I’ve imparted a boatload of marketing ideas in this marketing-basics series.
But there may still be a problem.
Have you started implementing some of these marketing strategies yet?
Only a little? Maybe…not so much?
Mm-hmm. I thought so.
To be a successful freelance marketer, you’ll need to take a few important final steps. These will get you over the hump and started doing your marketing.
When you think about everything you’d like to get done in your freelance writing business this year, it could make your head explode.
So I don’t advocate looking at that long of a timeframe. At least not at first.
For now, decide which of these marketing strategies appeal to you most, and are the best fit for the types of markets you plan to target.
Take a look in the mirror and think about what form of marketing sounds intriguing to you. Maybe even sounds fun. That’s what you should try first.
Choose perhaps two or three methods you will use. Maybe you’ll do in-person networking and send query letters. Or you’ll work on your writer website, find local designers to partner with, and reach out to past editors on LinkedIn.
Whatever feels doable to you and easiest.
Then, write down your realistic goals of what you can get accomplished in marketing in the next 30 days.
Your marketing plan might be three sentences, or it might be pages long. Totally depends on how you like to do these things.
That’s all. If you want to learn more about creating your plan, you can check out my e-book Freelance Business Bootcamp. Got templates and everything.
Now that we have a plan, the question is — what will make you actually do it?
In my experience, the biggest problem freelance writers face is that there is no boss standing over us saying, “OK Carol, make sure those five query letters get out by the end of the week, or else.”
So we don’t do it.
The answer here is to find a way to create accountability. To find someone who could stand in for that boss and make you feel like, “Hey, this is expected of me. People will be disappointed if I don’t get it done.”
In other words, someone who will help you develop a sense of massive guilt if you are not marketing your writing business.
Three great ways to do this:
At the end of month one, take a look at what you got done.
What felt easy? What was agony?
It will be a little early to look at actual results. Allow several months before you do that.
For now, just get a sense of whether you are getting marketing done, and how you feel about different types of marketing.
As you write your next month’s marketing plan, maybe adjust a bit to go in the direction that feels right in your gut.
Once you’re 3-6 months into marketing, it’s time to look back and reflect.
Did you get new clients? If so, were they great payers and the types of writing you really want? Which marketing efforts brought you the most clients? The best clients?
I recommend you at least analyze your marketing success annually. Doing his has saved me a boatload of time on marketing initiatives that weren’t getting me quality clients.
If you go a few months and you’re not getting any results with your marketing, there may be things you could do to improve your marketing pitch.
You might learn more about how to come up with marketable story ideas, or how to write a stronger query letter or letter of introduction.
You might work on your in-person networking pitch.
But whatever you do, don’t beat your head against the wall. If something’s not working, either figure out why and get better at how you’re doing marketing, or try another method.
It can be slow going at first.
Make a promise to yourself that you won’t get discouraged.
Remember that the single best, most empowering, and potentially career-changing thing you can do to take your writing career to the next level is to simply put one foot in front of the other, and keep marketing your business.
If this series helped you, I’d love to hear your success story. I turn some of those into guest posts that I pay $50 for, so if you’ve used these tips, just reply to this email and let me know about it.
Best of luck with your writing —
P.S. Need more resources for learning about freelance writing? Besides Freelance Writers Den (which has a new program for mid-career freelancers, Den 2X Income Accelerator), be sure to check out the courses I co-teach with The Renegade Writer’s Linda Formichelli — they’re over at Useful Writing Courses. Our classes include Escape the Content Mills, 4 Week Journalism School, Freelance Writer’s Pitch Clinic, and Article Writing Masterclass.