered your note and if they need help with projects. That doesn’t mean you slack off your original seven per day, no no. These seven you might consider part of the “seller” crowd because they’re someone with whom you’re now acquainted, even if they never responded. You won’t ask them for referrals, but you will ask them if they’re interested in taking you on as a contractor.

You can opt for maybe five a day or even ten a day. It’s up to you. However, just make sure it’s enough to get your name in front of new people regularly, and not so much that it becomes a full-time job just following up.

How often do you market for either new or existing client work?
How many clients per week do you normally contact?