How Many Content Marketing Writing Letters of Introductions Should You Send Out?
It seems that most days I get an email from a reader telling me the happy news that they have gotten a content marketing writing gig. I am thrilled. But I have also gotten a few emails from readers saying that they have sent out a lot of letters of introductions over the past weeks or months and not gotten a gig. My first question is “How many is a lot?” And of the writers have responded with a number between 20 and 30.
My response is that 20 or 30 letters of introductions is not a lot at all. Actually, 20 is nowhere near a lot. I honestly would consider a lot to be 100—or maybe even 200. I have recently been in a slow spot and am trying to send out about 10 contacts each day. I don’t consider that to be a lot, or even enough. With content marketing, it can take weeks or months for a client to have a project that meets your skills so you don’t typically get immediate assignments. Plus, you are often targeting companies that are new to content marketing or already have a stable of freelancers.
This is the thing that I have learned over the years as a freelance writer: it really is a numbers game. Since luck and timing are a large part in getting a gig, the best way to increase your odds is to send out a lot of LOIs. And if you send out 20 in three-month period or even in one month, then your odds are not that great. So, the good news is that if you have been sending out a relatively low amount of LOIs and not getting gigs, then don’t despair. Your lack of gigs doesn’t mean you are doing anything wrong or that you won’t be successful as a content marketing writer. It simply means that you need to send out more LOIs.
Here are three tips for sending out LOIs:
- If you are in desperate need of work to pay your bills, set a daily goal for LOIs to send out that is relatively high–like 20 as well as a weekly goal of 100. Although quantity is important, it is even more important that they are targeted and personal emails. Make your goal the highest number that you can send out while still creating targeted and personal emails.
- If you getting absolutely no responses, not even “We will keep your information on file,” then you should probably make some tweaks to your LOI or the types of clients you are targeting. Even though you shouldn’t expect immediate assignments from a couple of letters, you should typically getting at least one or two responses. If you are getting total radio silence, then take a minute to update your LOI before sending out your next batch.
- Once you get some work, lower your target number of LOIs each week. But it is essential that you continue making contacts continually. Even on the days you are swamped with work, you should make an effort to do one marketing task (if not more) each day.
How many LOIs do you send out each week? Any tips for consistently sending out LOIs?
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Hi Jennifer,
I have been enjoying your articles and posts. Thank you. I agree that a high volume of LOIs is important. Can you write about or link back to a previous article about how to best find the right people to target with your LOIs? I think finding a hundred different markets to send LOIs to is the bigger part of the battle. How would you find a hundred new markets every week?
Very, very good question. I have written about this in the past, but I think I will write a roundup post in the next week on it as well. Once you get thinking, it’s actually pretty easy to come up a hundred target markets, depending on your niche. I found 20 last night within an hour. This is the thing, almost every business needs content so your market potential is limitless. The only thing that limits it a little is your niches, but if you have several then you have lots of possibilities. What is your niche? I can give you some more specific ideas with that information.
Some target markets to get you started while I work on the post
1. Doctors, Lawyers, Dentists https://www.jennifergregorywriter.com/2013/11/13/yes-its-ok-to-go-to-the-dark-side-how-to-find-agencies-that-need-content-marketing-writers/
2. Content Marketing Agencies There are tons of agencies both in your town and across the country. https://www.jennifergregorywriter.com/2013/11/13/yes-its-ok-to-go-to-the-dark-side-how-to-find-agencies-that-need-content-marketing-writers/
3. National Brands https://www.jennifergregorywriter.com/2013/12/16/how-to-land-national-brands-as-content-marketing-writing-clients/
4. Go through LinkedIn and see who is hiring fulltime content writers. Send them an Inmail offering your services in the meantime. This way you know that they have a need for content
5. Look on LinkedIn for companies your niche to have a content marketing manager or strategist on staff. This means they are doing content.
6. Do a google search for B2B companies in your niche. They almost always need content.
Does this help?
Also, I don’t think you will would need to find 100 new markets every week. Most likely if you do that level of volume for a week or two then you will get some work. So, that’s not a level that most people would keep up, just an idea of the volume you need if you are desperate for work or currently have no work.
Thank you, Jennifer.
This is helpful information, Jennifer, as I’ve been working to increase the number of LOIs I send out per week. This background, coupled with Kathryn Hawkins’ advice in your earlier post about when to follow up on the LOIs you’ve sent http://bit.ly/1fGIaJY helps me feel more prepared to tackle this task effectively. As always, thanks for the information!
I’m so glad that your found it helpful. Do you have any specific strategies that you are using to increase the number of LOI’s? Please share!
Hi Jennifer, Great info here. I was actually going to Pin this post to save the info but there are no images on the page. You have awesome blog posts and Pinterest is a huge traffic generator these days. You might consider adding a pinnable image to each post. When I don’t have a visual for a blog post I often create an image using the title of my post so there is at least an image to Pin. Just some food for thought!
Great idea! I will definitely consider that. Thank you for the tip!