Hot Freelance Tip of the Day: Market Many Ways

Consider how to market yourself as a freelancer and you likely think of the query letter. Makes sense--after all, that's often a writer's first weapon of attack when it comes to selling your work to print and online publications. It's also typically the way you approach an agent or editor about a book project.

But there's a world of marketing possibilities beyond the query letter. What about a letter of introduction, or LOI? Attending writers' conferences and signing up for one-on-one sessions, where you have a chance to pitch your project face-to-face? Crafting a well-written cover letter to send with an essay? Or advertising your work through your email signature, website, blog, Twitter bio, you name it?

My latest marketing technique is simple. I bought a couple of T-shirts that say, "Ask me about my novel." And I wear them several days a week, when I'm planning to be out in the world--whether that means running errands, working at my local Caribou, picking my son up from school, or heading to the Y to work out. It may seem like an unusual way to market The Honesty Index, but you know what? I'm willing to experiment with new tactics, especially today where my novel and my new book on freelancing, Writer for Hire: 101 Secrets to Freelance Success, are competing against more than 3,300,000 books that were published in 2011 alone.

So my Hot Freelance Tip of the Day is this: Market many ways.

Send queries. Create LOIs. Market yourself through your email sig, blog, or website--or hopefully all three. Mention your expertise on LinkedIn. Ask current or prior clients to recommend you to potential clients (almost all of my ghostwriting work now comes through word of mouth.) Wear a T-shirt. Consider all of the ways you can market your freelance work to potential clients, and add more marketing tools to your freelance arsenal. The more you use, the more likely you are to get work.

***Only seven people have entered my giveaway--good news for them, odds-wise, but bad news for you if you'd love a free signed copy of my new book! Visit here to enter the giveaway and stay tuned. I'll announce the winner next week, after I return from ASJA's annual conference in NYC. It should be a great event--I'm moderating a session on making more money as a freelancer. Hope to see you there!