sample text
In Chapter 11 of The Well-Fed Writer, entitled “The Well-Networked Writer,†I share a pile of stories from commercial freelancers everywhere, about landing writing work through unplanned, largely serendipitous social contacts.
The moral: You never know where your next project might come from, so let the world know (in a low-key way, of course) what you’re up to.
The newly-reworked chapter (for the updated edition, now in process…) starts with this story:
12 of us were enjoying a lovely spring evening on the lake on a friend’s boat. I started chatting with a woman I’d known socially for years. “What do you do, Peter?†It was a question we’d never asked each other. When I told her, she replied, “Interesting.†Like she meant it—not just being polite.
Turns out she was the communications director for the Atlanta chapter of a large global charity. And, which needed to create an annual report, some web content, a direct mail campaign, and several brochures. Roughly $7K of work (and much more than that in time). Guess who got it? Guess who should have had that conversation a lot sooner?
Got a Good Story?
Surely, many of you have had similar happy occurrences, where, totally unplanned, you picked up commercial-writing work (and often, a LOT of work) from a social contact.
And speaking of the new edition of TWFW, if you DO have a good (and brief) story like the one above, that you’d like to see included in the new edition, I’d love to see it.
While I love the existing stories in the book (and will happily use them if I don’t get enough stories), it’d be nice to have newer, fresher material for the next edition. And, per my “brief†mention noted, I’m looking for short little accounts (100 words, max, and less is even better) of landing well-paying commercial-writing work (sorry, not just articles).
Please send to me by February 20, 2019, and include your name, city and state (or city/country, if outside the U.S.). If I decide to include your piece in the new edition, you’ll be the first to know.
Please post your submissions here, AND send to me at peter@wellfedwriter.com.
The ‘APPETIZER’ Series: The original version of this piece first appeared as an Appetizer course in The Well-Fed E-PUB in June 2016, and was one I wanted to run as a blog post (with minor alterations) in order to get input from many voices.
Got this note from a successful commercial writer recently:
Another new client asked if I have any wiggle room on my price for 10 emails (at $100 each). This will probably take me a few hours total, so I dropped it to $750, which will still be plenty profitable. Lesson learned: Start high so you can come down if you have to.
He said he works with another writer who charges $50 an hour (ugh!) but would rather work with me. Lesson #2: Do great work so your clients love you and will gladly pay your higher fees for the quality!
Now, if that isn’t the very picture of the ideal copywriting client we all need to be pursuing, I don’t know what is: one who’ll pay more—and sometimes far more—than they’ll pay another copywriter, just to have it done right and done well.
Someone for whom the predictable superior outcome is the goal. The outcome trumps money (within reason) every time.
Think about that: Good clients can and DO perceive the difference between a great commercial writer and an average one. Sounds obvious, but to some writers trying to get traction, they look around at countless other writers asking for $5-10 per article, and ask, “How in the world can I compete with that?â€
Of course, the answer is: You’re not competing with that, and if you try to, you’re either going to lose, or go broke winning.
You don’t compete. You distinguish yourself in some way: by having a niche or specialty, by simply being a better writer, but first and foremost, by looking in different places for work.
Yes, you have to be a decent writer to make money as a commercial freelancer, but I’d wager good money there are plenty of writers out there with modest writing skills—skills little better than those struggling on the online job sites or writing for the content mills—but they’re making a decent living (i.e., making at least $50+ an hour or more).
How? Simply because they stopped hanging out in those low-rent writing ghettos, and stopped bidding on projects with a zillion other writers (a surefire strategy for driving rates down to nothing) and started proactively hunting for writing clients.
Could giving yourself a raise be that easy? Absolutely.
Now, those modest skills are unlikely to propel you into $90-$100-$125/hour+ territory, and far higher than that, like our friend above, but improve them, redirect them into narrower directions, and deliver that predictable superior outcome, and watch what clients will be willing to pay.
Have you experienced the kind of client I describe above—for whom the superior, predictable outcome is something they’ll pay handsomely for?
Have you had clients tell you they prefer working with you, even though you charge more than other writers? If so, what is it they like about you?
Have you spent time in the low-pay writing world, while knowing you were a better writer than most you were competing with?
Have you been able to boost your income just by looking for work in different—and more proactive—ways, and in different places?
Speaking of improving your skills… If you’re interested in giving your commercial-writing skills a serious upgrade, and in the process, give yourself the confidence to take on ANY high-paying commercial writing project, I invite you to check out Well-Fed Craft, my new self-paced course on how to actually write the most common copywriting projects. For full details, go here.
Want to be a guest blogger on TWFW Blog? I welcome your contribution to the Well-Fed writing community! Check out the guidelines here.
Great guest post from Matt Seidholz, a freelance healthcare content writer in Omaha, Nebraska. Hats off to Matt for having the courage to admit some of these classics, but I’m certain each of us have our own “Really??†stories from our early days that we’re not too proud of. But, we learn, correct and move on. Thanks, Matt!
*******************
When I started commercial freelancing, I was so desperate to leave my day-job. I hated it, and thought copywriting could be my way out. Can you relate?
That desperation was wonderful fuel for my fire. It’s what got me on the phone, every day, trying to drum up commercial-writing clients.
But it also pushed me to do some very, very dumb things—things that pushed away potential clients, and hampered my copywriting business for months. I still cringe at the memory.
Here are the four dumb things in all their client-repelling glory, and what I wish I’d done instead.
1. Over-Eagerness
This one started with a cold-call to a marketing manager for a large medical manufacturer. Big fish for a new guy!
Imagine my delight when he said he might—just might—need some help. “Check back on the first of the month,†he said.
Oh, I wouldn’t miss it.
The first came around, and I called. No answer. Waited an hour. Called again. Voice mail. 15 minutes later, tried again. Nothing.
So I called again. And again. And again. And again. All told, I called this guy thirteen times in one day.
Clearly, I’d put way too much stock in this guy’s “maybe.†Of course, he never called back.
LESSON: Show restraint, not desperation, when selling yourself!
2) “Look at how smart I am!â€
Another textbook foul-up.
I was browsing a company’s sales brochures, trying to get a feel for their work. Good idea, right?
But as I read their material, all I could think was: “I can do so much better!” I attacked their brochures with a red pen, hacking, slashing, underlining away. Then I wrote a new one, with “improved†copy.
Unsolicited, I mailed the edited version and my new work—with business card—to the company’s marketing manager. I was so proud of myself.
Cringing yet?
A week later, the manager emailed me himself, saying, essentially, Thanks for your edits on my copy. But we’re happy with what we’ve got.
Oof. Only then did it dawn on me how insulting I’d been.
LESSON: Check your ego, and offer help, not insults.
3) It’s a Man’s World – Isn’t It?
Yet another unforced error.
On another cold-call, a marketing associate at a hospital asked me to send her my information. “That way I can send it up to the VP of Marketing.â€
Should have been an easy win, but I blew it.
I wrote back: “Thanks for the connection. Please relay my info to your boss. If he likes what he sees, we should chat on the phone!â€
A subtle, but obvious mistake. The associate sure caught it, and less than half an hour later, emailed me back: “Our marketing VP is a she.â€
That’s it. No signature, no “call us back,†no nothing. And I never heard from them again.
LESSON: No matter your gender, race, creed – stay professional, and be careful about the biases you communicate.
4) Jumping the Gun
This mistake actually happened after I landed a gig. Or, at least, after I thought I had.
I was speaking with a marketing director at a surgical center. She mentioned that she wanted to publish an article about a new device.
Oh boy, did I jump at that.
This was at the very beginning of my writing career. I was trying to build up my portfolio. Our conversation went like this:
“No problem, I’ll do it for free!â€
“Uh, are you sure? It’s a lot of work.â€
“Absolutely. I’ll turn it around for you in two weeks.â€
“Alright…I guess.â€
Elated, I was in a hurry to hang up and start writing.
Notice: No intelligent questions from me, and zero enthusiasm from her. I took her tentative yes for a “full-speed ahead.†Bad move.
I took to the project with rabid intensity. I read up on lymph-node biopsies, found technical manuals for the machine, and was just so darned excited to use words like “pneumothorax†and “endobrachial ultrasound.â€
I liked what I wrote, and I was expecting effusive praise when I delivered it.
Instead, I got this: “This wasn’t what I had in mind. Please don’t spend any more of your time on this.â€
Ouch.
LESSONS (two of them):
1) Never write for someone that doesn’t want you. Incredibly obvious, right? Sure, but a desperate novice will try anything for a quick win. Don’t. Get an enthusiastic “Yes!†before you ever pick up your pen.
2) Make sure you understand the job at hand. I dove into this project without knowing what this manager wanted to achieve. So how was I supposed to help her? Ask questions, so you can deliver something your clients can actually use.
3) (PB Addition): Don’t work for free! I understand pro bono work to build a portfolio, but if you’re going that route, keep your time commitment reasonable, and, of course, make sure you’re following Matt’s first two lessons above (including making sure the client knows you’re doing it to build your portfolio).
Wrapping Up
Yes, these were stupid, embarrassing mistakes. But things turned out okay for me.
These days I’m writing and thriving—plenty of money coming in, more business than I can handle, with new clients cold-calling me all the time.
My secret? Persistence. I chose to see my screw-ups as growing pains, and I got savvier with time.
It happened for me, and it can happen for you. After all, you can’t possibly screw up worse than I did!
(If you’re willing to admit it), what’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done in dealing with a commercial writing client?
How’d you recover? Did you try to pursue these clients again?
What do you think is the worst mistake a rookie can make when they’re starting out as a commercial freelancer?
Want to be a guest blogger on TWFW Blog? I welcome your contribution to the Well-Fed writing community! Check out the guidelines here.