When things are slow, ask for work!

www.inkthinkerblog.com — One of my biggest clients has been strangely silent lately, and my bank account has been wondering what’s going on. So, after some deliberation, I decided to send a quick note their way and let them know that they’re welcome to take full advantage of my capacity.

SUBJECT: I have two kitties to feed

Dear CLIENT,

I’m not sure what the work load on your end is like these days, but I wanted to give you a heads up that I would cheerfully accept more work than I’ve been getting lately. I don’t like to be one of those people who e-mails three times a week begging for articles, but I do want to let you know that I’m here and am interested if you can use me more.

Yours,
Kristen

The almost-immediate response:

Poor kitties! Here’s 123 pages.

Works for me! The way I see it, I didn’t have work from them, so if I asked and they didn’t have anything for me, I’d still have no work. Nothing to lose! And look, I got two to three days worth of work out of it.

Lesson learned: There’s no harm in asking.

__________________________________________
www.kristenkingfreelancing.com
Finalist in 2006 Writer’s Digest Best Writer’s Website Contest

Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Aug 30, 2006 Link

    Bingo, Kristen!

    So many of my copyeditor “mentees” are afraid to contact clients the way you did, thinking that they’ll come off as annoying. No way! Just the other day, I wrote several of my clients this message, which immediately produced work:

    Subject: Want to get that manuscript off your desk?

    Hi, Client. I hope your Monday hasn’t been too crazy. I have time in my schedule to take on a project now. Is there a manuscript on your desk that I could take care of for you?