Managing Multiple Freelance Personas

Anyone who’s read a book on freelance writing has heard the advice: find your niche. I’ve even encouraged other bloggers to specialize because then they can target a specific community and gain a following. It’s good advice in a general sense, because it acknowledges that you can’t be all things to all people and that specializations often mean higher pay.

But when it comes to actually earning a living as a writer, most of us can’t afford to be too specialized too early. In my case, I’d love to spend all my time writing for glossy magazines, but since I’m not a big name like Allison Winn Scotch, it’s not realistic for me right now. (Allison has even branched out into book publishing, which proves my point: diversification is the new black.)

So for now, I’m balancing writing projects for websites and magazines, as well as copywriting writing projects for non-profits and small businesses. It can be a little daunting at times, but I enjoy the variety and having a few steady copywriting gigs helps me sleep at night. Plus, if one client or industry suffers, I won’t suffer financially because my client base is pretty diverse (Peter Bowerman, aka The Well-Fed Writer, recently blogged about diversifying, too).

The trick is to focus on the client or industry you’re talking to. When I’m emailing an editor, I usually leave out the copywriting stuff and play up my publishing creds that relate to the topic or audience we’re discussing. When I’m talking to a potential copywriting client, I emphasize projects that show my track record with that type of writing, whether it’s ghostblogging, web copywriting, or product descriptions. I’ll even tweak my email signature depending on who I’m emailing.

And, of course, I'd think twice before taking an editor's assignment to write an article about one of my copywriting clients, because that might be a major conflict of interest.

But sometimes it can be tough to know which persona to use. Printing two different business cards with a specific, targeted message would be too confusing. If I’m at an alumni event and someone who’s not an editor or a creative director asks for my card, which one do I give them? And if I’m using one business card for both audiences, how do I avoid seeming generic?

My LinkedIn profile is connected to editors, writers, clients, sources, classmates, and people I’ve worked with in previous jobs, so it’s hard to know which aspects of my career should take center stage. My website is another issue, but I think I’ve solved that problem my creating pages that describe these different aspect of my business (to be unveiled very soon), all within the same domain.

I think it ultimately comes down to the direction that I want my business to take. But I’m curious how other freelance deal with the need to be different things to different people but still maintain a consistent brand. Is this something you think about? What have you done to manage your freelance personas?

Next week, look for tips on tailoring your resume to highlight different aspects of your freelance career, but in the meantime check out two more posts from other bloggers writing on a similar theme:

Finding Your Niche: Walking the Tightrope
How to Update This Site to Reflect The Fact That I'm Pimping Two Books