Everyone’s Marketing Fingerprint is Different

Over at Words on the Page, Lori Widmer brings up something I’ve been meaning to write about ever since I had a conversation with a friend about getting into freelancing—the marketing routine, and why it’s tough to tell someone else how to market their business. He asked me the best way to get started, but really, what he wanted to know was where and how to find work (which is a whole different question). I always have such a hard time answering that question. There are so many ways to market yourself, but what will ultimately work for you is a very individual thing. Marketing is a marathon, and you have to choose the route that works best for you.

As for me, I keep it simple. Believe it or not, I get a significant amount of business just by cold-emailing businesses I want to work with. I’ve landed several long-term clients that way. Others include in-person networking (but never at networking events; this only seems to happen at parties and places where I’m hanging out, relaxing, and chatting with someone who it turns out has some work for me); referrals from existing clients and writing colleagues; the random postcard mailer every so often; and website traffic. I’ve also gotten decent, well-paid work from online job boards and Craigslist, although the prevailing wisdom is that isn’t likely.

Here are my thoughts to people who want advice on where to find work and how to market themselves.

Marketing is an individual thing. Like Lori says, what works for me might not necessarily work for you. I got started with Peter Bowerman’s The Well-Fed Writer, which advocates—among a host of other marketing options—cold calling. I will never be good at cold calling. In fact, I probably hurt my business by doing it. You, however, might rock at it. It doesn’t hurt to try.

You don’t have to spend a lot of time at it. Like Lori, I’ve heard self-proclaimed experts in the field say that you have to spend several hours a day marketing. Personally, I haven’t found that to be true. I market pretty much when I’m hurting for work, and rarely when I’m busy, which is the majority of the time (knock on wood). So every few months I might market for an hour or so a day until things pick up again. You don’t have to do it all the time. Although, it might fit your routine, lifestyle, earnings goals, and so on better if you do. There’s no reason not to, except that it cuts into work time.

Try a lot of stuff. I can’t tell you what marketing tactics will increase your business. That’s an individual thing—and I have no magic bullet of advice that will replace just getting out there, trying a lot of different stuff, and keeping track of your failures and successes. That’s how I learned to do it.

There is no advice that will replace trying lots of different things—and failing at lots of different things—before you hit on a method that works for you. To anyone looking for marketing advice, I’d suggest picking up some books on the subject—Peter Bowerman is a great place to start—and try one marketing tactic per month, or every two weeks, or however long you feel it will take to start seeing results…until you hit on something that works.

Careful Who You Recommend

When clients come to me with requests for services besides copywriting, I don't recommend just anyone. Fair or not, I'm aware that who I recommend will reflect in some small way on me--and I wouldn't want to be associated with a negative experience in a client's mind, even if I wasn't the one giving it. I also don't want to look like I don't have the client's best interests at heart--it's possible the client could suspect I recommended someone inexperienced just to help them out, rather than pointing the client toward someone who would truly do a good job.

Here are a few questions I ask when deciding whether to recommend someone to a client.

What were my experiences working with this person before? I love to bring business to other people. And I frequently recommend clients of mine to others looking for certain services. I feel totally comfortable recommending clients I've worked with in the past, because I know how they work, I've seen how professional they are, and I know they'll do a good job for the person who asks me for the referral. Of course, not everyone I recommend is someone I've worked with in the past.

Do I like their work? The people I recommend to others all tend to be people I have a history with--even if I've never worked with them in the past. They're people whose work I've seen and respect, people who have clear experience in the industry and the area the client is looking for.

Are they courteous and professional? This is big. Even if they do great work, I'd have a hard time recommending people who seem to have difficult personalities--at least not without a huge caveat to the client. I'd also have a hard time recommending someone I know isn't that strict about deadlines or asks for extensions fairly regularly.

Do they have the needed expertise?When I recommend copywriters for a job, it tends to be for a type of copywriting I don't offer--and that I know the other person has specialized expertise in. The reason for this is that I'm a generalist, which means I'm not as picky about the assignments I take on as some others. This isn't to say I'm not picky, but I won't turn down a brochure project or a radio spot just because I don't do that type of copywriting. I don't, however, do technical writing, or pharmaceutical writing, or user manuals for engineers, or writing for a highly niche-educated audience that doesn't compensate adequately for the amount of research I'd have to do. I also am not crazy about doing press releases. I'll do them, but if I"m swamped, a press release job is something I'm likely to pass on to someone I know specializes in that area.

How do you choose your referrals?

Is Copywriting an Ideal Day Job for Creative Writers?

I was at a party the other night. Drinks were flowing, music was pumping…and I was talking to someone about my job. Yeah, I do that sometimes. I love talking about my job, even at parties when everyone else there is working hard at forgetting their jobs. This is what happens when you quit doing stuff you hate and finally (finally!) make money doing something you love.

I came to copywriting as a creative person looking for a day job. All I wanted was steady, flexible employment that wouldn’t put any unreasonable demands on me about being at the same place at the same time every day (to me, any such demand was unreasonable). I was an aspiring actress and novelist. I wanted freedom to go to auditions whenever I wanted and work on my novels whenever the mood struck me. I didn’t want a boss breathing down my back. Oh, yeah—and I didn’t want to starve. I didn’t see any glamour in living in poverty.

It turned out copywriting was the perfect day job for me. But it isn’t for everybody. Some people find that it’s too hard to stay inspired about their novels, poetry, or other creative writing projects when they’ve been writing all day at work. Others find it too hard to deal with the lack of a steady, guaranteed paycheck or health insurance. If those things would bother you, then it’s probably not for you.

But for me, it was ideal. When I was working in a cubicle farm, I was rarely inspired to write creatively—I was too psychically drained from working in an environment that wasn’t right for me, forty hours a week or more. Now I’m inspired all the time—I’ve actually established a very dependable creative writing habit. The copywriting work doesn’t detract from that for me—the jobs I hated were much worse for my creative writing.

Flexibility helps me with that. I don’t have to be in a certain place every day, and I don’t have to act busy. Whenever I feel like it, I can switch from copywriting to creative writing throughout the day. Usually I do copy til about two or four—depending on the day—and then work for an hour or two on a novel.

Also, I’m good at writing. One of the reasons I was so unhappy in previous jobs was that I wasn’t being paid to do something I loved or had any particular talent in. Some of the things I was being paid to do—such as waiting tables or anything technical—the companies would have been better off paying me not to do. But even if copywriting isn’t exactly the Great American Novel, I’m good at it. I take pride in it. I enjoy it. And even if my creative endeavors never blossom into full-time work themselves, I now have the joy of knowing that I’ve built a life that can make me happy—both creatively and financially.

How do you balance your creative work and your day job?

Fair Markups or Price Gouging—When is it Okay to Charge More?

If you’ve done your homework in establishing rates, chances are you have a basic minimum rate below which you know it isn’t worth your time to take a project on. But do you have a maximum rate? When do you raise your rates beyond that—if you do?

In this blog post, I’m not discussing raising your rates in general. I’m talking about specific instances when it’s fair to charge one client more than another for the same amount of work. Here are a few instances where you may think about charging more—and my thoughts on how appropriate each one is.

When you’re working with a difficult person. If after every email exchange with this person you feel the need for a glass of wine—even at ten in the morning—you’re officially dealing with A Difficult Person. These people are, in my experience, thankfully rare. But they do exist, and if you haven’t encountered one yet, don’t worry—yours will come.

So should you charge extra for bad behavior? A lot of people do—although they won’t tell the client that. I think it’s fair. A difficult person adds to your stress levels. You’re likely to get bigger demands, more revision requests, and more general hassle from difficult people. And sometimes you really don’t want to work with the person unless it’s for a lot of cash—so you quote the fantastic, ridiculously high price that would make their behavior tolerable.

When the client wants more than copywriting. I always charge more when the client wants anything more than straight copywriting—whether that’s including images, writing with HTML text, or including embedded links. Even what sounds like a small amount of added work can add up to a lot of time over the course of a large project. Usually the amount I charge per page for this type of added work is small—but it also adds up over time, and makes the extra effort worth it.

When you’re working in a client’s CMS. Uploading anything onto a client’s website is worth an extra mention. You never know what you’re dealing with if you’re using a custom CMS—you don’t know if you’ll have a difficult time getting the formatting just right or navigating to the right place to post, and not all CMS systems are easy to use. If your client wants you to navigate an unfamiliar CMS as part of your project, always get on the phone and have them walk you through using it before giving a quote—so you’ll understand better the work involved.

When the client can afford it. This one’s a bit more problematic. Some might call this price gouging…and when the tables are turned, I have to admit I’d feel that way. But it’s not always a simple answer. Some clients are used to working with freelancers who charge a certain price, and might not take you seriously if your price comes in well below theirs. In some industries and situations, a lower price can spell out “amateur.”

When you’re charging for your colleague’s graphic design, too. I’ve talked to people on the client end before who resent this situation—when the client asks for another service, such as graphic design, for example, and the writer brings in a graphic designer and then charges a mark-up on their price. I think it’s fair to charge a mark-up, however, if it reflects a certain amount of project management you’ll have to do. If you present yourself as the head of the team or company providing the service to the company, you’ll be held responsible for the team members’ work—at least to some extent--and that should be taken into account in pricing.

When do you mark up your prices—and where’s the line for you when it comes to fairness?

When a Client Wants More Than Copywriting

Sometimes a client needs more than your words. Sometimes they need graphic design, keyword research, SEO, media placement, or one of a wide range of other services that often go hand-in-hand with copywriting. If you offer these services, great—work them into your existing project.

But what if you don’t offer the extra service the client wants? You have several options, each with its own pluses and drawbacks. Here’s an overview of your possible responses:

“No, I don’t offer that service.” Sometimes the easiest thing to do is just say no and move on. This is the best track, I think, if you genuinely don’t know anyone who provides the service well enough to recommend them. Recommendations reflect on you, too, and you don’t want to recommend just anyone.

That said, by brushing off the client’s question, you do miss an opportunity—not just to make things easier for your client, but also to make a friend and even yourself some extra money.

“Sure, my company can handle that!” You also have the option of handling it all “in-house.” Don’t have an in-house graphic design department or SEO? No problem…bring one in! It works like this: you negotiate separately—and sign a contract separately—with the service provider you bring in. Then you offer your client a marked-up price, and the contract they sign with you covers the service provider as well.

The bit about the mark-up sounds good—but it’s not free money. You’ll have to earn it by doing some project management. You may act as a liaison between the client and the service provider, and you may be held responsible if the service provider doesn’t deliver on time. This type of arrangement usually comes with added responsibility as well as added revenue, which is why many feel it’s fair to charge a mark-up.

“I don’t offer that myself, but I can recommend someone who can…” This is an in-between option. Instead of brushing off the client’s request, recommend a service provider you know—or give the client a list to choose from, if you know several.

Under this arrangement, the client contracts directly with the service provider—you won’t be asked to manage the project. You won’t get any revenue, either—unless you and the service provider have a separate referral-fee agreement. This arrangement is usually easy to manage for you—no added extra work. It helps a fellow provider who may be inspired to return the favor someday. And it makes things easier for the client, who would likely rather use someone you recommend than find someone on their own.

How do you handle client requests for added services?

Content vs. Copy

I think the word “content” when applied to writing is a bit misleading. The way it’s used, it implies a commodity—like writers are just sitting on content warehouses and can just offer bulk rates on their inventories and still make a profit. No matter how much the web tries to commoditize writing, content-writing is still a service—content is not a product. But that’s another blog post. What I’m mainly concerned with today is content vs. copy—and the difference between these two projects.

There’s a distinct difference between what people refer to as “content” and copy. I’ve heard the word “content” used in a variety of ways to refer to writing, particularly writing online. And while some may define it differently than others, to me there’s a very clear divide between what’s called content and what’s actually sales copy. I quote and charge differently for these two types of writing, and I approach copy and content projects quite differently.

Dealing With Requests for Free Copy

Like a lot of freelancers, I do have a friends-and-family discount. Very few people in my life get completely free copywriting and editing help, no questions asked—but there are a handful of people I do that for. Close family. Close friends. My boyfriend. People like that. People who’d do anything for me, and people I’d do anything for—including write for free, anytime.

There are other people who fall into a gray area. A casual friend who mentions he’s setting up a website and starts to get excited about getting me involved—I get excited too, until it becomes clear to me he expects my help to be free. Random people like my landlord or my dentist—people I have a friendly relationship with, but not exactly a “do-anything-for-each-other” relationship.

The truth is, I can’t give free help to everyone who asks. Nor do I believe I should. There aren’t enough hours in the day, and if I’m doing something for free, it’s for someone or something very important to me. Still, a lot of the time, the people asking for help are friends, in a sense—people I have a good relationship with. So how do you say no without ruffling feathers?