The Daily Freelancer: They Won't Come to You
One of the things that got me started on this freelancing journey, and what made me really believe that I could do it, was signing up for all of those free email courses, ebooks, and training videos I saw from other freelancers. I’ve actually gotten a lot of value from all those emails, and learned a lot about what to do (pitching, writing, marketing, running a business, getting clients) and what not to do (stop sending me sales emails, or using the “Re:” in your subject line, gosh!).
One of the resources I look forward to in my inbox every morning is Nick Tubis’s Freelance University videos. They’re usually pithy two-minute videos on something related to getting clients, setting up profiles in Upwork, how to market yourself, and more. One thing he said a few weeks ago stuck with me: It was something along the lines of, “Some freelancers on Upwork think they can just set up their profile and wait to be contacted by clients, or only pitch to one client a week.”
What?
Being Active Will Get You Returns
I’m super new to freelancing and getting clients, but one thing I’m not new to is building a following. I started the Boston Book Blog back in 2012, and have grown it into such a local presence that many people I meet out at events know who I am already! But that’s not because I just posted content to my site and waited. I’ve been active on Twitter for years, getting content out there, following local writers and literary organizations, interacting with people on social media, getting out to events to meet folks, cultivating relationships. It’s not easy, and there’s more I could do, and I certainly have a long way to go. But I didn’t wait around. I got out there and made myself known.
This is a long-standing mindset in the business world — I mean, this is essentially marketing and the customer acquisition funnel. It’s making people aware of your product or services, getting them engaged with it, providing value, and ultimately providing that product or service to them.
How Not to Do It
For those who know I come from a fiction background, and am a fiction writer, here’s how not to do it (unfortunately).
After twenty years of being in the fiction writing realm, I only put two-and-two together with this idea of putting yourself out there only very recently, as it’s antithesis to everything I was taught. See, I learned that if you’re a good enough writer, people will come to you. If you’re a good enough writer, you only have to send out one or two query letters, and publishers will be falling all over you. If you’re a good enough writer, you’ll make money. If you’re a good enough writer, the hallowed publisher and editor offices will find you — but don’t you ever contact them!
So, my entire training focused on making me a good enough writer, and nothing else. I never learned how to pitch articles, I never learned how to submit to literary magazines, I never learned how the publishing industry worked.
Most importantly, I was never taught anything about the benefits of marketing for writers — not only to get publishers and literary magazine aware of you by engaging them and proactively letting them know about your work, but even to think of yourself as having something of value to offer. The idea of the writer-as-marketer is so new, and even now, I still see so many writers who say that they’re embarrassed to talk about their work. But then no one will know about it, and if your book could change my life in the way books have, I would certainly want to know what you have to offer! (If Steve Jobs made an iPhone and then never talked about it, the world would be a very different place.)
I think we need to completely disrupt the mindset of fiction writing, and begin treating our work not necessarily as a product to sell, but as something that will bring value to the world around us.
Pitches for Days
With freelancing, I recently learned the simple, obviously lesson of seeding the pipeline (mixed metaphor, but you get it). I’m primarily doing my freelance on Upwork right now, where there are dozens and dozens of jobs available to pitch to that fit my skills. At the beginning, I was being picky — not just because I was reserving Connects, but because I didn’t have the confidence yet. I pitched to that one job a week, and wondered why no one was hiring me. Recently, I’ve shifted my mindset (mostly because I need to pay rent!), and I’ve ramped it all up. Now, I do invest a few bucks in a few dozen Connects (knowing that they’re a drop in the bucket in the long run), and set aside time each day to pitch to jobs. I also now have the confidence and the experience to do so.
A few weeks ago I pitched to twelve jobs, and got three jobs out of it: a 25% response rate. A week after that I was busy and didn’t apply to any jobs — and got no jobs. Armed with the knowledge that I’m about at that 25% return rate, and knowing how much income I need to make, I’m able to know how many pitches I need to do for steady work. And it’s a lot more than I thought it was going to be! I’m trying to get in about a dozen pitches a week, but need to keep on top of it. My target is eventually five pitches per day.
My steady rate of pitching has not only landed me clients, it’s gotten me some long-term projects, it’s brought in income, and I’m noticing that I’m being invited to jobs more often — which means I’m getting seen. Which means I’m getting momentum. And momentum is what fuels the self-run business.
Hi! I’m Jessica, and I can write your content. Head to my Writer for Hire page, and work with me today!
