WIW Marketing Seminar Highlights (Part 4)

Kristen King

www.inkthinkerblog.com — WIW President Michael Causey introduced the last session of the day, Tools and Tactics for Pulling It All Together, at the March 10 marketing seminar. He had some great words of wisdom, including suggestions for increasing business within your existing client base. “Expand existing clients while seeking new clients,” he suggested, “and always keep growing and acting as a resource.” One way to do this, he said, was by suggesting a newsletter. It benefits them, and it nets you a pretty penny. The trick is to balance lead generation with client expansion.

Three important tricks for succeeding as a freelancer, according to Michael:

Be open to change.
Know when to upsell.
Be willing to reinvent yourself.

The end of the calendar year is when clients reassess projects and their budget, he said, so keep in mind that you may experience a slow-down then. “It’s hard to look for work when you already have work, but you gotta do it,” Michael said, or you’ll be up the creek.

Next up was Ken Norkin, whom I’ve heard speak several times before but hadn’t actually met in more than a passing way until this seminar. Ken said that his freelance story should be called something along the lines of “How to Launch a Successful Freelance Career…and Then Watch It Evaporate.” His business got off to a great start, in 1991 and was going strong for a while. Then, zilch. The solution? “There are two good times to market yourself,” Ken said. “When you’re slow and when you’re busy.”

Ken described a “risky income situation” as one in which 20% or more of your income comes from only one client, or 50% or more comes from only two clients. In either of these cases, it’s time to diversity. That way, you won’t be in trouble if one client vanishes, which is what happened to him. He bounced back by launching a hardcore marketing campaign, but has barely marketed since the late ’90s. (Must be nice to have that many clients just coming to you!)

Gene Meyer,* a former Washington Post reporter who’s not related to those Meyers, followed Ken with a very pro-marketing presentation. He recommended that you use your appearance in a publication to promote yourself, and said that freelancing is a long-term investment, in terms of both time and money. Balance is important, he said, both between marketing and production and between work and life.

And when it comes to being successful in your business, remember that “it takes 5 years to really develop a freelance business, or so they say.” Gene said that pitching ideas is more than just a matter of finding the right editor. “Get familiar with the publication and invest time in the proposal,” he said. “Even if you get a negative response, that’s okay. Don’t take “no” or no response personally — just move on to the next one.”

Gene had these general suggestions for freelancers:

“Self-employment is isolating. Make contact.” And this applies to both personal and professional contacts.
Find new markets.
Know the product, know the point of contact, and know the pay.
Be collaborative, easy to work with, a problem solver, reliable, clean (copywise), and accurate.
Start out proposing ideas, and assignments will eventually follow.
Do your homework and your research.
Be organized. Time management is really important.
Be marketable.

He also recommended MediaBistro.com‘s resources for freelancers as a great source of information.

And that concluded the day’s brilliance!

Did you miss highlights from the other three presentations? Get caught up!
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
__________________________________________
www.kristenkingfreelancing.com
Finalist in 2006 Writer’s Digest Best Writer’s Website Contest