July 2009

Day 31: Make Marketing A Habit

To be truly effective, marketing can’t be something that you do just once in a while — especially for a freelancer. Instead, marketing must be a habit, something that you make time for every day. It can be tough for freelance writers, because that means extra work beyond the writing that is actually paying the [...]

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Day 30: Compare Your Progress To Your Goals

What’s the point of marketing yourself if you aren’t moving forward towards your goals? As you market your skills, you’re hopefully reaching the ideal niche you want to work with. You’re picking up more projects, with higher pay rates and more interesting requirements. Even if you’re certain that you’re meeting those goals you set for [...]

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Day 29: Promote Your Work

You’ve got work out there, from articles you’ve written to finished brochures. Your blog and any other resources you’ve created for your niche also count. Promoting that work markets your skills along with it. As more people see your name attached to great writing projects, more people will have a chance to hire you. Even [...]

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Day 28: Prep A Side Project of Your Own

Most freelance writers put in a lot of time working for other people. Whether you’re writing up an article for a magazine or putting together promotional copy for a brochure, you’re generally working for a client. But by assigning yourself a few projects of your own, you can build both your reputation and your income. [...]

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Day 27: Connect With Other Writers

As freelance writers, we have an interesting position when it comes to competition. There are plenty of freelance writers out there — more everyday, as a matter of fact — but we aren’t really competing with each other the way some business owners must. Car salesmen have to compete as a matter of routine: most [...]

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Day 26: Create a Newsworthy Event

As a writer, you may have received press releases as businesses try to give you a reason to write about them. Some companies send out press releases about as fast as their marketing staff breathes, announcing new hires or new clients as if we really want to read or write about them. That isn’t to [...]

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Ask Me Anything, Edition 6

Mary Jo Campbell had a question about Google Alerts this week: I have a question. My blog is set on Google alerts and I’ve been getting frequent search alerts for the link to my blog (the whole url), however, someone else’s blog is coming up as the found link. My name or site is not [...]

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Day 25: Look at Marketing Materials Beyond Business Cards

Lately, many freelancers focus on marketing their services online, keeping only business cards in the way of printed marketing materials. While such an approach works with some niches, not all editors and other clients are ready to do all their business online. It’s important to explore other printed materials and how they can help you [...]

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Day 24: Build Your Expert Reputation

You’re an expert. You have a niche and you know it inside out. You go to conferences covering it. You blog about it. You’ve written resources about it. If a client needs a freelance writer who specializes in his industry, he should be talking to you. But do you have the reputation of an expert [...]

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Day 23: Advertise Your Services

Advertising freelance services in a way that won’t break the bank can be difficult. Plenty of freelancers avoid advertising entirely, assuming that the cost of advertising just isn’t worth the level of business it will create. In a lot of cases, that assumption is right. Taking out an ad in the local daily paper is [...]

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