Does it take you all day to write one prospecting email? Does writing a query letter to a magazine take you a week?
If doing written marketing triggers your perfection-itis gene and slows your marketing effort to crawl, know that there is a faster way.
You could contact scores of prospective clients, cut to the chase, and find out if they might use a freelance writer like you — all in a single day.
This marketing method I’m about to tell you about scares the heck out of a lot of writers. But I rarely meet a writer who’s devoted any serious time to it who hasn’t gotten at least one good client.
Strap yourself in, writers. Today, we talk cold calling.
Yes — cold calling involves having to introduce yourself to total strangers dozens of times a day, and explain that you’re a freelance writer.
But here’s the magic:
When you develop your own lead list of quality prospects and then proactively call the companies you’d love to write for, you are swimming in the right pool — the one with good-paying clients. As opposed to swimming in the wrong pool, like you do when you’re responding to Craigslist ads that a bazillion other writers are reading, too.
Effective cold calling relies on just a few basic points:
I went over resources for developing a prospect call list a few weeks back in this series, so you can review that if necessary. Remember to look at how big prospects are — bigger is better. Bigger means bigger marketing budgets, and a better shot at ongoing writing assignments for you. Whatever size clients you’ve got now, start targeting the next rung up the ladder.
Once you’ve committed to building a list, keep your eyes peeled anytime you’re reading your daily paper’s business section, watching TV news, or scanning local magazines. Everything you read is a potential source for finding great businesses you might pitch.
My tip is to concentrate on a particular industry or two in developing your list, and on your city or region for starters. Otherwise, you’re likely to be overwhelmed thinking about all the possible clients you could call. Try those, and if nothing pans out, then move on to another industry or region.
Once you have your list, you need to identify the right person at that company to talk to — depending on the situation, usually a publications editor, online/social media manager, or marketing manager. How can you get these names?
The thrill of cold calling is you’re not spending hours researching each prospect. Once you’ve identified your people, you want to go right ahead and call. Peter Bowerman goes into tons more detail on this in his Well-Fed Writer book, but to sum up, say something along the lines of:
That’s about it! If you happen to have noticed something interesting about their current marketing effort, you can mention it inbetween lines 1 and 2 there.
If they say, “Actually, we do use freelance writers,” that’s your chance to chat them up and find out what sort of needs they have. What projects might be coming up? If you have relevant experience, talk it up.
If the prospect expresses at least some mild interest, you need to end your call with an action item they should do next — something that will keep this budding relationship alive.
My pal Linda Formichelli likes to close with, “May I send you my clips?” This is a low-commitment, non-scary question that prospects can easily say “yes” to without committing to much.
The more you say to people, “I’m a freelance writer,” the more you will get your head around the idea that you really are. It’s a bit mystical, but the more you say that out loud, the more you will believe it, and the more you will take your freelancing seriously.
–Carol
Homework: Even if you think cold calling isn’t for you, I challenge you to try it. Make a tiny list, even five or ten names, and give them a ring.
P.S. Next time on Marketing 101: Real social-media marketing that works.
