Tag Archives: networking

Freelancing: It’s Not Enough to Love the Writing

By on February 21st, 2013

If you’re anything like me, you love to write. If you didn’t, you probably wouldn’t have chosen a career in freelance writing. But it’s not enough to love the writing. You also have to love the work. No freelance writing business will succeed on writing alone. You have to network, market your services, maintain a website or portfolio, and handle basic administrative and financial tasks on a regular basis. Fortunately you don’t have to let those other work-related tasks hold you down, pulling you away from the writing you love so much. Balancing Writing and Running Your Business The real key is …

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Freelance Writing Jobs for Beginners: Where to Start

By on February 12th, 2013

I’m a big fan of query-free freelancing. That means I don’t generally pursue freelance writing jobs. I do things that attract clients to me instead. For example, I run blogs that keep me fresh in prospects’ minds and I make sure my business site is well-optimized for search engines so I’m one of the first writers prospects find when they search for someone. While the query-free freelancing approach works very well for most types of freelance writing, and it can work fairly quickly if you work hard at it up front, I know it doesn’t suit everyone — especially beginner freelance writers …

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The Holiday Season offers great Networking Opportunities

By on December 27th, 2010

Some freelance writers make the mistake of putting their marketing plan on the backburner during the holiday season. While there is no denying that you want to spend time with your family and friends, this is one time of the year when networking should come naturally. Do you really want to pass up this opportunity? Here are three ways to connect with your network, as well as others, during the holiday season: Send a card or gift. This does not have to be something that costs an arm and a leg. After sending the item, wait a couple of days …

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Grow your Network with these Three Tips

By on December 13th, 2010

Some of my best freelance writing gigs have come from people in my network. These are not necessarily people I have worked with in the past. Rather, they are professionals I have met and kept in touch with over the years. Here are three tips to successfully grow your network: Ask your closest clients and business partners for introductions. If you can get five people to pass your name along to five others you are well on your way to adding to your network. Soon enough you will be able to ask those five for an introduction, so on and …

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Connecting With Customers

By on April 28th, 2008

We talked the other day about an example of an editor personally connecting with a buyer (in this case, me) after a purchase. It was an excellent example of relationship building with your target market for your book. So today I want to ask you… how else can authors build a relationship with their audience, whether one-on-one or not? I’ll kick it off with a few basic ideas. I hope you’ll leave a comment to help expand the list, sharing your own experiences (either as an author, publisher, or even customer). Ways to Connect With Customers or Potential Customers Keep …

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How to Keep Your Client Relationships Fresh Online

By on August 31st, 2007

Latoya had a third great question for this week’s reader question set: Question “Anytime I’ve worked with clients for more than a few months, I noticed the relationship gets kind of stale. It becomes a very robotic process of receiving assignments, returning the work, and then receiving payment. So, do you have any advice for relationship building when you work with someone strictly via email?” Answer: Client relationships can be a lot like romantic relationships. There’s always the potential that your significant other (in this case your client) will be wooed away by some new lover (in this case another …

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Tips to Set Up a Referral System With Clients

By on August 31st, 2007

Here’s another question from Latoya of Writers Brew: Question What tips do you have for creating a referral system using existing clients? Answer I can’t say that I’ve ever set up a referral “system” with my existing clients. I’m a big believer in natural referrals whenever possible… they just carry more weight. My clients are happy with my work, and they refer me to their friends, colleagues, and even their own clients or customers. But if you wanted to be more aggressive about it, there are certainly things you can do: If you work with local clients, try my recent …

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3 Tips to Network Your Way to a Better Freelance Writing Career

By on July 14th, 2007

It’s no secret that business networking is vital to the careers of many successful freelance writers. Networking is simply the act of connecting with colleagues, potential clients, or others in your industry, and those connections have a tendency to lead to freelance writing gigs; including unpublished ones. How My Network Gets Me Gigs Personally, I get the majority of my clients (both in writing and in marketing / PR) through referrals. Those referrals most often come from past clients who liked my work, so they spread the word. I also get referrals from colleagues (other writers who receive offers for …

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List of Freelance Writing Forums

By on May 3rd, 2007

Today someone suggested that I create a list of freelance writing forms that might benefit writers, in helping them to find freelance writing jobs and to improve their writing skills. Writing forums are an excellent networking tool for writers, and I’m constantly telling writers to improve their networking if they want to improve the caliber of freelance writing gigs that come their way. So here you go: AbsoluteWrite Forums All Freelance Writing Forums FreelanceWriting.com Forums MediaBistro Forums WritersBeat.com Writers Weekly Forums Writing.com Discussions WritingForums.com WritingForums.org WWforums.com If you’re a member of other writing forums, feel free to include them in …

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Writers: Network for Referrals

By on November 30th, 2006

One of the most important things you can do as a freelance writer (whether you work predominantly online or off) is networking with other writers. Many of the best freelance writing gigs are never published, but can be passed along by writers in your network who have come across it through their contacts. A strong network can also lead to referrals. All writers will occasionally come across gig offers that don’t fit into their schedule, their rates, or their niche. By keeping a strong network, they can point that client to another quality writer (hopefully you). Join freelance writing forums …

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