NEWSLETTER 1
Do you ever get tired of chasing the next gig? Wouldn’t it be great if you could build a stable of regular clients that fill the majority of your schedule? What if you could turn one-off, or occasional, clients into regulars?
Getting more work from existing clients can lead to less time spent marketing and, even better, more billable hours. Here’s one easy way to do that.
Create Client-Specific Content Calendars
One trick I’ve used to keep clients coming back is to periodically pitch them ideas around past projects and what I already know about their business.
Pitching an idea to an existing client is much easier than pitching new prospects. You don’t have to sell yourself. It doesn’t have to be formal. A quick friendly email often does the trick.
I simplify this by maintaining client-specific content calendars. Here’s what I mean:
- I keep a list of past content (or copy, such as email campaigns) I write for each client.
- I note any timely factors behind those previous orders (holiday campaigns, company anniversary promotions, etc.).
- I also take note of any holidays, special weeks or months, or other timely events that might apply to that client’s business, even if they’re not taking advantage of it yet.
- I come up with related ideas and mark them on my own schedule at least a month in advance (depending on how much lead time that client tends to need).
By maintaining a list like this, you don’t have to count on clients remembering to run fresh promotions. Sometimes they forget. Sometimes they lose track of time. And sometimes they don’t remember how successful the previous content or campaign was (from a promotional email marketing campaign to an annual resource list on their blog).
When you have a client-specific content calendar, you can reach out early, pitch new takes on ideas that have worked in the past, and show clients you proactively think about their business interests.
Even better, if one of your clients responds well to these pitches, you can also offer to handle their content strategy and editorial calendar for them — essentially getting paid to figure out your own future gig schedule with them.
Does this work every time? Of course not. But even if they don’t want to move forward with a specific project you’ve presented, this is a good way to keep your name fresh in your clients’ minds for when they are ready to move forward.
Highlight a past success with them, and see if they want to expand upon it or try to repeat that success. This is also a great way to follow up with clients you haven’t worked with in a while.
Freelance Writing Pros Launch Date & Plan
Announcement: FreelanceWritingPros.com is scheduled to launch on Monday, September 2nd.
Things are moving along nicely with the new site, from new content to more advanced tips being moved over (and updated) from All Freelance Writing.
On September 2nd, the site will finally go live. At that time, it will launch solely as a blog for more experienced freelance writers.
I’ve ruled out making FWP a membership site, as frankly they’re not something I want to be associated with professionally. That’s a story for another time though. For today, here’s the plan for what you can expect at Freelance Writing Pros:
- Today kicks off the newsletter’s revival, which will be delivered once each week with a new advanced marketing, PR, business, or productivity tip tailored to experienced freelancers.
- The free blog will launch first on Sept. 2nd. You can expect one post per week there to start. Some will be brand new content. Some will be updates and expansions of previous content moved to FWP. You’ll also find that some tips in the newsletter will be further expanded on the blog, sometimes with examples and free tools to help you implement them.
- Some free downloadable tipsheets, worksheets, checklists, and templates will be released with some of those blog posts, and I’ll set up a resource directory for them on the site once a handful are released.
- The first downloadable guide will be released before the end of 2019 (think of these as abbreviated e-books; some will be free, and others will be premium, but priced lower than longer e-books). These are meant to be strictly actionable guides as opposed to more detailed e-books.
- A short free email course called the 7-Day Marketing Refresh is set to release right before the New Year as a way to freshen up your marketing routine for 2020.
Most of the new content types will come in early 2020. Some will be free. Some will be premium. This will include:
- The first on-site e-course (with some email subscribers offered early access to beta test if they’d like);
- A podcast (these will be 10-minute episodes with guests featured for a series of 4 covering different aspects of key topics);
- The first e-book (these will be longer premium resources).
That’s what’s scheduled so far, and what I’ve been working on to-date. That said, I’m also open to ideas if there are content types or site features you’d like to see.
If you have something you’d like me to consider, respond to this email or reach out to me at jenn@freelancewritingpros.com at any time.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Jenn
