The Word Wrangler

So I’m sitting here thinking about all aspects of running a freelance business, particularly about marketing, branding and fee structures.

I then asked myself the question: Would it be to anyone’s benefit to market themselves as a bottom feeder?

Okay, so you wouldn’t use that term, but hear me out.

Virtually every type of business has those at the upper, middle and lower echelons that cater to their specific markets.

Take the food industry. You have restaurants where you can easily pay a hundred bucks or more per person. Then you have places like Olive Garden and Applebee’s that offer good food at reasonable prices. Finally, you have the McDonald’s of the world at the bottom.

What’s unique about this is that each type of establishment knows what market they’re pitching to and brands themselves accordingly. McDonald’s doesn’t pretend to be the Essex House and vice versa.

Most freelancers I know are actively targeting the most lucrative assignments. We all want to write for Coke, IBM, UPS and other such companies, and rightly so. These companies have huge marketing budgets and probably wouldn’t think twice about throwing a few thousand bucks to someone to write for them.

However, there IS a market out there that can’t afford the best, but still needs writers nonetheless.

So the question I’m posing to you is: Could you benefit by branding yourself as a low-end, budget writer? Could you take the McDonald’s approach and make a living by serving that segment of the market that demands quick, cheap service?

For me it’s – at the very least – an intriguing thought.