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One Marketing Strategy That Can Boost Your Writing Income

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What I’m listening to: Harvest Moon by Neil Young I was off most of last week (not totally unexpectedly), and fortunately, the work that came in could be moved to this week. My cousin was in town, and I was entertaining her until somewhere around 8-9 pm every day. I had some work that couldn’t…

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9 Incoming-boosting Strategies for Freelance Writers

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What I’m listening to: Hands in the Air by Timbaland What a weekend. I’m nearly over whatever virus it was that whipped me all last week. Reluctantly, I agreed to go to the Tartan Day Parade in Manhattan on Saturday. It was a wet, cold day that I’d prepared for, but my hands were frozen…

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Free Advice Friday: What Your Editor Wants

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What I’m listening to: Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand There go my plans. Today I was supposed to be meeting Ms. Sharon Hurley Hall, who is the brains behind Get Paid to Write Online and one of my dear online friends. Howe ver, client work came up unexpectedly. So here I sit, working. Hopefully, she…

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5 Ways to Prepare for Sickness

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What I’m listening to: Thirteen by Big Star This week, I’m the guest over on Jenn Mattern’s All Indie Writers podcast. This time around, we talk about media outlets not paying writers, among other things. Give it a listen! I’ve spent the last few days recovering from some gawd-awful virus that hit — naturally —…

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7 Ways to Kill a Freelance Writing Career

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What I’m listening to: Christine’s Tune by The Flying Burrito Brothers I finished last week in an unusual position — I had no projects to work on. Given the huge amount of work I had to get done in March, I was actually happy about that. I had time to work on a website migration,…

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Monthly Assessment: March 2016

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What I’m listening to: Interstate Love Song by Stone Temple Pilots After a month of nonstop work, it’s a bit hard to come to an abrupt halt. I finished every project in the queue and had time to breathe. I’m sure it won’t last long — I have revisions due back next week and two…

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11 Fun, Free Things Writers Can Use Now

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What I’m reading: The Son by Jo Nesbø What I’m listening to: Love Test by The Growlers There’s nothing like starting the week with three things that have to be done on Monday. Yet there it was — my Monday in a nutshell. I was fortunate in that there were a lot of projects last…

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Are You Confusing Your Freelance Writing Clients?

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What I’m listening to: Lola by The Kinks Man, it felt good to get through that unexpected pile of work on Wednesday. I finished the most pressing deadline just after lunch. I wanted to keep going as I have this one project due next week, but I was spent. So I treated myself to a…

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The Thin Line Between Free and Professional

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What I’m listening to: No News by Lonestar What a week. I’ve chipped away at the latest workload, and I’m now down to two projects from the seven I’d started the week with. One is due today, the other on Monday. I’m in a good place with both, so I’m able to breathe a little…

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The 5-Minute Move That Wins Over Clients

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What I’m listening to: Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show Thanks to everyone who commented on last week’s thread. I used Random.org’s list randomizer, plugged in the names of those commenting in the order in which they commented, and chose the first name returned. The winner of the Amazon gift card is… Joy Drohan! Congratulations,…

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8 responses to “The 5-Minute Move That Wins Over Clients”

  1. Paula Hendrickson Avatar
    Paula Hendrickson
    March 21, 2016

    Step number two raised a pet peeve of mine: when press releases don't include contact information. It's astounding how often that happens. (When it does happen, Google the company name and "publicity" and the odds are pretty high that you'll find a publicist's name. But then you need to make sure they're still at the company.)

    I really love step three, since approaching them in the appropriate tone is so important. I've read past articles to get a feel for magazines' particular tones, but hadn't thought of it for other types of clients. Great tip!

  2. Anne Wayman Avatar
    Anne Wayman
    March 21, 2016

    What Paula said, and the same thing can be true for websites…sigh

    Lori, if you're working weekends raise your rates!

  3. Lori Widmer Avatar
    Lori Widmer
    March 21, 2016

    That's my peeve too, Paula. I HATE those damn "Contact Us" forms with no names attached!

    And thanks for your advice on how to find them. Another good method of locating them! And I sometimes find them via the conference exhibitor lists if they exhibit at shows.

    Anne, AMEN. I agree. Or I need to say no more often. 🙂

  4. Cathy Miller Avatar
    Cathy Miller
    March 21, 2016

    Great tips, Lori! I find I use some of the same tricks…er…tips. 😉 In addition to the About page/website, press releases and papers/articles they've written, I'll look up the company on LinkedIn. Most are there and depending how much they use LinkedIn, you can find out a lot – Pulse articles, information they share/like, LI updates.

  5. Eileen Avatar
    Eileen
    March 21, 2016

    When you take the time to do the steps you outlined, Lori, you're also likely to be able to tell if you and the client are a good fit. At the very least, you'll be more likely to tell if you'd be a bad fit, and that way you won't waste your time prospecting them.

  6. Lori Widmer Avatar
    Lori Widmer
    March 21, 2016

    You sure can, Cathy! It's amazing how much these companies share on social media.

    Eileen, excellent point. There have been a few companies I've decided against contacting as a result.

  7. Devon Ellington Avatar
    Devon Ellington
    March 23, 2016

    Yes, I do as much research as possible on a company before I contact them, be it in answer to a listing or an LOI.

    I'm also careful not to criticize what they're doing — I can't stand it when I get email from total strangers with bullet points of what's wrong with my site and how I should pay them to fix it — especially when they refer to things that aren't even on the site! I'm careful how I phrase it.

    I've also researched and then decided it wasn't a company with whom I wanted to work, so I crossed it off my list and moved on, without the contact.

    When someone contacts me out of the blue, I try to do as much independent research as possible to see if they've accurately communicated what they're after.

  8. Weekly translation favorites (Mar 25-Apr 7)
    March 12, 2017

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