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6 Obscure Places to Find Freelance Writing Clients

Find freelance writing clients

 

 

Every prospective freelance writer has the very same question at the beginning of their journey:

How do I find Freelance Writing Clients?

 

Maybe you think you’re supposed to wait until they find you.

Perhaps you search freelance writing jobs on Google every once in awhile.

Or you check the basic job boards and set up a profile on a content mill

 

While you might luck out with one of these strategies, you’re probably not going to make a profitable business out of your endeavor if you sit back and don’t do some proactive legwork on your own.

And that means cold pitching.

 

While there are a cashamillion places you could possibly pitch, I wanted to focus today on some more obscure places to pitch–ones you probably haven’t thought of yet.

 

{Don’t worry: if you want a master list of places to pitch–we’re talking a list so comprehensive you’ll never run out in your lifetime–I’ve gotchu! Check out my Ultimate “Where to Find Clients” mini course}

 

So, since cold pitching is one of the most effective ways to win you some new clients, step right this way to figure out who to pitch.

Watch the video and read the lowdown below!

 

 

 

6 Obscure Places to Find Freelance Writing Prospects

 

#1: Magazines:

Both mainstream and trade magazines are great places to find prospects to pitch. Think about the experts who are interviewed in the articles, products that are featured, and the advertisers at the back of the magazine.

For example, let’s say you write copy for cosmetic physicians (lots of money in that). You could look at who’s being interviewed for articles about laser treatments in a women’s magazine. I write health and fitness copy and I might notice a previously-unknown yoga bag designer mentioned on a page about fitness fashion. If they’re about to get some major traction because of the magazine mention, I could help with that!

Check out who’s advertising in the back too. Your Olay’s and Cover Girl’s in the front already have world-class marketing agencies working for them, but the businesses in the back might not. Pitch them!

 

#2: Niche directories

Type “your niche + directory” in Google.

Look, a list of hundreds of people to pitch!

Again, for health and fitness, I could easily look at a list of NASM personal trainers, a health club directory, companies who belong to IDEA Fit, etc. If you’re a real estate writer, you could easily find a directory of real estate firms in your area or a big city near you.

Find a directory of businesses in your niche, start at the top of the list, and pitch your way down.

 

#3 Twitter

Twitter is a great place to find prospects and warm them up.

[If you decide to use Twitter, don’t miss my guest post over on Make a Living Writing about how to use to Twitter to find clients]

Here again you can type in “[your niche] + business” in the search bar. Create a new “list” on Twitter (I call mine my “watch list”) for freelance prospects. Go through your search results and add relevant businesses to your list. By the way, your prospects will receive an email notifying them that they’ve been added to your list, which could pique their interest.

Next, check your list every few days and start interacting with these companies. Comment on their posts, share articles, and add value. As your name pops up repeatedly, you make yourself familiar to them.

At some point, you may decide it’s appropriate to pitch them. The cool thing is, this time it’s not a cold pitch, it’s a warm pitch.

 

#4 Organization members

See if you can find a directory of members who belong to niche-specific organizations.

For example, if you write for alternative education methods like Waldorf and Montessori, look up organizations related to these teaching methods. A quick search for “Montessori organizations” came back with results like the American Montessori Society.

All you have to do is click on their website and check out their member directory to find some really great places to pitch.

 

#5 Comments section on niche sites

Think about the blogs and websites your ideal client reads regularly. For example, say you write marketing copy for restaurant owners and managers. What blogs might restaurant owners be reading? What websites might they be consulting for advice?

A quick search leads me to the Modern Restaurant Management website, which is a goldmine of articles and advice. All kinds of experts and brands are featured in these articles. But think about who’s in the comments section of these articles. Likely restaurant managers, right?

 

Who better to pitch?

 

#6 Presenters and booth owners at conventions

Just like there’s a blog, an organization, a magazine for every niche, there’s also a convention. And who’s at those conventions? Why, people in the industry who are invested in their marketing, of course.

So, do a quick search for [your niche + convention]. Then, pull up the website for any conference that looks important. Then, search for the list of booths or presenters at that convention.

Lookie there, a list of potential prospects!

Going back to our restaurant management example, it sounds like the Restaurant Facility Management Association Annual Conference is the place to be.

Click up there on “Exhibit & Sponsor” to find a list of exhibitors and sponsors. Click on sessions and events to find the speakers. Think any of them have content needs? (trick question: they all do).

 

 

I hope this list gives you a great starting point and gets your wheels turning to come up with even more places to pitch, so you always have a nice, long, fresh list. Really, you could probably use the list above and be set for a lifetime.

 

So then, your next question might be:

How do I pitch these places?

>>Well, my dear friends, I happen to have the art of pitching down to a science <<<

And you can find my entire pitching process and swipe file in my brand new freelance resource library/course,

 

FREELANCE FREEDOM FROM CORPORATE

 

I say resource library/course because it’s kinda a mesh of both. It’s basically a full library of resources you can refer to at any time, whenever you need it. But you can also follow it in a step-by-step course format if you still have a day j.o.b.

We’re in the beta testing phase right now, which means just 20 participants can get in the course for a cutthroat rate for a short time. After that, the price will at least quadruple for good.

But even if you sign up for the beta round, you still get access to updates for life. And I plan to make updates as the industry changes, as new developments happen, and as I test new techniques.

If you want a comprehensive freelance course anyway, you might as well jump on this chance now, before the beta opportunity closes.

 

Love hearing from you…

Drop a comment and let me know which idea on this list you’re going to try first.

3 Tricks To Skyrocket Your Freelance Pitch Conversion Rate

cold freelance pitch conversion

 

Hey #flashers,

If you’ve been sending out cold pitches to freelance prospects like crazy and getting crickets…

Today, I’m going to share the three things I’ve noticed help massively convert pitches I send out to clients.

You have two choices when you send out freelance writing pitches:

  1. Send them out, cross your fingers, and wait for people to get back to you.
  2. Be proactive about making your freelance pitches convert for you.

 

You’re going with Door #2, right?

Good, let’s see what’s behind that door than, shall we?

 

By the way, if you don’t want to read all of this, you can skip to the bottom and watch the video version;)

3 Ways to Skyrocket Your Freelance Pitch Conversion Rate

#1: The Follow-Up

So, I always write down the date I contact prospects on my pitch tracker (get it free here). Then, sometime between two weeks and a month later, I make sure I follow up with each and every one of them. I just send them a quick “Hey, I was wondering if you had a chance to consider my offer” email with the original email below it to jog their memory.

If I don’t hear from them on the second try, I follow up again. I follow up at least three times before moving on. And even then, I still leave the client “open” on my pitch tracker. Unless I hear a firm “no,” which never happens, I leave them open. You just never know.

You never know when a prospect might need you down the line, and they’re going to think “Hey, I remember a freelance writer approaching me awhile ago. Let me see if I can track them down.”

Remember, no reply doesn’t mean no. It could mean the prospect is busy, they’re considering your offer, your offer went to their spam box, or a million other scenarios. Following up doesn’t mean you’re bugging them either.

Following up increases the chances of hearing back.

It puts you back on your prospects’ radars.

It shows prospects you’re not a spammer. Spammers don’t follow up.

Following up is one of the ways I get major traction from my freelance pitches. If you want to learn from a successful freelance writer, it would serve you well to follow up;)

 

#2: Be Quicker

What the heck do I mean by being quicker? You already try to whip words together at the speed of light.

What I mean by being quicker is to respond to people’s requests or inquiries immediately.

If people inquire about your freelance services, make sure you get back to them within 24 hours. They have likely reached out to multiple people and will show favoritism toward those who get back to them first.

Now, I’ve had some major learning experiences with this. Learn from my mistakes!

One lady was referred to me through a big-name freelance writer. I got back to her right away and she said “let me know a good time to chat.” Well, I let it go for a few days and by the time I got back to her, she had already found someone else. I could kick myself!

Whenever you apply for a project on sites like Problogger [LINK] or Freelance Writing Gigs [LINK], you need to send your pitch immediately. These hunters get hundreds of replies. One of the ways to stand out is to be one of the first. After a day or two, you might as well not even apply.

Be responsive to your prospects and your pitches. This strategy should be a personal rule of yours.

 

#3: Add Personality to Your Pitches

People are so sick of salesy, boring, unpersonalized, or templated pitches.

They make your prospects’ eyes glaze over. They make your prospects wonder if you’re really even a good writer if you can’t even make your pitches a little bit interesting.

You’re a writer. Your pitches are one of the best places to showcase that writing talent, for crying out loud!

Give your pitches some personality!

What I mean by that is, put some energy and passion into your pitches. One recent example I can use is a pitch in which I admitted the “fire in my belly” for the clients’ subject matter and spoke to him like a human. He was impressed with the pitch and chose me over myriads of others because of the personality I allowed to shine through.

People can hear excitement in your pitches. Let them know you resonate with their subject matter. You don’t need to be unprofessional to exude that energy either.

 

 

Well, that’s it for today’s post on getting your freelance pitches to convert!

Let me tell you, if you use even ONE of these tactics for your next batch of freelance pitches, you’re going to notice way more replies. Use all three, and you’ll notice major changes in the way your pitches convert.

At least, that’s been my experience…

 

I just posted a video about this subject on my Youtube Channel. Make sure you subscribe to my channel to make sure you catch all my videos when they go live.

Want to learn more about pitching clients and building your freelance portfolio? Check out my free 7-day series, Freelance Freedom From Corporate.

How about you?

Are you going to give these strategies a shot? If you do, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
If you already use these strategies, what are some other ways you use to land more freelance writing clients? I’ll meet you in the comments!