SAHM Writer Blog

Earn Money Writing – It’s a tie for my two favorite ways

14th December, 2009 - Posted by admin - No Comments

If you’re looking for a way to earn money writing, there are three major categories of clients. Two of them I like, and one… well, not so much. When I first started, I only worked with one of these groups – so, I’m growing… and who knows? That third group… maybe someday.

Group #1 – Internet-based clients. This was like a dream come true for me. No meetings, no phone calls, no worries about running into a client at the grocery store in the middle of the day (why aren’t you working on my project?!). There are hundreds of places to find clients online, and my book goes into detail on that because it’s the easiest way to earn money writing at first. You can tell an online client you’re a writer and they say, “Yeah?” Try that at home, after a string of cockamamie careers and businesses, and the answer will be, “Sure you are… this week.”

And while I used to almost have a policy against working with local clients (I was afraid it would be hard to talk pricing, that it would feel too awkward – and that I’d find myself feeling like I had to convince them of the need to hire a writer), this year I made a major U-Turn.

Group #2 – Local Clients.

You may have some of those same fears when it comes to marketing yourself locally.

You may also be missing out on one of the most profitable and rewarding sources of business as a freelance writer.

(Group #3, just so you can focus on this bit about Group #2 for a moment, is corporate clients. NOT my favorite because I don’t like committees, and everything you write for a big company has to go through a gazillion people for approval.)

OK, so back to local clients…

Part of my initial fear was the whole challenge of not wanting to feel like I was pushing anyone into doing business with me. So many of the business owners I knew when I got started a few years ago had no website, and already had brochures. That was about the extent of the writing needs they knew they had. Last thing I wanted to do was try to persuade someone they needed a writer.

Over the years I wrote for a dozen local clients – a press release or article here, some website content or a brochure there. But the majority of my clients came from online sources.

And then I got my hands on Nitro’s Local Business Money Machine in May 2009.

Mind you, I live in one of the nation’s hardest-hit areas – we’re near the top of foreclosure and unemployment charts. There are entire strip malls sitting vacant. Businesses that have been around for decades are… gone.

The response has been overwhelming – and I haven’t crunched the numbers because it’s been a pretty obvious trend… my LBMM clients are now close to half of my business. And I’m meeting with new prospects almost every week who want what I can do (thanks to what I learned through that program):

Get them moved up in Google organically.
(Moving up means more hot leads for them. Organically means without paying for ads on Google.)

Now, when I go out to networking events, I end up with an inch-thick stack of cards from people who want to talk about using my services. (Confession: I’m horrible at following up with all of them – it gets overwhelming, but when I figure out a system for doing that more efficiently, I’ll easily double my business again.)

This week, I’m going to be writing about using LBMM as a freelance writer (you’ve got a HUGE advantage over users who can’t write) because on Thursday night, I’m inviting you to get on a FREE webinar about it.

Click here to get the info.