Do You Need to Challenge Yourself Marketing-Wise?

I've posted before about the importance of marketing constantly; it's how you fill your freelance pipeline with work. Yet when I'm busy, marketing often falls to the bottom of my to-do list. I'm preoccupied with the work on my desk, and when I finally look up, I realize I'm short on work and have to scramble. I hate that feeling, and I hate the loss of productivity, and the loss of income, that results when I haven't marketed enough to keep me busy. 

That's one reason I signed up for the eight-week marketing challenge sponsored by Freelance Success, a website I belong too. (Freelance Success is a website for serious freelancers; it produces a weekly newsletter with market guide information and includes active forums for freelancers. It's a great place to find market info, network with other freelancers, and share advice about our business.) 

Writers who want to participate are divided into teams (there are five teams this time). Each team's writers keep in touch throughout the week, sharing pitching advice and ideas, and then at the end of the week, each writer reports their weekly points to the team captain. During the challenge, members get: 

• 1 point for each query
• 1 point for each LOI, or letter of introduction 
• 1 point for each follow-up
• 1 point for each social media post
• 3 points for each assignment

While each team wants to win (our team is in second place this week), the marketing challenge is about more than gathering points. It's about consistent marketing, and having other people to cheer you on--which should hopefully result in more assignments. 

But you needn't belong to a member of Freelance Success to participate in a marketing challenge! Consider creating your own with some freelance friends. Agree in advance what points will be awarded for different types of marketing, and how long the marketing challenge will last, and then get pitching! 

Readers, what do you think? Have you ever participated in a marketing challenge? And would you be interested in doing on through this blog? Comment here to let me know and if there's enough interest, I'll consider managing and overseeing one!  

**Want more advice about marketing? Check out Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money, Second Edition, a freelancing classic that helps both new and experienced writers boost their bottom line, and my latest book,Goodbye Byline, Hello Big Bucks: Make Money Ghostwriting Books, Articles, Blogs and More, Second Edition, which shows how to break into the ghostwriting/content marketing field. If you're brand-new to freelancing, I recommend Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets.