Freelance Writing Requires Sales Ability

Guest post by Denise Rutledge

When a potential client contacts you are you clear during the conversation as to what you are going to provide for the fee you quote? If not, you are going to close less writing contracts. Knowing how much you charge and why you charge it is important for more than profits. It is an essential component of closing the sale.

For example, if a client contacts you about SEO articles, you want to know early on what the client’s budget is. If this is a $1/article client, your price will result in a quick termination of the call. On the other hand, if the person contacting you knows that quality content is vital to their brand, you will find that emphasizing what your service includes will lead to positive results, even if you charge $25, $35 and even $50 for 500 word articles.

For example, when asked to write web content, you can focus on the following services that are included.

•  Keyword Research

• h1/h2/h3 Headings for Keyword Emphasis

• Compelling Headlines/Sub-Headlines

• Compelling Valuable Content

• Keywords at the Correct Density

• Unique Metatags for Each Page (especially important for website work)

• Inbound Marketing Techniques (helps keep visitors from leaving the page)

The only difference between web writing and article writing would be the last two services, unless the client is requesting articles for a blog. Then you could include a meta description.

Ignore the Laughter When You Quote Your Writing Fees

Don’t be surprised if you have some potential clients laugh at your price. Don’t let that convince you that you are worth less than the market has demonstrated you are worth. If someone comes at you with “I can go to a content mill or article database and get the articles for free,” remind them kindly that they can do that. Remind them of the goals they have shared with you. If the content isn’t worth reading, remind your client that they cannot expect someone who could take their content viral to pay attention.

Google’s going to weigh a link from ZDNet a lot higher than one from Jane Doe’s blog. And content that people start commenting on socially is going to get picked up. That doesn’t happen if articles are merely a regurgitation of someone else’s work.

And a website that contains duplicate content or spun content isn’t going to stay on top for long, if it ever does get there.

I don’t like sales, yet I’ve realized over the past year that it’s an essential component of working as a freelancer. You have to sell your service. Part of that includes educating potential clients.

 

Denise Rutledge writes website content from a marketing perspective as part of her ghostwriting, SEO article, website content, and eBook services as lead writer at http://writingasaghost.com.

Random Posts

• Wordpress 101 – Meet New Post Features
• 4 Things Freelancers Must Know About Newspapers
• Whatcha Reading? Sharing a Favorite Writing Pal
• The Powerful Force of Pop-Up Opt-In Forms