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Today, I only want to talk about one tiny thing. It’s usually less than three inches long.

But it can have an outsized impact on your freelance writing income.

Have you guessed? I’m talking business cards here, people.

That’s right, the marketing tool that’s older than dirt.

There’s a reason business cards are still around. It’s because they’re useful.

Even if you have no plans to do in-person networking, I want you to get some. (There’s really no excuse since you can get free ones from places like VistaPrint.)

Why do you need business cards in today’s digital world?

Because you never know.

You never know when a casual conversation at your kid’s school will turn up the news that Joey’s dad heads marketing at a medium-sized company in an industry you know.

And then you start fumbling around and scribbling your number down on a napkin? That’s not very pro. And that scribble will be easily lost or mislaid.

And then you open your purse and take out a business card and hand it to his wife? Now you’re talking.

Next, Joey gets that card and sticks it on his desk, where it hangs around for a few months until he suddenly realizes he’s swamped.

He needs a freelance writer. And he doesn’t really have time to look through 300 resumes off a Craigslist ad.

Then he says, “Didn’t I get a card from a writer recently?” He looks around his desk, and there you are.

Most businesspeople keep cardfiles of business cards, so the card allows your info to hang around their office until a prospect is ready to use you.

How to make your business card better

Here’s the thing about most business cards: They’re boring.

When you’re a freelance writer, you can’t let that happen to your business card. That little square of paper is an opportunity to show you are a word stylist.

Mine shows my title as “CEO and Janitor,” which almost never fails to get a reaction.

Linda Formichelli’s says “My clients think I’m swell.”

You want something on there that starts a conversation, and gives a sense of your personality. Otherwise, you haven’t made the sale that you’re a creative writer.

You can also use that often-blank other side of the business card to make your card one that’s never thrown away.

How? Put an offer on it — 15% off your first project, or a free half-hour consult. Whatever makes sense for your business.

Now that card is never hitting the trash — that’d be like throwing away money.

21st Century business cards

Beyond the writing, what can you do to make your business card special?

I use one of the most obvious ways — instead of paper cards, make business-card magnets. Those get tossed onto the front of the filing cabinet and then stay there forever.

The minute you hand it over, people feel the weight and start looking it over. You’ve made an impression.

Magnets cost more than business cards, so I’m saying, “I take this seriously. And I’m not cheap.”

Also, when’s the last time you threw out a refrigerator magnet? They’re so useful!

If you’re really slick, you could put a QR code on your business card that leads savvy recipients to more information about you — maybe a special offer page on your writer website, or a free report they can read.

You can also give your business card social-media style with new formats such as Meet-meme, a baseball trading-card style business card that can include lots of your social media stats…and a QR code, too.

There are loads of eye-catching new twists on the business card you could try. For inspiration, here’s a great post that’s got 21 different examples of ways to use QR codes on business cards.

Whatever strikes your fancy in business-card style, get business cards. They’re as much for you as they are for prospects.

When you hold those little rectangles in your hand, you can’t deny it — you’re a freelance writer. You have a business. You’re looking for clients.

Now, you’re ready to go out and promote it.

Do you have a business card? If so, share what makes your card stand out.

Next up on Marketing 101: How to get a steady flow of new-client nibbles without a lot of work. Click here to see the first episode of Marketing 101…it’s an important one. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss upcoming installments of this 21-week marketing series.

Business card photo: contracox on stock.xchng

by Reesy Floyd-Thompson

Writers are often taught the first rule of writing is, “Write what you know,” and the second rule is, “Specialize.” But what if what you know represents the worst of society, or inspires strong not-so-nice opinions?

What if what you know has been the source of a lot of pain and shame, or your specialty is just plain unpopular?

Hold on to your keyboards folks, my drama is a doozy.

My husband is incarcerated.

More to the point, I’m married to a murderer.

If you have read this far, breathe. The worst is over.

Having this reality does not make me one of the cool kids, but living this reality provides the setting for lots of interesting stories.

How do I take what I know and turn it into something the average person might care about? When I write about my life, I write with C.A.R.E.

Try these four techniques to make your personal drama more relatable:

1. Write Commonalities. We are constantly bombarded with messages on how we are not the same. But sameness helps us relate to each other.

Write the synonyms of humanity by focusing on universal themes of love, marriage, commitment, happiness, pain, and forgiveness. In my writing, I draw parallels with long-distance relationships or long deployments. Tap into those things people understand and the part they don’t understand becomes less relevant.

2. Write Authentically. I love true crime stories and this one is no exception. I’m honest about all aspects of this life, from the good (yes, there is some) to the absolute horrific.  By showing I’m a “real” person, it helps minimize fear and misconceptions.

Authenticity is twofold. Be genuine in telling your story but allow the audience to be genuine in their response, which may include harsh criticism. Relatable doesn’t mean writing to make people like you. It simply means telling your story in such a way it strikes a chord with your audience, even if that chord is anger.

3. Roast Yourself. When you read my big reveal, it probably conjured up the image of women feverishly hanging on at the prison gates for the next notorious serial killer. Let me assure you, I’m not that girl.

However, I’m an African-American woman with a man in prison–a walking, talking cliché. I wasn’t voted most likely to have a man in prison, yet here I sit with this reality. I don’t take myself too seriously and neither should you. Humor is the best way to crack the veneer of “We have nothing in common” and get to the core of kindness.

4. Expand Your Message. The ups and downs of having an incarcerated spouse have all the elements of an epic love story (take it from me), but focusing squarely on this angle is not the way to reach a broader audience. Crime affects all of us in one way or another, from increasing property values to diminishing neighborhoods and schools, which affects education.

And what about convictions of the truly innocent? Are we all at risk? Open your message. Use research and hard statistics to expand and emphasize your point.

We all have unique personal drama. By using a little C.A.R.E., freelance writers can specialize in the art of making their story relevant, no matter how unrelatable it may seem.

What personal drama would you like to write about? Leave a comment and share your story.

Reesy Floyd-Thompson lives a double life. She is a freelance writer and marketing consultant who specializes in public relations writing at ReesyFloyd-Thompson.com. Reesy is also the founder of Prisoners’ Wives, Girlfriends, & Partners (PWGP). She blogs and writes a monthly column about life with an incarcerated husband.

Is life with your writing clients a few sandwiches short of a picnic?

Maybe your client insists you attend their staff meetings without pay. Or they pay 90 days after checks are due, only after you nag them a half-dozen times.

Then there’s the screamer. The company that has your work gang-edited by an eight-person team. The magazine editor who sends back your work covered in red ink. The solopreneur who wants to instant-message you at all hours, seven days a week.

And, of course, the one who pays you one-tenth what you should be getting paid.

Whatever the particulars, it adds up to one thing: Your client is a Pain In The Ass.

It can be sort of fun to complain about your PITA clients. “Can you believe they did this?” you moan to your writer friends.

But even more fun is resolving your PITA problems and having only pleasant, productive, positive relationships with your clients.

Here are my five tips for keeping your client list PITA-free:

1. Make initial contracts short. I like a 60-90 day initial contract. This gives you a natural opportunity to redefine your working relationship after a short period of time. Once you find out your client is desperately needy or really wants 750-word blog posts, not 250, this is your chance to raise your rates — or to bow out and move on.
2. Clearly define boundaries. Without exception, PITA clients are boundary-pushers. Whatever they should reasonably expect from you, they want more. So make sure you spell out exactly what you are doing for the money. You want to know when things are due, how soon they pay, the length of your piece, how many interviews they expect, when you’ll need to be available for calls or meetings…the works.
3. Ignore them. Often, PITAs want loads of your time. Simply be unavailable, at least sometimes. You don’t have to answer that email, phone call, or instant message right away. You want to communicate to them that you are busy and they are not your only client (even if they are). Make it clear you are not going to be their 24/7 on-call staff writer at freelance rates…or you’ll find that’s exactly what you’ve become.
4. Charge them more. It’s amazing what doubling your rate can do for your feelings that a client is a PITA. Suddenly, their annoying foibles don’t seem as oppressive. Whenever you feel frustrated, you can always take a look at your bank balance to remind you why you put up with them.
5. Say goodbye. In the end, you’ve got to weigh all the factors: How bad do you need the income from this client? How stressed out are you by them? If you asked for a raise and they’re not going for it, and you feel like you’re gonna puke every time you have to talk to them, it’s probably time to give notice that you’ll be moving on. The bonus? Often, as soon as you do, a better client comes along. You’ve just made room in your life for something better, so it has a chance to appear.

No matter what strategy you use to rein in your PITA, remember the most important rule: Stay professional.

Yes, I know they throw tantrums and talk nasty. But don’t you do it. Leave all your doors open and bridges unburned — never know when you might want to use them again.

Have you had a PITA client? Leave a comment and tell us how you dealt with it.

Anyone who has spent a week looking at the writing jobs posted on Craigslist knows online job ads are not a great source of top-paying clients.

The best clients, you find doing your own proactive marketing.

However…there are a few creative ways you can use job ads to find good gigs.

The key is to not let online job ads take up too much of your marketing time. You need to scan the ads quickly and move on to more effective marketing methods (namely, just about anything else).

I went through more than a year solid where I was scanning the job ads nearly every day. After a while, I got it down to a system and didn’t spend more than about 15 minutes a day on it.

How did I do it? Here are my seven tips for how to quickly find good leads in the job ads:

1. Look at the ads for full-time jobs. Yes, you’re not really looking for a full-time job. But when a company is advertising for a full-time person, my experience in 12 years of staff-writing jobs says that means the publication or company is now freelancing out that staffer’s workload to avoid overloading the remaining staffers.

Concentrate your attention on the companies that are a perfect fit — you know their industry or read their publication.

Maybe they need someone to fill in until they complete their job search? Maybe they also use freelancers regularly, as well as in-house writers? You won’t know unless you ask.

The full-time job ad simply provides me with a good contact. So if it’s a company or publication that fits my expertise, I go ahead and apply. I say, “Hi there, not looking for full-time, I’m actually a happy freelancer. But I have the skills you need (I usually throw in a few relevant samples here). Do you use freelancers?”

I’ve scored several great new editor connections this way over the years, including two in the past year or so that paid $1 a word. It’s a great way to get your name in front of people that use writers, at a time when they may well need help.

2. Be picky. As I hinted above, you don’t want to apply to a lot of online job ads, as most will be a waste of your time. So skip everything that asks for free samples, or says you can write about any topic you like, or that they have unlimited assignments. These are never good gigs. Be very wary of blind ads, where the company isn’t identified. You’re looking for the ad that seems like it was made for you — it mentions the exact expertise you have, and the company checks out as a real, decent-sized, going concern. That’s the one you want to take the time to apply for.

3. Look at site-specific job ads out of your area. I’m selective here — if it says anything like “meet with us weekly at our Akron offices,” I move on. On the other hand, if the ad title mentions a city, but the ad text doesn’t describe anything that needs to be done in person, and it mentions my expertise, I go ahead and apply if the company seems legit.

Just ask right up top if they’d consider someone working remotely. Play up your expertise both in their field, and your expertise in working remotely.

4. Watch for paid listings. Companies that place paid ads are usually established, legitimate organizations. Specialized job boards and organizations’ job listings are often paid situations. These companies are telling you something when they take out that paid ad — they want to post in more exclusive places as they don’t have time to wade through 300 resumes.

To me, a paid listing qualifies that client right away as a good lead.

5. Use social media. If you’re not looking at the jobs on LinkedIn, I highly recommend it — many of the listings are exclusive to the site. And LinkedIn listings are paid listings, which as we’ve just discussed is highly desirable.

LI is a great place to find full-time job ads you can piggyback on with your freelance request, as per #1. You can also try to use your connections to get a referral attached to your application, which I’m told greatly increases your odds of getting the contact’s attention in the pile of resumes they are likely receiving.

Twitter is also a growing place for freelance gigs. Not only can you tweet about the work you’re looking for, but you can use Twitter’s search feature to troll for jobs. Some of the sites mentioned above are on Twitter tweeting about listings, so you could get a jump on the masses this way.

There are an increasing number of job-focused tweeters, too — I’ve checked out  @WritersDigest, @FSsJobs (that’s Freelance Switch), @tweetajob, and many others.

Even Facebook is getting into the act lately — I’ve been spotting some interesting-looking listings going up from Facebook4Freelancers, which has a lot of writer listings.

6. Look for niche job boards. Get off Craigslist and find more exclusive job boards. These usually focus on one niche area. For instance, as a business-finance writer I’ve had good luck with Gorkana Alerts (they’ve got alerts for healthcare and media, too). You’ll have to do some sleuthing to find where your best ads hang out, but it can be well worth it if you find a good board. I got one of my biggest, long-term blogging gigs through my niche board.

7. Try the Junk-Free Job Board. Inside Freelance Writers Den, we’ve developed a job board that scans dozens of the mass job-ad places, screens out all the junk, and then only presents better offers (thanks to some tech help from Ty). Some weeks there’s hardly anything on it — a testament to how few good jobs can really be found online. But the few listings we have tend to be quality, and all are a cut above the usual $5-$10 article offers. You save a ton of time by not having to wade through the junk, and quite a few Denizens have already gotten good gigs from them. The bonus: I pass on a lot of freelance offers I get these days, and when I do, I often add that lead to the job board, too.

In this market, it pays to get creative when you’re looking for clients. If you’re not able to go out and do in-person networking, a discerning scan of the job ads can help you turn up good clients without leaving home.

How have you found good clients through online ads? Leave a comment and let us know.

See the previous installments of Marketing 101 for Freelance Writers starting here. Next up: how to make a classic marketing tool super-useful. Subscribe and you won’t miss any of this 21-part marketing series