I had a skip in my step and a new marketing ideas running through my head as I walked through the O’Hare airport last week after spending a few days at the ASJA Content Connections Conference. After years of hearing doomsday predictions about journalism and freelance writing opportunities, the news I heard at the conference was the polar opposite. I left the conference confident that there is a lot of work available out there for content marketing writers. And in the next few years, the opportunities will only increase.

But instead of clients being traditional print publications, the people who need writers the most now are marketing agencies, web design companies, and even public relations firms. Many brands also hire writers directly, but that’s another post. Editors at several agencies, both large and small, said their full-time staff has been cut considerably over the last few years, but the amount of content that their clients need has grown. Everyone from the big guys to the small web design firms need writers for everything from fancy white papers for Fortune 500 brands to web content for the orthodontist downtown. And one of the big benefits of writing for an agency is that they have multiple clients so they are often a great source of steady freelance gigs.

I am going to talk much more in depth about the ethical issues of writing both content marketing and journalistic articles over the next few weeks, but wanted to make this caveat about working with marketing agencies. If I work for an agency, then I will not ever use their sources in a story and I make that very clear before I begin working for them. I also don’t work for agencies whose sources I have worked with in the past, just to make sure that it never appears that I am doing anything unethical.

I had several conversations in the hallway and over drinks at the conference about working agencies. While most everyone I talked to said that they were going to reach out to agencies, most of the writers I spoke with weren’t even sure how to begin finding agencies that need writers. So, today I wanted to share three places you can find agencies who need freelance content marketing writers:

1. Custom Content Council – Most of the major content marketing agencies are members of this professional organization and their member list is a gold mine for freelance content marketing writers. The website includes brands the agency represents, the types of deliverables they produce, industries they write for, and even their contact information. Use all of this information to create a customized LOI that will stand out from the rest.
2. Google – Although the internet allows us to work with people all over the world, many agencies prefer using local writers because they can meet them in person when needed. And unless you are located in a town with only a handful of stoplights, I bet that you have multiple agencies in your area that need writers. I was able to find a long list of agencies offering content marketing writing to their clients with a quick search for “Raleigh Content Marketing.” Also use the terms “Marketing” and “Advertising” searches as well. Since many agencies focus on representing businesses in a specific industry, be sure to search for agencies specializing in your niches as well. Once you have contacted all of the agencies in your area, expand your search to other locations. I am pretty sure you will have enough work to meet your income goals before you contact all of the agencies in the United States.
3. LinkedIn – LinkedIn is such a great tool for finding content marketing clients that I wrote about it previously and will no doubt write about again in the future, but wanted to include a few ways to use the tool to find agencies. Review your current connections to see if anyone you know from your son’s soccer team or daughter’s ballet class is working on content marketing in their job. I have found that using the Advanced Search feature to search the Marketing & Advertising Industry is another fruitful strategy. You can also use the job listings to find out which agencies are looking for full-time content marketing writers for their clients and then offer your services as a freelancer in the meantime.

What has your experience been working with agencies for content marketing gigs? How do you find agencies to work with?