But first, a quick note: As you know, I believe freelancers should talk with one another about money and rates, in order to negotiate better and improve their income. ClearVoice is conducting a survey of freelance writers specifically about rates, and I’m asking my blog readers to participate. It’s a very quick survey – it’ll take you two minutes – and you can opt-in to receive the results once the survey wraps up (if you want) or wait for me to post a link to the results. Collecting information like this really helps elevate freelance writing as a profession, making it easier for everyone to charge what they’re worth and make a good living doing what they love.

And a second note: On Tuesday April 10 at 11am CT/12pm ET, Content Marketing Institute is hosting a Twitter chat about working with freelance writers. If you want to participate, follow the hashtag #CMWorld.

Now, about that lie… 

I posted the comment on Facebook without even really thinking. And then I had regrets. I realized that I had just probably given the worst advice I’ve ever shared with another writer.

Earlier this year I replied to another writer online that I was finishing up my best year ever and that I had done zero marketing. To alleviate my guilt that I had just ruined people’s careers by encouraging them to stop marketing, I added that I didn’t recommend this strategy and that it only worked for me because of my expertise level. But something still didn’t sit right with me.

I shared my comment with my husband (who has been in marketing for 25 years and has an MBA) and he looked at me like I had 45 heads. “Jennifer, you are always marketing. You go to conferences, blog every week, speak on podcasts, connect with people on LinkedIn and go to local events. What are you talking about?” he said. I countered with, “Yes, of course. But I didn’t apply to a single job ad or send out any cold LOIs.” His looked at me like I was crazy and told me to listen to what I just said.

Oh. Yeah. That.

Marketing Is A Part of How I Run My Business 

I realized I had lied in my FB post. It wasn’t that I had done ‘no’ marketing; it was that I had done no cold outbound marketing. And in fact, the reason that I felt like I had done no marketing in 2017 is that I was always marketing my business. Marketing has become such an ingrained part of my days and weeks that I didn’t think of it as a separate activity – because it wasn’t. It is simply how I run my business. And that statement was a million percent the reason that I not only had my best year ever in 2017, but increased my income by 50 percent over my previous best year.

Since my massive marketing effort in 2016 to replace three anchor clients that I lost within three weeks, all of my work has come to me with the exception of three LOIs I sent out in January 2018. I personally think that getting to the place where the majority of your work comes to you should be the goal of all freelance writers. It takes work. And it takes years. But to me, getting to this place is really the ultimate sign that you have built a sustainable business.

My Unmarketing Activities

Here are some of the things that I constantly do that help to market my business that don’t actually feel like marketing:

• Editors have contacted me after finding my website online because I blog regularly which keeps my SEO #1 on Google for the keyword search ‘Content Marketing Writer.’
• Clients have found me after searching on LinkedIn because I keep my niches and client list updated on the social media site.
• When I send a potential client to my website, they want to hire me because I keep my site updated with recent clips and make sure that I do good work for any client that hires me.
• I ask current clients for more work both in their department/project and on other projects. They then refer me to colleagues partly because I asked, but more importantly they are pleased with the work I did for them.
• New clients contact me because they read my work on leading websites or publications. This goes back to working with clients where I know my work will be visible to other clients who might be a fit for my strengths and goals.
• I spend time up front carefully screening potential clients on the phone and via email. By only working with clients who are really nice people and are a match for my personality, strengths and weaknesses, my clients and I develop long term relationships that often last many years.
• Other writers refer work to me because I refer out work to other writers whenever I am too busy for new clients and I spend time every week mentoring other writers.
• I also go to writer conferences during the year and have developed real friendships with many writers. My writer friends have referred many great gigs to me over the years.

The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing. Many writers make LOIs the cornerstone of their marketing, but I feel strongly that sending cold LOIs should be a small piece of a larger outreach. Marketing shouldn’t be something you do on Wednesdays from 1 to 3 pm, but simply a part of everything you do to run your business.

What are your thoughts on marketing vs. unmarketing? Are you at the point where marketing is a seamless part of your business? If so, how did you get there? How can we help you get to that point?