Of all the types of social media out there you can use to promote your freelance writing, I think LinkedIn is one of the most useful. In working with writers in my mentoring program, I’ve discovered a lot of writers aren’t making full use of this platform.

Folks seemed to appreciate my recent Twitter tips, so I thought I’d do a sequel on how to get the most mileage out of LinkedIn.

First off, here’s why I like LinkedIn and recommend you become active on it: Unlike Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and many other platforms, LinkedIn is all business. There’s nobody on there with a photo of themselves half-nekkid with a drink in their hand, where their bio says they just wanna par-tay, or that they watch Glee.

Folks are on LinkedIn to further their careers. Period. So that to me screens out a lot of the bullcrap that often turns social media into such a time suck. Nobody’s playing Farmville on here or asking you to watch some dumb video. The audience may be smaller than Facebook’s at about 100 million, but it’s a higher-quality group.

LinkedIn also offers quite a few interesting features that are particularly useful to freelancers.

How can LinkedIn help you as a freelance writer? Let me count the ways:

1. Key words in your profile. Start by fully filling out your profile and stuffing it with key words about what you do — mine currently says “freelance writer, award-winning blogger, copywriter, and writing mentor.” Why? Because companies and publications that need a freelance writer search by key words for the type of writer they’re looking for. My profile also names my nearest major city, useful for people searching for a local writer — that’s how an airline magazine based in my town came to call me recently to write a $500 business-finance article. They’re not the only major company I’ve had call me cold off my LI profile, either. So fill out your profile, people. Your profile converts people into buyers the best of any page on LI. People like to hang out in the groups (more on them later), but filling out your profile completely may be your most efficient use of time on LI.
2. “Who’s viewed my profile?” A lot of people don’t realize you can click on this little sidebar widget and get more information about who has been looking at your LI profile. Yes, if you’re only on the free level, sometimes it won’t show you much — some of the information will be hidden. But sometimes, it will reveal contact names. If they smell like a prospect, I then send them a message: “Hi, were you looking for a freelance writer? I noticed you were looking at my profile. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help!” If I have a particular expertise relevant to their industry, I mention that as well. I get a lot of responses to this, as people are amazed you knew they were checking you out.
3. The blog tool. This one’s pretty obvious — use LI’s BlogLink tool to pull your blog onto your LI profile page. That will make it also appear in the blogrolls of all your connections that use the blog tool, too. Presto: Instant promotion! Great way to spread your blog around.
4. The editor connections. I find LI is the place to look up all your former editors. Search for them and ask to connect. Shmooze, catch up, find out what they’re doing now. Do they need a job? Send them leads. Do they have a job? Maybe they can use you again, or know another editor using freelancers and could refer you. At one point when I was really needed a few new clients, I decided to reconnect with every editor I’d ever liked. It was fun! And one I hadn’t written for in a decade ended up referring me a great new global client that I did $1,000 of work for last year, and they’re still calling me.
5. The jobs. If you’re going to look at online job ads, LI is one of my favorite places to do it, as an increasing number of their ads are exclusive to LI. Their ads cost money, and the companies tend to be high-quality. I use one of my favorite ad-hunting tricks and look at LI’s full-time job ads. In my experience as a staffer, the appearance of a staff-writer job ad means a crisis situation — someone usually left months back. My strategy? Apply to any publication or company of interest, and just let them know you’re a happy freelancer, not looking for a full-time job, but I’m so right for you, look at my experience…do you perhaps also work with freelancers? I got one $1,500 assignment last year this way from an interesting national trade magazine.
6. InMail for prospecting. I have yet to try this, but it appears that sending a paid-level InMail on LI has a response rate of 30 percent and up. In fact, InMail does so well that LI now guarantees you’ll get a response — or they give you another InMail message to send free. Sort of a no-lose proposition. Apparently there’s a real novelty factor at this point in time to sending these, so people often will get back to you. Target your dream prospective clients, write your pitch, and then fire away on LI.
7. In-person networking. Many LI groups also meet in person — my local Linked:Seattle chapter has networking events with more than 500 attendees. If you’re interested in small-business clients, these can be a gold mine. One of the best ways to make social media work really productive is to deepen those online connections by going offline. If you have a location-based LI group that isn’t meeting live, consider starting a live event and serving as host.
8. The groups. You don’t necessarily find gigs in groups, but the writer groups on LI are one of the best free places I’ve found to discuss rates, negotiating, and other client issues. The biggest and busiest is LinkedIn Editors & Writers. I’ve made some nice friendships through LI groups, and we can all use the support. There’s also Writeful Share, a group where people post overflow jobs and try to share leads. Active participation in groups where you share your expertise can also lead to some nice new traffic to your blog.
9. The jobs inside the groups. As Writeful Share’s model shows, job leads do sometimes get passed around inside of LI groups. Besides searching the main, full-time job postings, this is probably the next-best gig-finding opportunity on LI.
10. Answer questions. I haven’t spent time on this, but I know many people who’ve done well answering and asking questions on LI’s main Answers tab. Yet another place on the platform to share your expertise and attract interest.

Got questions about how to find good-paying writing gigs online? I’m planning an upcoming Webinar on that topic, and it’ll help me design the material to deliver exactly what you want to know if I hear first about your biggest obstacles to earning well online.

Leave your feedback in the comments below, and I’ll make it worth your while. All commenters in the first 48 hours get a free link to my previous one-hour presentation with Angie Atkinson of WM Freelance Writers Connection — The Insider’s Guide to Online Writing Success. Most interesting comment or question wins a free ticket to the upcoming Webinar. I’ll announce the free-ticket winner on the blog Friday.

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons: smi23le

As I work more and more with both freelance writers and small business owners looking to build up their blogs, I find these two groups have the same problems. Their blogging journey generally develops like this:

• Start a blog. All excited!
• Write a few posts.
• Write a few more posts.
• In the case of the businesses, they sometimes hire me at this point to write more and better posts.
• Soon, frustration sets in. They start to wonder why nothing’s happening — why they don’t get many readers, comments, or subscribers. And why, ultimately, they don’t get customers — either new business clients, or paid blogging gigs, or eBook sales.

I find this happens because of a basic disconnect people have about blogging.

Here’s why nothing’s happening with your blog:

When you write a blog post, you have created a tool. It’s like you’ve built a bullhorn for broadcasting what you know, who you are, and what you do.

But if no one picks up the bullhorn and talks into it, what will happen?

Nothing.

If you haven’t properly built your bullhorn, and it isn’t strong and sturdy and useful, what will happen?

Nothing.

No one is surprised that a silent bullhorn doesn’t accomplish anything. But people continue to be shocked when their unpromoted blog doesn’t make them an overnight millionaire.

What is the missing element in so many blogs?

Someone has to use the tool.

I know — blogging is so much work by itself! But it is actually just the first step in the process of using your online articles to draw people to you. Once you have that bullhorn,  you’ve got to pick it up and start talking into it. Do that enough, and some people will notice and come on over to visit the blog.

As we saw earlier this week with one blogger’s bafflement about Twitter, many writers (and companies, too) don’t understand how to promote their blog. They aren’t using social media. They’re not sending out an email newsletter with their blog posts in it. So no one is discovering their posts. I’ve actually had clients sending out newsletters…but without including any links to their blog posts!

Another example: I had one client hire me to do two posts a week for two months, for instance. After six weeks, they hadn’t even bothered to read, approve, and post all the pieces I’d written. No one at the company was tasked with regularly promoting the posts in social media. So naturally, they were ready to pull the plug because “it just isn’t monetizing the way we expected.”

They expected their bullhorn to shout by itself. No surprise that didn’t work.

How to make something happen on your blog:

The good news is, you can fix this. The skills needed to succeed in blogging are not hard to learn. There are four basic elements you need:

1. Spectacular content that works online
2. Great design that delights and engages visitors
3. An understanding of social-media marketing and a commitment to promoting your blog regularly
4. Workable monetizing strategies for turning your growing audience of readers into buyers

More good news: Two Webinars coming up will teach you exactly these four skills. The first one coming in March, 30 Design & Content Secrets to Skyrocket Your Blog, will deliver critical insight into how to get your blog ready for company. I’m co-presenting this 90-minute, interactive event with blogging expert Judy Dunn of Cat’s Eye Writer — another Top 10 Blogs for Writers winner! Important thing to know: The first 30 next 10 registrants for this Webinar only will get their very own blogs reviewed during this event! It’s a chance to get expert feedback on your blog at a ridiculously low price. We asked you what you wanted to know to improve your blog, and then designed this class to deliver exactly what you need.

Once your site is whipped into shape, you’re ready for the second one in April, Secrets of a Money-Making Blog, which will lay out how to market your blog and turn it into a source of income. I’m presenting this one with longtime successful blogger Anne Wayman of About Freelance Writing.

Want to make something happen on your blog? Now’s your chance. Pre-registration opens today, and we’ve got a special, limited-time deal for bloggers who sign up early.

Register for both Webinars by President’s Day and pay just $65.99 — 20% off the $83 regular price for buying these one at a time. Learn more about 30 Design & Content Secrets Webinar. Learn more about Secrets of a Money-Making Blog. Or just sign up now.

On this edition of Mailbag, we tackle a question I get a lot: How can a freelance writer kick the content-mill habit and move up to better-paying clients?

On the recent post about Demand Studios’ IPO, reader Mike Biscoe was concerned about the revelation that DS doesn’t make a profit, which puts them at risk for going bust. An excerpt of his comments and questions:

I’ve been working for Demand Studios since 2009. Almost exclusively. I live in Thailand and because the cost of living where I am is cheap, I can pay the bills simply by writing DS articles. My only other income comes from occasionally writing articles for similar content mills that pay half of what DS does. Prior to 2009, I have no experience in writing anything other than regular letters to my grandma.

I am here on a tourist visa and therefore can’t legally work. If the [DS] job goes, I go. Since I am newish to writing I can’t say I know that much about what a logical next step would entail. Though I don’t think DS is going out of business tomorrow, it reminds me that I must look ahead.

I want to begin formulating a plan for more meaningful mid- and long-term goals.

Do I carry a scarlet letter for the rest of my life for writing eHow, Trails and Livestrong articles?

In spite of what good DS might do for me, there have been times when I’ve been so frustrated by the process that I’ve imagined jettisoning my laptop right through the window and listening with satisfaction as it crashes on the rooftop five stories below. In other words, I don’t want to believe that DS is my only hope for employment as a new writer.

Thanks for the information and clear-headed advice.

To get the easy stuff out of the way first: You’ll only be branded a mill writer forever if you put DS on your resume. Leave it off, and no one will know. End of stigma.

Here’s the nut of my answer to your main question about kicking mills and getting paid more: To move up, you’ll need to actively market your writing business. That’s the gist of it. Getting better pay involves getting off your tushy, and looking for better clients.

There are some basic ways to do that — plus one I’ll throw in that’s unique to your being an expat living in an exotic locale. Here are seven ways to break in to better markets:

1. Create a writer Web site and SEO it. If you don’t have a site that promotes your writing, create one as soon as possible. Make sure you use key words about the types of writing you want to do in your header and home-page copy. Put up some clips — yes, for now they’ll be from DS sites, but replace those as soon as you can with others. This will allow some prospective clients to find you. So once you’ve done the active work of creating and properly optimizing your site, you can passively snag clients with it. I’d put in “American expat in Thailand” somewhere, if I were you.
2. Create a personal blog. You can make a strong audition piece — especially if you’d like to blog for pay for others — by starting your own blog on your writer site. Don’t doodle on there — write each entry as if your career depended on it. It does. This technique paid off for me huge, and now some months I make half or more of my income from paid blogging.
3. Direct-mail or email prospects. Identify a type of publication or business where you know something about their subject matter, and then do some online research. Create a list of prospective publications or companies. Contact their editor, marketing manager, communications director or other likely target. Since you’re overseas I’m betting mail or email will be the way to go rather than cold-calling on the phone. Introduce yourself in your mail or email piece and simply ask if they use freelance writers. This has a low response rate, but you will usually get some clients, as Chris Bibey recently testified over on All Freelance Writing.
4. Seek out guest-post opportunities. If you’ve written for DS, there are probably blogs where you could guest post. Subscribe to Blogger Linkup and respond to sites seeking guest bloggers. Yes, it’s usually for free, but it’s a valuable form of marketing for you. Being seen on high-traffic blogs can get you clients — and it gets you clips from places that aren’t from DS sites. Try to spend some time on these guest posts and really make them strong. You’re auditioning for better-paying clients. The bigger-viewership site you can appear on, the better.
5. Network online. I’d ordinarily recommend getting out to some in-person networking events, but since you’re in Thailand, it’s probably hard to drop by a big-American-city Chamber of Commerce networking event. But you can meet and connect with lots of people on LinkedIn groups, and networking sites such as Biznik. The latter is another good place to create strong articles that could serve as example clips.
6. Leverage your locale. OMG,  you’re living in Thailand! I bet you’ve visited plenty of interesting tourist spots there. You could write a query letter to all sorts of travel magazines offering to share those. You could also hit all the simple-living mags and Web sites with your “how to live in Thailand on $1 a day” ideas. You’ll need to learn to write query letters, but it’s not that hard, and well worth it for the money you could make. You can read a book about querying if you need to learn more. You can resell your Thailand-travel story angles umpty-dozen times. You might start with tourism companies that need brochure copy or marketing letters, and work your way up to calling on airlines that fly to Thailand and pitching their in-flight magazines (these are usually top payers). Find editors online or in the Writer’s Market.
7. Apply for jobs you see online. Start diversifying where you write for — even if it’s at DS rates — by answering online job ads. You should be able to gradually increase your rates as you acquire non-mill clients. Problogger often runs ads for bloggers at rates at or a little more than what you’re making, and the work may make for stronger clips for moving up.

There’s more about how to market your writing here and here.

How would you advise Mike to move on beyond content mills? Feel free to add more tips in the comments below.

To earn more, you’ve got to market your writing services. Learn how live next Tuesday at my Webinar, 40 Ways to Market Your Writing, with co-presenter Anne Wayman of About Freelance Writing. Only 150 can participate. Sign up here.

Photo via Flickr user extranoise

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.