Freelance Editorial Association News, Fall 1990 Volume 6, Number 3
Elizabeth West
Marketing yourself is an attitude, not an activity. It is learning to think of yourself and your skills as a product that someone can use. First, you must identify your own goals and the skills you are trying to market. Then, you have to figure out who might want those skills. Finally, you have to find a way to tell potential clients about your skills in such a manner that the clients want to try you out. Once the client has agreed to work with you, your marketing ends, and your writing, editing, proofreading, or indexing begins.
What business are you really in?
Identifying your own goals sounds easy, but it isn't. Most people have numerous skills to market, as well as complicated and overlapping goals. They want to earn money doing something that they like that doesn't compromise their standards. They would like to work convenient hours and have someone appreciate their good work. And maybe they'd even like to get rich and famous besides.
Focusing on one or two priorities does not mean
you need to ignore all but your most important goals.
Few people achieve all their professional goals. If you're lucky, you will achieve the top two or three. But to achieve even these goals, you must first identify them, a process requiring that you think about your priorities and put your goals in some sort of order. For example, if supporting a family single-handedly is a priority, you probably should not consider proofreading as a career. It just doesn't pay well enough. But if fitting your work around a hectic family schedule is paramount, proofreading might be perfect. Likewise, if you really need higher pay, you might be happy to work long hours at a job that pays by the hour. In that case, tech writing may be the answer.
Focusing on one or two priorities does not mean you need to ignore all but your most important goals. But it does help you recognize which goals to put on hold if you get into a jam. If you are always putting some goal on hold that you think is important, however, it may be time to re-evaluate your list.
Each time you look for work, decide what your current priorities are. They change, remember. If you're broke, earning money may be your top priority, so you may put job satisfaction further down the list. If you have a temporarily fat bank account, job satisfaction may zoom to the top. If you want to learn or practice a new skill, the money a job pays may not even matter. A low-paying job now may be an apprenticeship that pays off in the future.
Don't go running off in all directions at once. Think about what you want now, and pick the field that is likely to provide that. Then pursue your goal zealously.
Finding clients
Ideally, searching for new clients would be an ongoing part of a freelancer's life. But this is rarely the case. Writer Jo Pitkin spoke for many when she confessed, “I do it when I get nervous. Otherwise, I'm too busy to think.” Every freelancer, however, knows about down time. If you have another job lined up, down time can be vacation time. But if no job is in sight, you're unemployed and have to scramble. Down time becomes time spent finding work.
People have different ways of finding new clients. One valuable resource is the LMP, or Literary Market Place. This expensive publication can be found in the reference section of many libraries, and it is a bonanza for browsers. Familiarize yourself with it. The listing for publishers and for suppliers of editorial services can be invaluable to a freelancer. You learn who is doing what. Are you a medical writer? You can learn which companies specialize in medical publications. Do you develop educational materials? You can learn the name of the editor in your field.
Directories of all sorts are useful. Indexer Susan Holbert finds the Mass. High Tech Directory valuable, as well as the Freelance Editorial Association's own Yellow Pages. Several writers said they pore over the yellow pages of the phone book, looking for publishers, newspapers, public relations firms, or what have you. Libraries are also full of specialized publications, which carry ads for books, services, and suppliers of all sorts. Many of these advertisers are potential clients.
Jo Pitkin says a part of her mind is always thinking of work. As she reads all sorts of materials, including news articles, she thinks, “Is there a need for a writer?” She added, “Just look at all the printed materials in this world! Someone had to write those.” And someone had to edit them and proofread them as well.
Networking is another way to find clients. Talk to everyone. Join professional groups. Go to workshops and lectures. Keep in touch with others in the field. A surprising number of freelancers are very generous with information.
Self-promotion
After you have identified potential clients, you have to make them aware of you and of your talents. After all, how can they engage your services if they've never heard of you?
Advertising and mailings are the two most obvious ways to make others aware of you. But spend your time and money where it will pay off. Advertising in your local newspaper probably won't do much for you. Advertising in Publisher's Weekly or the Freelance Editorial Association's Yellow Pages stands a better chance because they reach only people interested in your field. Are you an educational writer? Think about Education Weekly. Do you edit annual reports? Then choose a business publication.
For your mailings, you will need some document that describes your skills and experience. A single page is fine, and it needn't be expensive. It is the first impression a person gets, so it should look professional.
Although many freelancers send a chronological resume, that may not be the most effective tool. Susan Holbert suggested that freelancers instead concentrate on listing their skills and services, not their histories. “Think like the person who will be reading your brochure,” she suggested. “What is that person looking for? Then list your characteristics that make you a good prospect.”
Modesty is no virtue here. Are you reliable, responsible, and accurate? Say so. Are you creative, funny, and versatile? Say so. Have you written reports for sixteen satisfied clients? Say so. Don't list the clients, but stress your accomplishments.
When appropriate, include samples of your work or brief letters of recommendation, protecting your client's identities. Always, always include a business card or Rolodex card, so that clients who aren't interested now can find you later.
If your professional accomplishments are few, then stress the attributes you have that would make you better at the job than someone else. If you are a knowledgeable cook, you might be the perfect person to index a cookbook. If you like to look out the window, maybe you would be a good writer for that bird book. The basic idea here is to take your life experience and show people how it helps you do their job well.
Modesty is no virtue here. Are you reliable,
responsible, and accurate? Say so.
Are you creative, funny, and versatile? Say so.
There is one other marketing tool that people often overlook. Teach a course or workshop and publicize it every way you can. This accomplishes two purposes. First, the publicity gets your name in the public eye and tells readers that you are an expert copy editor or writer of children's books. Most newspapers will not publish your credentials just for the fun of it, but they will publish them as part of a course description. You get a free ad. Second, everyone taking the course adds to your network of potential clients and business associates.
Each method of marketing, however, is only partially useful. If your work is not professional, if you consistently miss deadlines, or if you're hard to get along with, all the marketing in the world can't save you. Sooner or later, clients will want your services only when they're desperate. On the other hand, if you do good work and give good value for your pay, your list of clients will grow. Editors move, and if they remember you fondly, they will think of you at their new location. And if their old company also remembers you well, people there will think of you too. So in the long run, your best marketing tool is probably a string of jobs well done.
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