Marketing Yourself as a Freelance Writer
January 23rd, 2008 by admin
I read an interesting discussion in a popular forum. A freelance writer and blogger had had to go to court over a traffic violation. The writer had not had to describe their profession in court before and was a bit at a loss for words, and possibly a little intimidated by the setting and the Judge, who sounded a little harsh, but may have just had a rough day with too many traffic violations to consider.
The question arises for many freelance writers and professional bloggers, how do I describe what I do to other people? To friends, family, to past colleagues, to the IRS, to a Judge during a traffic violation hearing
So this whole setup highlights an important lesson for many of us outside the context of going to court, however I have put together below a scenario of how the whole court thing could have been turned into a positive as an example in a way of how almost any conversation on this subject can be turned into a positive.
First Its About Self Promoting Yourself, Your Articles, and Your Publications
Whenever someone asks you what you do for a living, you have an opportunity to promote yourself, your publications, your work and our collective industry. We should all be ready to answer this question and answer the follow up questions that come with it.
Instead of trying to remember the last article you wrote, (the judges question and by the way he’s in control of the conversation as he directs you down that path).
When anyone does this, you need to grab control of the conversation and push it in a direction that you are prepared for just like a presidential candidate.
To do this you need to anticipate the questions, be prepared with answers, and maybe even practice our responses a few times out loud.
Recording with a video camera or even a digital camera with video is a great way to review your efforts objectively after the fact.
Keep in mind that online writers type a lot online and sometimes we are faster thinkers (typers) than we are speakers. We exercise our minds, and output thoughts through our fingers and not our mouths. Its like exercising with dumb bells in your right hand and not your left. So when we actually start putting real words to things we sometimes fumble a bit, unless we practice!
Here are some suggestions that I would recommend
When someone asks what have you written lately?
“I write for a number of different publications. Recently I have placed several articles with name of site 1, name of site 2, name of site 3.”
Note. try and keep the list of sites at three or lower! And consider your audience too, try and offer up some of the sites in niches that someone might recognize or even be interested in.
When someone asks what are some of the topics or names of the articles that you have written?
Answer with one of your favorite articles, ex.
“Did you ever see that TV show called Burn Notice on USA networks? I wrote an article about that show before it launched. The show is about an ex-CIA agent that gets fired, ‘burned’. As part of the launch of the show, I wrote an article about how I thought the premier show might go. Wrote my own plot line for the story. Then there was the time on a different site when I wrote about Mike Huckabee preaching to South Carolinians to stand up for the Confederate Flag and not let outsiders tell them what to do. The crazy thing is that Huckabee IS an outsider. So I crafted this image of Huckabee getting the confederate flag planted in his . . . um Wazzooo, and wrote an article about politicians pandering to symbols of hate. Then there was the time I wrote this funny article about how Osama Bin Laden had really attacked America because the Air Force dropped a ‘gay bomb’ on him in 1997. I don’t know if you heard, but the Air Force really considered developing a bomb that when dropped on the enemy would dispense some sort of agent that would make everyone drop their guns and start getting it on regardless of sexuality. ”
Note. That last response would be one of my personal favorites to share with a judge during a trial/hearing over a speeding ticket.
How big is your company?
This question is sooooo easy to answer these days. But let me start by offering up what you should not say.
Do not say
“I work by myself at home on the computer while the kids are sleeping.”
Do say,
“I’ve been working as a freelance writer in a developing social media industry that has grown like crazy over the last two years. We have over 120,000 freelance writers in our collective of professional writers and we are adding about 10-20,000 more writers every month. There is a huge demand for writers today, especially online writers that are capable of writing great articles or generating good content. After all, people can’t watch reruns and reality shows on TV for ever. I feel so sorry for all those out of work writers in Hollywood that do not own their own content. Fortunately, we do not suffer from that flaw in our business plan!”
Can you provide some references for your work?
“Sure, I can send you some information with select articles from my portfolio. I can also refer you to Brett Bumeter of Softduit Media, who will gladly provide a reference for my work. Alternatively, I have several hundred people in my LinkedIn professional network that have already written recommendations for me or my work in the past that I would refer you to. By the way, your honor, are you elected to your position or are you nominated or hired? I ask because our collective of writers includes a very large number of political writers. We have an uncanny ability to cover campaigns and upon endorsement we have a great deal of leverage about building buzz up around a candidate to help convince voters to vote. I’d be glad to put in a good word for you or refer you to the right people in our network so that you could look at some solutions to help with your next election, or maybe you might even aspire to running for some other office some day.”
Note, there is a personal plug for myself and my company, Softduit Media, in this one. If I know you and I know your work or if you already work directly in one of my own writing networks, I will be more than happy to provide a reference. I do not provide references for people I do not know or for people that I have not worked with. Plus, all of my references are honest and heart felt. I give very good references, but only when deserved.
Are you hiring?
“We are always looking for more good writers. I’m sure you have an immense history of writing extensively yourself. I doubt you made it through law school and worked your way all the way up to the position of a Judge without having to write constantly and write very well.”
No, I didn’t mean myself, I was thinking of helping some mis-directed Youths finding a creative Outlet for their energies in a field that they could grow into . . .
“Oh sure, working as a freelance writer is an excellent way for someone to develop their communications skills while earning a good living. There are a number of groups, and individuals that tutor, mentor, teach and guide people through the process and help them grow into successful freelance writers, editors, publishers and more. I’d very much like to talk about this potential and maybe about how we could put together some solution to help the people you are thinking of, but as you are aware, we still have some unfinished business here with this misunderstanding surrounding this ticket. Let’s get that cleared up and maybe we can talk sometime soon and help all these good people in the court room expedite their own business. Plus your Honor, you’ve been sitting here for a couple hours, you are probably looking forward to lunch. How about I buy you a sandwich and we can talk some more. Did I mention that I get 1% cash back with my PayPal card? ”
Ticket Dismissed!
Follow up, please do not miss the opportunity to thank the police officer and apologize for making them come down and spend so much time in court when they could be doing more important things.
“Thank you officer and I would like to apologize for all the time and trouble you went to. I bet you see some crazy things in your line of work, and I just wish that I had not been a distraction. You know if you ever wanted to become a writer yourself, you could probably earn some decent money sharing your stories. I know that we just do not pay our police officers enough given the level of danger involved in the job. Its got to be somewhat thankless at times, however one of the great things about being a writer is that you get to share your stories with people. I am sure your readers would appreciate your stories and you know, there is just something that is almost therapeutic about writing sometimes. Here’s my card, please let me know if I can help or put you in touch with the right people. If you would like to join the Judge and I for lunch, I bet that you too could provide some valuable input on how to build out a good program to channel the energy of some of today’s youths.”