Writing vs. Selling

Many beginning freelance writers are so consumed with the act of writing and producing material that they forget about selling their work until the last minute, after they’ve finished writing it. But writing and selling should go hand-in-hand. One job needs the other to be a success. So before you even begin to work on a project, have an idea of where you’ll potentially sell it.

The best salespeople begin their sales campaigns by developing a list of prospects. They glean names from whatever source they can, building a list of people to contact. Though over time you’ll amass a list of people you can count on to help with research, you also need to begin a list of potential markets—and not just markets but personal contacts in those markets. You can achieve this by sending out queries for projects or sending material out on speculation that some editors will begin to buy. Once you have your foot in the door, insert a doorstop and keep that door open.

After a top salesperson has a short list of contacts, they’ll sort through it to find the best-sounding prospects so they'll save time and money by avoiding blind alleys. They make their initial contacts, then review what happened, noting all reactions. Then they use these notes for follow-ups. They’re constantly looking to expand their market.

While many freelancers tackle the first step—creating a partial list—they fail on the remaining ones because, let’s face it, most freelance writers are lousy salespeople. While creative burnout and procrastination often plaque their writing, the same thing happens when they're trying to sell their work. In order to expand your freelance writing business, you have to avoid this. Remind yourself that at times freelancing may be 50 percent writing and 50 percent selling. And while large businesses have sales departments to handle selling their products, you don’t.

Be realistic about your markets. Remember, there’s loads of competition—a recent statistic puts the number of freelance writers in the U.S. at nearly 70,000. To get anywhere, you have to stand out from the crowd. Your material and your presentation of it have to offer editors the best and more of it than others can provide.

The first step is developing your prospect list. You’ll need to study the market and learn the possibilities so well that the market seems to evolve by itself. And don’t start at the top. You’re sure to fail. Begin at the bottom and work your way up. Start with the easiest markets, which most likely will also not be the highest paying. But the easier ones have less strict requirements and demand less work overall than the highest paying ones. Plus, you’ll have a much better opportunity to get published in them. But remember that you’ll only be working with them for a while to build up your credibility as a writer.

If you’ve already begin to publish your work, review your original markets. If you're working well with them, negotiate with the editors for higher pay or perhaps ask if can become a contributing editor. As such, you won’t get any more pay, and you won’t be doing any editing. But you will have your name on the magazine’s masthead, which will impress other editors higher up the pay chain.

When the same bland renewal notice for a magazine subscription arrives in the mail, you usually toss it in the trash. If you intend to renew, you most likely don’t do so on the first notice, but two or three later. The same goes for the reaction by an editor to the same presentation. If you want to renew an editor's interest in your material or build up assignments on a higher level than in the past, think about upgrading your presentation. How well does it sell your ideas? Is your timing and the sequence of your ideas logical? Is the market holding you back or are you holding yourself back through lack of expertise, timidity, or just plain fear?

Today, freelance writers have all sorts of sales tools at their disposal—Email marketing, Web sites, social networking, etc. But just like regular advertising, you also have mass mailing. Have you ever thought about designing a brochure showcasing your work and sending it along with your queries? Can you do the same digitally and send it along with Email queries? Have you given any thought to developing your own Web site. Not a personal one, but a professional business site that’s aimed at editors? (These and many other marketing topics will be appearing in future editions of this blog.)

Remember, some of the nation’s top freelancers spend as much as three or four hours a day on the phone and the Internet keeping in touch with publishers and editors. Start making the time to do the same if you want to become a success in this business.

Mining for Gold

Unless you can afford to fill a huge house with files containing research for your books, articles and the like, you’ll have to tame the paper tiger before it eats you alive. So mine other sources for research information, resources like libraries that may contain what you need and have it on hand when you need it.

Begin with your local public library. Ask for a list of its periodical holdings. Keep in your personal library only those magazines the library doesn't subscribe to. Many writers subscribe to a number of periodicals, clip and file the material they want, then discard the magazines. Before you discard yours, though, take the time to remove the tables of contents, which you can easily store in a three-ring binder. And while at the library, make copies of the tables of contents of magazines they have that you may want to use in the future. Then, before you head to your library to research a project, you can look through your binder for the precise publication and date you need. The only downside to using some smaller libraries is their lack of space for expansion. Many sell off books and magazines that have poor circulation to make room for newer ones.

Also, find out where secondhand sources for periodicals and books are in your area. Make a note of the above library book sales and plan to spend some time there perusing the items that you may want to add to your personal library. Secondhand book shops, thrift shops, and flea markets are other good sources, especially if you have a specialty. And remember to ask at your doctor's and dentist’s offices and barber’s shop or hairdresser’s salon for periodicals they no longer want. Most will be happy to give them to you.

Digital recorders are great for noting ideas you get on the go or to record information and ideas you may get from listening to your car radio. This holds true during library research, a visit to a museum, or whatever. You can then transfer your audio notes to your computer or transcribe them into your word processing program.

All writers have books in their personal libraries—lots of them. But few take the time to catalog their own library. The more books you acquire, the more difficult it is to retrieve the information they contain. With a catalog of your personal library, you have immediate access to this information in capsule form, saving you lots of time rummaging through your own bookshelves.  Your personal book catalog also shows what you have for insurance and tax purposes. You’ll find free book cataloging programs on such sites as CNET.com or just do a search on Google for them.

So much for the printed material. But don’t forget that you can build a network of fellow writers and other specialists easily using today’s social media. With such a reliable network you become more valuable to your clients and more efficient at finding information for all of your writing. A freelancer in another city, for instance, may be willing, for a reasonable fee or exchange of services, to do local telephone research for you, thus saving you the cost of travel. Also, don’t forget to ask public relations(PR) representatives if they know of any sources of information or experts for quotes in their field of expertise.

One of the best social networks for useful professional contacts is LinkedIn. While it’s geared mostly to professionals seeking to upgrade their positions or seek new jobs. It’s also good for making contacts with PR people and experts in specialized fields.  Remember, a social network is only as good as the people in it. Besides building regulars contacts, LinkedIn also offers discussion groups of professionals in specialized fields. Join those appropriate to your work and chime in on the discussions. You may be able to develop some great working relationships this way.

The other social media network that may be useful to building a network of contacts is Facebook. While its personal pages are more for friends connecting with friends, it’s professional pages—fan, author, and book pages—are aimed at helping writers showcase their businesses or promote themselves or their books. Work at building a good “fan” page—the equivalent of a corporate page for writers. This is an umbrella page that showcases your business. Too many writers create only author or book pages. These last two limit the type of contacts you can make.

Once you've consciously built your network of research helpers—fellow journalists, librarians, magazine editors and writers, novelists, and public relations executives—keep them informed of your needs and offer to reciprocate whenever possible.