It is a lot easier to sell your services to a company that is already engaged in content marketing than trying to convince a brand of the value in content marketing. While this strategy saves time and increases your odds of success, it can be challenging to identify those companies. This week, I am going to do a two-part series on using LinkedIn to find potential clients, highlighting two different techniques that I have been using recently.

LinkedIn can be a great tool, but it is essential that you have the free upgrade offered through the LinkedIn for Journalists Group. One of the biggest benefits is that you can send free Inmails to potential clients which is a huge help since finding emails can be challenging. All you have to do is listen to a 45-minute or so conference call training session one a year. And honestly, the training call is very interesting and teaches you a ton about LinkedIn.

I’m currently in a slow period with my own business and am actively marketing myself daily. One tactic that I have been having success with lately is contacting companies that are looking for full-time content marketing writers or strategists and offering my services during the hiring process or for overflow work in the future. This is an effective strategy because you already know that the company uses content marketing and has more needs than they can currently fulfill in-house. And even if you don’t get work immediately, there is a good chance that you may hear from them in the future, especially if you are targeting companies in your niches.

Here are seven steps to finding new content writing markets:

1. Click on the Jobs menu in LinkedIn and then click on Advanced Search and then More Options.
2. In the title field, enter the title of the type of position that you are looking for. You will want to play around with several different titles to find the one that yields the best results for the type of work you want. I used both Content Marketing Specialist and Content Writer.
3. In the location section, I recommend starting in your local area and then expanding your search. My experience is that companies are most interested in local freelancers because they have the ability for occasional in house meetings if needed.
4. In the Industry section, click on your target niches. You will have the most success concentrating on positions where you have industry experience.
5. Click search and the jobs matching your criteria are displayed. I always click on Sort by Date so I can see the most recently posted jobs.
6. Review the jobs to determine which ones you are qualified for. I prefer to target jobs that have a contact person named in the job listing. I have had more success with that tactic than applying for the full-time position. Even if the job listed is too high a level for your experience, but indicates that they are using content marketing then I still apply because odds are that they have a need for content creation.
7. Send an Inmail with a version of your Letter of Introduction to the contact person offering your freelance services. Be clear that you are looking for freelance work and not applying for the fulltime position. Include a version of your LOI that outlines your industry experience as well as your content marketing experience. I also include a link to my website and offer to send clips as well.

Anyone tried this technique? Any questions or tips for using LinkedIn?