People always ask how I find freelance clients. The simple answer? Everywhere! Seriously, I’ve landed projects from referrals, from answering online ads, even from participating in a focus group. That’s right. A few years ago, when business was slow, I attended a focus group for people who had recently bought a new TV online (I qualified thanks to my then boyfriend prodding me to upgrade on Black Friday). If I remember correctly, we were paid with $25 cash and a nice spread of snacks.
They showed us their new electronics website and asked our opinion on colors, logos, fonts, and other features. I, of course, honed in on the copy. Why didn’t their tagline express what they were really about? How about something more like ______? As soon as I’d blurted out a new tagline, I realized I shouldn’t have given it away so cheaply. So the next day, I emailed my contact at the company saying how much I enjoyed the focus group and “oh, by the way, in case you need any more copy for your website, I happen to be a freelance copywriter.” He hired me to write a few blog posts. Not a huge project, but it just goes to show that you can find clients virtually anywhere.
What is your most unusual “how I landed a client” story? Or how did you find your favorite project?
I love your story about turning a focus group experience into a client. That's so smart!
My favorite "how'd you get that gig" tale is more of a leap of faith. I got an email early one Friday morning asking if I could do a rush copy job. The potential client included all the detail (and a link to the end client's website) and then asked, "Are you in?" Because I had all the detail to make my decision before answering the email, I decided I was "in." It's led to a few small gigs and two very big projects. I'm so glad I said yes.
In 2009, when so many other writers were struggling, I got a big gig from a new client based on a recommendation from another writer.
Not that unusual … yes? But, the thing is that I've known this person for close to 20 years and maintained that give and take that relationships require.
So often, we focus on what we've done in the last month or last quarter that resulted in work, but the cumulative impact matters as well.
I did, however, score a paid blogging gig (for me and several writer friends) after making friends with someone on Twitter.
I don't know if I have a quirky client story but I just want to say that personal networking — meeting people at book fairs and conferences — can really pay off, even though you may not see the results right away…
Interesting post, Susan! And how clever of you to find work the way you did. Proves that you never know where opportunity awaits. I don't have as interesting a story, but my biggest client came about in a roundabout way. Too long to explain here, but suffice it to say it was through a combination of networking and lots of perseverance on my part.
This isn't really creative or revolutionary, but it WAS successful. I'd done a profile on a business owned by two twentysomething college hockey teammates. Once it ran, I sent them a copy of the story. They were so pleased with it, they asked me if I would be interested in doing some work for them. Obviously they knew I could write, and I was familiar with the company, so I had two big points in my favor. That's led to steady work for the past few months. Now I always try to send the final copy to my sources–I got steady work once, maybe I will again!
I don't have a quirky story either. Most of my clients come through the boring old-fashioned querying and marketing way.
The guy who does my garden told my next-door neighbour, for whom he also does gardening work, that I'm a writer. The neighbour was so interested that he asked for additional infomy gardening guy came over and took some samples of work I've done to him. Turned out my neighbour was a producer of a small indie label, and I've since done copy for brochures for some of his artists. Then the producer told his brother about it, and I'm hoping to get more work out of him too…
I once spent what was then an astronomical sum to enter a writing contest, became a runner-up, and was hired by someone who thought it was a big deal. I later figured out that the contest fee had paid out 10 times over.
I am in the midst of my best-paying project ever (in my LIFE, literally) and when others ask how I got it, well, I did a project (writing) for this same publisher about this time last year and mentioned that I also provide translation services as part of my menu. Sure enough, they came to me in February with tons of translation work. So, do a good job ALWAYS, and campaign for yourself.
No quirky client stories, but it was fun to open up a national mag today and see my story there–and the idea came from one of my daughter's friends.
I'm with Jennifer that networking is huge.
I was working as a clinician, mentioned to the head of the company over the Christmas luncheon that I wanted to write more and she hired me to write and edit their monthly 12-page newsletters. It was very sweet gig!
I've racked my brain. No unusual stories. My clients usually come from referrals. But I've gotten a few others through networking, through my website, etc.
Two quirks from the copywriting side of my business:
1. I once wrote a radio program for a regional client, with the billing (and only the billing) going through the client's global agency. When the gig ended, I called my billing contact about writing contacts in the agency. She gave me a name, we connected, and the relationship lasted for years.
2. Sometime in the last century, I wrote some brochures for a small New England agency. The project went nowhere, and I assumed they were unhappy with my work. Then I got a call from the creative director–10 years later. He'd moved on to a bigger agency, had apparently liked my copy, and Googled me.
Networking. Weird and wonderful.
Thanks, everyone! In a way, I guess this *was* a case of networking, but an unusual connection to be sure. More recently, I was at a friend's going away party and this couple came over to me and Mr. Muse. Mr. Muse started talking to the guy, and I started chatting up the woman to find out how she knew my friend who was leaving. Turns this new acquaintance is an editor … who hires freelance writers! Her company took over the same office space where I used to work in my last job AND we already follow each other on Twitter but didn't know it. Small world! We're discussing a possible blog project.