By Paul Lima

Writers like to write. They don’t like to sell. I find that ironic, because most sales efforts require writing—telemarketing scripts, emails, letters, advertising copy or media releases.

Why is it we can so easily do for others that which we don’t do for ourselves?

The answer is simple. Many writers, even those that write for the corporate market, don’t understand that they are in business. They fail to apply basic business principles to their writing business.

Once you know, or accept, that you are in business, it is easier to apply business tools, business marketing tools in particular, to your freelance writing business.

Like any business, I have five arrows in my marketing quiver. I shoot them all in a planned and systematic manner to generate new and repeat business. The five arrows include:

• Generate repeat business, testimonials and referrals
• Network with friends, relatives and associates
• Network through organizations
• Advertising and promotion
• Cold calling and direct mail

Any retailer can tell you that their next customer is most likely to be a previous customer. But they don’t wait for repeat customers to walk through the door. They use direct mail and other means to invite them to return.

When was the last time you asked previous clients if they needed your services? Out of site is out of mind, so make generating repeat business one of your marketing strategies.

Most businesses know that positive word of mouth is their friend. Deliver the goods and happy customers are likely to tell others about you. You can sit back and hope your clients will tell others about you, or you can motivate positive word of mouth by asking your clients—by phone or email—for referrals and testimonials.

You can also ask people you know to tell others about you. This simple but powerful marketing tool is known as networking.

A number of organized groups—chambers of commerce, boards of trades, trade associations, and even writers and independent practitioner organizations—stage formal networking events. If you are not there, you are not meeting potential new clients.

Why not advertise your services? Whenever I suggest that writers advertise, they look askance, as if it is a sin for writers to spend money on marketing.

If you write for the automotive or financial services industry, why not take out a small ad or classified ad in a trade publication that reaches your audience? It’s what other businesses that want to reach that market do.

While you may not be a big business, you can still promote yourself or  generate publicity for yourself.

For instance, if you specialize in writing proposals for the not-for-profit sector, or IT training manuals for software companies, let the editors of appropriate publications know that you are willing to be interviewed for articles that deal with communication issues or strategies. You may even be asked to write a short article on your area of expertise for the publication. That is solid exposure for freelancer writers who are targeting the corporate sector.

Finally, use the Web or business directories to source business contact information and promote your services using cold calling and direct mail.

Since marketing is, in many ways, a numbers game, you should be sending out five or more direct mail pitches per week.

Not every arrow in the marketing quiver will hit the target every time, but if you are not taking shots, you will never hit the target. So remind yourself that you are in business, and start marketing like it matters. Because if you are in business, marketing does matter.  

Paul Lima is a freelance writer, writing coach and author of The Six-Figure Freelancer: How to Find, Price, and Manage Corporate Writing Assignments. Visit him online at www.paullima.com.