FreelanceSwitch, a cool site for anyone who works for themselves, has a good post today about free marketing tactics for freelancers. (See also Meryl.net’s post on the same topic.) I wanted to add to the list with a few things that have worked for me.

1. The daily pitch. Marketing consists of building a relationship with people who can buy from you. I find that calling someone or emailing someone or meeting someone every day is essential.
2. The free seminar. Nearly all my work this year stems from ten or so seminars that I ran in 2006. (Here’s the blog entry with the details.) I also ran company-specific versions for Microsoft and HP. It wasn’t about selling my services but trying to help them solve their problems. The most valuable benefits for me were actually meeting people (see #1 above) and associating myself with good writing in their minds. A friendly client provided the room so all this cost me was the price of a few donuts and a week or so to prepare and organise the events.
3. CRM-lite. Although I constantly toy with the idea of getting full-blown customer relationship management software, I find that Outlook plus a small spreadsheet helps me keep track of current contacts and relationships. Keeping it all organised and reviewing it weekly are more important than the actual software you use.
4. The insta-brief. This is more of a sales tool than a marketing one but I have a brief template that lets me produce proposals quickly. If someone talks to me about a potential project, I can get them a detailed proposal / brief the same day. If I get it right, all they have to do is say ‘yes.’ Everyone’s busy. If you can simplify their decision process and save them time, as with a pre-written, easy-to-approve brief, they love it. (For more information, read Better Briefs for Writers.)
5. Be friendly. People buy from people they like. Either turn your sincerity simulator to full power or let your natural charm shine. (I like the quote - where did I hear it - “I will astonish the world with my unstoppable positive groove.”)
6. The trusted advisor. This is David Maister’s concept of how professional service firms should work with their clients. His book, The Trusted Advisor (Amazon link), is a must-read.
7. Member-get-member. A large amount of my work comes from referrals from one person to another within the same firm. I don’t like to be pushy about this so the main thing that I can do to encourage this is to understand how the company is organised, what their pain points and challenges are and to visit them often and meet people.
8. Is there anything else I can do? I try to remember to say thank you for new assignments and to close emails delivering work by asking if there’s anything else I can do. Similarly, following up a month or so after a project is finished with the same question is free and effective.
9. Upsell. “Would you like fries with that?” becomes “Would you like me to do a PowerPoint version of the case study as well?” (My local Giraffe restaurant is really good at upselling. I go in for a burrito and end up having extra cheese, a side order of crisps and a couple of drinks.)
10. Attach. Customers are sometimes like patients before a doctor, they like to diagnose and prescribe for themselves. Often clients ask me to solve one problem (e.g. we need more case studies) but, by understand the problem better or seeing it in a wider context, I can propose a broader solution; for example a case study program AND a blog. It’s about thinking hard and listening carefully.

Related posts on this blog: How to be a freelance journalist and How to work from home.

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