Hi Friend,
For many freelancers, marketing would involve sitting and staring at your computer screen for a day (maybe two), taking some BuzzFeed quizzes about which type of apple matches your personality, then opening your email and finding a letter from someone who wants to pay you top dollar to create content for them.
It’s a bit like winning the lottery or being spotted by a modelling agent while walking through the mall—we want great things, but we don’t want to be uncomfortable in the process of obtaining those things. We want the path of least resistance.
We want to write a great novel but we don’t want to sit down for days on end to write sentence after sentence that might turn out to be a huge pile of nothing. We want to be published by The New York Times or Harper’s Magazine, but we don’t want to run the risk of being rejected, so we don’t pitch them. We want to find amazing clients, but we hate marketing ourselves so we send out one or two emails to potential clients and pray one of them will become our long-term dream client.
Then we sit in resentment as we see other freelancers getting opportunities we’re pretty sure we deserve. Envy eats away at us like a tiny gremlin slowly stealing our life force.
Here’s what you need to know
For almost every “overnight success” you see in freelancing, the freelancer has put in tons of hours of hard work to build up to that success. They aren’t just sitting behind their computer praying for work to come in; they’re taking steps to actively make it happen. And even if those steps don’t pan out right away, they don’t give up. They refine their strategies and move forward.
I’ve had many opportunities that, from the outside, would look as lucky as a lottery win. But the truth is, I’ve worked hard to create my own opportunities, just like most successful freelancers have. I’ve pushed myself outside my comfort zone. I’ve networked. I’ve posted on LinkedIn.
Many people leave freelancing not because of a lack of skill, but because they think the clients will fall out of the sky as soon as they set up their website, like dates lining up on an online dating app (or so I hear, because that was not my experience at all).
When that doesn’t happen, they give up, telling themselves there aren’t any clients out there to work with. Or they aren’t good at marketing.
It takes work to create opportunities. It also takes time. It likely won’t happen overnight, at first. For me, it took a few months of consistently posting on LinkedIn and meeting with potential clients before I saw an effect on my business.
But that’s the thing with most progress. It’s often slow to start and then all of a sudden, things start happening and from there they snowball.
How do you create opportunities?
Get used to talking about what you do. Tell people what you do and who you help. You never know who you’re talking to who could one day either become your client or refer someone to you. This doesn’t mean giving them a hard sell on working with you. Just explain what you do and how it helps your ideal clients.
Get used to asking people questions. The more questions you ask, the better you understand other people and the better equipped you are to help them.
Learn how to recognize potential opportunities and take advantage of them, rather than backing away from them. One of my all-time favourite clients found me on LinkedIn. He viewed my profile and then…did nothing. Didn’t connect, didn’t reach out. Nothing. Rather than assuming he had a reason for not reaching out, I sent him a connection request with a note, “Hey, I saw you were looking at my profile. I’d love to connect if you’re open to it.” He connected and sent me a message that he was looking for a writer in Canada to help his marketing agency. I’ve worked with them for more than 4 years now, and they continue to be a low-maintenance and enjoyable client to work for. That’s work I might not have obtained if I hadn’t reached out.
Don’t let assumptions stop you from moving forward. In the above scenario, I could have left it alone and not messaged him, but there was no harm in reaching out. After all, the worst that would have happened is he ignored me. Which wouldn’t have tanked my business (plenty of people ignore me on LinkedIn, and I’ve survived so far).
Take action. Set up a website, create a blog, post on social media (the platform depends on your target audience), and talk about what you do. Build relationships. Go to networking events. Attend webinars. Get to know colleagues.
Stop believing you’ll wake up one day and magically have the perfect client knocking, with no effort from you. There is a chance you’ll wake up to an email from your ideal client, but they can’t find you if you’re not out there to be found. By marketing yourself, you’re making it easier for them to find you.
Consider your clients’ perspective: if you’re sitting at your desk waiting for the perfect client to appear, isn’t it possible your clients are also sitting at their desk hoping the perfect writer/editor will magically appear in their life, like a unicorn who knows how to type and make all their wishes come true?
In my LinkedIn experience above, I made it easy for the client to work with me by reaching out to him. He didn’t have to look any further; as soon as I answered a couple of his questions (through LinkedIn DMs) he decided to work with me. His search was over. While I’m not in his head, I’d imagine he was happy not to have to wade through more profiles or email more writers.
When you market yourself, you’re making it easier for your clients to find you, so to them, it feels like you just fell out of the sky. Remember, their lives are often busy. They want the process of finding their writer/editor to be as painless as possible.
If you can make their search relatively painless by being findable, you’ll be exactly what they’ve been looking for. And that’s how you create opportunities.
A note about coworking sessions:
The coworking sessions were a great success in February, so I’m going to keep them going. These sessions are available to all subscribers (free and paid) but only for subscribers. I’m going to lengthen the sessions so there will be three 30-minute work periods with two 10-minute breaks (these breaks are great for sharing strategies, learning from experienced freelancers, and just giving our minds a chance to rest).
Sessions in March will be on March 6, 13, and 20 starting at 9:30 AM Pacific (12:30 pm, Eastern). If you’re interested in one or all of these sessions, respond to this email, comment below, or DM me and I’ll add you to the list.
Here’s to your ongoing freelance success
Heidi