I received a lot of questions about my January and February income recaps about agency work. I’ve found from answering many questions over the years that there are a lot of misconceptions about agencies as well as writers not knowing where to start. So this week I decided to create a giant blog post that answers (hopefully) all your questions about agencies. 

• What are content marketing agencies?
• What are the benefits of working with an agency?
• Can I earn professional rates working with an agency?
• Are agencies difficult to work with?
• Some agencies pay an hourly rate but I don’t want to work hourly. What do I do?
• How do you find agencies to contact?
• Are there any lists of agencies to make things easier?
• Can generalist writers work with agencies?
• Should I send my LOI to an agency through LinkedIn or only through email?
• Who should I contact at the agency?
• How should I change my LOI when approaching an agency?
• Should I mention the clients from their website I want to work with in the LOI?
• Are small agencies worth contacting? 
• Should I follow up after sending an LOI?
• How can I increase the odds of agencies contacting me on LinkedIn?

As you can see, freelance writers have a lot of questions about working with content marketing agencies, so let’s dive in! 

What do you mean by agencies?

When I talk about agencies, I am referring to marketing, content marketing, advertising and public relations agencies. Businesses hire these types of agencies to complete a project and the agency has an entire team, including project managers, editors, writers, and designers, that work on client work. I am not talking about staffing or contracting agencies where the client places you with a company where you do work for the company either part-time, full-time or contract. 

What are the benefits of working with an agency?

I earn about 75% of my income through agencies, and I love working with a great agency for many reasons, some of which I’ve mentioned in past blog posts. With an agency it’s very easy to get lots of work because they have lots of projects. However, I’ve found you often have to ask to be put on other projects – they often won’t just give it to you. 

Another reason I like agencies is that they know how to work with freelancers. A great agency understands that, without freelancers, they don’t have a business model so they really take care of their freelancers. They have processes in place. They understand the challenges of freelancing. I even had one agency provide educational seminars for freelancers. I have had two different agencies send me flowers on separate occasions for a death or illness. That’s never happened with a direct business client for me. 

I also find that it’s easy to get new niches and work on new types of writing, such as whitepapers and cases studies, with existing agency clients. Because they know you, they often are comfortable letting you do something new. Many giant companies also use agencies so it’s often the only way to get some of these huge brands on your client list that help you get more clients. I’ve worked with IBM, Google, Microsoft, Verizon, Meta/Facebook, Dell, HPE, Staples, and AT&T to name a few through agencies. 

I heard agencies are low paying. Can I make professional rates working with an agency?

Absolutely. I have some agencies that I earn $300 to $400 an hour in a project rate for B2B tech projects with most of my agency projects averaging around $200 an hour. There are many agencies where you can easily earn $100 an hour in a project rate. The reason is that a great agency and project manager handles the client management and schedule, which can take a lot of time. Some of my agency clients even handle revisions, which saves even more time. They also handle the marketing, so you no longer have to invest that unpaid time to get new work. 

Yes, there are agencies that pay crappy just like there are direct companies that pay crappy. If you are charging professional rates then you will hear “you are too expensive” the majority of the time – and that’s actually a good sign (spoiler alert: a blog post on this topic is coming soon). But you can absolutely find agencies that pay you very good money, it just takes some digging. 

I had a bad experience with an agency. Are all agencies hard to work with?

Nope. There are some great agencies to work with and there are crappy agencies to work with, just like with direct businesses. Yes, some agencies and projects end up with lots of revisions and too many cooks in the kitchens. But I’ve had that experience with direct businesses as well. I think it’s a mistake to lump agencies into one pile saying they are all good or bad. Instead, look at each one individually. If you’ve worked with two agencies, then you’ve worked with two agencies. 

I also think the experience at an agency depends heavily on the specific client project that you are working on and your contact for that project. The specific client could be difficult. Or the project manager could be less than stellar. If you have a rough experience with one project it’s worth trying another project at the same agency, it may very well be totally different. I’ve got some agencies that I love working with but I won’t work on specific projects for those reasons. 

I worked with an agency that only wanted to pay me hourly. I don’t want to work hourly. What can I do?

Yep, this is sometimes the case. The reason is that agencies bill their clients by the hour in most cases. So their time tracking, invoicing, and billing system is set up for hourly work. I’ve had excellent luck asking if I can essentially bill a set hourly rate for a project regardless of how many hours it takes me. For example, one agency I worked with was fine with me charging 25 hours for a case study, regardless of if it took me 15 or 35 hours. This way I didn’t earn less as I got faster and I didn’t have to track hours. I sold it to the agency by pointing out that it would help them with their clients since their clients would know what to expect as well. 

How do you identify agencies to contact? 

If you are stumped on where to start, you aren’t alone. Here are a few ways:

• Search on Google for local agencies. People like to work with people with whom they have something in common. I’ve had great luck with landing work at local agencies, even though I work totally remotely. The agencies just feel a sense of security that you COULD come in if needed. I recommend using the search terms “marketing agency,” “public relations agency,” and “advertising agency” combined with your city’s name. You can also use that for large metro areas nearby or even your state. 
• Search on Google for agencies in your niche. Many agencies specialize in a niche, such as healthcare, lifestyle, or tech. If you have expertise in this niche then you are more likely to land work with them than another agency. 

Are there any lists of agencies I can use to make things easier?

Yes. Here are a few that I’ve used:

• Content Marketing Institute Agency Directory – I have to say that this is the most impressive list of agencies, and it is an absolute gold mine for freelancers. There are over 300 agencies and many of the listings include contact names and emails, which is a jackpot. I am sure that not all of these agencies use freelancers, 
• Clutch list of Top Content Marketing Agencies – There is some overlap between this list and the CMI directory above, but I found a number of new agencies on this list. One of the unique features of this particular list is that you can read reviews from clients which can help you get a feel for the type of agency and if it would be a good fit for you.
• AgencyList.org – This list separates agencies state and then within each state by type. I’ve found this list to be exceptionally helpful.

I’m a generalist. Can I still get work with agencies?

Yes, absolutely. Check out this post on landing work as a generalist. Agencies want industry expertise. However, you likely have several industries that you specialize in. In your LOI, position yourself as an expert in one or two of these. If you pitch yourself as a generalist to an agency, you likely won’t get work. They need to present potential writers to clients that have specific expertise, so be sure to highlight where you have expert knowledge.  

Should I send a LinkedIn LOI or an email?

This is a tough question. The answer really depends on the person. If you can’t easily find an email address and they look active on LinkedIn, then you can send your LOI in a connection request. If it’s an agency you really want to work with, then do both. Use one as your initial outreach and the other as your follow-up (more on this below). 

Who should I contact at the agency? 

Another hard one. Agencies like to be creative with titles so it can be challenging to figure out who to reach out to. I don’t recommend sending it to the general email address though. If you can get it to a real human then they will likely forward it to the person who hires freelancers. Some of the titles that work for agencies are Content Director, Editorial Director, and Creative Director. Titles such as Account Representative and Project Manager typically manage freelancers but typically don’t hire them. However, they are a good second choice if you can’t find a director. While Marketing Manager or Director is typically a good person to target in a direct business, these folks manage the marketing for the actual agency, not projects for client work. 

Any changes I should make to my LOI for agencies?

I recommend using my 5 (ish) sentence LOI as a template and then adding in any agency experience. Agencies like to hire freelancers who have worked with other agencies in the past. If you have worked with any top agencies, then be sure to include those names in your client list. I don’t recommend spending too much time personalizing the LOI at this point. But you should absolutely personalize your response when you hear back. Check out this post for my reasons. 

 

Should I mention the clients from their website I want to work with in the LOI?

Nope. Often the clients listed on the agency website are ones that they have worked with in the past and may not even be current clients. Or they are current clients, but their projects are already staffed. I once helped an agency hire and it was really annoying when freelancers came to me with a list of clients they wanted to work on. I recommend using the client list to help you see the type of clients that they work with, such as big companies or tech companies to help tailor your LOI. 

Are small agencies worth contacting? 

Yes, very much. Sometimes smaller agencies have a huge anchor client. I used to do a lot of work with a pretty small agency in Washington. Their main client was Microsoft. I also worked with several smaller local agencies here that had large local tech companies as clients. Smaller agencies can be great to work for because you often are really included as part of the team. 

Should I follow up? 

Absolutely. Especially with agencies. If you do not follow up then you are likely leaving money on the table. I honestly don’t think it’s worth sending out LOIs to agencies if you aren’t going to follow up. Agency current projects are usually totally staffed. So the only way to get work is if a writer leaves, a project expands to more work or the agency adds a new client. 

If there isn’t a spot, then an agency can’t hire you. And all of these things are almost totally luck in terms of timing.  If your LOI hits an agency’s email inbox when one of these things just happened then you are much more likely to get the gig. And when you follow up regularly then you increase your odds of hitting that perfect moment. This is also the reason that when an agency tells you that they will keep your information on file, it’s a good thing. I’ve gotten lots of work from agencies that reached out even years after I sent my first email. 

How can I increase the odds of agencies contacting me on LinkedIn?

I’ve had many agencies find me on LinkedIn through searches. If you have a defined niche, then I recommend putting it in your LinkedIn profile title – I have B2B Technology & Cybersecurity Content Marketing Writer – since that has heavy search weight. I also recommend putting all sub-niches in the About section of your profile. You should also list agencies you’ve worked with in your About section to show your agency experience. I also recommend making connections with all agency clients that you’ve worked with. People often switch agencies and if they see you are connected with an agency they used to work at or know someone then it increases your value. 

I love working for agencies. I don’t think my career would be nearly as successful without agencies as a mainstay of my client roster. Yes, some agencies aren’t great. But I think it’s worth the effort to find agencies that are a great fit for your niche, personality, and business goals. 

Any questions that I didn’t answer? Ask away!