Marketing Tips for Freelancers

These are the marketing tips for freelancers that I posted to Twitter throughout May and June 2009. Please keep in mind that each one, including labels and hashtags (keywords) that don't appear here, had to be 140 characters and spaces or fewer to fit Twitter's limits on the length of individual tweets. I have not rewritten them here; they appear in the same telegraphic speech that I used on Twitter to meet those limits. When I wrote them, I had generalist freelance copyeditors in mind, but I believe that most of them will work for freelancers of any kind. Use them and prosper:

• Network. Join and participate in professional associations and e-mail lists.
• Post résumé everywhere you can, such as the EFA'S directory: http://bit.ly/2xJ9Pwk. [Note: This tip was updated January 28, 2019.]
• Hand out business cards absolutely everywhere. You never know who'll need your services.
• Be helpful to colleagues. It's fun and can also get you referrals from grateful associates.
• Maintain a professional-looking Web site. It's your calling card on the Internet.
• Keep in contact w/ clients. The one whom clients remember is the one who gets the gigs.
• Advertise judiciously. I'm med editor and have ad on CSE site; https://tinyurl.com/mu56ef67.
• Send small thank-you gifts to clients so they have something tactile to remember you by.
• Put your name and contact info on everything: mss., style sheets, invoices, e-mails ...
• Always be on lookout for new clients: mentioned on e-mail lists, in news, online ...
• During both feast and; famine, schedule time each week to contact potential clients.
• Approach clients—current and potential—from perspective of their needs, not yours.
• Buy "Getting Started as a Freelance Copyeditor": http://tinyurl.com/3cfww27.
• Use the Copyeditors' Knowledge Base: http://www.kokedit.com/ckb.php. [Note: This tip was updated April 29, 2012.]
• Read and use Marketing Your Editing & Proofreading Business: http://bit.ly/UopLvS. [Note: This tip was added August 27, 2014.]
• Buy audio recordings: getting started, http://bit.ly/2RTf3PS; medical editing, http://bit.ly/2khtIRA. [Note: This tip was updated January 28, 2019.]
• Don't look like an employee: Résumés for Freelancers; https://www.the-efa.org/booklets/. [Note: This tip was updated January 28, 2019.]
• What to Charge: Pricing Strategies for Freelancers and Consultants. https://amzn.to/2FRqj9b [Note: This tip was updated January 28, 2019.]
• Search online to learn who publishes materials you want to edit. E-mail those pubs.
• Find potential clients by looking thru ref work Literary Market Place at library.
• Improve marketability by honing your skills—learn from books: https://www.the-efa.org/booklets/. [Note: This tip was updated January 28, 2019.]
• Improve marketability by honing your skills—take classes: https://www.the-efa.org/education/. [Note: This tip was updated January 28, 2019.]
• Actively give and take on editing e-mail lists to build contacts: http://tinyurl.com/c2m66z4.
• Monitor publishing job listings; where there are jobs, there are freelance gigs.
• Publishing job listings to watch: http://url.ie/1pac and http://url.ie/8yax. [Note: This tip was updated September 2, 2016.]
  
• Set up a profile at LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com/, and share your expertise.
• Use Facebook, LinkedIn, and X (formerly known as Twitter) to showcase your skills and what you're like to work with: http://tinyurl.com/2bqknek [Note: This tip was added here on August 18, 2011; it was not tweeted. In 2024, I no longer use X. Instead, I use Bluesky and Mastodon.]
• Contact former employers about the possibility of freelancing for them.
• See feature story on co. that’s doing well? Contact them re need for editors.
• Don't limit the hunt for clients to your geographic area. The Internet is your friend.
• Snail-mail small periodic newsletter to clients so they have tangible reminder of you.
• Snail-mail "Happy New Year" cards to your clients, thanking them for their business. Enclose biz cards.
• Don't wait till your current gig is done to look for more work; contact clients now.
• Keep up with clients as they move from job to job, and they'll take you with them.
• Do pro bono editing for a charity? Request a credit line in the published work.
• Newbie? Sign with temp agencies that handle editors. Gigs may lead to good contacts.
• Join networking groups and tell them what you do. Be an active member.
• Treat all clients with the utmost respect and expect the same in return.
• Make sure authors know you're on their side. Query respectfully and give compliments.
• Booked up and have to turn down a gig? Thank the client for the offer and check back soon.
• Referring a client to trusted colleague when you're booked up helps client and you.
• It's exciting to land new clients, but don't let old clients feel taken for granted.
• Ask what you can do for clients. Never: "Got work for me?" Focus on clients' needs.
• Notify clients about your upcoming vacation. Some will offer projects for afterward.
• Never complain about your clients on Twitter, Facebook, blogs, or e-mail lists.
• Seek work from an attitude of abundance. Desperation rarely attracts project offers.
• When clients praise your work, get written permission to quote them on your web site.
• You’re an independent contractor. Don't just accept "This is what we pay." Negotiate!
• Clear, frank communication during projects heads off problems and pleases clients.
• If you make a mistake, be professional: own up, apologize, fix it, move on.
• Get project parameters before accepting a project, so you can set an accurate fee.
• Put this in all your contracts: If project scope increases midway, your fee goes up.
• Specify payment terms in all of your contracts, for your protection and clients'.
• A client contract can consist of your e-mails to and from client regarding a project.
• If you want offered gig but you're booked, ask client if there's schedule wiggle room.
• Don't keep accepting projects from a client who hasn't paid your invoices on time.
• Clients fold and contacts leave. Ensure your income by cultivating multiple clients.
• Protect your income. Vet new clients—research their payment history with freelancers.
• It may be comfy w/ just 1 client, but IRS may call you an employee. Get more clients.
• Never assume; get client's approval on overall style points early in project.
• Secret to keeping clients? Always do your best work. Don't get lazy.
• Get off feast-or-famine roller coaster: spend time each week marketing your services.
• Thank colleagues for referrals w/ thank-you notes, small gifts, reciprocal referrals.
• "Businesslike" doesn't equal "humorless stiff." Be professional but be yourself.
• Avoid dry spells by having more than one project at a time, each in different stage.
• Remember—the author is the subject-matter expert; you're the editorial expert.

Can you think of additional tips? Let me know.