In case you’re a author who’s been considering working with an agency, you’ll need to read this first-hand case study. Working with agencies isn’t for everybody, but for some, it might be the financial and profession breakthrough you’re in search of as a freelancer.
It was May 2014, and I used to be panicking.
Three months earlier, I had been laid off from my job at a Recent York media startup and was collecting the remainder of my severance money.
To complicate matters further, after I got married, I moved to Orlando, leaving the biggest media market within the country for a city where media jobs were rare.
So I did what any job seeker would do – I scoured job boards.
I got here across the Orlando Public Relations Society job board and saw a job posting for an area marketing agency on a hospital website redesign project.
This three-month project began my freelance profession. and has change into a part of the strategy I’ve used for the past three years to steadily increase my income while developing a sustainable freelance content marketing business.
Why Working with an Agency Can Help Your Freelance Profession
Most freelancers avoid working with agencies for 2 reasons: these positions are often in-house and the pay could also be lower than working directly with a client.
These are valid concerns, but the growing importance of content marketing There are more distant work opportunities than ever before.
My first agency project, which involved creating content for a big hospital website, required 4 in-person meetings over three months, with a lot of the work done from home.
That first position led to more projects with the agency, ghostwriting blog posts, press releases, and email campaign content. Eventually, the agency hired me full-time—and I still work for that team today.
Freelancing is tough work.
Getting clients—and keeping them—is vital to constructing a business. But that’s often the toughest part for freelancers. Marketing takes time, but agencies shorten the time it takes freelancers to amass latest clients because they’ve already done the labor of constructing relationships. Additionally they manage the whole process, so that you haven’t got to fret about all of the admin and meetings that include working directly with a client.
Through the years, all of my agency work has been distant. I’ve worked with an agency in California that hires freelancers to supply long-form B2B content, a content marketing agency in Recent York that works with Fortune 500 corporations, and a content marketing agency in Boston that does the identical.
I also worked with the in-house content studios of several Recent York media corporations, one other kind of agency that emerged because the content marketing industry grew. A lot of these clients pay $1 per word. Some pay less, but all of them provided me with a gradual stream of labor that helped me avoid most of financial ups and downs that are typical for freelancers.
How one can start working with an agency
The most effective thing about working with an agency is that when you’re good, the work keeps coming. But how do you even get the work? Follow the following tips.
Start locally
Contact local marketing and PR agencies. Marketers are expert strategists—not expert writers, so many agencies need individuals with journalistic skills to jot down for his or her clients. Consider purchasing the Book of Lists out of your local business magazine, a comprehensive directory of the most effective local businesses that also includes contact information for his or her key executives. You can too search online for information on agencies in your area.
Send an introductory letter
Once you’ve gotten identified the businesses, send them to your marketing manager or director letter of introduction (LOI) highlighting your writing experience and expertise. Keep your letter concise and relevant to their business. You might get the job immediately, or it could take months. Either way, an LOI can put you on a marketing manager’s radar and establish an initial rapport.
Stay in contact
In case you live in a smaller city, social media is the most effective technique to increase your reach. Be energetic on LinkedIn AND Twitter (X), because that’s where your potential clients live. Engage in conversation, like their posts, and share interesting content. Last 12 months, I got a job after keeping in contact with a former colleague on LinkedIn who now worked in an in-house content studio. She wouldn’t have known I used to be a freelancer now if I hadn’t updated my profile.
Join the organization
Join an area marketing or public relations organization. Attend chapter events or volunteer. This may put you in contact with people in your industry you might never meet. In case you are an experienced freelancer, join American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA). ASJA is beginning to embrace content marketing and hosts virtual events and a big conference yearly to attach with customers.
Start a blog
Start a blog focused on a subject you’re captivated with. I attended a webinar from Skyword, a content marketing agency that works with large clients, and their community manager said that they often have a look at writers’ blogs when choosing freelancers for campaigns. A blog can showcase your writing style and expertise on a subject to potential clients — and it doesn’t cost you a dime to launch on a platform like Medium.
Working for an agency helped me create a stable freelance business.
I really like content marketing, but there isn’t any way I could be writing for brands like Hewlett-Packard or Marriott without working with an agency.
Freelancing will be each a time of plenty and famine, but agencies can allow you to navigate these extremes so that you never suffer from a scarcity of labor.
