Talking to Each Other
No matter what you do in the freelance world – writer, editor, SEO expert – at some point or another, you’ll need to market your work. Most of us don’t enjoy the process: we’re good at sitting in a room and writing, editing, or optimizing, and a lot less good at tooting our horns to attract more people to pay us to do that sitting in the room.
A necessary evil, at the very least.
One of the best tools I’ve found is to target and join multiple professional associations. And not just any professional associations: you need to choose ones where you will encounter the clients you’re hoping will engage your services. (Other groups — writing, editing, and SEO groups — may be great for your professional development, but don’t join them to get clients.) For example, if you want to target financial clients, research and then visit and/or join a few of their professional associations. You can take it a step further and participate in their email lists, advertise in their journals, attend their conferences, etc., but start with the professional associations: networking is king.
Other groups that exist uniquely for networking purposes are also worth exploring. Google “networking groups” or “networking associations” in your area and see what turns up. Typically this will involve attending regular local meetings and passing referrals to other group members along with accepting referrals from them.
Either or both choices are good, as are online networking opportunities such as LinkedIn and other such sites. Marketing doesn’t have to be a terrible chore, and you can end up with as many contacts as you make sales! And then you’ll be … beyond the elements of style!
Posted in Publicity, The Writing Life, search engine optimization, SEO on December 11th, 2007