Thursday, December 16, 2004
Playing Hard To Get - Money Matters - Old Song For A New Year
It has always struck me as passing strange when I hear freelancers boast about how they play hard to get for new clients. They don't put it that way of course. But the theory is that if you are too easy to reach - as in picking up your own phone, or calling back right away - that surely must mean you are not very busy. And therefore not very good at what you do.
I think that is insane. I can't count the number of times I have landed a new client who has called me - via word of mouth - and if I am in and by the phone
and not in panic mode with another client - then I answer the phone. It is no exaggeration to say that over the years this one strategy - answering the
phone - has gained me tens of thousands of dollars of work. Potential new clients like the fact that they get a hold of a real person at the end of the line, and actually get the person they wanted to talk to.
The other factor to consider is that if they don't get to you quickly and easily, they will just call the second person on their list. You always have to remember you never get a second chance to land a first time client. And when you do that first job for them, being the competent professional you are, you are likely to have them for a very long time.
So, answer the phone! You will never know how much money you have left on the table if you don't.
Money Matters
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A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of addressing a group of editors about marketing techniques and challenges. My intention was to divide my comments in two main concerns "Time" and "money" -- the issues being so interrelated. I started with money early on in the evening, by asking the question "how many of you would be happy earning $75,000 a year?" I guess I wasn't totally surprised when they answered with a universal raising of their hands. It was a topic that they were clearly interested in exploring.
I was reminded once again that the issue of money and what to charge continues to present such a difficult problem for the freelance writer. Let me state what most of you already know. You are undercharging for your services!
The irony is, it is so unnecessary.
There are two mantras come to mind. The first is, if you aren't making a decent income, the chances are pretty good that you aren't charging enough. Paradoxically, there is another mantra a professional colleague of mine passed on which goes like this. If you are too busy, you aren't charging enough!
There is a third mantra. For corporate clients, money is rarely the issue.
Rather, it's the quality of the product and the service you provide that counts.
Look, the reality is this. The bill just goes to accounting. To repeat. For your clients, it's rarely the amount you charge that becomes the determining factor whether you are hired or not. They want to know if you are the right one. The one
who is going to solve their problem. The one who is going to save them time and trouble.
So don't you think it is about time that you get paid for the professional service you deliver? Don't you think it is about time to raise your rates? A new
year is upon us. So why don't you start now?
An Old Song For A New Year
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Frequent readers may want to skip this old story but....
Years ago I took a magazine writing course from a teacher who was the rarest of his kind - he was not only a superb teacher he was an excellent practitioner of his craft. He led us through a series of exercises which included the writing of a query letter to a magazine publisher. I remember being very excited when - as a result of that in-class exercise - I sold my first article. The penny had
dropped. People actually would pay me for my words. And in that moment, it was the beginning of the end of my toiling on the dark side.
Now the road from magazine writing to freelance speech writing was long and circuitous. But I still remember that teacher's class and the passion he
had for his craft and how he could instill in us a similar passion. I also remember looking around the class one day and wondering how many of the students - there were about 22 of us - would actually take his advice - his expert advice - and apply it for themselves.
I have since been a teacher myself for many years teaching both the craft of speech writing and giving courses on professional readiness and on finding work. On the first day I always look around and wonder how many of my students will apply the
practical skills that I try to teach them. Actually the skills are the easy part to learn. The hard part is infecting them with a sense of excitement in possibilities.
I can know within days who is going to make it in the short term and who is not. There is a certain look in the eye. I see a passion or a hunger or a curiosity or
a fear. When they exhibit any one of these traits alone, or in combination, I know "this one 'gets it' and this other one doesn't and isn't going to make it -
at least not yet." I also know that it isn't necessarily the most talented writers/students who will succeed. It is those who are persistent, proactive, and professional and passionate that will do well.
So if you aren't succeeding in your writing career I ask you why not? You don't even have to take a class. There are excellent books on marketing for writers. (If you go to my web site you'll find some recommendations.) So it isn't as if there is a dearth of information out there.
So let me repeat those four "P." words. If you are persistent, proactive, passionate and professional there is no way you can't succeed in making not just
a good living - but a very good living as a professional nonfiction writer. First find your passion. Take some proactive marketing steps so that your name gets known. Be persistent. And when you get work make sure you are professional
and deliver the goods.
It is as simple as that. And as hard as that.
