Advertising can be expensive. One of the questions many freelance writers face is whether or not to advertise their services in order to attract more business. Here are some suggestions and ideas to help you evaluate whether you should advertise to bring more clients to your writing business.
It really depends on what sort of writing you do. The truth is, for freelance writers, much of our work comes from our own “pounding the pavement” and world of mouth referrals. However, if you are doing any grant writing, public relations work, or creating corporate reports and documents, advertising might be a decent way to drum up business. But, just exactly where to advertise is another big piece of the puzzle!
There is always the yellow pages of the phone book. If you are trying to generate local work and establish yourself in your local or regional market as a freelance writer specializing in business and corporate writing (or grant writing), this might be a reasonable choice. More creative or ghost writers generally don’t find their clients through the yellow pages. There are also several Web sites–some free and others charging a fee–where you can register your freelance writing services. The good thing about some of these is that they will appear in a search engine when someone searches for a writer in your area. You’ll need to investigate, though, to discover which ones really work for your type of freelancing.
Some writers also have good luck taking out ads–particularly classified ads–in writing trade publications. If you have copy editing or other services you can offer to other writers, you might find this to be a good way to get business. Of course, again, this can be expensive so you’ll need to evaluate if this is a verifiable way to generate leads.
I’d love to hear from some of you freelance writers who do or don’t advertise and why. I still believe that most of our business comes from our own cultivation and efforts, but I’d like to hear of the ways when advertising can really pay off…
See Also: Freelance Writing–It Takes Patience and Perserverance