But I don’t have time for marketing! This is a common complaint shared by many freelance writers. However, you should not let this complaint turn into an excuse. If you do, you could be harming your chance of future success.

Need more time to market your services? Experiment with these three tips:

1. Set time aside every day. For example, you may decide that you are going to work on marketing related tasks every day from 12 to 1 pm. When you have time set aside it is much easier to focus solely on this task, without ever missing a beat.

2. Create a marketing plan. If you don’t have a plan you won’t know what to do next. And when you don’t know what to do next, there is a good chance that you will end up wasting time while making no progress. No matter if you are a beginner or have been freelancing for many years, you need a marketing plan that you can rely on.

3. Set goals. By setting goals, you will find it easier to hold yourself accountable. In turn, you will always save time for marketing.

Are you comfortable with “face to face marketing?” In short, this is the act of marketing your services to potential clients in person. No matter the setting – from conferences to chamber meetings – you need to be comfortable selling and marketing yourself in a face to face environment.

Here are several tips to keep in mind:

1. Rather than brag about your accomplishments, detail your past work and explain how it can benefit the client in the future.

2. Let the other person do the talking. When selling your services, you may have the urge to do all the talking while letting the potential client do nothing more than listen. While there is nothing wrong with carrying your part of the conversation, don’t go over the top. Instead, let the other party speak so that you can better craft your responses.

3. Ask questions. Not only does this open up the conversation to both parties, but it will give you a better idea of what the person is looking for. You can then use these responses to better focus the conversation on the right details as you move forward.

At first, you may be intimidated by marketing your services in a face to face environment. However, once you become confident in yourself this can be a lot of fun.

What sets you apart from other writers? Why should I hire you instead of another freelancer?

These are legitimate questions – and you need to have legitimate answers.

If you are unprepared for the above questions, you may be taken off guard and subsequently lose out on a project. There are several basic answers you can use to address this common concern.

• Experience. Do you have a lot of experience in a particular field? If so, play this up as you negotiate with a potential client. By showing success in their field, you are doing your part in showing how you are better than other writers.
• Rates. This subject can be touchy but it is a definite selling point in many cases. If you know that your rates are lower than some or most of the competition, you can use this to your advantage. Of course, you don’t want to lower your rates beyond acceptable standards just to win a project.
• Communication. Let the client know that you will be available from the start of the project through its completion. This is one area in which many freelance writers suffer. By showing that you excel in this area you can get a leg up on other writers.

Before you are taken by surprise, make sure you know what sets you apart from other writers.

In short, the beginning of the year is one of the best times to contact webmasters and small businesses. Many of these individuals and companies are looking to get organized for the year to come. By showing what you have to offer, you may find yourself at the top of the list when writing work is needed.

Have you thought about sending cards to past clients and current prospects, wishing them a happy New Years? Not only is this a great way to show that you care about them on a personal level, but it can also be used as a subtle marketing tool. Best yet, you don’t have to spend a lot of money on this.

With one working week remaining before 2011 is gone for good, it is time to focus on your marketing plan for the months to come. This is a great opportunity to service existing clients and gain new ones.

Marketing should always be on your mind. However, this is even more important during the first month of the year. Do your part now in making sure that 2012 is your best year yet. The time that you put into marketing your services will eventually payoff in the new year!

Here are three tips that I have successfully employed:

1. Local phone book. Although phone books are pretty much a thing of the past, if you are looking to make a list of companies to cold call this is a great resource. By the time you get to the end (which will never happen) you will be able to start right back over at the beginning.

2. Online chamber of commerce directories. Many chambers have online directories of members. Several organizations in my area have 1,000+ member directories that are complete with the business name, address, website address, and phone number. Not only is this a great place to build your list, but since they belong to the chamber you know they have some level of interest in local business.

3. Google search. This may be the most time consuming of the three, but it can turn up great results. If you are targeting attorneys in Houston, for example, you will want to search for “Houston attorneys” or a long tail variation of this phrase. Soon enough you will have more results than you know what to do with.

With these three tips, you can compile a cold call list of tens of thousands of prospects. That should keep you busy for awhile!

Before you pitch your services to a small business, regardless of your method (cold calling, in person, etc.) you should ask yourself these three questions.

1. Do I know enough about the industry to be dangerous? You do not need to know everything about the company and industry you are pitching, but you should have some “working knowledge” to ensure that you can carry on an intelligent conversation.

2. On the surface, what services would make most sense for this business? At the very least, you should have a basic idea of what you can do for the company. Chances are that you will be asked about your services sooner rather than later. Knowing what would work best for the company will allow you to provide suggestions and answer any questions, without hesitation.

3. What rate should I charge? This should be based more on your fee schedule and less on the company itself. No matter what, make sure you at least have a number in mind. This will make it easier to negotiate when the matter of price comes up – and it will come up at some point.

By asking yourself these three questions, you will have more confidence as you begin to get in touch with and pitch your services to small businesses.

Over the years, I have found that connecting with other freelance writers, even if not in person, is very important. Here are three reasons why:

1. Referrals. Time and time again, friends of mine in the business send clients my way. This is one of the biggest perks of growing your network. The more people you know the better chance there is of receiving a referral. As you can imagine, this is much better than having to market your own services.

2. Ask questions, get answers. No matter how long you have been writing, you are sure to have questions pop into your mind. This happens to me all the time. When I can’t find the answer, I always call on one of my friends in the industry.

3. More than just career acquaintances. What starts out as a working relationship may eventually turn into a friendship. I have many friends who are clients of mine and other freelance writers. While we spend a lot of time discussing the industry, we also have talk about everything from sports to politics and much more.

As you can see, connecting with other freelance writers is a big part of making it in this business.

Cold calling is not for everybody. If you decide to give it a try, make sure you are doing everything right from the start.

Here are three cold calling mistakes to avoid:

1. Not using a script. If you are new to cold calling, you need a script to help you through any rough spots. You don’t have to read “word for word.” Instead, you want to use this as a point of reference during different parts of your conversation.

2. Giving up after hearing no a few times. Don’t be surprised if you have to make 50+ calls before somebody gives you time to explain what you have to offer. In short, cold calling is a numbers game. If somebody screams at you, move on. If somebody hangs up on you, move on. Keep moving forward until you find somebody who is interested.

3. On again off again marketing. Just like any form of marketing, you need to be consistent. Don’t make five calls today, three calls tomorrow, and no calls for the following few weeks. Set goals for yourself, such as 15 calls per day, and stick with it no matter what it takes.

Have you made these cold calling mistakes in the past? If so, avoid them in the future to better your chance of success.

Like most writers, I was uncomfortable with cold calling in the beginning. From not knowing what to say to dreading the “hang up” there were a lot of things going through my mind.  Fortunately, like anything else, practice makes perfect. Soon enough I was comfortable with cold calling. Around the same time, I began to realize that this was a great way to grow my business.

Here are three things you can do to become more comfortable with cold calling:

1. Have a script in front of you at all times. In addition to your opening statement, have notes on what you will say based on the response received.

For example, if you hear “tell me more about what you have to offer” you can reference the appropriate section in your notes and take off from there. You don’t want to read word for word. You simply want to give yourself a little help, just in case you need it along the way.

2. Practice by yourself before every call. Don’t feel silly about doing this. Instead, realize that it will make you more comfortable once a live body is on the other end of the conversation.

3. Be courteous at all times. When you are friendly you are going to feel better about what you are doing. And when you feel better about yourself you will be more comfortable with the process as a whole.

Note: just because you are courteous does not mean you can expect the same from the other person. However, don’t let this change your mood.

If you want to give cold calling a try, these three tips can help you become more comfortable.

While these tips are not full-proof and may not work for you every time with every client, they are worth a try.

1. Ask for a referral. If a client likes what you are doing for them they won’t have any issue forwarding your information to others. However, you cannot always expect this to happen without a little push on your end. There is nothing wrong with asking, as long as you do so in a courteous manner.

2. Do good work. How simple is that? When you deliver high quality work on time your client is going to be ecstatic. In turn, they will refer you to others and use your services again in the future.

3. Use the completed project to find similar work in the same industry. Obviously, you don’t want to use a client’s work as a sample unless you have permission. Fortunately, most clients (in my experience, at least) don’t mind this as long as you do not attempt to resell the same exact piece.

By doing one or more of these things you will find it easier to grow your business. Soon enough, one client will turn into two and so on and so forth.

Don’t settle on simply gaining one new client. Instead, forge ahead and search for the next contract. It may be closer than you think.