If Everybody is Your Customer, Nobody is Your Customer!
Are you a freelance content writer? Tired of getting kicked around on rates and terms?
Here’s a truly revolutionary concept: Stop positioning yourself on the same basis as every single other writer attempting to get into my inbox. Seriously – here’s “the pitch” which every single writer on Facebook seems to lead with:
- I am a writer with X years of experience
- I am an expert in these niches (lists half of humanity’s diverse interests), none of which I’ve actually worked in or pursue in my personal life
- SEO Optimized! (despite the fact you’ve never run a website)
- High Quality & Plagiarism Free! (What? Why Is This A Thing?)
Congratulations, you have achieve an equivalent level of uselessness across all of the potential clients that can hire you. And sound identical to every other writer in my inbox.
So I’ve really only got one way to sort you out: Price!
So who wants to drop rates? Do I hear $30 per 1000 words? $15? $5? Who needs rent?
A Better Way To Pitch Your Services
Instead of pitching yourself as a writer who can do anything, pick a narrow area where you have a deepest experience and lead with that specific expertise. Especially if you know that specific expertise is relatively rare in the market place.
And focus your attention on prospects and customers who you know need that skill.
Do you love gambling? Have you written a series of landing pages for online casinos? Perhaps you have even been able to see the lift they created? That is what you should be leading with, especially for relevant buyers. Talk about results rather than skills.
If you owned an online casino site, which pitch sounds more compelling?
- “Hi, I’m a writer who can do anything…”
- “My last client doubled conversion rates as a result of my new copy…”
A relevant buyer would be all over that second candidate. I’d create a job on the spot, honestly, for a story like that – if the writer had some proof to back this up… Especially if there was a shortage in good copywriters for my niche…
In fact, I wouldn’t waste time with non-relevant buyers. Your scarcity and value will be far higher for your target market. We probably wouldn’t be haggling about rates much.
Investing In The Right Skills
In fact, this mindset should influence which skills you pursue to enhance your offerings.
The bad news is most “unique” skills require some time to acquire. My most distinctive skill (deep knowledge in a particular industry) took over 15 years to assemble, rotating through related jobs in the same business. Granted, this becomes a competitive barrier for new entrants to acquire this skill and pursue your target market.
However, look for opportunities to do the following:
- Dig deeper into a specific niche (especially if there are few competing writers)
- Pivot into a high value adjacent niche where you already have 98% of the skills
We’re going to talk about a highly targeted version of this in our next post…
Interested in More?
We have five ideas on how to raise your rates.
