By James Patterson

After nine months of being a freelance writer, I’ve decided that marketing my business is like doing the dishes; I absolutely can’t stand doing it, but I feel so much better when it’s done.

I jumped into freelancing head first back in February, leaving my stifling full-time job to see if I could cut it on my own as a health and wellness writer.

I set up a Web site, found some steady writing work and had a few decent months, replacing my former Corporate America salary. Things were great for quite a few months, but I fell into a trap of complacency and a bit of neglect at marketing my business due to a busy summer schedule.

When I started to notice my revenue dipping in the fall, I decided it was time to start marketing myself again. I tried the age-old methods of pitching magazines and scouring the job boards, but with zero results.

Thanks to some great advice from Carol, who I hired as my freelancing mentor back in the early summer, I decided to finally take a different approach. I set a goal to try two new freelancing tactics and see if they would work.

Boy, did they ever.

Tactic #1: My existing LinkedIn network. Carol challenged me to contact my LinkedIn connections, whether or not they were an editor or potential client, and pitch myself. If nothing else, it’s good practice, she said. So when I sent out 20 or so LinkedIn messages one day, I didn’t think anything would really come of it.

About a month after my LinkedIn blitz, I got a phone call from a former friend and colleague who’s in sales, now with a different company than when we worked together. Turns out he was in a staff meeting when someone mentioned needing a health writer.

He told me later over the phone his ears perked up because of my LinkedIn message, which I had sent him just a few weeks before. He spoke up, said he had someone he could talk to and BAM, a few weeks later I’m getting steady work from a new client who meets almost every one of Carol’s criteria for lucrative writing clients. I’m about to close the books on my best month of freelancing ever.

Tactic #2: Cold calling. After months of pitching organizations and editors with zero results, I was fed up. I told Carol of my pitching woes, expecting to get at least a measure of sympathy. Instead, Carol gave me a virtual slap upside the head and said, “Email isn’t working. So what? You have a phone, don’t you?”

Reluctantly, I made another goal: To make 20 cold calls to hospitals in my region asking a simple question: “Could you use a freelance writer?”

A funny thing happened. My first phone call was a no. My second phone call was a no. My third phone call was a no.

I was about to give up. For some reason, seeing ‘no’ on a computer screen is much more palatable for me than hearing it over the phone.

But I decided to give it one more try. I picked up the phone and dialed the next number.

That call resulted in a referral to the marketing director for a large Intermountain west hospital chain. As I type this, we’re hammering out details for me to come on board and help lighten the load of their current freelance writer.

Good things happen when you try new approaches. Sometimes, you just have to roll up your sleeves and do the dishes.

It may not be fun for you to get on the phone and hear a few people tell you “no.” It may feel like a waste of time to contact former friends and colleagues. But you really never know under which rock your next client is lurking. Why not turn over every one?

How have you found new clients this year? Leave a comment and describe what’s working for you.

When he’s not obsessing over college basketball, James Patterson is a freelance health writer and public relations consultant at OnPoint Writing and Communications. His past clients include the National Institutes of Health, the President’s Cancer Panel and the National Diabetes Education Program.

Photo via Flickr user zieak

The two methods James used to find new clients are included in the 40 Ways to Market Your Writing Webinar. Get your marketing questions answered live on Dec. 7. Only 150 can participate. Seats are filling. Sign up here.

In my mentoring work, I often find myself introducing my mentees to a basic fact of life for freelance writers: If you want to earn more, you’re going to need to market your business aggressively. Answering Craigslist or Kijiji ads is unlikely to get you $1 a word or $100 an hour gigs. To find really good-paying work, you will have to prospect.

This often produces a reaction along the lines of, “I’m shy! I’m no good at networking.”

But there isn’t just one marketing strategy in the universe, there are many. So today I’d like to kick off a two-part post highlighting some of the multitude of ways to market yourself as a freelance writer. Today, it’s 11 different 3-D-world marketing approaches. Somewhere in here, there’s a strategy that would be a fit for who you are and the kind of writing work you want to find.

1. In-person networking. I know you don’t want to hear it. But in-person networking is not only very effective, it can actually be fun. Just think — you get out of your writing cave, have a drink and a nibble, and meet new people who could help you make more money. Unless you are catastrophically shy, I want you to try it.

Bring business cards. Walk around and introduce yourself to as many people as possible. Overcome any shyness you have about plugging yourself by spending most of your time asking others why they came, what they do, and if appropriate what they’re looking for in a writer. If that description doesn’t fit you, try to recommend them someone. Networking is about learning others’ needs and helping each other succeed, not shoving yourself down other people’s throats. You don’t have to be pushy–be helpful. Personally, I have been to two in-person networking events and got great connections that led to wonderful paying clients both times.

Experiment with places to network–I’ve had good success with MediaBistro events here in Seattle, but your city may be different. I’m told the Linked:Seattle in-person events rock, too. Find your networking sweet spot and visit it as often as you can.

2. Direct mail. I’ve never tried this, but many of the top copywriters in this field develop a prospect list, and then audition by sending direct mail–makes sense, huh? One of them is Pete Savage-he sent one DM letter and got $64,000 of new business, and he sells a kit that describes how he did it. I don’t usually plug products, but if you’re interested in copywriting work, this may be worth a look. I can vouch for Pete–he’s the real deal. I can give you one tip I’ve gleaned from Pete’s newsletters–I gather he advocates including a bumpy novelty item in the envelope. Makes it irrestistible to receipient…apparently they feel compelled to open it to learn what’s making the bump.

3. Cold calling. That’s right–just pick up the phone, call a company you’d like to do copywriting for, and ask for the communications or marketing manager. Or call the editor of a publication you’d like to write for. Ask them if they use freelance writers. Be ready to pitch your ideas for stories to editors, or your copywriting services to companies. Many will say no, but persistence can really pay off here. Everyone who tries it reports they get new accounts, and that every 10 or 20 calls, they get a “yes.” Give yourself an edge and check out their existing Web site or other materials before you can call, so you can point out specific weaknesses in their current marketing and describe how the materials you’d create would bring address their needs and bring in new customers.

4. White papers. Create a white paper about the value of your copywriting service, demonstrating the benefits to companies that use you. Much like the direct mail strategy, this one’s especially great if you want to write white papers for companies. If you haven’t written white papers, you should learn about them because they’re the hottest sales tool in copywriting right now, and they pay very well. Michael Stelzner’s your expert here, and he has a free training on this topic you can read online.

5. Free or paid seminars. They can be in-person, over the Web, over the phone, you name it. But holding a class in a topic such as “How copywriting can help your business” can put you in touch with many good prospects in one fell swoop. Some like charging a little for the class as you screen out looky-loos and get more qualified, highly interested leads who are more likely to become clients.

6. Free downloads. Create a helpful article article with advice or tips on how to communicate your business’s value or some other related topic, which ultimately leads to a conclusion that hiring a professional writer will help your business. Put it on your Web site as a free download in exchange for which you capture their email address. Presto,  you’re building a great marketing list and exposing your name to prospective clients while presenting yourself as an expert. (OK, this tip involves a computer…but it’s not social media, so here it is in the 3-D list.)

7. Tshirts and car decals. That’s right, think of yourself like any bike shop or car wash would, and promote the fact that you’re a freelance writer everywhere you go!

8. Contests and polls. Hold a contest for the worst business Web site and give the winner free home-page content, or write their bio page, or whatever you want to offer. Or take a poll on the most important thing to say on a business Web site, and give the winner a free consultation. Entrants will, of course, have to submit their contact information, giving you an instant list of companies that need copywriters. This one doesn’t just get you prospects and a great before-and-after sample, you could tell the local papers and get written up, too.

9. Charity donations. Doesn’t your kids’ school have an annual auction? Donate an article for a business, or a free brochure. Great way to let the whole town know you’re a writer.

10. Put out a press release. Have you expanded into a new field? Hired a virtual assistant? Moved your office? Many local papers have business columns that publish these news tidbits, along with your photo in some cases. If not your local paper, try your Chamber newsletter (you belong, right?).

11. Partner or reciprocal deals. Do you know a business whose products or services you  use, who could use Web content? Make them a barter deal–you do their site over in exchange for free stuff, including a free plug on their home page that you wrote the content.

Tune in later this week for the final 10 marketing tips in 21 Ways to Market Your Writing Services: The Social Media Edition.

Photo source: Flickr user Richard-G