How Freelance Copywriters Get Clients

Once you learn to write copy reasonably well, the next step in launching your freelance copywriting practice is to find clients who want to hire you to do writing projects.

(How to Get Started in Copywriting.)

There are five primary sources for getting new clients: (a) starter jobs, (b) personal branding, (c) lead generation, (d) networking, and (e) cold calling.

Your first freelance jobs are likely to come from “low-hanging fruit”—meaning they are within your grasp to win, even if you are a beginner with little or no experience.

For instance, say your Uncle Bob owns a pizza restaurant. Offer to write an appealing take-out and delivery menu.

Or a contractor you use for home repair complains that business is slow. Offer to write a mailer that can help attract new customers.

These are relatively easy clients to get. They know you. They are local. Small. Not terribly sophisticated about marketing. And their projects are usually simple to write.

Don’t worry so much about how much you will get paid. You are doing these starter jobs primarily for the experience. To get samples for your portfolio. And also to get client testimonials.

“Personal branding” encompasses activities that help build awareness and position you as an expert in your field, industry, or niche; e.g. automobiles, finance, software, social media, or whatever.

For instance, I gave a talk on marketing at a meeting of the Newsletter Publishers Association, a trade group for newsletter publishers.

Right after my talk, an audience member approached me and hired me on the spot to write two direct mail packages to sell subscriptions to a couple of his publications.

Among the activities available in your personal branding arsenal are:

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Are there any others can you think of to add to my list?

“Lead generation,” also called “demand generation,” refers to any marketing communication created with the goal of generating sales leads—defines as inquiries from qualified prospects.

Some examples include:

“Networking,” colloquially referred to as “schmoozing,” is at its most basic, going to venues where your potential clients gather, and engaging in conversations with them.

(Finding Freelance Writing Work Without Social Media.)

Your ultimate goal is to meet people who can hire you, speak with them, start building a relationship, and assess whether the person might be a potential customer for your product or service.

Though you can schmooze with people anywhere, one of the most popular venues for networking are meetings of professional societies and associations whose members are in your industry or target market.

“Cold calling” means getting a list of potential clients with whom you have no relationship, and then phoning them to see whether you can get them interested in hiring you.

A number of freelance copywriters like to use cold calling as a method of generating interest and new business. I personally do not, for three reasons:

Also, when you are sitting there cold calling, many prospects see you as not being busy or successful—because in their minds, if you were, you wouldn’t be dialing for dollars, right?