In yesterday’s post here, I talked about an industry report I wrote that helped to increase traffic to my website and blog. Today, I want to piggyback on that topic, but take it in a bit of a different direction.
How Special Reports Can Help You to Land More Freelance Writing Jobs
As regular readers of my posts know, I’m an SEO writer. I mention this because SEO is still very new to a lot of small to mid-size business owners. This demographic make up a chunk of my client base.
I spent almost an hour the other day on the phone explaining to a new client concepts like why SEO articles are effective; what an article marketing campaign is; what an SEO press release is; why he should register his own blog domain name instead of using a free one like blogger; etc.
This was the third or fourth call like this in as many weeks – one where I spent a chunk of time explaining, in essence, what online marketing is all about and which methods the client should be using to start driving traffic to their website/blog.
So, all of this got me to thinking – I need to write a special report for clients. One that introduces them to online marketing, what it’s all about and which services (in my opinion) they should start with.
I’m going to start writing it today, with hopes of finishing it by week’s end.
I say all of this to say, if you’re struggling to bring in clients as a freelance writer, this can be an excellent marketing tool. It gives you four advantages:
4 Reasons Writing Special Reports Can Land You More Freelance Writing Gigs
(i) Expert Status: Of course, it sets you up as an expert in your field. This is like money in the bank.
(ii) It’s Free: Pulling together a report costs $0. While it may take some time to write, it is a reliable marketing tool that you can use for years to come.
(iii) It Saves You and Your Clients Time: As I mentioned above, I spent close to an hour on the phone with this most recent client. I had also spoken with a co-worker of his twice, and have repeated this scenario with a few other clients in the last month or so.
A special report can save you – and potential clients — time because you can distribute it to them, and then they can read it and get back to you with more targeted questions.
(iv) Upsell Services: Special reports can also help you to sell more services to clients; in essence it helps you to upsell them (only do this if it’s in their best interests).
For example, if you can explain — in a special report — why a press release is effective initially, BUT to get ongoing traffic an article marekting campaign is necessary, then you’ve sold two services instead of one.
Most freelance writers rarely take the time to pull together a special report that speaks to a lack of client knowledge. I think it’s because we assume that they know it all already, and are just hiring us to do the grunt work. This isn’t the case though, especially when it comes to emerging technologies like SEO.
I’ve learned this firsthand over the last six months or so. More often than not, I’m the expert; clients are looking to me for guidance. This surprised the heck out of me! But now that I’ve accepted it, I’ve turned my attention to doing the best job I can to address my clients’ internet marketing concerns.
Special reports can help you as a freelance writer — and your clients — achieve your business goals. And, that’s the bottom line — literally (pun fully intended).
Erwin Tan | December 2nd, 2008 at 6:38 pm #
I hope to add on another good point of it.
Special/short reports are actually very viral. When use it correctly, they spread like wildfire.
Jessie | December 3rd, 2008 at 7:55 am #
The content plays the dominant role. In addition short and concise special reports are what a freelance writer should work on which work wonders.
Jill Hin | December 3rd, 2008 at 8:03 am #
Hey.that’s a great article. Being a freelancer myself, I really liked this article. Thanks for sharing it.
Henry Baker | December 3rd, 2008 at 12:46 pm #
Great article.
I stumbled accross this site which seems very informative with great content.
I help UK small business owners utlise effective marketing to grow their businesses (not a plug).
Free reports are an absolutely integral part of that in nearly all cases. From beauty salons to real estate, home study courses, electronics, pharmaceuticals, beds, shoes, dentists, doctors, chiropractors, cosmetic surgeons, web designers and in pretty much every industry.
As part of a full marketing system they are as you say invaluable.
2 very simple free reports I wrote in a matter of hours have been worth over $300k to me in the past year or so — hands free — no work.
Had I had to use manual labour to position myself to all those clients and get them to the point of being ready to buy (or almost), not only would I have one heck of a sore throat but my earnings per hour would have been driven into the floor.
Anyone serious about maximising their time should take time to master this very effective and lucrative skill.
NOTE: I advise NOT giving away TOO much. Tell people WHAT to do but don’t tell them HOW to do it… Your knowledge and skills are VERY valuable. You should be paid for value…
And you’re welcome to grab some one of my free reports here.
How to Make My Business Grow
Ah, one last thing.
If you’re generating demand online be sure to integrate OFFLINE follow up. Sending your report hard copy is a very WISE move (as long as you have a solid follow up system).
Have a great day, Henry Baker.
Dennis Edell | December 3rd, 2008 at 2:07 pm #
I’ve had the report thought in mind for quite some time, but just never found the time….well if time is money, I should get on it!
Yuwanda Black, Inkwell Editorial | December 3rd, 2008 at 2:39 pm #
@Henry: great idea about following up offline. While most of my clients are online, a way to do this is to hand them out at chamber of commerce and other types of networking meetings if you don’t want to go the mail route.
Now I’m off to check out your How to Make My Business Grow report.
Miguel Wickert | December 7th, 2008 at 2:01 am #
Hey Yuwanda
I’m working on a report for my site. What tools do you recommend for creating the PDF file? Thanks!
Yuwanda Black, Inkwell Editorial | December 7th, 2008 at 8:31 am #
@Miguel: Adobe — it’s the industry leader (Adobe.com). Good luck with your report.
Business Blogging Guide | December 14th, 2008 at 2:27 am #
Yuwanda,
Okay, so explain to me why I need a “real” domain name and the free ones aren’t good enough. I do have several blogs/websites with real domain names but I also have some with free blogspot.com addresses. Is it just because the domain name makes you look more professional? I have found that it doesn’t matter if I have a real domain or free one as far as search engine results because as long as I am writing properly on my sites the search engines pick me up either way.
Wendy
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