Every day, all over the world, editors and publishers and website owners are paying good money to people to write stuff for them.
Everything you see with words on it–from your cereal box to the label on your T-shirt–has probably been written by a writer.
So how do you get them to pick you? The answer is something that gives a lot of writers the heebie-jeebies.
You have to market yourself. That’s right, marketing! Now let’s dispel a few myths about marketing. Marketing is not evil. It’s not a dark art or occult practice. It’s not mind control. It’s not sleazy or unethical or cheesy or stupid. It’s done all the time, around the world, by all kinds of businesses.
The goal of marketing is to get them to “pick you.” So step 1 is making sure the right people even know you. You need to get your name and your business concept in front of the people who are buying what you want to sell. Want to write movie reviews? You should be making sure that people who need movie reviewers (local papers, websites, magazines) know about you and what you can do. If, like me, you market medical writing, you need to make sure that local hospitals and medical manufacturers have heard of you.
The second step in good marketing is that you have to craft an irresistable offer. You need to figure out what the client wants and offer it up on a silver platter with a rose on the side. Here are some tips:
- If you’re trying to promote yourself as a certain type of writer (financial writer, video game reviewer, advice columnist) deliver some clips that show you have already done what you’re trying to do now. It sounds counterintuitive, but it’s much easier for a stressed-out editor or publisher to hire somebody who has proven himself or herself than to hire a talented newcomer who has never done the work before.
- Okay, what if you are a newcomer who hasn’t done the work before? Never fear. You just go out and get some experience. Write some things sort of like what you want to sell now and either try to get them published (local paper, school newsletter, website or blog–even if you donate it) or do some things on spec. The absolutely most irresistable sample pieces are published by prestigious places. If you have a clip of how you wrote about cell phones and cancer for the New York Times, that’s a winner. Most of us manage with a lot less, but that’s the goal. At the other end of the spectrum, is a homemade column from your computer that has never been published. While one is clearly more powerful than the other, both work.
- Get some credentials, if possible. If you have a degree, even a college or learning center course on the topic, that’s great. If you’ve got other credentials (such as having taught a similar class or having been somewhere, etc.) use that, too. For instance, if you want to write about the war in Iraq and you’ve actually been there as a soldier–use that. That’s pretty irresistable. If you want to write about ADD in young girls and you’ve been a daycare worker, that’s strong, too.
- Throw around a few great ideas. Editors and publishers trade in ideas, so throw some great stuff at them. Give them two or three (five or six are better) titles or concepts that will really start them drooling. Don’t give them random ideas like an article on organic gardening and another on hedge funds and a third on the decline of opera in Italy. Writers are a dime a dozen, but experts are rare as rubies. Let’s say you want to write about money matters. Offer some ideas like: Six Proven Ways to Reduce Your Credit Card Debt (in 30 Minutes or Less); When Foreclosure Is Actually a Good Thing; People Making Money in the Stock Market Right Now Tell You What You Can Do to Turn a Profit in a Plunging Economy; The Housewife-Investor, How a Housebound Mother of Three Invests (and Profits) in the Stock Market. Wouldn’t you want to read those articles? You’d at least be curious. They have powerful hook. I know, I know. You’re probably saying, “I don’t know those people or those things.” The point is you need to find irresistable ideas and see if you can flesh them out. Maybe you can’t find a housewife-stock market maven, but do you know any unlikely investors? Maybe you don’t know how to reduce credit card debt in 30 minutes, but would you be willing to call around and see what you can find out? Maybe you’ll have to change your title to “in 30 days or less” but it’s still a compelling article. And maybe there are strategies that work instantly (I can think of two…)
- Send messages to the right people. It’s worth the extra pain to get on the phone and find out who the editor or webmaster or person in charge of hiring freelancers actually is. Call, write, or email that person. Most editors prefer email. Keep it very focused and tight but tell your story. Say who you are, what you want, and give them something to drool over … expertise, credentials, some killer ideas.
Marketing is a relentless thing. You may think if you market yourself once, you’re done. Actually you have to keep on doing it. However, if you have a bit of a relationship with a potential client, you don’t have to re-invent the wheel. You can follow up the initial marketing efforts with briefer and more powerful stuff.
- If you ever do anything (get published, write a book, start a website, open your writing business, etc.) write a press release and send it to the person.
- You can supplement press releases with short notes to personalize them (“Hey, my business is right down the street from your office” or “I hope you’ll visit this blog–I’d love to write a story about your company.”)
- Occasionally send out a reminder email. Don’t badger or say, “Have you reached a decision about that column yet?” Just say something like, “Can you believe it’s been three months since we last talked about that column! Just wanted to say hi and let you know an article of mine will be appearing XXX next week.”
- If it’s appropriate, you may want to announce work you’re doing. This doesn’t always work in fields where you may end up working for competitors or if editors are particularly sensitive. But sometimes it works. Remember, you’re trying to sell expertise. If you’re trying to get a job as a technical writer and some poetry of yours is being published … better don’t mention it. It will confuse the client.
- Holidays are great times to renew contacts. Cards, small gifts, or even email greetings are usually expected at certain times of year and it is a great time to make sure your potential clients have not forgotten you.
- Even better, add handwritten notes or personalized email messages to your clients to make them feel special. Don’t “sell” but try to encourage the relationship. Holidays are great times to ask about the family or make general comments about the business. (“Hi! Hope business treated you well last year and you’re looking forward to a great new year. I know I’ve got a few writing assignments lined up that I’m excited about.”)
- If you do a blog, it’s fine to once in a while email your contacts an announcement about a new blog post. Don’t do this too often and make sure it’s relevant. For instance, let’s say you have a blog as a writer but you mainly sell medical writing (hey, that’s me!). If I do a blog post here on a medical topic or a marketing topic very interesting to a medical manufacturer, I might email them a link to the blog. This works only on the right people and only if you don’t abuse it.
You have to keep after it. My average time span is about 6 months from initial hello to first assignment and that’s a lot of in-between messages. Some of my contacts never turn into customers … that’s life, too.
