Selling yourself is a major part of being a successful freelancer. In order to get jobs, people need to know you exist and that you can provide them the writing services they need. So I am considering all the ways in which I go about searching for work and most of them are the result of responding to an add for a piece of writing. In this way, my job searching skills are very passive in nature. I’m learning through reading the blogs of some successful freelancers that one of the best ways to land opportunities is to be more proactive.

Two two most common ways that freelancers aggressively market themselves and their services is by: 1) cold calling and 2) sending introductory packets to potential business.

First things first, I hate making the “sales pitch” phone call. I used to work at a bank and once a week we would have to stay after hours and telemarket our existing customers and attempt to get them interesting in investing in other bank-products and services. It was not an enjoyable experience for me. My opinion on this is that some people are more naturally inclined salespeople and for them this option may work wonders, for me not so much. The exception would be if I knew that the client was looking for someone to provide writing services for their business, than I would feel okay with calling them and giving them my “why-you-should-hire-me” speech.

The second way to proactively promote yourself as a freelancer is to send local businesses a direct mail package containing: an introductory letter, listing of services offered, business card, testimonials, and a few writing samples. For me, this is the option of choice. I don’t really know how well this method works, as I still plan on doing more research before I proceed with it, but I do think the important thing is to get your name out there and have people know that you have a viable service and that they should remember your name should they need any kind of professional writing done.

How do you market yourself as a freelancer? What works for you and what doesn’t?

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