A few weeks ago a reader reached out with some great questions about freelancing. The first question—and the one that many people have—is “How do you market yourself as a writer?”
Marketing yourself as a writer has changed drastically since I started freelancing almost 20 years ago. Back then, Facebook was in its very early stages. It was just a place to catch up with people you barely remember who graduated with you 10 years ago and whose birthday you don’t bother remembering, except when Facebook reminds you it’s their birthday. It was also another place for your parents to embarrass you by posting thoughts that showed they didn’t understand Facebook (much like I don’t get TikTok).
Social media wasn’t yet a tool for businesses. It wasn’t used to find clients, create communities, or build your professional profile.
When I started, marketing was very heavily focused on in-person networking events (not great for those of us with some level of social anxiety) and cold outreach emails. Most of my clients at the time came to me because I was involved in writers’ organizations (at the time, the Professional Writers Association of Canada, which no longer exists), and I met writers and editors who either forwarded me work or hired me for projects they were involved in. I also used job boards to find clients.
But, that’s not what I do these days, and it isn’t what I would rely on if I were starting out.
Here’s what I would do these days, in two parts:
If you need money immediately
If you’re in a position where funds are tight and you need clients rolling in as quickly as possible:
Set up a website quickly, including a small portfolio. If you don’t yet have any paid work, choose topics in industries you want to write about and write some blog posts or think pieces on those topics to post on your portfolio (replace them with paid work as soon as you can).
Create a list of clients you’d like to work with and write a cold outreach letter to them. Make sure you’re aware of any anti-SPAM laws in your area (here’s info on Canada and the US). Start sending out 5-10 cold outreach letters every day.
Get on social media and start connecting with people in your target market. Post about the topics you want to write about and include links to your website so people can see what you write about. Comment on other people’s posts so they become familiar with you.
Get to know other writers and editors. Let them know you’re open to work and the type of work you want to do.
Reach out to people in your network—family, friends, acquaintances, people on Facebook who graduated with you 15 years ago—and let them know what you do and that you’re open to projects. You never know who needs your help—or who knows someone who needs your help.
If you don’t have many clients—or any clients—your sole focus should be marketing yourself. It might feel overwhelming, but the majority of your day should be spent making people aware of what you do and who you help. Don’t be tempted to spend your days binging Love is Blind.
If you don’t need money immediately
If you’re in a position where freelancing is a sideline, you have a lot of money saved, or you have a steady stream of clients, you don’t have to hustle as much. I still have a website (blog to come), but I focus more on social media. Specifically, LinkedIn (which is great for freelancers who write for businesses or non-profit organizations. That said, you might find your ideal clients on other social media.
Find the social media your ideal clients likely hang out on. Build a professional profile (or a profile that will appeal to your audience).
Start posting, connecting, and commenting with content that’s relevant to your audience.
Build a website or a portfolio site where you showcase your work. Every so often—once or twice a week—post something that relates to your website, so you can guide readers back to it.
Consider building a newsletter or a podcast for your ideal clients, to give them another way to get to know you and become familiar with your work.
The worst thing you can do as a freelancer looking for clients is engage in magical thinking.
Here’s what I mean:
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Happy Freelancing with Heidi Turner to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.