This post is part of my series “Help a Content Marketing Writer” where I profile a freelance writer wanting to break into content marketing writing or expand their content marketing writing business. After talking with the writer over the phone, I will offer suggestions to help the writer identify their niche, find new potential clients and increase the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.

Since I want this blog to grow into a community where we help each other, I am going to put every writer who provides a suggestion to the featured writer in drawing to win a $20 amazon gift card at the end of the month.

Meet James

James is a very accomplished science fiction writer and also has a publishing company. He has previously worked as copywriter and has a long list of business and content marketing writing to his credit as well. His work in the past has covered a wide range of topics including networking, finance, social media and business. However, he is more of a jack of all trades with his content marketing topics and doesn’t have a clear niche.

While he enjoys content marketing writing, his love is writing fiction and working on his publishing business. He currently has a full-time day job and a family to support, but his goal for his content marketing writing business is to make a lot of money so he can quit his job and have more time to devote to writing fiction. But since limited hours to market his content marketing writing, James needs a marketing strategy this is simple and quick to implement.

My Suggestions to James:

I really enjoyed talking with James and am confident that with some consistent effort he will be successful enough to give his two week notice at his day job at some point in the future. He is a very well-spoken as well as an interesting person with variety of experiences. I was impressed with how he had successful built a platform for his science fiction writing and know that he will be able to do the same for his content marketing writing business.

Here are suggestions for helping him reach his goals:

1. Concentrate on a Niche – One of the biggest challenges that James has run into is that his experience is all over the map and he doesn’t have any clear cut niches. I have been told time and time again by brands that they are almost exclusively looking for writers with experience in their industry. I asked James what niche he was most interested in writing about and he quickly said marketing, social media and direct response.  I suggested that he focus all of his efforts on establishing niches in those areas to make it easier to get work in the future.  I said that since he doesn’t have a solid niche right now that it will take more LOI’s and marketing to land assignments, but that before too long he will have the experience that brands are looking for.

2. Marketing to Agencies – When we started brainstorming markets, I said that we needed to think about companies that were marketing to people/business who need help or advice about marketing and social media. We immediately realized that he needed to concentrate in the B2B market and that many social media and marketing agencies needed content marketing about their own company. I suggested that since he live in Atlanta that he first start with agencies in his area. He mentioned to social media and web design firms nearby and said that he had already contacted them, but needed to follow up. I also recommended contacting the Custom Content Council members as well.

3. Create a Separate Website for His Content Marketing Writing Business – When I went to James’ website, it was all about his science fiction writing. There was one line about business writing, but everything including the logo (a planet), the blog and the publishing credits were all focused on marketing himself as a science fiction writer. While I don’t typically recommend that writers have multiple website,  since science fiction and content marketing are (literally and figuratively) two worlds apart, brands and content marketing companies will have a hard time seeing past the science fiction to his content marketing experience. James said that his funds didn’t currently allow for two separate sites, I recommended creating a new page on his current website titled “Content Marketing Writing” as a short term solution. When sending out LOI’s, he can then link directly link to the Content Marketing page on his main website.

4. Update his LinkedIn profile for Content Marketing Writing – I also suggested that he revamp his LinkedIn page to reflect only his content marketing writing business since most of the LinkedIn crowd is geared towards business not science fiction. He said that he currently had two email signatures and would use one that represented himself as a content marketing writer when sending out LOI’s. I told him that was great and to keep using his content marketing writer signature when appropriate.

5. Focus on Getting Ongoing Assignments – Since James has limited marketing time, I told him that I thought that focusing on projects that would net ongoing work were the best use of his limited hours right now. I suggested blogs and custom publications since both are published on a schedule and are always in need of content.  He could also write about social media and marketing for trade publications in any industry, which would also help him establish new niches as well. For example, if he wanted to get into the building and construction niche, he could pitch writing about marketing and social media to structure publications since he has the expertise in the topic, if not the industry.

6. Make the Most of Limited Time – Since James has very little free time, we talked about setting up a marketing schedule to help keep him on track. He said that he gets a lunch hour at his day job and can easily send emails during that time. We also talked about using weekends and holidays as well to write marketing letters and then send them during the business day to maximize his time while creating the perception of a full-time freelancer. I told him that because he doesn’t have a clear cut niche and is only freelancing part-time that it will most likely take longer to net assignments, but that he will eventually land work.

When I got off the phone with James, I was positive that he will be able to translate his writing and marketing skills to creating a successful content marketing business that will allow him to focus on what is really important to him. By using the same skills he has used to create his science fiction career to marketing his new business, I am confident that he will be able to give his two week notice at some point in the future.

Do you have a suggestion for James? Every writer that shares an idea will be entered into a drawing for the Amazon $20 gift card at the end of the month.