Last time I gave you some strategies to employ that would definitely land you clients…and this week I’d like to share some more with you. Being booked months in advanced isn’t difficult – it just requires you to be organized, consistent and methodical in your approach.

Always set aside at least 2-3 hours a week for your marketing efforts. In the beginning, you might be spending 2-3 hours daily to try and get the ball rolling – but as long as it’s consistent, you should be fine.

Here’s a tip that rarely fails and can help you grab clients when you’re struggling. Look through your local paper for adverts which are poorly written. You know the ones I mean – the ones with badly written copy, no benefits and nothing which grabs the attention of the reader. Contact the business and ask them some questions about response rates from the advert, and offer to rewrite it for them.

Now I know copywriters who have actually gone ahead and told businesses that if they don’t see an improvement in response, they don‘t get paid. It’s a great way of eliminating risk for a business, especially if they are new or struggling.

Here’s a question for you – are you building up a list of your old clients? If not, why not? In any business model, there are several ways of making money. More notably, it’s worth remembering that while you should be on the lookout for hot new prospects, you will almost always do better with repeat business from previous clients.

All clients are considered hot leads, and you should look at being able to get more work from them on a regular basis by shooting out a newsletter or offers when you have slots available. If you’ve done a good job for them first time round, chances are you’ll get repeat business from the same clients quite easily.

All too often (and this is a common but fatal mistake among many new copywriters) I’ve seen copywriters get hung up over one client. Trust me when I say that even when a client has LOTS of work for you, one day it will fizzle out. And when it happens, it can easily be a substantial part of your income gone. The first time this happened to me, it came as a big blow because I relied on the income generated from the project month in, month out. When that work fizzled out, I was stuck without work for 8 weeks – not a good place to be when you’re new and struggling to get your business off the ground in the first place.

So, I did what any sensible person in my shoes would have done. I learned from the experience and decided never to rely on one client for business ever again. Now when this happens, I’m ALWAYS prepared and always have other projects going at the same time. Don’t fall into the same trap of being stuck with no work by ensuring you’re always marketing – it really is the defining difference between those who are successful and those who are struggling.

Partner up with another copywriter. You may be thinking it’s silly to partner with someone who is your direct competition, but actually it’s not. Find someone who works in a different niche than you and send them referrals for a fee and vice versa. This strategy works brilliantly for me – I have a friend who specializes in IT and so any technical copywriting requests are passed onto him. Likewise, he has sent several clients in the health niche my way.

It’s always a good idea to create your own network of ‘go to’ people so you have sources of income coming in from different referrals. And who’s to say you’re limited to another copywriter? Use your imagination and partner with people in complementary fields such as graphic designers and web designers.

The bottom line is this – as long as you are working hard to get the word out, nothing should prove difficult for you. And if you are still struggling, it’s always worth asking someone more successful than you to share some golden nuggets of advice.

Arfa Saira Iqbal
Guest Contributor

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Arfa is a direct response copywriter and marketing consultant who specializes in the health and wellness niche. She works with clients all over the world to increase their online and offline presence. Arfa’s clients include Latitude Group, Impronto.org, Mercy Mission UK, Healthstation.tv and arganicaskincare.com.  You can contact her via her website at www.arfawrites.com

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Let us know what you think. Or offer your own sage advice.

The only rule: RESPECT THIS HOUSE! Postings that contain abusive language and/or personal attacks will be cheerfully VAPORIZED. One cross word and – POOF! – your well-thought-out post will be gone in a puff of smoke.

I’m one of those ‘lucky’ individuals who’s always booked months in advance and always turning clients down. I say ‘lucky’ because I actually work very hard at ensuring that I’m booked up. So what is the secret of a full diary?

Simple.

Marketing, marketing and even more marketing. Some of you are probably rolling your eyes right now because you know that you’ve been told hundreds of times before, but you’ve never taken it seriously.

Marketing yourself is an absolute must if you’re ever going to make it freelance. I know when I first started out, I knew very little about marketing. I just assumed you built a website and they would come. Not true. Back in the day when the Internet was new, you simply built a site and indeed, the traffic did come.

However, with millions of businesses offering the same services as you online, you need to be seen and noticed quickly. So, with this in mind, I always approach marketing in a highly aggressive manner. And with good reason too. I’m not one for doing things lightly – rather I throw myself into a task because I know it has to be done.

Marketing is not a single-effort activity. Indeed I see marketing as analogous to fishing. If you were starving and had to catch fish or risk another night without food, would you cast your net in one place, or would you place several nets in various locations to ensure the best chances of success? Marketing is no different, as you need to put several measures in place before you can even be hopeful of catching some great clients.

Here’s a tip for you – DON’T, whatever you do waste money on useless advertising unless it’s to a highly targeted audience. I found this out to my own detriment when I newly started out. Having paid $1600 for an advertorial in the local Chamber’s magazine, I thought my phone would be ringing off the hook.
Instead, I didn’t get a single enquiry. Not one single call or email. This was money I had to borrow from my family in the hope that my freelance career would take off. I never saw any return on my investment. I’ve since learnt that highly targeted advertising yields far better results.

During Christmas last year, I placed an advert on a well know Internet Marketing forum (www.warriorforum.com) for just $20, and guess what? So far I’ve had over $15,000 worth of work come in from this one advert alone. And I have NEVER had to re-advertise or ‘bump my thread’ to continue receiving work.
Why have I done so amazingly well? Because I regularly post on this forum and offer good, helpful and practical advice wherever I can. I now have ‘fans’ on the forum – and have steadily built followers who love my posts and look out for them all the time. And I get many referrals and other copywriters putting in a good name for me when certain projects coming up.

And this is what I love the most – you know you’re getting somewhere when you have fans! On a more serious note, you should actively look at forums in your niche and start posting to them regularly to offer advice. Use your signature link to advertise your business. The more you help, the more others will see you as the ‘go to’ person in your niche for all their problems…and hopefully hire you when they need a good, competent professional who can get the job done.

Set up Google Alerts on your computer to include words like ‘freelance copywriter wanted’ or ‘freelance writer wanted’. Experiment to see which keywords work best. I usually find adding in words like ‘hire’, ‘needed’ or ‘wanted’ to your alerts helps to filter the search results better. Using Google Alerts is a no-cost and easy way of catching the best writing jobs on the web.
Write for an active business blog or a blog in your niche. You could ‘guest-write for blogs in your niche in much the same way as you would on a forum. Not only will you be building your trust and credibility, but including your bio will mean that you have a link back to your site and means your visible to the very people who you are targeting.

Another great way to gain clients is to visit trade shows with your business cards and approach clients directly. Particularly, you should aim for businesses that are new and need to improve their visibility. Ring the trade show organizers beforehand and obtain a list of exhibitors. Do your homework and check out their website if they have one.

What areas can be improved? Can you make their copy stronger? Do they have a newsletter or lead capture? If not, this is always something you can approach them about. What page of Google are they on? What are their keywords? Compile a list of potential prospects and armed with this knowledge, you should approach businesses not as a pushy, sales person, but as a professional who genuinely takes an interest in their business and is able to offer solid, actionable advice.

This is a great way to introduce yourself to potential prospects and ensure you place yourself favorably. Always follow up with businesses that show an active interest in your services, since businesses are busy and if you leave it to them to chase you up, you may be waiting a long time!

Finally, approach design agencies with the offer of a joint venture. This method in particular has worked very well for me, as I now work with three agencies on a freelance basis. Not only does this bring in a large chunky amount of business, but the work is regular and can easily see you through dry patches and times when you don’t have much else on.

But, if, like me, you’re always hungry to get your name out, you shouldn’t have any dry patches at all. Rather, you too can be in the envious position of turning clients away because your fully booked.

Stay tuned next time, when I’ll be revealing even more tricks to fill your diary with clients.

Arfa Saira Iqbal
Guest Contributor

———————

Arfa is a direct response copywriter and marketing consultant who specializes in the health and wellness niche. She works with clients all over the world to increase their online and offline presence. Arfa’s clients include Latitude Group, Impronto.org, Mercy Mission UK, Healthstation.tv and arganicaskincare.com.  You can contact her via her website at www.arfawrites.com

Join the Discussion!

Let us know what you think. Or offer your own sage advice.

The only rule: RESPECT THIS HOUSE! Postings that contain abusive language and/or personal attacks will be cheerfully VAPORIZED. One cross word and – POOF! – your well-thought-out post will be gone in a puff of smoke.