No matter the situation, I have always been an organized person. This has worked out well, because as a freelance writer, organization is essential. When it comes down to it, the more organized you are the more efficient you are going to become. This means that you will be able to complete more work, and of course, cut back on the headaches and stress that go along with clutter.
How do you organize your freelance writing business? I do this both electronically and on paper. For instance, all of my invoices and payment data is kept on my computer. This allows me to find what I am looking for, and also make changes and updates quickly and accurately. At the same time, I keep a lot of these same records in a filing cabinet as well. I print out all of my PayPal invoices and always make sure that I file bank statements and other important documents.
As far as my day to day work is concerned, I stay organized by keeping a sticky note next to my keyboard. On this note, I include a list of projects that need to be completed on that day, as well as some tasks that I would like to get to if possible. During my first few months as a freelance writer, I kept track of my projects via email. Soon enough I had too much work to continue with this method, so I began to write down everything to ensure that nothing gets missed.
If you are not an organized person by nature, you need to make sure that your freelance writing career is an exception. It may not seem like a big deal, but as your business grows, staying organized is a key component to your success.Â
As you probably know, the majority of communicating within your freelance writing career is done via email. This is the case for 99 percent of freelance writers, and will be for the foreseeable future. With that in mind, cold emailing is one of the best ways to find new clients. Personally, this is not a method that I employ on a regular basis. That being said, the few times that I have tried it has worked out quite well.
The three tips below should help you to increase your chance of landing a job through the use of cold emailing:
1. It is essential that you do not become known as a spammer. If this happens, you are going to get a very bad reputation which could lead to a downturn in business as well as people within the industry talking poorly about you. The best way to avoid this is to personalize every email. In other words, do not send out mass emails addressed to “whom it may concern.†Instead, start each email by greeting the recipient. To go along with this, you will also want to add a personalized message. For instance, you could use, “I recently came across your blog, sportsxyz.com, and noticed that you employ freelance writers. With my experience in the sports industry, both on a local and national level, I feel that I may be able to assist you in this area.†With a personalized message like this, you have a much better chance of success while not being pegged a spammer.
2. With a cold email, you need to be short and to the point. Remember, the recipient is not expecting your email so they may not spend a lot of time reading a long “sales pitch.†Instead, you should include the basic information such as who you are and what benefits you can offer them. When it comes down to it, a long email is going to get skimmed and deleted more times than not.
3. Keep track of the emails that you send out. One of the biggest mistakes that freelance writers make in this area is sending repeat emails. When you do this, you are not only annoying the recipient but you are also wasting your time. You can easily keep track of your emails by setting up a spreadsheet with fields detailing the contact, the date of the email, and any response.
Sending cold emails is a great way to find freelance writing work. Remember to keep these three tips in mind; they will increase your chances of success.
As I have said time and time again, making cold calls is one of the best ways to increase your freelance writing workload. Of course, many writers think that this is a bad idea because they would rather write and not act as a salesman. While I can agree with this to a certain point, you need to look at cold calling as a marketing technique. In other words, when you cold call you are attempting to drum up new business. Sure, you are trying to sell yourself, but at the same time this is a great way to market your services and spread your name throughout many industries.
If you have yet to look into cold calling but want to move forward soon enough, the tips below should be able to help you get started:
1. Make a list of companies that you want to cold call before you get started. This way you can move from one to the next without having to waste time finding companies and contact information between calls. By doing this, you will be able to get 10 or more cold calls done in an hour or less. Of course, you may end up spending a lot of time on the phone if you locate a few companies who are interested in what you have to offer.
2. You want to get in touch with the decision maker on the first call. In most cases, you will have to go through at least one person, usually a secretary, before you have the chance to speak with the person who can actually hire you. Although this can take some time and creativity, it is very important. Unless you speak with the decision maker, you have no chance of actually getting hired.
In many cases you will not know who is in charge of hiring freelancers. When you run into this situation, a receptionist or secretary can be your best friend. Tell them who you are, and what you are trying to accomplish. Although not always the case, the majority of receptionists will at least put you through to the appropriate party’s voicemail.
3. When you get the decision maker on the phone, be ready with your pitch. You should quickly tell them who you are and what you are selling. For instance, “My name is Chris and I am a local freelance writer. I wanted to touch base with your company to see if you hire freelancers in any capacity.†This is short and sweet, and will put the ball in their court.
With these three tips, making cold calls for your freelance writing career should no longer seem intimidating. Instead, you should be confident that this is a great way to find new work.Â
