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Niche Marketing Advice: How to Find Hundreds of Prospects to Contact for Freelance Writing Jobs in a Specific Niche

Written By Yuwanda, Site Editor

 Recently, I received the following question from a follower on Twitter:

@PenStar_words asked in a two-part tweet:

@InkwellEditor Hi Yuwanda. Is there a resource on your site that covers email marketing aimed at specific sectors?

@InkwellEditor For instance in my case that would be online galleries as opposed to generalised SEO companies.

I responded:

@PenStar_words Penny, sorry 4 the delay in answering ur Q “Is there a resource on my site that covers email mktng aimed at specific niches?”

@PenStar_words Not that I can think of. But think org’s when targeting niches, eg the Bar Association for Lawyers, the AMA for Doctors, etc.

She responded with a follow-up question, ie:

@InkwellEditor In terms of contacting orgs and asking to be added to their directories for example?

I responded:

@PenStar_words No; in terms of mining their databases 4 contacts. You may have to pay to get access, but lots of info can be found online.

Find a Niche Market: Where the Bulk of the Contacts are in Niche Markets

I wanted to expand upon this without the 140-character limitation of Twitter because it’s an excellent question about niche marketing, of which I’m a great advocate, as you know if you read this blog regularly.

One of the best ways to find contacts in niche markets is to look to industry organizations. Following are a few reasons why:

(i) You can find a lot of them all in one place;

(ii) You can build your niche marketing database quickly; and

(iii) It cuts down on your research time.

So, for example, if I wanted to target lawyers, one of the obvious places to start is the American Bar Association. All lawyers must belong to it, so it’s where you’re going to find them.

Many organizations like this have membership directories that lists all of their members. Now, getting access to these databases can be expensive.

Niche Marketing Strategy: 2 Ways to Gain Access to Membership Directories “for Free”

One way I’ve found to get around paying to access member contact information is to do a search for the organization’s name along with something like “proud member of. For example, continuing to use our example of attorneys, I did a Google search for the phrase “proud member of the American Bar Association.” Three hundred and fifty thousand (350,000) results were returned (see graphic just below).

Start clicking. You should be able to find at least a few hundred contacts using this method. And, while it can be time consuming, it’s worth the effort because you’re building your own in-house database.

The other method I use to find information without paying to access a membership’s database is to use social media.

How to Use Social Media in Your Niche Marketing Efforts

This is really simple. Once you find out what the main organizations are for a specific niche, find their social media accounts (eg, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.). A lot of their members will be followers.

Again, it will be time-consuming going through the, for example, Twitter streams of large organizations like the American Bar Association, but remember, this is a long-term investment in your freelance business.

FYI, at the time of this writing, the American Bar Association has over 7,000 followers on Twitter. You should have no problem mining a few hundred contacts from it.

How to Grow Your Niche Marketing Database So That Writing Jobs Will Continually Flow In

FYI, all contacts you find should be entered into some type of database so that you can contact them over and over again on a pre-determined schedule. Over time, if you consistently research and add contacts to your database, you may have a couple of thousand in it.

If you start marketing to them consistently, you will find that you’ll need to add fewer and fewer contacts because just staying in touch with those you have will keep you busy enough with writing work.

Word of Caution: No matter how busy you get, never stop adding fresh contacts to your database. When you first start out, you’ll spend a lot of time doing this. And, this is as it should be. Your database is the foundation of your freelance writing business, so never regret the time you invest in building it.

Over time, you’ll craft messages geared specifically for them, start asking for referrals and testimonials from them, offer them special deals and discounts, etc. In short, they’ll become your friends. So cultivate this list with care and never compromise it (eg, sell, spam, ignore).

Niche Marketing Advice for Freelance Writers: Conclusion

My sister tells me that I’m blessed with the mind of a marketer because I seem to come up with ways to market that others don’t think  of.

I don’t do anything other than think logically and systematically. Basically, I figure out who I want to target, then think of where they’re likely to be. After this, it’s just a matter of going to those places and digging up  info I want. The internet makes this super easy.

FYI, in How to Find Unpublished Freelance Writing Jobs, I discuss the 7 ways I’ve used to find freelance writing jobs that most don’t think of. And, all I did was apply the logic just above.

Hope this insight helps you with your niche marketing efforts.

Your Thoughts on Niche Marketing

Are you a fan of of this form of marketing? How do you find niche prospects to market to? Please share in the comments section below.

Yuwanda
Find this post informative? Please RT It and Follow Inkwell Editorial on Twitter.
Unsolicited Testimonial

Yuwanda,

I just purchased your ebook on 7 ways to market your freelance writing business. I’m only on page 19 – the second idea – and I must say that my writing business will never be the same again! (emphasis added) After reading only 2 of the 7 ideas you mention, I can’t believe I didn’t think of these before! Nobody mentions them in freelance writing discussions, and it’s no wonder that so many are hurting for clients. I am truly blown away!

Thank you for revolutionizing my business with this information.

P.S.: Want to start a successful career where you have the mobility to live and work where you please? Visit our freelance writing bookstore for a ton of opportunities (freelance writing and internet marketing) to get you started.

Posted on January 24, 2012 
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