Blogging Tips

In yesterday’s post, we went over a cold-calling script freelancers writers can use to drum up more freelance writing jobs. Today, as promised, I want to discuss some do’s and don’ts of cold calling. At the end, I’ll tell you a friendly group with which to start your cold calling campaign. I’ve been on both sides of the hiring desk, so what I’m about to relay is from my personal experience.

Your preferences, experiences and way of doing things may be completely different. And that’s fine. So take what you will from the following.

Do’s and Don’ts of Cold Calling for Freelance Writers

Be Brief: This almost goes without saying, but get your “elevator speech” down pat before you pick up the phone. Now, if the respondent is inclined to keep you on the line, by all means, talk away. But your call should be brief and to the point.

Practice your speech until it’s 30 seconds or less. You’d be amazed at how long 30 seconds is once you start talking, so anything longer seems reeeaaalllllyyy long to the person on the other end.

Ask about Followup: Even if the prospect blows you off, ask them how they prefer to be contacted – and how often. In my experience, most will give you this info just to get you off the phone if they don’t want to talk to you. You will have a few (very few) who will be rude and flat out tell you to more or less get lost. They’ll say something like, “We never use freelancers,” or “All of our writing is done in house.”

As I said though, these type of responses will be few and far in between, so don’t let that deter you.

Do Regular Followup: Once a prospect gives you a follow up method and timeframe, be sure to follow their instructions. If you follow up when you say you will – in the manner that they’ve prescribed – this alone will make you stand out because most freelancers are horrible about follow up.

How to Stay Top of Mind with Prospects for Freelance Writing Jobs

Make regular followup a part of your marketing routine. This is particularly effective after cold calling because you will be remembered so much more easily than those nameless, faceless, voiceless email queries prospects receive from freelancers all the time.

If you’ve cold called and do regular followup, when that prospect has a job to outsource, you will be top of mind almost every time.

Landing Freelance Writing Jobs: A Friendly Group to Start Cold Calling

When I first started to cold call for freelance writing jobs, I targeted web designers. I chose this group because I thought they would be the ones in the most dire need of my services. But, it turned out to be a good niche to target because these were some of the friendliest cold call recipients I’ve ever encountered.

I think the reason is a lot of web designers are solo entrepreneurs, or they may be two, three or four-man shops. In any case, they’re usually super busy and tend to wait until the last minute to look for freelance writers. Hence, they tend to be very grateful when they get a call from a freelance writer.

Many web designers offer content development for their clients. Some may do it themselves, but many like to outsource this. And, they like to partner with writers too. Now that SEO is all the rage, many web designers are looking for good SEO writers they can depend on to deliver the goods. I know because I have quite a few as clients. So if I had to start cold calling today, this is a group I’d definitely start with again.

Remember, while cold calling is scary, it is one of the quickest, easiest and cheapest ways to land freelance writing jobs. And because not many do it, it puts you head and shoulders above the competition.

So start dialing – and good luck!