Marketing is Important, but what are you Selling?

There is no denying that freelance writers should spend a lot of time marketing their services. This can be done in many ways: cold calls, cold emails, and query letters among others. But before you get ahead of yourself, there is one thing that you may be forgetting. You have to back up your “marketing claims.” In other words, you have to be ready to sell yourself.

When it comes to selling your services, confidence is essential. Along with this, the following is also needed:

  1. Freelance writing resume -- This should include your name, contact information, experience, education, special skills, and any other details that you deem important. I have found over the years that a good resume can do a lot of the “sales work” for me.
  2. Samples -- Anybody can create an appealing resume, but not everybody has a hand full of high quality samples. Along with your resume, you need to forward samples to potential clients. The more you have the better off you are going to be. As your career grows so will the number of samples in your portfolio.
  3. The ability and willingness to talk about yourself -- Sure, your resume and samples will carry you a long way – this is to be expected. At some point you will have to open up to the buyer, tell them a bit about yourself, and show them why you are right for the job. No matter if this is done on the phone or via email, you have to be ready to show your confidence (not arrogance) and to prove that you are the right hire.

The point of this post is two-fold:

  1. To show that marketing is important.
  2. To show that marketing your services is just the beginning of the process.

Proper marketing will get your foot in the door. But it is your sales tactics that will determine if you land new gigs.

Profile image for Chris Bibey
Chris is a full-time freelance writer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He specializes in web content, sales copy, and many other forms of writing. Chris has two books in print, as well as hundreds of articles in local and nationwide publications.

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3 thoughts on “Marketing is Important, but what are you Selling?”

  1. All true and I’d add along with being willing to talk about myself (my writing) the willingness to listen carefully and ask questions, always remembering the potential client has a problem and it really is all about them, not me 😉

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  2. These are integral components of marketing collateral and stratgey–and you’re right on Anne!

    I think it is important to have a specialty, a honed focus. Just shouting FREELANCE WRITER, FREELANCE WRITER isn’t idea. You should be shouting FREELANCE PRODUCTIVITY WRITER haha or whatever your niche is. Only without the shouting.

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