Comments on: To Query or Not to Query: Part Two

By: Allena

Allena — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:37:24 +0000

To Matt: exactly. I did do a lot of pitching, applying for freelance writing jobs, etc in the beginning. I’ve had a lot of times where I’ve thought “Hmm, the pipeline is looking low, I’ll have to get back on the job boards next week” and then VOILA! that week comes and something pops into my inbox.

In fact, I’m heading on vacation for quite a while soonish, and I cleaned out ALL my pipelines:} so who knows? I might actually have to get back in the jobsearch saddle after my vacay, but we’ll see.

By: Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:34:11 +0000

It sounds like you have the right idea Jessie. While freelancing can certainly be different than running a more formal business, when it comes to marketing there’s just no escaping it. You have to do it.

I’ve said this elsewhere (as I’m sure many others have before me): It doesn’t matter if you’re the best writer in the world if you can’t sell anyone on your writing. The world is full of “starving writers” who are fantastic at their craft, and likely even more highly successful writers (financially) who are mediocre writers who happen to have excellent marketing skills. The better marketer will generally end up with the better career.

You’ve also got it right Matt. That’s precisely the cycle we’re seeing repeated here. I think it’s important to mention though that things have changed quite a lot in our Web 2.0 world, even in just the last 1 – 3 years. Prior to those changes, querying was much more a “requirement” than it is now (speaking specifically about new writers). By all means, you should keep building relationships (that’s what the networking side of query-free freelancing is all about). Just don’t forget that there are many ways to do that beyond querying alone.

By: The Query-Free Freelancer - To Query or Not to Query: Part Three

The Query-Free Freelancer - To Query or Not to Query: Part Three — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:22:49 +0000

[...] To Query or Not to Query: Part Two [...]

By: Matt Willard

Matt Willard — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:59:35 +0000

So what I’m basically understanding here is that most of these writers got started by actively making queries and hunting for work, and after a few years of doing this and building a network, these initial contacts continue to bring them referral work. That fills me with some hope-I’m still pretty anxious about the whole quest to fetch referrals, so I’m glad to know that I can do that by building up strong relationships during my active hunt for work.

By: Jessie Heekin

Jessie Heekin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:34:18 +0000

Jenn,
This is a very helpful post. It brings me back to my original belief about writing: it is a business like any other business and needs the same nurturing (via marketing and good performance) just like any other business.
It isn’t surprising to me that top freelance writers treat their performance and their websites as top priority.
I look forward to reading more at QFF.
Have a great day,
-Jessie