In the first two blogs of this three-part series, we talked about what to prepare to do a marketing push and how to find new clients. Now we’re going to look at what to do during the in-between bits—between your preparation and your initial pitches.
Not Landing Jobs
Not landing those jobs yet? Or finding jobs with delayed start dates? There are things you can do to set yourself up for a rebound.
Look at your approach. What potential clients did you approach and how? Were they in line with your skill set and focus? Where they suitable given your samples and experience? Be honest. If you aimed a bit too high, you might find yourself waiting a long time. If this is the case, go back to your lists of potential clients and reassess. Be reasonable in your expectations. We’re in an economic crisis and jobs are tough to find. You have a better chance of landing work if you target appropriate organizations.
If your list isn’t the issue, then look at your samples. Were they error free and appropriate for your targeted client? Do you have other samples that might work better? Could you create an appropriate sample? For example, could you write an article on spec? This may be worth it if the client is a great get or dream client.
Examine your pitch. This is often where freelancers fail. Pitches need to be quick, concise, and have a point. At the end of your thirty second pitch, prospects should know who you are, what you do, details of the types of services you offer and why it benefits them to hire you. If your pitch doesn’t meet those criteria, rewrite it.
Examine your samples. Update them. Make sure they are best you have and divided into types (subject and treatment) and forms (distribution method—video, speech, blog, article, marketing copy, etc.). Ideally your samples will match your target client list. For example, a blog will want to see blog samples on similar topics as they cover. A corporation will want to see corporate samples for their industry and matching the type of work they are seeking (speech, white paper, etc.).
Are you sending out enough queries? This is not the time to be shy or conservative. Don’t paper the town with queries, but send enough that a 1-5% return would be a good one. As I mentioned above, it’s a tough market out there and you cannot expect a high return on your marketing efforts. Be bold.
Be consistent. Keep sending out materials and queries. Don’t stop and wait. This holds true even if you do get jobs. Keep marketing. Don’t stop. It’s the only way to ensure consistent work.
While You’re Waiting
In those few times when you are not continuing on with your marketing efforts, you can still work on building your career. Here are a few things to keep you busy:
Work on Your Marketing Materials: writer bio, samples, pitch, query, etc. These are in constant need of updating. Plus you’ll need slightly different versions for different markets. A blog won’t care about your speechwriting skills if they never have need of that skill set. You should have different versions of your bio and resume that highlights the type of work you are seeking at any given time.
Work on Your Platform: platform matters. Build an online presence that supports the work you do and are seeking. Be consistent and commit a regular amount of time to posting and being active. Ideally, you will spend some time every business day on this.
Market Yourself: look for ways to market yourself. Host a lecture or class. Offer a web tutorial. Do a guest appearance on a podcast or YouTube channel. Market yourself beyond your typical sales efforts. Build a reputation as an expert.
Clean Up Your Website: this is an ongoing job. Don’t neglect it. Refreshing content, even evergreen content, is important. Add clients to your client list. Update client testimonials. Post new blogs. Update your pages. Refresh your look.
Learn Something that Will Help: SEO, marketing, pitching, how to write a better query, how to network, etc. The more you know, the better you will be able to market yourself and build a strong career. Don’t stop learning. If you can, try incorporating the five-hour rule into your life. The five-hour rule is the idea to focus on dedicated learning—at least one hour each business day to build your knowledge base and capabilities. The idea is that by dedicating five hours a week to learning, you will exponentially increase your knowledge, which will affect your success.
Ask for Testimonials from prior clients. Existing clients are the best way to find new clients. Posting a quote from a happy client is bound to attract attention. Also companies consider client testimonials more credible than marketing copy.
If you are still having issues, post it below and I will help you figure out what is going wrong. Post too if you have an idea for finding work that was not included in this series.