Read 3 Free Sample eBook Chapters!

TIP 14 — Start Up Phase: Introduce Your Services to Prospects with a "Bio Sheet."
 TIP 39 — Growth Phase: Beware of the Single-Client Trap.
TIP 73 — Maturity Phase: Stay in Touch with Old Clients — Whenever Possible.

> TIP 14 — Start Up Phase: Introduce Your Services to Prospects with a "Bio Sheet."

Introduce Your Services to Prospects with a “Bio Sheet.”

Whenever you contact a potential new client, one of the first things they'll ask for is more information about your services. I've found that the perfect way to introduce new contacts to my services is via a two-page “Bio Sheet.”

This document could also be called a resume, but I've never liked that word. To me, it carries the connotation of applying for a full-time job. A typical resume spells out your work history chronologically. “Curriculum Vitae” is another term some people use for their work history. But these documents are typically used in education and research to detail someone's history of work, education, and research.

I think “Bio Sheet” is the perfect term for a document that provides the following information:

  • A brief description of my skills and services
  • A list of the type of projects I write
  • A partial list of the companies for whom I've worked
  • A list of testimonials from happy clients
  • My contact information

Over the years, my Bio Sheet has been a great door opener for me. Many people have told me how impressed they were with the content and the way I organized it. In the early days of my career, I designed my Bio Sheet myself using PageMaker. Later on I hired a graphic designer to design a new one for me — and, of course, it now looks better than ever. I keep an updated PDF of my Bio Sheet in my “Self Promo” folder on my desktop. I can easily attach it, along with relevant writing samples, to follow up emails I send to new prospects.

If you write for different markets you can prepare two different Bio Sheets, with marketing copy for companies and articles for trade magazines. Along with my marketing and PR document, I also have a Bio Sheet that I use to introduce magazine editors to my article writing history.

Some writers might choose to create a Website for themselves, in which case they probably will not need a Bio Sheet since a Website would provide the same information. I haven't moved in that direction yet, simply because of the time and cost involved. But it's certainly a great option for writers with the time and energy to tackle launching their own Websites.

Also, while it might be easy to direct a prospect to a single Web address where they could review all your work history and writing samples, I still enjoy the opportunity to custom select the writing samples I want to send to each prospect (see Tip 15). I might change my mind and launch a Website one day — I'm just here to tell you that this step is not critical for your success as a freelance writer.

> TIP 39 — Growth Phase: Beware of the Single-Client Trap.

Beware of the Single-Client Trap.

I wish I could say that I've made the “single-client” mistake only once in my freelancing career, then learned my lesson and never put all my eggs in one client's basket again. But, unfortunately, I've fallen into the one-client trap more than once. It's very seductive and insidious. It sneaks up on you. In fact, you barely see it coming. First, you gain a new client and they hire you for one project. Then they hire you for a second project. Then a third. The projects get bigger and more frequent, until one day you realize that you are only working for one client.

I can count on two hands the number of times I was seduced into working for only one client. It's just so easy when one great company keeps you so busy that you don't need to look for more freelance work. I mean, who likes to look for work, right? And if you're already busy, why bother?

You might ask: What's the problem: This sounds great? The problem is that while it's heaven to have one great client, it's hell when you lose them. When — not if — you lose your one client, you will immediately have zero clients. Every freelancer eventually loses every client somehow (see Tip 40). When you go from one to none, you are suddenly thrust from full-on work mode to full-on job search mode. It's much easier and less painful to keep your job search mode going at a slow and steady pace, than it is to take off from a cold start.

Today I do everything I can to keep a minimum of two clients at all times — but three or four is even better. However, just so you don't think that having multiple clients will keep you from waking up one day with no clients, there have been a few times in my career when I had multiple clients — and lost them all at about the same time. Such is the freelancing beast! Nonetheless, I still strive to always have a few clients at all times. It just feels safer.

> TIP 73 — Maturity Phase: Stay in Touch with Old Clients — Whenever Possible.

Stay in Touch with Old Clients — Whenever Possible.

Never presume when you lose a client that it is the end of the relationship. At least five times during my career, I've ended up working a second time for companies after a break of as much as five years. Here are snapshots of some of these occurrences:

  • Old client calls after five years. One time I worked for a company for two years writing every piece of marketing material it needed, from brochures to Web copy. Then one day everything was done. There was nothing left to write. I pitched a PR program, but the client didn't bite. So we parted ways. During that time I stayed in touch by sending him my self-promotional materials and holiday cards. I even went to lunch with him one time. Five years later I received a call from him out of the blue, asking if I'm still freelancing. Long story short, he hired me to do multiple writing projects for a new company he'd started. This new gig lasted over one year and was a great — and lucrative — experience.
  • Contact at company moves to new firm and brings me along. Once a marketing director at a local software company hired me to write everything from success stories to sales letters. After a year, the company downsized and she was let go. She left not only the company, but also the state. A few months later I received an email from her saying she was employed at a new company and needed a freelance writer. She flew me up to meet everyone, and I flew home with several new writing projects.
  • Former assistant hires me when she's promoted to marketing manager. I once worked for a company for four years writing press releases and ghost writing several industry trade articles. Over that time, I'd worked for three different PR managers. Then the third one decided to cut me from her budget. Two months later she left the company. I contacted the only person I still knew there - a former assistant to the original PR manager who had hired me. This former assistant was now the Marketing Director, and she immediately hired me for several marketing and PR assignments.

The lesson here is: Stay in touch with former clients and stay on good terms with everyone you meet in a company. You never know when someone will need you again and you never know how high up the ladder a former assistant will climb.

Learn More About Secrets of Being a Successful Freelance Writer:

Order eBook Now.

Site design by Lynx Web Design