Mishaps in Marketing Your Writing (Part I)

Coming up with effective ways to market your freelance writing business can be a difficult, time-consuming chore. How many times have you heard writers complain that their efforts are just not generating any leads? This two-part series will discuss seven common traps to avoid when hunting for assignments and contracts.

Resisting the Reply Mechanism
"I sent a postcard because it's cheaper."

Have you sent out direct mail to potential business-to-business customers without a reply mechanism? Would you send a magazine query without a SASE? Without an easy way to reply, you may have decreased your chances of generating leads down to nil. According to Jane Amata, President of The EPIC Group and a specialist in integrated marketing, "A direct response mechanism is invaluable in quantifying the effectiveness of a particular promotion."

Being able to track the amount of responses as well as making it convenient for people interested in your services to contact you is the first step in effectively generating leads. Even if it costs a bit more to include something as simple as a reply card, the effort can be worth it. For example, one company recently sent out 250 postcards and received a .004% response, but a sales letter with a reply postcard generated a 5% response. In reality, the more effort a potential business-to-business customer has to expend to contact you, the less contact you will receive.

Being A Generalist, Not A Specialist
"I just sent my announcements to a bunch of different businesses."

In this day of specialization, it is essential to consider one or two industries to focus on or you will fall prey to another pitfall in marketing your writing: a lack of targeting or defining in what industry your potential customers work. By specializing, you have a better opportunity to build relationships that will yield profitable results over time. If you are a medical writer, sending ads to companies in the real estate business will probably not generate any leads. If on the other hand, you send your information to pharmaceutical companies, you have already increased the chances that someone will call you for more information or with an assignment. In order to learn more about clients that work in a particular field, Ms. Amata suggests contacting professional associations. "Industry associations can be a valuable resource in targeting prospective clients. Many associations will sell the list of their members." This is a terrific way to define what companies are working in your industry.

Go To Page: 1 2