7 Freelance Writing Marketing Tips For 2023

Last Updated on January 13, 2023 by John Cirelly

Between finding clients and keeping deadlines, freelance writing can sometimes feel a bit daunting. But, it doesn’t have to be! In this article, we’ll explore 7 freelance writing marketing tips you can use to fill your pipeline with your dream clients.

Freelance Writing Marketing Tips

Below are 7 tips I’ve used to kickstart my freelance writing career, and market my writing services over the years.

1. Monitor Job Board RSS Feeds

If you find yourself thumbing through multiple job boards daily for new opportunities, I have a game changer for you.

A majority of job board sites allow you to set alerts so you can be notified when you a listing meets your criteria. Some sites don’t advertise this function, but have an RSS feed enabled, which allows you to get emails for new job listings.

Create an email filter to move all emails coming from that feed into a dedicated folder. Now you have a folder you can quickly scan for opportunities. If you don’t want to use your email, you can use a tool like Feedly. Feedly is like a custom news feed app that only shows you sites and topics you’re interested in.

2. Keep A Backlog Of Prospects

One of the most valuable freelance writing marketing tips I could give is to keep a backlog of potential clients. There might be a time when you’re not looking to take on new clients, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be saving opportunities for later.

Keep a Google Sheet with details such as the company’s name, the initial opening, starting rate, and the work they need done. When you do want to take on more clients, you’ll have a warm list of leads you want to work with.

3. Use Customized Cold Email

Cold email is one of the most powerful and cost-effective ways to find new clients. By focusing on quality and not quantity, you can get the attention of business owners that could use your writing skills.

While it is a numbers game, you can increase your chances of booking a call by doing the following:

• Verifying your contact information. I like using Hunter.io.
• Include an example of a similar client you’ve helped.
• Be short, friendly, and concise.
• Give them a custom compliment about their business in the first line.

If you’re looking to dive into the rabbit hole that is cold email marketing, I highly recommend checking out Alex below.

4. Keep Your Portfolio Updated

Your portfolio is arguably one of the most powerful marketing tools at your disposal. It shows off your expertise and is often one of the first things a prospect judges you on. As you become a better writer, you’ll want to update your portfolio to reflect that.

Cycle out old work for better, more authoritative work. If you have a particular niche you want to show off, add more relevant work that shows off that expertise. If you’re getting a byline on large websites, consider keeping track of the links you want to show off as well.

5. Get Published On Sites In Your Niche

A good percentage of writing jobs will be ghostwritten, either under a generic company name or under the pen name of the client. However, there are some opportunities to get your own author bio during some writing jobs.

Having your name published under an article on a large site builds your reputation and credibility for bigger higher-paying clients down the road. Many times large affiliate websites will want long-term relationships with writers. This not only helps them keep the content flowing but allows them to show google they have dedicated authors experienced in whatever niche they’re in.

6. Join Relevant Facebook Groups

Surprisingly I’ve landed a few large clients from Facebook groups by total accident. Your first instinct might be to join a bunch of freelance writing groups, but that would be a big mistake. Instead, look for Facebook groups in the following categories:

• SEO
• Affiliate Marketing
• Web Publishing
• Marketing Agencies
• Agency Coaching
• Ad Networks (Ezoic, Mediavine, etc.)

If it’s allowed, write a short post and say you’d be happy to help anyone looking to up their content game. You can also utilize the group search function to search for keywords like “content”, “writers”, “articles”, etc.

7. Reach Out On LinkedIn

While I personally think LinkedIn is a cesspool, it can still be a valuable tool for outreach. You can use a tool like Dux Soup to find relevant prospects, connect with them, and send them a friendly message.

Dux Soup is great for manual and automated outreach, so it’s something you can easily have running in the background as you go throughout your day. I actually wrote a whole guide on Dux Soup outreach that I email over to anyone who signs up.

Wrapping Up

Being a freelance writer isn’t always the easiest side hustle, but it sure as hell is rewarding. Whether you’re writing on weekend or are in it full time, I hope these freelance writing marketing tips can help you on your journey to financial and time freedom.