Sowing the Seeds of Opportunity: How to Multiply Your Freelance (Writing) Work
By Brian Konradt
You can turn your $200 fee
to write a press release into $2,000 to carry out an entire PR campaign simply
by convincing clients to invest in campaigns, instead of individual assignments.
Campaigns achieve better results and cost less in the long-term for clients,
compared to individual assignments. And, of course, as the freelancer, you get
paid much more for turning out a succession of assignments that assimilate a
successful campaign.
Here's how to multiply your
writing sales by convincing clients to invest in long-term campaigns, instead of
short-term individual assignments.
• Know the short-term and
long-term results. A client approaches you to write a brochure. He may or may
not know that his product can also benefit from other types of promotional
pieces, such as ads, direct mail, news releases, websites, and so on, to sell
his product or service. Your job is to educate the client. The brochure may be
the first promotional piece in a consortium of promotional pieces. Here, you
must know the short-term and long-term view results of the brochure.
The short-term results are
the results the brochure will achieve for the client; and the long-term results
are the results the brochure will achieve/contribute for the entire campaign. It
answers the questions, "How do the results of this brochure fit into the
entire campaign?" and "How can these results be strengthened with
other forms of promotional materials?"
Show the client how a
campaign, that's comprised of a succession of assignments, can achieve -- and
exceed-- his expectations and
outsell and outdo the performance of a single assignment.
• Use "tie-in"
services. Whenever a client
approaches you with a single assignment, ask yourself what tie-in services can
supplement the single assignment. A news release achieves better results when
it's accompanied with a photo. And a press kit-- complete with press releases,
photos, brochures, and company information-- can achieve better results than a
single press release. All of these extra tie-in services can turn writing a
single press release into multiple writing sales.
• Offer the "concept
to completion" benefit. Instead of pitching yourself as a freelancer who
can write newsletter copy, pitch yourself as a freelancer who produces
newsletters, from copy to completion. You multiply your income by outsourcing
parts of the job and delivering a finished product, not a piece of the product.
You also can extend your "concept to completion" services by pitching
yourself as a marketing consultant, in which you make recommendations to the
client as to the best way to market the newsletter.
• Develop strong
consultative skills. Besides selling your freelance services, also offer
consulting services. Clients pay you to explain ideas, concepts,
recommendations, and turnkey solutions as to the best way to achieve the results
they desire. Consulting with clients can lead to securing freelance work, since
clients realize you have the skills and expertise to undertake the task.
• Know the future needs
of clients. Clients come with present needs-- and future needs. A client may
hire you to write a newsletter now, but they'll also consider you for future
work if you know what their future needs are and how to fulfill them. The
company may be ushering in a new product line, creating a new division within
the company, sponsoring a charity event, or creating a website. All of these
future events need a freelancer to do promotional writing and freelance work.
That's you. Your job is to show clients how you'll address their future needs
with solutions that'll increase their profitability and/or productivity. This is
usually accomplished with a proposal through which you pitch yourself as the
freelancer who has the solutions to undertake the future tasks.
• Use proposals to secure
work. Proposals are an inclusive persuasion tool to convince prospects that you
can increase their profitability and/or productivity with your freelance
services. Proposals specifically show the client how you intend to achieve the
desired results, the time and costs involved, and why you and your solutions are
the best choices to boost the company's profits.
•
Adaptations. Any of your freelance writing services can be adapted for
websites, turning a single assignment into two assignments. Get paid to write a
press release or brochure, and then get paid again to adapt the copy digitally.
• Add-on services, such
as desktop publishing services, marketing consulting, compiling and selling
media lists, and project coordinating can help multiply your work and your
income.
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Brian Konradt is a former freelance copywriter and
graphic designer, and founder of FreelanceWriting.Com (http://www.freelancewriting.com),
a free web site dedicated to help writers master the business and creative sides
of freelance writing.
