Note from Jennifer: Last week Jackie emailed me that she landed her first content marketing gig by following the steps on this blog. Yes, I cried. I was so happy. I asked her to share how she did it so that other readers get insight into what worked for her. So today we have a guest poster, Jackie Ashton, who is going to share about how got $3K in new business last week. 

Content marketing writing. What is it?

Until two days ago, I didn’t know. I’d heard that writers were making a lot of money doing it and I wanted to get in on the action. But I wasn’t sure how to tackle breaking into this market. Until I found this blog.

Thanks to this wealth of information on content marketing, and my efforts to follow her tips step-by-set, I can now add “Content Marketing Writer” to my resume. I am working on my first content marketing assignment for $3,000. Here’s how I did it::

1. Educated myself on content marketing

First, I took a trip through the blog to learn about what content marketing is, how companies are using it, and what I can do as a writer to get into this market. These three blog posts were especially helpful:

• Take the First Step Towards Content Marketing Writing
• 8 Steps to Make Money as a Content Marketing Writer
• Content Marketing Writing 101

2. Determined my niche

Jennifer’s posts explained that I needed to narrow in on my niche. So, what’s my niche? It’s basically the vertical markets where I have experience. My clips and experience are in the following industries:

• Lifestyle (clips)
• Tech (clips and experience)
• Parenting (clips and, well, on the job experience!)
• Health and wellness (clips)
• Education (clips and experience)

Niches found. Pretty simple.

3. Searched for Potential Clients

Next it was time to look for potential clients. I zoomed in on these three posts and went to work:

• How I Landed 50K in New Content Marketing Gigs in 45 Days
• How to Land National Brands as Content Marketing Clients
• 6 New Places to Find Content Marketing Agencies

I found one agency in particular that looked particularly interesting. This company is based in the little town in Virginia where I went to college—a place where people feel very loyal to others who have lived there or gone to the local university. Boom! I also noticed that this agency provides content to a lot of colleges, including my own. I realized right away that my background in education might be useful.

4. Wrote an LOI (Letter of Introduction)

Now that I had my niches figured out, as well as a few agencies to try, I was ready to start sending out LOIs. Jennifer does a great job on her blog describing how to write an LOI.

Here’s a peek into what mine looked like:

Hi, XXXX,

I’m a fellow [MY COLLEGE] graduate and seasoned freelance writer based in San Francisco. I wanted to reach out to see if you might be looking for any freelance content marketing writers at YYYY.

I’ve got a lot of experience writing content for start-ups and Fortune 500 companies and I have a background in education—I was recently commissioned to write this piece, [LINK TO MY ONE EDUCATION CLIP].

I worked in education for many years before deciding to become a freelance writer after the birth of my two children. (I also worked for the central development office at [MY COLLEGE] as well as the Alumni Association.)

I’ve also done a lot of writing in the design, lifestyle and health markets. [They have lots of other clients in other verticals, besides education.]

My writing has appeared in ___________________. [LINKED TO ALL OF MY BEST CLIPS]

In short, I am confident I could create engaging and informative content that will make clients happy.

You can find more clips and more information on my background on [MY LINKEDIN PROFILE]. I’d love to chat if you’re interested.

Thank you in advance for considering my work; I hope to hear from you soon.

All best,

Jackie

 

5. Found the Right Contact

In order to find the right contact (someone with “content” or “editor” in their title), I looked up the company on LinkedIn and did some digging around into the job titles of the people who work there.

6. Determined How to Set My Rates

I decided that I’d like to earn at least $100/hour. And I did some more sleuthing on the blog:

• How to Get the Best Content Marketing Pay Rate: By Word, By Hour, or By Project?
• Setting Your Content Marketing Rates

7. Evaluated the Fee They Offered

No one was more surprised than me when the firm emailed back two days later offering me a project! They said they could pay $3000. Again, I turned to Jennifer for information about estimating how long the gig would take.

• 8 Things to Evaluate When Determining How Long a Content Marketing Deliverable Will Take

Based on this advice above, I asked these follow up questions:

Hi XXXX,

Thank you so much for getting back to me.

I’m definitely game for this project. I just have a few follow-up questions about the scope of the work to make sure that the amount you are offering is in line with what I normally charge and earn.

1. Just to clarify: There will be a total of two interviews, correct? How long do you think these interview will last?

2. Who will be involved in the editing/review process and how many rounds of editing do you expect?

3. Will there be any additional research required or will all of the content come from the interviews/existing site?

Thank you so much.

Looking forward to it!

All best,

Jackie

 

When my contact wrote back with her answers and it became clear that I could complete the job in less than 30 hours, thereby making my $100/hour rate—I said yes!

Post your congratulations to Jackie! Do you have any questions that you have for her as well or tips that worked well for you when starting out?