Whenever you’re promoting a business, with a flyer campaign or otherwise, it always pays to articulate carefully what you can offer your potential customers. Writing is no different, but this is one niche where your flyer needs to be particularly carefully tailored.

Any promotional flyer should communicate that the purpose of your business is to do something for your customers that they cannot or do not want to do for themselves, and consequently will pay you to do instead. Whether it’s a cleaning service or specialist financial advice, you are offering the client something that makes their life easier in some way. Perhaps you’re providing expertise, perhaps you’re simply saving them time. Either way, a well-written flyer will clearly answer the reader’s implicit question: what can you do for me?

The purpose of your flyer

Writing for a living can encompass a broad range of jobs. You might focus on writing internet content, for example, in order to drive traffic to your website or others. You might write marketing copy, or magazine articles, or fiction… the list is almost endless, and in practice your day-to-day work may encompass a number of these. No matter how versatile your skills, though, your flyer is unlikely to succeed if its remit is this broad. Flyers are an excellent way to reach a specific readership – whether the subscribers of a particular publication or households in a given zip code. The trick is to tailor your message to that demographic to ensure the time and money you invest in your flyer campaign results in maximum pay-off.

Pick your speciality

This means that you should create a flyer that targets a specific niche. Perhaps you want to advertise your services for creating websites for individuals, groups or businesses. A flyer with a very general ‘Pen for hire’ advertisement isn’t going to resonate with your readers. You will have to send out thousands of flyers to gain a handful of clients. But if your flyer is designed with a specific audience in mind, you have a far better chance of attracting new customers.

With this in mind, your flyer should demonstrate that you are capable of delivering a service that your reader needs. Look at the problem from the customer’s point of view: what is the problem that they have that you can solve? Is it a lack of time, or expertise? Your flyer needs to show them that you can deliver something worth paying for.

Testimonials and writing samples will be useful, but don’t go overboard: people don’t want to plough through reams of dense text. Your flyer should point people in the right direction, not tell them absolutely everything they need to know. Contact details and a link to your own website achieve that better than a crammed page of words.

Flyer presentation

Any business flyer should be well-presented, but in this case the effort you put into it is absolutely critical. It’s one thing if a dry cleaning or gardening service hasn’t mastered punctuation and grammar, since it’s hardly going to affect the quality of the job they do – and even then, minor mistakes can be quite off-putting. Readers start to wonder whether you will show a similar level of carelessness in other areas of your work. When you are offering a writing service and the writing on the advert itself is flawed, you might as well have burned the flyer as paid to have it distributed. This has to be your very best writing: beautifully honed, convincing, and immaculate.

One problem of presentation is that flyers will often incorporate images for greater visual effect – something that can be distracting if done badly, but that can add a great deal to their impact. In the case of writing professionals, this is harder – appropriate images are not immediately obvious. It’s best not to use a picture on your flyer just for the sake of it – it needs to be something relevant, not just pretty. Instead, you may like to use different typefaces, layouts, pull-out quotes, text boxes, bullets and so on to break the text up and make it more attractive and readable.

Where to send your flyer

You will need to target your flyer’s audience carefully, but with a little research you can make a strong impact and a high ROI. You might distribute them to local businesses, or in specific publications. Similarly there are courses at which displaying your flyers could be very beneficial, as well as libraries and other locations.

This article was supplied by Printed.com, suppliers of unbeatable quality digital flyer printing, and a shortlisted company for this year’s industry leading Print Week Environmental Company of the Year 2011 award.

Image: jennafa

Want to put bread on the table? Market your writing services efficiently with these productivity tips.

It’s that time again – another of my monthly posts for the Word Chef blog carnival. This month we’re talking about productivity, something that the writers on this blog have written about many, many times. Originally, I was going to write about writing productivity, but been there, done that, so I’ve included a list of some of our best posts on productivity at the end. So, to the issue of the day: marketing and promoting your writing business.

My Marketing Mantra

We already know some of the tasks we need to do (check out my Promotion is Free series for a heads-up) but what about making the time to do it? I know from my own experience that in the past at busy times I made less time for marketing and at quiet times I marketed like crazy because I had more time on my hands. That’s bass-ackwards, if you’ll pardon the expression. When you’re busy you need to market so you are never quiet. When you are quiet, it’s already too late.

So what do you do? The answer is really simple: make the time. When something is really important to you, you usually make the time to do it. The health of your writing business should be important to you, so make the time to keep it healthy by injecting regular doses of new business. In other words, market and promote.

Set aside a chunk of time each week, either a big block once a week or a shorter time daily that’s dedicated to marketing your services. Then market and promote.

Methods of Marketing

There are all kinds of ways to do this.

Taking part in a blog carnival like the one I’m in today is one way because lots of new people will see what you write. Making connections with new people can extend your reach. It puts your name out there without too much effort on your part. Write a post, tweet about it, comment on a few other posts. Time required – maybe 1 hour which adds up to about 12 minutes a week per post.

Showcase your expertise on high traffic sites such as LinkedIn Answers, Quora and more – see what’s being asked in your niche and respond. I have to admit that I don’t use this as much as I might, but when I do, it pays off. Someone saw one of my answers on Quora and approached me about a writing job. Although it didn’t work out in the end, it showed that I was visible. You only have to spend a few minutes a day doing this, especially if you are selective about what you respond to. Pick the questions that you are already an expert in and you won’t have to think too hard. Rinse and repeat for other social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. Time required: no more than 30 minutes a time, and you could get away with 15.

Tweak and optimize your professional website. This can be a timesink – don’t ask me how I know {groan} but it’s well worth doing. Make sure that it shows your skills and abilities to best advantage and makes it easy for people to contact you. One of my new clients was browsing around my site and found a testimonial for some site content I’d written for a cake decorator. On the strength of that she got in touch and asked me to rewrite hers. Testimonials sell your services without too much work and I’ve got a video explaining how I use a simple questionnaire to get a good testimonial. It’s also useful to update your site with new stuff you have done. Time required: 30 minutes every couple of weeks or 15 minutes a week (it should be more, but that’s about what I do.)

Guest blog. I’m a big fan of guest blogging for promotion (as well as having fun with writing). Not only is it an easy way to showcase your ability to write about a wide range of topics – or to showcase your expertise in your niche, take your pick – but if you’re smart you can also market yourself subtly. It’s all in the way you respond to comments. I write a lot about writing and blogging (as well as a whole lot of other things), so when I respond to comments I include something that shows I know what I’m talking about. I might refer to the length of my writing career or a relevant experience I had. I’m providing value to the commenter and the blog host, but other people who read my comments will also get a taste of what I can do. Time required: 1-2 hours depending on writing time and number of comments. That means about 12 minutes a week per post.

So what does that add up to? If you’re only doing each of these once each week, you would spend just under an hour a week on marketing. And you could do more and get even more benefit, because isn’t it worth it to spend a couple of hours of your time each week on marketing your services?

Productivity Tips

And just in case you’re having trouble making the time because you are too busy writing, here’s a list of some of our previous tips on writing productivity:

• Are You A Productive Writer?
• Are You Writing In The Most Efficient Way Possible?
• Be More Productive with Office Time
• Stop Multitasking from Killing Your Productivity
• Personal Productivity: An Interim Report
• Declutter To Improve Writing Productivity

What do you find most effective in marketing your business services? (Image:  chotda)

Today, I’m happy to be reviewing SEO Marketing by Brian Belfitt of BlogEngage. This free ebook (which you get when you sign up for BlogEngage)  has just 27 pages and covers:

1. Introduction to starting your very own blog
2. Hosting and set up
3. Selecting the right theme
4. Setting up your wordpress blog
5. SEO, Marketing and Promotion
6. Making money online with your blog

The ebook is a compilation of the best articles from Brian’s SEO Marketing blog and gives some useful tips.

What I Disagreed With

There was only one thing I disagreed with in the book – Brian’s advice at the start that  you should buy domain name and hosting from the same provider. In fact, I do the opposite and for almost all my domains, have them from separate providers. That means that if I ever fall out with one, I’ve still got the option of getting my site up quickly. (And I do that because I’ve been burned in the past.)

Next, Brian moves onto themes and he lists some of my favorite providers there. He discusses the importance of researching your posts and keeping them consistent and relevant for your readers. He also includes the importance of keeping your blog maintained – not only by checking and removing out-dated links, but updating tags if relevant.

Best Feature

One of the things I like best about Brian’s book is his blog marketing plan – what you need to do to market your blog. However, you might find you need more info to implement it if you are new to blogging.

His checklist of factors to look for in deciding where to market and promote your blog (by interacting and commenting on other blogs) is useful, as is the section on how you can use forums for promotion. There’s also a section on seeking advertisers and affiliate marketing, with links to some key ad networks.

The Verdict

Overall, I think this book gives a good snapshot of where to start and since it’s free, it’s hard to complain about the lack of detail in some areas. If you want an overview of the things you need to think about then you can read this book in a few minutes and have a pretty good idea. But if you want more in-depth information, you will have to check out the articles on Brian’s site and elsewhere.

by Danielle McGaw

It seems like every site you join these days has a profile section that they want you to fill in.  And it can be tempting to skip it and just get down to business but your profile is the place that people go when they want to know more about you.  And if you are a freelance writer that wants people to contact you for work, you need to have that profile filled out!

It is easy to forget that clients often use search engines to find out more about you.  If you would like to have more private clients it can be helpful to have your name easily found on the search engines.  If they find nothing about you, they might assume that you have little to no experience and choose someone else for the job.  If you have control of the information about you that is available online, you can influence their opinion.

Where Should I Fill Out Profiles?

I’m sure you already belong to sites that ask you to fill out a profile so some of these should seem familiar to you:

• Twitter: Twitter doesn’t leave you a lot of room to fill out a profile but it allows you to do two things that you should be concentrating on. You should remember to fill in the url to the main site that you want to refer potential clients to and you should make use of the 160 characters that they provide you to tell people about yourself.  I can tell you that I rarely follow back if the profile is not filled out.  And if you are a writer that wants work, how will people know that unless you say so?
• Facebook:   Facebook allows you to choose what is public and not public.  You may choose to keep your profile private but you can include your website on your public profile.
• LinkedIn:  LinkedIn is very public so treat it as it is intended – a professional profile!  One of the best things you can do is completely fill out your Summary with a well thought out description of who you are and what you do.  Use keywords that you would like people to find you with.  And don’t forget to include specialties – these are like tags.
• YouTube:  Even if you don’t make videos yourself you can have a YouTube Channel to display your favourite videos.  On your YouTube Channel you can include a website, an About Me section, and a title.
• Google Profile: Google profiles leave you a lot of room to share information about yourself – perhaps more information than any of the other social networks.  You can have a long Introduction that includes clickable and dofollow links; you can also include a Link List (that is also dofollow).
• Forums:  Forums are a great place to leave a profile so be sure to fill it out.  You can also create a signature that is included in each post and will also be featured on your profile.   If you participate in niche specific forums that are about the type of writing you specialize in, your profile is especially important.
• Blogger Profile: On the Blogger blogging platform you can fill out your profile with all sorts of details, including links.  If you have Blogger blogs you can include this profile on each one.
• Article marketing sites like InfoBarrel and Bukisa: If you are a freelance writer you probably do at least some article marketing or you might write for residual income on sites; make the most of your profile.  Most sites will allow you to leave links, too, and some of them are dofollow links.
• Profile pages like About.me and MyOnePage.com: These pages are specifically for creating a profile page online.  You have space to write about yourself and space to leave links.

What Should I Avoid Putting on My Profile?

The key thing to remember about profiles is that they should always be professional.  They are not a place to rant and rave about your personal pet peeves or people you don`t like – unless that is a niche that you want to establish yourself as an expert in.  Ask yourself if you would provide the information on your profile in an interview.  If the answer is no, then don’t share it.

The other thing you should remember is that you need to be safe so don’t include the following:

• Phone numbers
• Address of your home
• Addresses of places you work
• Social insurance number/social security number

What Should I Include on My Profile?

Profiles are a great place to sell yourself and your services but you shouldn’t sound like you’re selling yourself.

“I’m the best writer and you’ll never be unsatisfied with my services!  Order today while I still have time!” – this sounds very sales pitchy.

Work on producing tight, focused text that is revealing, attractive, and gives the reader the impression that your goal is purely to help them.  Make them believe that it is to their benefit to hire you over someone else because of the special skills you offer or the in depth client service that they will receive from you.  After reading your profile they should believe that you are the only person that they could hire for the job because there is something special about you.

If you have a small profile space to utilize make sure that you use specific wording that is descriptive enough to pack a punch in the word/character constraints.  You need to get their attention fast and then have a place for them to go.

For example, on my Twitter profile it says, “My words are for hire but the attention to detail and my excellent communication skills are FREE with every order! ” and the link directly under that goes to my professional freelance writer site where they can view samples, see my resume, read testimonials, and contact me, of course.

When you have more room, like on LinkedIn or Google Profiles, it doesn’t give you free reign to babble on randomly about whatever you want.  You should still keep your focus and bring the client’s attention to the things that are most important – in other words, how they can benefit from using your services.

Start filling out your profiles more thoroughly and with more thought and you are likely to experience better results from your activities online.  Social media is only useful for helping you get more writing work if people are aware of the fact that you are a writer and can see the benefits of hiring you.  Other web presences, like forums and profile page, increase your credibility and give you the opportunity to control what people find when they search for you online.

So what are you waiting for!  Get those profiles filled out, writers!

Danielle McGaw is a freelance writer that has been obsessed with writing since she learned how to hold a pen.  She lives in a small town in Canada where she writes daily and goes for coffee a lot.  You can visit her on her blog, The Social Media Freelancer or visit her professional freelance writer site if you would like to contact her.

I’ve been hanging around on Google+ for just under a week and so far I have to say I love it. G+ is Google’s new social network and I think it offers real advantages for work at home writers. I’m not going to review the site in detail here, as that’s been exhaustively covered by others. Instead, I’ll concentrate on where I see the benefits, in reverse order.

Searching with Sparks

Let’s start with Sparks, Google’s name for saved searches. As well as a bunch of pre-filled categories, you can make your own. Although people have criticized Sparks for being rather lacking, my personal experience has been positive. I’ve already used it to find content that generated post ideas. I think it works best when you’re specific – a search for ‘business travel’ is more useful than a search for the broader topic of ‘travel’.

Just Hanging Out

When I first went freelance, I used to take part in a weekly IM chat for writers – we had a great time! Hangouts feels the same, but with video. Obviously, you have to heave yourself out of your typical work at home uniform (mine’s a ratty old T-shirt and shorts) and make sure your hair’s tidy. But I think it’s a wonderful way to connect with other writers. You can only hang out with 10 people at anyone time. The Google engineers have been using this as a feedback tool, so you can see the potential.

Who’s in Your Circle?

Circles are my favorite part of G+ so far. Think of them as Twitter lists or Facebook friend lists, but they are much more useful than the former and much easier to put together than the latter. Name your circles (I have one for general writers and another for travel and lifestyle bloggers, as well as the default friends, family, following and acquaintances ones that Google provides.) I can share with everyone I know or with a select group – or even an individual. And the privacy controls are pretty good.

Are you on Google+ yet? What’s your impression of it? If you are, check out my G+ profile and say hi!

Check out more of my thoughts on Google+ on the Authopublisher blog: How Self Publishers Can Make the Most of Google+ and on Basic Blog Tips: Why I’m Loving Google+

Other resources:

• Google+: 50 Helpful Posts to Get You Started
• Getting Started with Google Plus
• Google plus – A Collaborative Document

(Image credit: Bruce Clay, Inc)

Earlier this year, I changed the theme on my freelance writing portfolio site. It was part of giving the site – and my writing services – a more professional image. This week, I made another improvement, by hiring someone to upgrade my about page.

Sure, I could have written it myself. In fact, I have – several times – and it’s brought in some clients. But I wanted a completely new approach – and felt that I was too close to my own material to do it justice.  When I write for clients, I’m able to take a disinterested (in the original sense of the word) look at what they want to achieve, without getting bogged down in the emotional aspect of their business. That’s what helps me advise them on strategy and write great content. I wanted someone to do that for sharonhh.com – look at it with fresh eyes and give it some added pizzazz.

Of course, I didn’t choose just anyone. I picked Lea Woodward. Why?

• because she specializes in writing about pages. I’ve seen lots of examples of her work and thought they were excellent.
• because I’ve worked with Lea before on her Location Independent group of sites, so she knows my approach to work and the value that I offer from personal experience.

The process was simple. After completing the payment formalities, I filled out a form on Lea’s site, giving some basic info (there were a couple of unusual questions, but I won’t spoil the surprise). Lea had a look around my site, added the info from the form and provided a completely new about page in less than a week.

The Dot Net Connector Difference

So what’s different about it? The new about page:

• presents the basic information on my original about page in a new way, making it even more positive.
• adds some context to the things I do (like explaining ghostwriting and my interest in most topics).
• incorporates lots of testimonials – they have their own page, but they look great on the new page too.
• answers clients’ questions before they ask them (especially ‘how can I help you?’

A lot of that information is on the site already, but it wasn’t presented in this way – and the information from the form I filled in brought the page to life.  The beauty of this about page is that clients will find out all about me in a single place – they don’t even have to go to the testimonials or FAQ unless they really want to (though these are linked from the page, too).

Here’s part of the testimonial I gave Lea:

The final version melded it all together seamlessly, creating a compelling narrative of my professional life (with a couple of personal touches) that’s sure to appeal to my clients.

Colour me thrilled! What does your about page look like? Does it do you and your writing services justice?

It took about six hours, but I finally completed the long-promised (to myself) facelift for my client-facing writer’s site. There was nothing wrong with the Thesis theme I’d been using, but ever since it came out, I wanted to test out Freelance Folder’s Client Machine (aff). That’s what I did on Feb 23rd as a sort of early birthday present to myself.

Installing the theme didn’t take long, with the only small glitch being a conflict with the Text Link Ads script that was running there. Ditching that was a no-brainer, and while I was at it I got rid of the other ads too. I’d felt for some time that they didn’t look good. My plan is to replace them with a discreet page where I list all the resources I like, to which I plan to add some of the tools I’ve already put together for writers and clients.

What did take some time was the tweaking. I won’t go through all the steps which are covered in an excellent series of installation videos (you get links to those when you download the theme folder) and the forum, but here are some of the things I had to do:

Changing The Look

• add portfolio items (including getting screenshots) because they could be displayed on the home page, in a slider and on a special portfolio page which the theme automatically set up.
• resize my header – this took ages. I didn’t want to lose my beautiful custom header from Sirius Graphix aka Blue Sun Studio, so I spent a while messing around with various options till I settled on where it is now. It’s no longer a header, but it’s there.
• fill in content in those four little boxes on the front – taking care to make them all about equal in length (more visually appealing)
• testing the built in contact form which includes spam detection if you want it so you can ditch other contact form plugins
• editing sidebar widgets for the blog and page templates -
• copying and pasting testimonials into the footer.
• updating availability and contact details in my Tungle account.
• installing an SEO plugin and tweaking page titles and descriptions – I didn’t need this with Thesis, but when I looked at the source code for the Client Machine theme, I wasn’t happy with how it appeared. That took a while too.

Why I Like The Client Machine

I like the new look because it:

• tells potential clients at a glance what I can do and is much less busy than the old home page.
• gives them three opportunities to contact me from the home page.
• allows me to make my writing portfolio look interesting, which has always been a bit of a struggle

I think it’s cleaner and more client-friendly and has a professional look – what do you think?

Still On The To-Do List

There are still a few more things I want to do on the site to complete the transformation, including uploading some client resources and adding pages for each of my ebooks.

I also need to explore some of the functionality built into the Client Machine (aff) which will allow my to manage clients, send proposals and invoice clients (complete with Paypal payment option). I’m pretty excited about all of that, and will let you know how it works out when I’ve tested it.

Aim for success in 2011 and start your marketing efforts today

First of all, I hope you’ve all had a very Merry Christmas.  However you celebrated the season, I hope that you’ve had a fantastic break and are feeling fresh and revitalized (and not too full of chocolates and alcohol!).

In my post from October, titled ‘It’s Time To Give Something Back To The Freelance Writing Community‘, one of the regular commenters here at Get Paid To Write Online, Christina Crowe, asked:

What are the best ways to market a freelance writing business?

A simple and straightforward question, this is arguably the most popular question I get asked.

Everyone wants to know how they should be marketing and promoting a freelance writing businesses, as simply put, the more marketing you do of any product or business, the more successful you’re likely to be.

The problem that many find with marketing their freelance writing business is not that there’s a distinct lack of opportunities for marketing and promotion, but that they don’t know which routes to take.

Do you place an advert in a business telephone directory telling everyone you’re a freelance writer?

How about taking out an advert on the front page of your local newspaper, promoting your article writing services?

Pay for a few links to your blog on high traffic websites, perhaps?

Maybe a stint with Google’s Adwords?

Understandably, it can be confusing trying to market your freelance business and many writers tend to put their marketing efforts on the back burner, thinking they’ll give them another shot in a few weeks time.

If you’re ready to start 2011 with a bang and want to give your marketing efforts a kick start, have a read through the following five points – they should all help you market your freelance writing business in a simple and effective way.

1.  Start thinking you’re a freelance writing business

The very first thing you have to do is stop thinking that you’re just a jobbing writer, someone who’s going from project to project, without any real direction.

If you think and believe this, it’s going to make your clients wonder just how serious you are about writing and they’re going to think twice about hiring you – no one wants to be working with someone who’s supposed to be offering a professional service but who’s acting as though they’re providing a favour to a friend.

Businesses like to operate with businesses – it’s a simple fact.  They’re a business who can be trusted and so they’d prefer to spend their money with another trusted business, knowing that they’ll get back a product that’s of the quality they deserve for their money.

If you can get over to potential clients that your not just one of the many new writers out there who is looking for work but are in fact an established freelance writing business, it’s not only going to put you in a more professional frame of mind, but you’re going to find you receive more interest from high paying clients.

2.  Have a professional website

Once you’ve got it into your head that you’re now operating a freelance writing business and you aren’t just a writer who works on the occasional freelance project, you need to have a professional website to showcase your talents.

You don’t have to get a company in to design a website especially for your business, you just need to have a separate website or blog that you can use solely for business.

The simple reason behind this is that perception is everything and impressions count for such a lot in business.

For example, if a potential client came across your website, would you prefer if the website was one that combined your personal and professional lives, displaying your freelance writing rates alongside your holiday photographs or one that did nothing but showcase your business side, from your resume through to your previous clients?

3.  Get yourself known in the community

You could be the best freelance writer out there, but if no one knows you’re available, how are they supposed to hire you when they need a freelance writer?

Getting yourself known in the freelance writing community isn’t difficult and you don’t have to spend hours upon hours every day contacting everyone directly – you’ve just got to start commenting on blogs, posting in forums and contributing or helping people out in groups, such as those on LinkedIn.

Your contributions to the blogs, forums and groups don’t have to be amazing or lengthy, either – as long as you’re saying something useful and relevant, you’ll soon find your feet in the community and you’ll be surprised at just how fast you grow in confidence and how quickly you become known within the community.

4.   Start networking

I love networking.  I love meeting new people and I love learning about them.

It’s because of this adoration for meeting new people and learning new things that I’ve got a particular fondness for one of the most importance aspects of marketing – networking.

When you mention the word networking, a lot of people shy away from the idea, believing that they have to sign up to in-person networking events where they go along every month and chat to other likeminded individuals, a process which they think is of no benefit to them.

The truth is that you really don’t need to be networking in this sense and I’ll be honest here, I haven’t been to an offline networking session in a long time.  I know from colleagues that they’re a great way to meet new people, including potential clients, but I’ve always found them to be a little too corporate for my liking.  Or at least the ones I attended were.

I find the best form of networking for me is to simply get in touch with other writers.  Follow them on Twitter, read their blogs, e-mail them directly – I’ve met some fantastic people by simply dropping them an e-mail to say hey, introducing myself and striking up a conversation.

It doesn’t matter how you do it, whether you go to a weekly offline networking group or you start talking to some of your fellow writers online, but just make sure you’re meeting new people regularly – the people you meet might not be able to offer you any work directly, but there’s a very good chance they’ll pass on your details next time they know someone who’s looking for a freelance writer.

5.  Give something away for free

Everyone, without exception, loves things that are free.

Those complimentary mints in the cafe always taste better because they’re free; your hair always looks better if your hairdresser gives you a free styling because the boss is away and those two bars of chocolate you get on Buy-One-Get-One-Free tastes that much better because you’ve only paid for one of them.

When you have something that’s free, you tend to keep going back for more, whether it’s still free or not.

You’ll head back to that cafe because although you remembered it for the complimentary mints, you realise you had a great meal there; you pay extra for a better styling next time you go to get your hair cut as it made you feel better about yourself last time and you buy that chocolate again and head back to the same shop as you enjoyed how the chocolate tasted.

Transfer this to a freelance writing business and if you’re to offer something on your website for free, whether it’s an ebook, a white paper or a template of some form, you’ll find that once people get word of your free offerings, they’ll tell their friends and colleagues, who’ll then tell their friends and colleague, who’ll then tell…

Word of mouth marketing – it’s the oldest but one of the best forms of advertising you can utilize.

How you market your freelance writing business is really up to you.  These five steps, however, should make the process a lot easier than you might have first thought.

Just a word of warning – don’t carry out any marketing efforts if you aren’t entirely sure what you’re doing.  I’m a massive fan of Google, but I’ve worked with far too many clients who’ve been using Adwords and seeing next to no return on the money because they just don’t know how to use it properly.

Image:  Rude Cactus

Gotten a great testimonial? Hope you’re taking advantage of all it can do for you!

The other day, Sharon Hurley Hall was elated when she had a rave review from a happy client. Don’t glowing testimonials just make your day? Mine, too. One day this week I had a particularly difficult assignment and when I sent it off, I was waiting for it to come back with red pen all over it. But it didn’t. The client said, “This is great. Thanks so much for all your hard work!” If you’ve had great testimonials, don’t sit on them or smile and then file them away. Share them with the world. Seriously. Toot your own horn. It’ll help you immensely.  Here’s how:

-Add it to a testimonials page on your website. This page will show prospective customers how past customers have felt about your work. More content on your website equals more potential traffic, too. Every time you update your site, search engines could come visit to see what you’ve added and then send you increasingly relevant traffic. If you look at Sharon’s testimonial linked above, you’ll see another reason why clients find her and offer work to her.  Her testimonials help her with her online marketing. marketing. How? That testimonial is on its own page on her writing site with a keyword optimized permalink structure, relevant category,  and tags that relate to the type of writing and to testimonials. This strategy ups the chances that someone looking for those specific services will find Sharon and find out that not only does she offer resume writing services but also that people LOVE her work. I have a testimonials page on my website today but think I’ll take a cue from Sharon and re-create individual pages on my blogs for those reviews as well.

-Send the kudos out to the social sphere. Mention it on Twitter, Plurk, Facebook… wherever you hang out online. A prospective customer may read it and contact you for a quote. (Hint: This works well when you use the Twitter widget on your blog, too. Clients can see those testimonials in your sidebar when they browse your website to see if they’d like to approach you for a quote.)

-Add some short but rave reviews to your bidding template. Do you use a template when you apply to writing gigs? If so, a few blurbs about what existing and past customers have said about your quality of work could help tip the scales in your favour.

Here are some Do’s and Don’ts to consider when posting testimonials:

-Don’t post the client’s name unless they give you permission to do so.

-Do consider linking back to the client’s site or the source of work you’ve done, if the client is agreeable and you aren’t going to be breaching any ghostwriting / confidentiality agreements, of course. Then, you can show prospects what all the buzz is about.

-Don’t be afraid to ask . If a client seems happy, ask them if you can have a testimonial. Offer to link to their site, if they like. Links are coveted online and offering a link could make your client jump at the chance to write a recommendation or… to sign off on a recommendation you’ve written for them about you. (A client of mine didn’t have time to write one but responded when I told him I was offering links on my testimonials page and he gave me the green light to write the testimonial for him and to tell the world how much he valued me. )

-Do consider joining and using LinkedIn. This site is great for creating a professional profile and networking. There’s a feature on the site where you can get and give recommendations and those are updated in your time line so those recommendations are viewable by others (after you approve their going live).  If people recommend you on LinkedIn, you may want to add those recommendations to your own site or blog as well. Don’t be afraid to recommend great clients on LinkedIn  and perhaps they’ll return the favour.

The next time you get a pat on the back, I hope you’ll use it to your advantage!

Some time ago one of the people I worked for asked me for my CV so they could put it on file. I agreed and searched my desktop for an up to date version of the document. To my surprise, the only version I could find was last updated in 2006. Why was this?

In part it’s because I use social media a lot and the place where my most up to date work information can be found is on LinkedIn. I tend to add new gigs there when they happen and to collect testimonials and expand my network. I also have several online profiles on freelancing sites as well as my own portfolio site. All of those are more up to date than my resume. Does that mean that I don’t need one? I’m not entirely sure.

You see, although I spend a lot of time online, I always advise writers that they shouldn’t ignore the offline market – newspapers, magazines, small businesses looking for marketing material and the like. If you take this tip, then you will perhaps need to have a physical meeting with someone (remember those?) and take in that piece of paper that outlines your credentials. Not everyone you meet will be web savvy and many people are more comfortable with the format they know.

That doesn’t mean I’ll stop updating my online profiles. On the contrary, keeping them up to date is essential for anyone who makes their living online (or who wants to be found by those searching online). However, I’m also taking my own advice, so I’ve updated my offline resume as well.

This post was originally published in Writing Lab News.