Relationship Marketing | Words on the Page

4 Rookie Mistakes Freelance Writers Make

Posted on September 16, 2025March 10, 2026 by lwidmer

A writer friend and I were discussing LinkedIn yesterday. She runs a popular writing group there, and she was telling me some of the post requests and connection requests she’s had to reject. I get it. When I was first on LinkedIn, I saw immediately that it wasn’t like Facebook or Instagram. It was a…

Freelance Marketing 101: The Relationship

Posted on February 18, 2025March 10, 2026 by lwidmer

Freelancers and writers, did you have a chance to read through and try the strategies I mentioned in my last post? How are you finding it going? Ready for a little more? Continuing the Freelance Marketing 101 theme, I thought it was best to talk about this bit at the outset. That is, how to…

How I Boosted my Freelance Career (and how you can, too)

Posted on November 7, 2023March 10, 2026 by lwidmer

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the freelancer I was and the freelancer I am now. They are two different people, my friends. The old me was a hit-and-miss freelancer. I lost my job suddenly and had two kids to support. So my freelance career back then was pasted together. I’d take whatever gig…

Relationship Marketing: Your Freelance Secret Weapon

Posted on January 30, 2023March 26, 2025 by lwidmer

Quite a few years ago, one of my best friends I’ve never met said something eye-opening. “You’re not very good at marketing.” I stifled a laugh and held my tongue. The reason: She said this as she was retooling her business model to include something produced by me. And it was something I hadn’t asked…

1 Top Freelance Switch for Better Clients

Posted on May 6, 2022January 28, 2023 by lwidmer

I saw an article promoted last week on Twitter that was labeled “excellent” by the poster. It was writing-related, so of course I clicked. Should have saved my digits the energy. It turned out the article was the basic beginner freelancer stuff. Not that there’s a single thing wrong with helping freelancers get started. I…

4 Better Freelance Client Moves

Posted on May 4, 2022January 28, 2023 by lwidmer

“Find freelance work on Google.” “Write for greeting card companies.” “Easy way to find magazine gigs.” Know what all of these have in common? Well, besides being tweets I’ve seen recently. Every single one of these statements is a quick way to get work. But each is also a quick way to go down the…

What Every Freelancer Should Know About Relationship Marketing

Posted on March 30, 2020January 28, 2023 by lwidmer

Remember that saying “We’re going to hell in a hand basket.” Welcome to hell. Not so comfy in that basket, is it? The world is upside down and contorted in ways we never thought could happen. That includes the working world. Companies everywhere are seeing unprecedented losses thanks to statewide orders to shut down. I…

Chasing the Client Relationship

Posted on July 9, 2015January 28, 2023 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Roadrunner by The Modern Lovers Wow. Thursday, huh? Tuesday and Wednesday feel like a blur to me. I had a number of things going on at once and deadlines that are looming. Plus I knew that today and tomorrow would be truncated thanks to appointments and an annual lunch date with…

Cathy Miller

July 9, 2015

Such a simple concept, Lori, that we make so complex, huh? 😉 Like your analogy of the broker and your dad to writers, any business is about good relationships. It's that point that has frustrated the heck out of me about health care.

I have often asked, how many businesses that need a partner to deliver their product to their customers go out of their way to battle and undermine that partner? Yet that's what we have with health providers and insurance companies and other payers. They need each other to deliver care in order to be successful. Providers with a sufficient patient pool to keep their practice/health systems going. And insurers/payers to sell their health plans.

I love Invest in conversation, Lori. Spot on. 🙂

Lori Widmer

July 9, 2015

We do, Cathy! Maybe we think it's too much work?

The health care field could learn a lot from sales, couldn't they? I've seen it in the TPA world, which ironically is the one the insurers tend to trust and the one they shouldn't trust. The waste is sinful.

Glad you liked that — it's true. The more you build the bridge, the more you'll see traffic coming toward you, as you well know. 🙂

Ashley

July 9, 2015

Love this post, Lori. And you're exactly right about building relationships. It pays off, especially when there's a misunderstanding. Recently I mis-read an assignment from an editor I've been working with for a long time. I had to start again, almost from scratch, but the editor was understanding because we'd built a good working relationship over the past year or so. I'd already given him good work and had been receptive to past feedback, so it worked out fine, and I've already gotten more assignments from him. Had we not had a solid relationship already, it might have been the last time I worked with that editor.

Another situation happened more recently. I didn't completely miss the mark, but I had to do some pretty heavy edits, and this was for a brand new client. But I welcomed the feedback and make sure I focused on getting the job done right, not the hours I was putting into the work. The editor was pleased with the outcome. I think we'll work together again. And that's the ultimate goal, isn't it? Focus on the client's needs, and they will come back. Focus on myself, and the clients will find someone else. It's that simple.

Lori Widmer

July 10, 2015

That is exactly the goal, Ashley! Yes, mistakes happen. It's how we handle them that defines the relationship. You're fortunate, too. You have good editors who know how to behave like professionals.

I remember writing a series of articles, all due within two weeks, for two sister publications. So when I wrote one article slanted toward the wrong magazine, I had to fix it fast. I worked the weekend and got it done right. The editor was happy, and I felt I'd done the right thing. It's about their satisfaction, isn't it?