The Best Marketing Advice for Freelancers

This post is a part of the Sparkplugging Group Writing Project. While we’re not eligible to win the awesome Epson WorkForce 600 printer or logo design by Randa Clay Design, we’re still happy to be part of the ebook. And, really, we wanted to tell you this stuff anyway.

The Best Freelance Marketing Advice We Ever Got

When the Berry-Brewer Freelance Agency came into being, you could say that my business partner and I were wet behind the ears. I had tried the freelancing game on my own a couple of years before to no avail. My downfall: I was just dreadful at marketing myself.

It turns out that Tamara wasn’t all that great at it either. So, we struggled a bit as we did everything we could to learn the ropes and become successful. We even made “marketing materials” that we thought were going to be our ticket to the big time.

Why did we design these beautiful four-color brochures that would never even get printed? Because that was our understanding of what marketing was. The grand total of our marketing knowledge could probably be summed up as follows:

Business Cards + Brochures + A Blog = Marketing

(It turns out there’s a whole lot missing from that equation.)

The most important piece of marketing advice we got turned out to this: “Align yourself with other businesses who are already marketing to the clients you want.”

For example, we worked with a wonderful marketer when we decided to rebrand our company. Billie Gaura at Rainmaker Marketing was not only good at her job, but she also “got” us. We plunked down what was (to us) a pretty penny in order to have her on our team. (Don’t let that scare you off, her rates are actually really, really good.)

In the end, we ended up being on her team. Now, when her clients need a good writer, she’s quick to say, “I know this great agency…”

Another way that this has been so beneficial to us is by teaming up with graphic designers. For example, we hired Selene Bowlby of iDesign Studios to set up our Nonprofit Perspective blog. Since then, she has referred us to two of her clients. In fact, she is the second designer to do so.

As a final example, we’re also working with a search engine optimization company. They go out and find their clients. They set up plans and packages and prices and the whole nine yards. When they’ve got all that done, they turn around and ask us to write some articles. It’s very low-fuss for us, but it brings in a nice bit of our income these days.

If there’s one thing that has made a difference in our marketing strategy, it has been to have all of these other folks marketing for us. We’re all targeting the same clients, after all, and we have the opportunity to support one another by teaming up for a great customer experience.

If you’re interested in some of the other cool marketing techniques we’ve learned, check out Eight Creative Marketing Campaigns adapted for Freelancers.