You were so excited when you first met.

A prospective new freelance writing client!

The romance was on.

You got all dressed up, headed into town, and met up.

You were hoping it would be a brief get-acquainted thing and quickly lead to a serious commitment to hire you for some nice, steady writing work at an appealing rate.

Instead, the meeting took 90 minutes, during which they told you the entire history of their lives and their business…but couldn’t quite get around to defining their writing project.

It ends only with the vague idea that you should set another meeting to talk further.

After the next marathon meeting, it starts to dawn on you: You’re being used as a free consultant.

This client doesn’t know what they want written. They may not have much money, either.

They can’t commit.

And now you’ve invested hours in this client.

You’ve fallen for their hard-luck story. The owner is battling cancer! The business does such wonderful work and helps people!

You try to break it off, but it’s not easy.

You’ve fallen in love. You want this client! You’re hot for them.

In your head, you’re already in bed with them.

But the story on what they want written keeps changing. They drop hints that they have “budget restrictions.” They cancel phone calls at the last minute. You start to wonder if they’re talking to other writers, too.

Warning bells are clanging. But you don’t listen.

You’ve spent so much time with this client, you’ve just got to land them. Otherwise, you’ll feel like a sucker for wasting so much time.

The only way to justify the dates you’ve already gone on with them is to consummate the relationship.

Finally, the big day arrives. They tell you what they want you to write.

The um, size of their thing turns out to be disappointingly small. So is the price.

This isn’t the relationship you were dreaming of at all.

Still, you say yes.

Why? In your mind, they’ve already become your client.

What happened here?

You’ve let a sleazebag prospect get you pregnant with their project.

You bought their sob story. You tolerated their dysfunction, instead of cutting them off.

You let them suck up your time.

And now you’re stuck nursing the squalling, cranky baby that is their misbegotten, underpriced project through to its sorry conclusion.

How to avoid getting knocked up

This sad tale of business romance gone wrong is one I hear all too often.

Writers get sucked in by loser clients and end up making peanuts.

Here’s what you gotta know about freelance writing clients: There are a lot of users out there. If you don’t set boundaries for the relationship, they’ll walk all over you. Then, they’ll leave you broke and alone.

How can you avoid unwanted client pregnancy? Here are my tips:

• Observe the 30-minute rule. I try not to let any initial meeting go longer than a half-hour before we move the conversation to defining the project and discussing rates. More than that, and I consider myself to be doing pro bono consulting work for them.
• Ask them to define their project. Gently but firmly, bring the conversation around to what exactly they want done. Yes, you should interrupt them if necessary. A blowhard prospect can pontificate about themselves for hours otherwise.
• Ballpark rates ASAP. As fast as they tell you what their project is, ask them their budget. If they won’t spill, give them a quick ballpark figure. “So, it sounds like 10 pages of Web content about your microbiology lab that needs interviews with your team and a few outside experts. Sounds like about $2000 or so of work. That about right?” If they were thinking $100 for the whole thing, you want to find that out fast, so you can ditch this loser before you get attached.
• Offer to consult. If they don’t know what they want, tell them you are happy to help them conceptualize about what they need written at $100 an hour from here forward. You’ll be amazed how quickly this news concentrates the minds of most business owners and enables them to figure out what they want.

Have you gotten in bed with sleazebag clients? Leave a comment and tell us your story.

In last week’s installment of Marketing 101, we learned that the most effective way to do nearly any form of marketing is to get a personal introduction to the editor or marketing manager you want to hire you.

Do you know the best way to get more of those personal connections? You need to get out and meet people. Ideally, in person.

Before you start up, I know — you’re shy. You hate parties.

Think of it this way:  You’re going to earn more money just by standing around shooting the breeze with people. Just like those people there on the right, in the picture. There will often be drinks and snacks involved.

That doesn’t look like agony, now does it?

You can do this. And you really want to, because people who do in-person networking, are usually the ones who earn more. It’s just that simple.

Why? The connections you make when you meet people face-to-face are way deeper than those of those Twitter followers you’ve got. Those personal connections will open doors for you and grease those marketing wheels for you, making everything happen easier and faster.

Need a crash course in how to network? Here are the basics:

5 Rules for Networking Success

1. Know what you’re looking for. Be ready to answer questions about who your ideal client is. People will want to help you, but they can’t if they don’t know what sort of referrals you want.
2. Have a “me” speech. You should have a short, 90-second speech ready that describes the type of writing you do and are looking for. Practice saying it with a friend until it feels conversational and comfortable.
3. Ask about them. Writers say they hate networking because they don’t like talking about themselves. But really, you don’t have to say much. Everyone else would love to tell you all about what they do. Ask about their ideal client and how you could help.
4. Have fun. Smile!  You’re out of your cave and out in the big city having a drink. Project confidence, faking it if necessary. Nobody wants to stay in touch with people who sound desperate and broke.
5. Follow up. The real networking begins after you go home from the event. You’ve met people — now it’s time to take that stack of business cards and cement those relationships. Connect in social media to stay in touch, send them relevant articles, send them job leads. Meet interesting people for coffee. Keep the conversation going.

Hopefully, I’ve sold you that in-person networking will not kill you, is actually fun when done right, and should be an important part of your marketing effort to grow your writing income.

Once you’ve got that in your head, the next question is where to network. There are many choices.

7 Good Places to Network

1. Casual networking. Chat up those other moms and dads while you’re watching that soccer game. Do they have a business? Who do they work for that might use freelance copywriters?
2. Business groups. Check out your local chamber or business association — some are pricey to join while others are quite affordable. Many put on occasional open-house events you can crash. My local chamber puts on a variety of events every month, from casual after-hours get-togethers to sit-down luncheons.
3. Regional or national events. Hitting a big-time event such as SXSW, BlogWorld, or SOBCON can give you a chance to meet many people at once, and to meet more big guns in your target industry. Yes, it can be a major financial investment to fly to one of these — but my experience has been that if you work this opportunity, you will grow your business many times more than the cost of that plane ticket and hotel.
4. Pro networking groups. BNI is one of the best-known in this category, and I believe the most expensive. Advantage here: You will be the only freelance writer in the group — they only allow one person per occupation in each local chapter.
5. Social media in person. My local Linked:Seattle group, for instance, routinely sees more than 500 people turn up at its live events. This is a great way to make deeper connections with those tweeps you hang with online.
6. Writers groups. You might be staying away because you think these events will just be a bunch of sad, desperate, starving writers crying into their cheap glasses of chardonnay… but it’s not like that. Growing your network of other writers who know your talents can put you in their downline for referrals when those writers get leads they don’t have time for or that aren’t their speed. They’re also great to know for reality-checking prices and snooping around about whether that prospective new client is a nightmare. I’ve gotten several great clients through attending MediaBistro events.
7. Skype calls. I like to book at least one Skype call a week with someone who might help my business in some way. If you don’t live near a major city, this can be a great way to build connections when it’s hard to appear in person. The phone-company people used to say this, but Skype really is the next best thing to being there.

Which type of networking will be best for you? You won’t know until you get out there, experiment, and meet people.

Need more marketing help? Good news — Ed Gandia has put back up his free training videos on how to get clients easier and faster. Check them out if you need more great-paying clients — they’re going back down Sunday.

by Jennifer Carsen

Regardless of what kind of writing you specialize in, there’s a lot to be learned from the world of advertising.

After all, if you can’t get your name out there, and convince potential clients that you’re the best person for the job, it doesn’t really matter how good a writer you are.

Here are three sure-fire ways to boost demand for your work:

1. Ask “What’s In It for Me?”

This is one of the very first things new marketers are taught: Your audience doesn’t care at all about you.

They care about themselves—their desires, needs, and problems. Accordingly, your website and other marketing materials should appeal to these instincts:

Bad: “I’ve been passionate about writing since the age of 3, armed with a wide-rule notebook and a blue crayon…”

Better: “My rewrite of your home page will highlight your company’s unique strengths and bring in valuable new leads for you.”

2. Target a highly specific niche

Gerber doesn’t advertise its strained peas on the front page of the New York Times. That would require wasting a whole lot of money to get in front of millions of people who have no interest in strained peas (i.e., people who don’t have small children at home).

Instead, they target markets aimed at new parents. Similarly, you should not try to be all things to all people on your writing website.

Highlight your specialties. You may feel that this limits your potential opportunities, but it actually has the opposite effect of attracting the exact people you want to write for.

Think of it this way: If you need heart surgery, and you have the choice of a heart specialist or a generalist who does just a few heart surgeries a year, who are you going to pick?

Bad: “If you need it written, I can write it!”

Better: “I specialize in writing blog posts and feature articles in the areas of food, fitness, and travel.”

3. Spotlight your testimonials

You can talk about how great you are all day long—but what’s really compelling is when other people talk about how great you are.

It’s pretty easy to get testimonials from previous clients. Assuming they were happy with your work, all you need to do is ask.

Testimonials are most effective when they’re specific and believable, so don’t try to clean up your clients’ words too much.

Also, if you’re just starting out, don’t forget that even non-paying clients can provide you with great testimonials—maybe you did a bang-up job on the flyer for your son’s school fundraiser, or a volunteer newsletter.

Bad: “I’ve been told I have a real way with words.”

Better: “The brochure Joan wrote for us led to a 4% increase in sales last month. We were thrilled with the finished product and found her very easy to work with.”As long as you make a consistent effort to focus on your clients’ needs, and demonstrate how you can effectively meet them, you’ll always have a steady flow of work.

What do you say on your writer website about your services? Leave us a URL so we can check it out.

Jennifer Carsen is a writer, blogger, and blog consultant who helps writers and other solo professionals build a following of raving fans. Visit her site at www.yellowbirdblogs.com.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a freelance writer for a big, brand-name company?

You’d leave behind the feast-and-famine world of writing for small businesses with their meager marketing budgets, or regional publications that pay a pittance and send checks out on the schedule I often describe as “half-past when the messiah comes.”

No more tiny, one-off projects.

Instead — steady, ongoing work from blue-chip clients that pay you half up front, before you even write a line.

Or who put you on a retainer and pay you a fat hourly rate for your time, even if they don’t end up using you that month.

Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Bigger clients are better

Well, I’ve been there. The clients I’ve written for include American Express, Dun & Bradstreet, Alaska Airlines, Costco, and a few others, too.

And I can tell you, it’s not a fantasy.

Freelancing for big companies is great.

But most writers never even try to do it.

Why writers don’t pitch big companies

Why do many writers never even consider pitching these great, blue whales of the client world?

I believe there are three main reasons why:

• Writers feel intimidated
• Writers don’t think big companies use freelancers
• Writers don’t know who to contact

To help you get over these doubts and concerns, I thought I’d share what I’ve learned about writing for big corporate clients. I think this is stuff a lot of successful writers don’t want new writers to find out:

1. Companies with marketing departments also use freelancers

Many writers have told me, “I would never pitch X Corporation — they have a big marketing department already.” Sure they do. But that doesn’t mean that marketing staff hasn’t been cut lately, leaving some work to be outsourced. Or that the marketing staff has expertise in every type of writing.

For instance, I was hired by Costco to write articles for their business newsletter, because they wanted an outsider’s point of view on the company’s business services, and someone with more of a journalistic approach rather than copywriting. By the same token, many big companies hire freelance bloggers because their marketing team doesn’t have blogging experience.

2. There is no big difference between writing for small companies and big ones

You might think you must slowly work your way up the writing-career ladder from small business, writing next for a business with a few employees, then a medium-sized business, and so on. Not true.My first copywriting client was a small startup — and the second one was a $1 billion global consulting firm.The fact is, if you know how to tell business stories or how to write compelling sales copy, you’re ready to write for big companies. There is no secret extra knowledge you need, and you don’t have to put in years of dues-paying before you “qualify.”

3. It’s easier and more enjoyable

The myth is that writing for bigger companies will be light-years more difficult or complicated than writing for small business. My experience is just the opposite is true.

Big businesses are usually successful businesses, which means they’ve got clarity on who they are, what they do, and what they want you to write. Their executives are usually sharp people who are pleasant to work with. Often, small businesses are clueless about their goals, and their owners are more difficult to work for.

4. Big companies have more work for you

Here’s the real beauty: Big businesses have ongoing projects. You can do less marketing and spend more time writing when you have big clients, as the assignments tend to keep on flowing. I wrote for one big client for nearly three years, billing them more than $2,000 nearly every month.

In sum, big clients are a ticket to ride.

5. Big companies pay better

This probably isn’t a surprise, but big companies are used to paying professionals at real rates. I’ve never had trouble getting in the neighborhood of $100 an hour.

I actually had one big company turn down my bid of $1 a word for articles — because they felt $2 a word was more appropriate, and they wanted to pay that rate instead. I am not making this up.

6. Big companies use Google and LinkedIn to find writers

If you think you can’t connect with big companies, know that most of the major corporations I have written for found me doing searches on LinkedIn or Google for the type of writing they wanted. So brush up your writer website, fill out that LinkedIn profile, and get found.

7. Big-company editors network

At one in-person networking event I attended, I once met the editor of a major software firm’s website, which is one of the biggest sites in the world. Also met the editor of one of the largest-circulation publications in the country, which is put out by a retail chain.

Editors and marketing managers at these companies do leave their office towers and look to expand their rolodex of freelancers they know. Get out and circulate — you never know who you might meet.

Want more tips on how to meet big, quality clients? Check out Ed Gandia’s free marketing videos — I’ve seen them, they’re awesome, and they’re only up until Sunday.