Which Marketing Methods Bring in the Most Freelance Writing Jobs?
March 9, 2010
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FYI, you can subscribe from any page of the site — see subscription box to the right. Now, on to today’s post …
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There are so many ways to market your freelance writing business that it can be hard to decide which method will bring in the most freelance writing jobs. I started thinking about this when I received the following question from a freelance writer who bought the SEO writing ebook. She wrote:
Yuwanda, I have your book on SEO writing and I’m planning on building a website to market my services. I do have a squidoo lens with some samples and my rates. Do you think a squidoo lens is good to use for marketing?
I answered:
S-:
First, thank you for your purchase.
Regarding your question, IMO, you should use a separate, standalone website to market your SEO writing business.
With that being said, everyone has their own way of marketing. For example I have a Squidoo lens, but never use it. So experiment and do what works for you.
Good luck!
I wanted to go into a little more detail here by revealing the methods I use – and why.
Guidelines for Marketing Your Freelance Writing Business
I
have three rules I follow when it comes to marketing. It doesn’t matter what I’m promoting, I always adhere to the following:
1. I must be able to afford it: The reason I follow this rule is that prospects have to see your message a bunch of times for it to be effective.
I read somewhere years ago that a prospect has to see your message between 7 and 28 times before they will purchase.
According to a 2005 article in USA Today, Consumers today encounter from 3,500 to 5,000 marketing messages per day, vs. 500 to 2,000 in the 1970s, says J. Walker Smith, president of consumer and marketing watcher Yankelovich.
As you can see, prospects probably have to see your message many more times for it to be effective because there are so many more ways that advertisers reach us, eg, social media, blogs, podcasts, DMs, etc. And, this is in addition to old-school marketing outlets like newspapers, TV and radio.
This is why I invest in marketing methods I can afford to repeat because it’s rare that consumers will purchase from you the first time they see your ad.
2. I must be able to make time to do it: Some marketing methods can be effective, but if they are time consuming and you don’t do them on a regular basis, then it doesn’t mean a hill of beans.
My primary methods for marketing are:
E-newsletters: Eg, what you’re reading right now. I send out two of these a week; one for InkwellEditorial.com (usually on Tuesday) and one for SeoWritingJobs.com (usually on Wednesday).
Email Blasts: I use this when I’m prospecting for freelance writing gigs. I rarely do this anymore, as I stay pretty busy with existing clients.
Note: I’ve been freelancing since 1993 and have built up a pretty good list of steady clients. Also, I have multiple streams of income (ie, ebooks, affiliate marketing and e-seminars in addition to regular writing gigs). I say all this to say, if you’re a freelance writer and you don’t have any of these, it’s imperative that you continue to market even when you’re busy.
If you don’t, you’ll find that the inevitable dry spells will be longer. If you do, they’ll be shorter and you’ll build up a steady roster of clients quicker.
Article Marketing: This is my favorite method of marketing. I have to admit, I don’t particularly enjoy sitting down to write articles to submit to free directories like EzineArticles, but it’s so effective that I make myself do it.
In next week’s post, I’ll go into detail about how I go about my article marketing.
3. It must produce quantifiable results: I’m not very good at tracking my marketing methods. BUT, I do enough research to know what’s working and what’s not. If I took the time to dig more into the details of my marketing efforts, I know I could do better, but I just don’t have time.
So I guess my message here is to dig deep enough to at least know if a method you’re using is paying off.
How You Market Your Freelance Writing Business Is Up to You
There are tons of other ways to market your freelance writing business (pay per click, Squidoo, blogging, etc.). I’ve outlined the guidelines I use that work for me. Yours may be different. So if you’re comfortable with Squidoo, for example, then that might work better for you than say, article marketing.
The point is to market – consistently. If you do this and pay attention to what’s working and what’s not, you’ll be well on your way to building a successful freelance writing business.
SEO Writing Ecourse News
FYI, the next SEO writing ecourse commences on April 26th. As of today, there are 13 slots remaining. You’ll learn four ways to make money online using your newly acquired skills that will give you financial security. Get full details on the SEO copywriting training this ecourse offers.
Best,
Yuwanda
P.S.: Find this post informative? Follow Inkwell Editorial on Twitter.
P.P.S.: Want an easy, fast way to get started in affiliate marketing, making as much as $50, $100 or $150/day? Get How to Make Money Placing Ads on Free Classified Ad Sites (ie, Backpage.com). If you want to make some easy money promoting affiliate products on free classified ad sites, this ebook is for you. I’ve personally sold tens of thousands of dollars of e-products (my own and affiliate products) doing this since January 2009.
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