If You're Not Marketing, You're Just Scraping By.

I saw a couple of interesting posts on working for content mills at Words on the Page and The Avid Writer recently. The question: why do some writers work for content mills instead of marketing to private clients? The money is a lot worse (although I have to say, I'm surprised there are content mills paying as much as $20 per article nowadays. I'd think they'd all be paying $5 per article or worse). The answers were varied, but one of them got me thinking: you work with content mills, and you don't have to do any marketing.

I know a lot of writers have a raving fear of marketing. I relate to it. But most businessowners wouldn't. Could you imagine the owner of your local gym, grocery store or car repair shop saying they have a fear of marketing? How would these people make any money? If you can avoid marketing and survive, you're insanely lucky. Most businesspeople can't. Most businesspeople wouldn't be caught dead getting stuck in the equivalent of a content mill rut just because it gives them the stability to avoid marketing. The bottom line is, if you're not marketing, you're not thriving as you could be.

So why don't writers like to market? I've heard a few reasons given--and I've even given some of these myself. It takes too much time; it's too much of a hassle; it takes too much effort away from personal writing projects. But I think beyond all these excuses is a single reason: lack of confidence. The only way to build your confidence in the writing world is through self-education and experience. Here are a few reasons all writers (including content mill writers) shouldn't avoid marketing:

Marketing makes your job more stable. That content mill (or regular client) could fold at any time, leaving you out in the cold. In a way, freelancers are more stable than people with regular jobs, because they work with several employers--if one evaporates, there's always another one. But that's not true if you're relying on one or two regular clients to keep your head above water, especially in a recession. Marketing increases your client base and helps guarantee you'll stay busy.

Marketing gets you out of ruts. Chances are, that regular client paid you what you thought was a great wage when you were just starting out. But as you've improved your skills, it's pretty likely you're worth more now. Every new client is a new opportunity to give yourself a raise.

Marketing IS your job. I think it's funny that as freelancers, we're happy to market for everybody but ourselves. Marketing copy is our job. And doing it for ourselves gives us practical hands-on experience we can apply to client work. Try it: order a few cheap postcards on VistaPrint with good copy and a call to action, and mail them to businesses you have a solid track record working with. You'll probably get at least one taker.

Every time I've marketed--even when I've just emailed a few businesses in a few minutes to see who's looking for freelancers--I've gotten at least one response that's led to increased income. Marketing might be scary to some of us--writers can be natural introverts--but don't let marketing trepidation hold you back from living up to your potential.