The Word Wrangler

If you were to ask ten different freelancers what the most important aspect of their business was you’d likely get ten different answers.

Some might say customer service while other would say meeting deadlines. While those are both certainly important, they can’t trump the most important part of ANY business: Marketing.

ABM=Always Be Marketing

Put that up over your computer. Make that your daily mantra. And if nothing else, put it into practice.

Sure, you’re probably used to making cold calls, sending out sample packages and e-mails in order to gain new clients. But it shouldn’t end there.

I’ll bet that you meet several people during the course of a normal week that can use your services or know someone who can. Are you prepared with a business card and a brief ’sales pitch’? A lot of people don’t know what you can do for their business, which is why you need to tell them.

And what about the clients you already have? Are you marketing to them as well?

If there’s hard lesson I’ve learned in my years as a freelancer it’s that once a customer doesn’t mean always a customer.

Doing quality work and meeting your deadlines are vital to keeping your clients happy, but you have to remember how busy some of these people are. You’ve got to keep yourself on their radar all the time. That’s not to say you badger them, but make sure they know you’re still around - especially if there’s a lengthy gap between projects.

Being a successful freelancer requires more than just doing quality work. You have to expose yourself to as many potential clients as you can - even the ones you already have. Keep it up and soon your name will become a brand and you’ll be buried with work.