For many freelance writers, marketing is not something they enjoy. In fact, this is something they fear for one reason or the next. But why? Why do so many people shy away from this when it could help take their career to the next level?
Here are three reasons why some writers avoid creating a detailed marketing strategy:
- Afraid it won’t work. Let’s face it: some things you do to market your services will be effective while others will come up empty. This is all part of being a freelance writer. If you are afraid to fail you are going to find it challenging to succeed as a writer in an overall sense. Tip: it is better to market your services and fail than to avoid doing this altogether.
- Don’t want to be shot down by prospects. For many, there is nothing more intimidating than making a cold call. After all, the person on the other end of the line could hang up on you, make a rude comment, or talk down on you. Yes, this is going to happen from time to time when marketing your services. However, it is not that big of a deal. For every person you meet like this, there are many more who will at least hear you out.
- Takes up too much time. There is no denying that you want to spend most of your time writing. With that in mind, those who fail to market their services may find themselves with no active gigs at some point in the future.
It may take time (and money) to market your services, but this is something you do now to ensure a better future.
Are any of these common fears holding you back? Once you pinpoint your fears, it is easier to find a solution. You will feel much better about your career and the direction it is headed once you have a marketing plan in place.
My biggest fear when it comes to marketing our services is that I will spend a lot of time creating something very useful (in my eyes) and find that it doesn’t resonate with our prospects at all. It’s terrifying because that’s a lot of time I could be working on something else.
I tend to go through three stages – excitement at a new idea, fear that it’s a waste of time, and finally relief that I’m done. End of the day, the experience is well worth all of it, but it’s still tough to not know how it will work out in the end.
What’s your market research phase like? Perhaps putting together a target market profile each time would help you feel more confident that they’ll appreciate your ideas. Once you know who they are and what they want (or need), you shouldn’t have to fret too much as long as your products or services fill those wants and needs. 🙂
I know that cold calling freaks me out, but I also believe that there is more than one way to skin a cat, so to speak. I love Linked In. I swear that has been the answer to my cold calling fears. I can join groups in my niche, publish blogs, and get noticed to draw people to me, or I use our common ground in my niche to open doors for me. And I do this all through email or LI. I only touch the phone when initial contact has been made first online.
Finally, I think everybody has their own ways to market themselves. While cold-calling seems to be the gold standard of marketing, I think it’s fair to say everyone needs to discover what marketing methods work best for them rather than a one size fits all when it comes to getting out there and meeting clients. I know that I learned that through trial and error that cold calling isn’t for me. And if we lived in times before email, I probably would need to get a side job at a post office because I would use a lot of stamps. Thanks, Chris, for sharing your marketing wisdom.
Excellent points, Chris.
When I talk to writers about marketing, “afraid it won’t work” seems to be their biggest stumbling block, because they expect marketing to get instant results. Of course, this rarely happens. Marketing is a longterm process of gaining visibility and relationship-building.
I have a Three Month Rule, which says that for the marketing you’re doing today, you’ll see results three months down the road.
This plays into reason # 3 — marketing takes up too much time. If you’re expecting instant results, it can seem this way. You’re scared that you’re wasting time.
Marketing takes a leap of faith, that you can build a better business, with better clients, if you devote a few minutes to marketing every day.
If you’re feeling scared, ask yourself (write it down): “What’s the worst that could happen?”
Then ask yourself: “What’s the best thing that could happen?”
Then go for it — market with confidence. You never know, the best just might happen. 🙂
“Marketing is a longterm process of gaining visibility and relationship-building.”
Amen to that Angela!
I am guilty of the third reason. Marketing does take too much time at first if you still don’t know or still in the process of how to do things right. But things will be a lot easier in the later end if you already know the tricks of marketing effectively. Patience is very important with marketing and everything will soon be paid off in the end.
Hi,
The biggest fear or drawback is finding a marketing system that will work for you. As was mentioned, marketing takes time. You need to devote time to creating a marketing strategy that works for YOU and your writing business. Can this take time? Yes. Should you invest money by working with a marketing firm who can do the marketing for you? Maybe.
I’ve stepped up my marketing by scheduling it into my week. If I have to spend five hours a day marketing, or eight hours a day, three days a week marketing, I’ll do it.
I am nowhere near where I should be with my freelance writing business, and I know it’s due to marketing. I can do it for others, but when it comes to my freelance writing business, I put on the backburner. Kind of like moms who put themselves last while they take care of everyone else. 🙂
Yeah, fear it won’t work when I’ve spent all that time… bogus I know, but it’s there.