CHAPTER 7: GETTING NOTICED – PROMOTION

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Task: in your business plan, make notes about the various ways in which you can contact and sell yourself to your clients.

Learning goal: to ready yourself for first contact with potential paying customers.

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Once you have identified your training needs, your core client type and how you are going to get some experience and testimonials, you will be ready to think about how you will access your market, how you will present yourself, and any deals/offers you want to make. The strategies may be determined by your chosen client group. Some require you to be active; others are more passive forms of promotion.

7.1 Which method is best?

There are no wrongs or rights – just different approaches. Planning ahead gives you space to look at what others are doing, not just within the world of editorial freelancing, but in the broader small-business world. If someone tells you that X approach doesn’t work and Y is the best way, stop and think before you follow blindly. Perhaps X didn’t work for them because they didn’t carry it out as well as you could. Perhaps you can write better cold letters, design a more enticing web home page or present a better directory listing. Or perhaps Y didn’t work for them because they have a different USP to you. My advice is to use your business plan to develop ideas about what you can try (however banal, however outlandish) with a view to exploring a range of promotion tactics. Read the Top Tip below for more about marketing as a process of exploration and the concept of testing.

Good marketeers always test. This is the first thing I learned when I began my marketing career in publishing over twenty years ago. Business advisor and broadcaster Chris Cardell believes that ‘marketing doesn’t just involve testing – marketing is testing’ (‘Marketing = Testing’, Cardell Media). Testing ensures that you don’t get wrapped up in a mindset of believing there is only one way to do something – that only method X is correct. Use your business plan to consider trialling different promotion strategies, particularly those that cost you money. Set fixed time limits for how long each test will last. If you don’t get the results you hoped for, consider this as something learned and move on to a different tactic.

All of our featured practitioners agree that word-of-mouth referral can be one of the most effective promotion tools an editorial freelancer can have. Doing a good job provides you with a great reputation. To the new starter, however, this may be some way down the road. While you’re building your reputation there are other activities you can be getting on with to help you penetrate the market and start to build up your client base.

Even the new entrant to the field can start to use the word-of-mouth strategy, so tell everyone what you do! Get some business cards designed and carry them with you at all times – just in case an opportunity arises.

Even if you aren’t ready to carry out all of the tactics discussed here, using your business-planning phase to consider future opportunities is a good use of time and will provide you with reminders of things you’d like to try once your business is more established.

7.2 Deciding on a business name – branding

You can use your own name or create a company title that reflects what you do. Whatever you choose, it is part of your brand, so be sure to make the right decision in the planning stages rather than having to make alterations when you’re up and running. There are no rights or wrongs to selecting a business name, but some issues to consider include:

~ Make sure no one else is trading under the same name. Full Proof is taken, as are Kateproof and Liz Jones Editorial Solutions!

~ If you have an unusual last name, you may wish to capitalize on its originality and incorporate that into your business name, as I did.

~ If you think you are likely to expand your service portfolio, you may decide to avoid terms such as ‘proofreader’ or ‘editor’ and opt instead for ‘editorial’ or ‘editorial services’, as Marcus and Anna did.

~ Consider too how you will use your business name in your website’s domain name. Including words like ‘proofreader’, ‘editor’ or ‘editorial services’ will give you a big advantage online as the search engines seem to favour keyword-rich domain names.

In the following example, Liz shares the decision-making process behind her choice of business name and how the result was determined by the message she wanted to communicate to her clients.

Liz’s company is called Liz Jones Editorial Solutions. Initially, she had planned on the final word being ‘Services’ but changed her mind after attending an SfEP workshop on working with non-publishers. Says Liz: ‘I wanted to capture more of a business vibe. I wanted the name of my company to reflect the fact that I can solve problems and present solutions, rather than just throw queries at my clients.’

If you are already known in the circles in which you plan to target your services, this might be a key driver behind your choice of business name, as was the case for Marcus.

Marcus has had a book published by a large mainstream publisher. Since his name is already ‘out there’ in publishing circles, it made sense for him to use the marketing capital he’d already earned and incorporate his name into his business title, hence Marcus Trower Editorial.

7.3 Presentation of core elements

Think also about how you are going to present yourself to make yourself attractive to prospective clients. Key features that you may wish to consider are:

~ Your core specialisms/USPs: tell the client how your experience and background fit with their needs (their publishing list, their company reports, their dissertation subject matter, etc.). Try to avoid statements that indicate you'll consider anything. When using online media, core specialisms provide valuable keyword-search potential as well as enriching the content of your business message.

~ The services you provide: e.g. project management, collation, indexing, proofreading, copy-editing, onscreen editing/proofreading, author liaison.

~ The training you’ve undertaken: any relevant editorial training courses, mentoring schemes, accreditation programmes, CPD, society membership.

~ Experience: a summary of relevant key projects already completed and the clients for whom you worked (even if the work was completed on a gratis basis).

~ References: include a list of relevant testimonials from appropriate clients, or the contact information for these people (remember to get their permission first).

~ Contact information: your phone number, address, URL, link to any professional directory entry.

Focus on the positives, not on the negatives. I’ve seen websites and cover letters that tell potential clients not only what the freelancer’s skills are, but also what they can’t do (for example, ‘I don’t work weekends’; ‘I don’t offer copy-editing’; ‘I’m planning to become a full-time proofreader when I’ve finished doing X’; ‘I’d like to do Y once I have more experience’). These kinds of statements don’t instil confidence in a client. Instead, recall the pitch that you’ve already developed in your business plan and keep to the message.

When you have a complete summary of the above, you can use this to develop and adapt the information to suit your website, covering letter/email, promotional brochure, directory listing, LinkedIn profile, Facebook business page, or Twitter sidebar.

It’s worth reiterating here the point made in Chapter 5 about the power of the testimonial. Testimonials engender a sense of trust and help clients to decide whether you are a safe pair of hands. Says sales coach, Liz Wendling: ‘Trust is the single biggest motivator of buyer behavior and one of the key components to establishing a successful buyer/seller relationship’ (‘No Trust? No Sale!’, The Sales Coach for Women). Using your business-planning stage to think about how you will acquire testimonials is time well invested.

7.4 The cold method – CV and covering letter

One of my preferred methods for accessing publishers and project management agencies is to send a cold letter. The term ‘cold’ is used because the client is not expecting you to contact them. I like to include a brief CV with my cover letter.

7.4.1 Why go direct?

I could wait in the hope that publishers find my entries in a couple of core UK freelance directories. Perhaps they might land on my website. Or maybe they might see my Twitter profile and think I’m interesting. Actually, I do promote my business using all of these tools, but I don’t rely on them to get the attention of publisher clients. Why? Because in-house production staff are ridiculously busy.

In-house production editors don’t necessarily have time to scout around the internet to find editorial freelancers. If I sit around waiting for them, I’ll probably miss my chance – when they do find the time to search for new freelancers, they’ll be too busy replying to the cold letters sent by my colleagues.

7.4.2 Something to keep on file

‘What a lot we lost when we stopped writing letters. You can’t reread a phone call’ – I love this quote from Liz Carpenter (quoted in Wagner, Cold Letters). It sums up another benefit of sending a cold cover letter: the prospective client has something they can keep on file even if they don’t have use for your services right now. Then, if those busy desk editors do embark on a recruitment drive, your details are already in their ‘to consider’ pile.

Janet, Liz and Louise consider cold letters/emails as one of their core strategies for contacting potential clients. They tailor these communications around how their skills fit with the recipient publishers’ profiles, their industry experience, relevant training and the excellent references they can supply.

7.4.3 Think about timing

Try contacting publishing clients in the period leading up to the holiday season, as that’s when their regular freelancers are more likely to be unavailable. This tactic means making sacrifices with regard to your leisure time: in the early days of your freelancing career this may mean a lot of evening work, but it will have paid off if you hang on to the clients. Later, you can turn down work if the timing doesn’t suit you, comfortable in the knowledge that your clients value your work enough that you won’t slip off their radar if you don’t want to proofread on Christmas Eve.

Louise used the timing strategy when she was starting out. She posted a round of cold letters a month before the school summer vacation began. Two publishers responded with offers of work, and both commented that her application was timely, owing to their regular freelancers being on holiday. The strategy still works. In Christmas 2012 she picked up a new publisher client via the SfEP’s Directory of Editorial Services, again because their regular suppliers were unavailable. All three of those clients continue to use her on a regular basis.

Timing isn’t just about seasons and holidays. It can be far more precise. This is where networking with your colleagues can really come into play and where keeping your ear to the ground is an essential prerequisite for successful freelancing. If you’re one of those people who thinks discussion groups and Twitter accounts are just ‘messing around’, read the next example from Liz and think again.

Liz has used quick-response timing to secure work she heard about via business networking. As she explains: ‘My most regular non-publishing client came about because I got wind of the fact (via the SfEP discussion forum) that the company was looking for a proofreader, so I googled the person in question and within maybe half an hour had got the gig. I know others who have used the same tactic.’ Your editorial society’s discussion board, Facebook or the Twittersphere, combined with a no-dithering approach, could be key to exploiting new opportunities.

7.4.4 Focus your message

Use your business plan to build a profile that you can tailor for your cold letters, including the following points that my publisher clients agreed were key:

~ Experience, especially experience of proofreading/copy-editing material in subjects that match the press’s own list(s). That way they know you’re familiar with the language of the books or journals they publish.

~ References from their colleagues – publishing is a small world. People move around in this business and they meet each other at conferences and on training courses. X probably knows Y (or knows a colleague or friend of Y’s). Being able to show X that Y values your work says something about your skills.

~ Ability to follow the brief and the house style with minimum hand-holding. And if you have in-house experience, be sure to mention it.

~ Deadline hitting – in-house production editors don’t want sloppy time-keepers. Their publication schedules are often built around key events such as new academic semesters, conferences and book promotion tours, as well as seasonal holiday periods like Christmas and Chinese New Year, to give just a few examples.

~ Competence as demonstrated by training/assessment – an industry-recognized course, criteria-based professional membership or willingness to take tests.

~ Flexibility on formats – for some publishers, being able to work onscreen is essential.

7.5 Specialist directories and free listings

Use your business plan to record details of the core directories editorial freelancers are using in your region/country. For instance, in the UK, the Society for Editors and Proofreaders has an online, searchable Directory of Editorial Services. Publishers, project management agencies, students and independent authors can search by keyword for freelancers offering specific services in a wide range of subject areas. To see what other editorial freelancing directories are available around the world, take a look at the Resources section at the end of the guide.

Don’t ignore free listings – depending on the client type you want to attract, they can be a fantastic resource that won’t hurt your budget.

When Nick started out, he took advantage of a number of free directories including FreeIndex, which he describes as the jewel in his business’s promotion crown. For Nick, not only did these generate business leads for him, but also they boosted Full Proof’s search engine rankings because of the links he embedded in his profile. As mentioned earlier, Nick has used the power of the testimonial on his FreeIndex listing to maximum effect. With more reviews than any other proofreading business, visitors entering the keyword ‘proofreader’ will see Full Proof before they see anyone else.

Nick’s choice of advertising was based on the results of his initial client focus assessment. My decision to target publishers led me to take a different route, as the next study shows.

For Louise, the two most productive specialist directories have been Find a Proofreader (owned by Nick) and the SfEP’s Directory of Editorial Services. From the former she has been commissioned by students, business professionals and a magazine; from the latter she has acquired work from publishers, who have gone on to become long-term clients offering repeat work in a variety of academic subject areas. Some of Louise’s UK publisher clients have told her that the SfEP’s directory is their sole search tool for editorial freelancers. Entry in the SfEP’s directory is restricted to members who meet set criteria in terms of training and experience; entry in Find a Proofreader is open to all and is excellent value for money.

Consider, too, moving beyond your own shores. As the next example reminds us, living in one country doesn’t mean working only for clients in that country. There’s nothing to stop you targeting clients from other countries, so use your business plan to think about what opportunities you might exploit abroad.

Marcus, who specializes in editing genre fiction for American writers, has an entry in the EFA directory. Entry is free but open only to members, and full membership costs $145 per year. The work he acquires from the listing ensures his investment is easily repaid.

Advertising in directories is a passive way of promoting your business. Sitting in a directory won’t guarantee work, but if you’re not in the key listings you certainly won’t be found by potential clients who use them.

Most specialized editorial directories aren’t free so doing the research at business-planning stage will enable you to plan your investment wisely. By planning ahead, you will have the time to ask established freelancers which directories in your country/region they recommend in order to generate the kind of work you’re interested in.

7.6 Working for others – language-editing agencies and other editorial businesses

Some editorial business owners bid on large contracts that will take some months to complete. They then subcontract sections of the work to other freelancers. Expanding your editorial network (especially via social media platforms) will increase the likelihood of you finding out which colleagues offer this kind of service and whether you might work for them. Accessing the market in this way is very much a word-of-mouth process.

More formally, editing agencies provide a way of bringing together editors and authors (usually scientific researchers writing pre-submission journal articles). In the journal publishing market particularly, much of the responsibility for copy-editing that used to be held in-house by desk editors has now been handed back to the individual researchers.

There are a number of key agencies that have links to their websites on the author-services pages of publisher websites. For a list of some of the agencies operating internationally, see the Resources section at the end of the guide.

As well as working for publishers, Anna also helps scientists preparing their articles for submission to scientific journals. One of her access points is editing agencies. She is educated to PhD level, and this and her postdoctoral work qualify her for inclusion in some of these agencies’ editorial banks. Says Anna, ‘Agencies can channel a steady stream of papers your way, from many authors, saving the time and effort needed for marketing your services to a lot of different universities and institutes.’

7.7 Meet-and-greets, workshops and events

If you plan to focus on independent writers, business owners and students, you should think seriously about active promotion approaches that put you face to face with potential clients. These might include, but are not limited to, business networking events, trade shows, workshops and site visits. This type of networking is unlikely to get you definite yes/no answers to your requests for editorial freelancing work. Instead, it’s relationship-driven promotion that allows you to build a rapport with core client groups and show them how you can assist them.

Kate utilized the face-to-face approach when she realized that her USP was her own corporate experience. Rather than waiting for organizations to contact her, she attended local business events – often early-morning networking meetings – that put her in touch with entrepreneurs in her region. These experiences confirmed her belief that businesses aren’t always aware of the benefits of hiring an editorial professional to look over their website, report or presentation. Once she told them what she did, they began to see how her services could add value to their practice.

Kate also made contact with her local university through the meet-and-greet method. ‘I saw an advert for a networking event in my local area that was due to be held by someone who supervises Master’s students and I contacted him to ask if I could chat to him before or after the event. He replied, we met for coffee, he took my business cards – as they say, the rest is history … I think from that one coffee, I have had over fifteen enquiries from one section of one university.’

7.8 Personal website

I know many established editorial freelancers who don’t have a website and feel they don’t need one. They have a solid client base, built up over many years, and their reputations alone generate referrals. For the new entrant to the field, it’s a different story. My own opinion is that you’d be daft not to have one. Here are seven reasons why:

1. Competition: proofreading and editing are competitive. If your colleagues have websites but you don’t, you’re less likely to be found by potential customers.

2. No-cost promotion: your website is a free marketing tool. If you use a host such as Weebly or WordPress, to name just two, then the only cost to you is the time you spend building and maintaining it. Once live, customers can find you rather than you always having to find them.

3. Create an online résumé: you can use your website as an online résumé. Keep your home page uncluttered, but use other pages to show off your clients, skills and portfolio of work.

4. Control your space: a website is more than ‘having an online presence’ – it’s a professional space in which you control both the content and how it’s presented.

5. Content is always fresh: websites are easy to update, meaning the content you include is always the latest content. If you update your site frequently, search engines are more likely to notice you. And that means clients are more likely to find you.

6. It’s not hard: things have come on a long way in the past few years. Even if the idea of building your own site scares you, make the jump and at least do a bit of research. Many website providers offer design templates that you can use and adapt to suit your own needs. You don’t need any technical knowledge of computer programming or coding to get up and running.

7. Future-proofing: my colleague Daniel Heuman, owner of Intelligent Editing, has some sage advice: ‘When you’re running a small business, things can change. You may find that a big client brings in new procedures, and suddenly you could find yourself in a dry spell for work … you have the assurance of another line of marketing that’s ready to go if things change’ (‘Building a Website for Your Freelance Business’, Find a Proofreader).

Include a picture of yourself on your website. For some, the idea of putting their face on the internet is ghastly. If that’s how you feel, do it anyway. It makes you real to people. Anyone can copy a royalty-free image from the web and put it on their site, but there’s only one you. Use the same picture for your Facebook page, your Twitter and LinkedIn profiles, and any other online directories or web spaces that you participate in. Consider it another part of your branding strategy – when the same picture is always attached to your business title, people will come to recognize your face in the same way they recognize your business name. It goes without saying that the image you use should reflect the message you want to convey to potential clients, so make sure it’s a professional-looking picture. My preference is for a head-and-shoulders shot, face towards the camera, and a smile.

If you’ve still to be convinced, take the advice of experienced project manager, Hazel Harris: ‘Unsettling images may be off-putting, but an absent image is the first thing I notice about a profile. It gives an immediate impression of half-heartedness or incompleteness’ (‘Seven Ways to Make Your LinkedIn Profile More Appealing to Editorial Project Managers’, Editing Mechanics).

Making sure your website works for both you and your readers is essential, so use the planning stage to ask colleagues and friends to preview your site, as Kate did in our next practitioner example.

Kate’s website is self-built (with the help of a tech-savvy family member). For her, feedback was an essential part of the process. She asked friends, fellow editors and proofreaders, and her Publishing Training Centre tutor to evaluate her site and then tweaked accordingly. The evaluation didn’t just concern the words and ensuring she’d eradicated any errors – she was also interested in knowing how the site ‘worked’ for visitors in terms of ease of use, navigation and clarity of message.

7.9 Blogging

Blogging can be a very effective way to generate online interest in your business, particularly if your business website and blog are integrated. Regular blogging, comprising fresh, good-quality content embedded with relevant links, can generate lots of page hits. It can also lead to other bloggers embedding links to you on their sites. This infuses your site with ‘link juice’ that increases your search engine rankings over time.

A few words of caution: blogging takes up a lot of time and requires commitment if done regularly. Carving out a niche for yourself so that you’re not reinventing the wheel takes careful thought. Having an established network is essential if you want to blog effectively. People who read blogs are used to finding the content they’re interested in by using the web. If you are not ‘connected’, how will you let your potential users know that you exist? If you’re not using the likes of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+ you may find it harder to generate the initial interest and ‘virality’ that online social media provide.

Another issue to consider is that in order to work primarily as a work-generation tool, your blog should be appropriate to the end users of your services, not just your colleagues or friends. It needs to instil a sense of confidence in clients that you understand and care about their needs and concerns, and it should reflect your professional competence.

Marcus hosts a blog on his website that is dedicated to helping writers improve their self-editing skills. Independent authors often find their way to him via this medium and he firmly believes that writers come away from reading his blog thinking he’s an editor who really cares about, and thinks about, the work he does. Anna blogs about scientific journal publishing, focusing in particular on how to help researchers get their papers submitted. Her posts show academics that she understands the world in which they are working and the publishing challenges they face. These practitioners’ blogs attract potential clients to their websites – the content is designed to help the client, so the blogs act as lead-generation tools.

Kate has taken a hybrid approach aimed at the freelance community, clients, writers and students. The content she provides addresses different communities at different times and acts as both a lead- and network-generation tool.

Louise, on the other hand, has built a freelance business-building knowledge centre. Her blog attracts fellow editors and proofreaders – the content is designed to help the colleague, so the blog acts primarily as a network-generation tool. Note, however, that some of her indie author and student clients have told her that even though the content wasn’t aimed directly at them, the professional style of her writing gave them confidence in her language abilities and encouraged them to contact her.

Carol Tice, writing for Freelance Switch, sums up the philosophy nicely: ‘Think of your blog as simply another portfolio sample of your work. If it shows your skills, it still works, even if the particular topic isn’t of interest to your clients’ (‘Do Freelancers Have to Blog to Get Clients?’, Freelance Switch)

The blogging practitioners discussed above don’t ultimately think of their blogs in terms of lead- and network-generating tools. They blog because they want to share information with a particular community. I think this is key to successful blogging – do it because you want to and because you enjoy it. The value added to your business is just that, value added, but good content comes from an ongoing passion to share ideas.

7.10 Trade magazines, newsletters and journals

If you are a member of a professional association, because of, say, technical expertise, do you know a magazine, newsletter or journal that you might advertise in? If so, take a look to see how other service providers are using the ad space and make a note of any that you’d like to consider.

7.11 Social media networks

Actually, the term ‘social media’ doesn’t do justice to the opportunities these networks provide. More accurate, for our purposes, is to consider them online business media networks. Use your business plan to consider how you will utilize the likes of Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. The degree to which these drive your work stream will depend on how you use them and what you put into them.

Effective utilization is all about sharing – fostering a sense of community and being prepared to promote the work, skills and resources of others as well as promoting yourself. All allow the user to show off core skills, and to a limited extent you can design your space in a way that mirrors your business brand.

Reports from editorial freelancers vary as to how much direct work these profiles generate. LinkedIn is becoming an increasingly important search tool for recruitment agents, business professionals and writers looking for editorial service providers, as one of our practitioners explains in the following example.

‘It does seem like LinkedIn has finally reached some kind of critical mass,’ says Liz. ‘Just in the past couple of weeks I’ve had more leads and firm offers of work from that platform than in the previous five years. It feels like an essential now rather than just an extra.’ The message from this is that you’d be daft not to start thinking about your LI pitch – the message you want to sell about the services you offer and your USPs. Use your business plan to think about how you might build your profile as you progress through your editorial freelancing journey.

Many editorial freelancers find that different social media networks work in different ways for them. While not all will be primary drivers of your work stream, the excellent networking opportunities these platforms afford, in combination with the possibility that you might get found by a client, mean it makes sense to take advantage of them. There’s no financial outlay, either, so the only costs will be on your time. Your colleagues are there – you should make it your business to be there, too.

Some of the practitioners featured in this guide have direct experience of how online networking led to work referrals.

Louise referred by Marcus: Marcus was approached by an old friend to carry out some onscreen proofreading work for her Barcelona-based translation agency. He wasn’t in a position to take on the work and so was asked for recommendations. Marcus didn’t know Louise at the time but he was aware, via LinkedIn discussion groups, about her experience with onscreen proofreading; he suggested his friend investigate further. The friend looked at Louise’s website and then made contact. The translation agency continues to be a regular client.

Nick referred by Louise: Louise and Nick met through Facebook’s extensive editorial network. They shared an interest in the marketing side of freelance work and began to bounce ideas around regarding their respective businesses. Nick also assisted Louise with some technical issues, in particular when content from her website was plagiarized. When Louise was later approached by a prospective business client who needed a proofreader with InDesign experience, she referred the client to Nick, who secured the project and subsequent follow-up work.

7.12 Society job boards

Joining a professional association can be a productive way of promoting your services and gaining access to work that your colleagues (or clients) have posted on membership-only job boards. For example, the following editorial societies have job banks: Society for Editors and Proofreaders (UK); some regional chapters of the Institute of Professional Editors (Australia); Council of Science Editors (transnational); Mediterranean Editors and Translators (transnational); Editors’ Association of Canada; Editorial Freelancers Association (US).

Others occasionally post jobs on their online discussion lists, including: Board of Editors in the Life Sciences (transnational); Professional Editors’ Group (South Africa); Society of English Native-Speaking Editors (Netherlands).

Professional society membership is therefore much more than an opportunity to network and seek advice from fellow freelancers. For new starters it can be a direct line to potential clients. Even if you don’t secure the job, it enables you to practise quoting for work and communicating directly with service users.

The SfEP’s Marketplace forum is an active platform for work referrals and accessible only to members and associates. As of writing, Louise has posted seventeen proofreading jobs there over a five-month period, but she’s just one of many who pass on the opportunity to quote for work. Naturally, some of the jobs posted specifically ask for very experienced editorial freelancers but there are often opportunities for newer entrants to the field. Her local group also has a dedicated discussion list and some members prefer to share job opportunities within this more local environment in the first instance. Here, members have met face-to-face and developed deeper friendships. They know what their colleagues’ subject specialisms and skill levels are and therefore feel able to target work offers more effectively.

7.13 Deals/offers

Financial deals and offers are thorny issues in the editorial freelancing world and are not favoured by all freelancers for all client types. However, I mention them because they are an option and it would be disingenuous of me not to acknowledge that some of your colleagues will be using a pricing strategy to generate business.

~ Your pricing strategy may include offering special deals to self-publishing authors, discounted rates for students, seasonal offers or time-limited discounts for businesses. Note, though, that many mainstream publishers set their own rates, so this strategy is unlikely to be effective in attracting them.

~ If you are targeting small, independent clients who can’t afford the standard market rates and usually handle editorial work in-house, you might consider offering lower rates/gratis work initially in order to gain experience.

~ You might also run a competition on your website with the prize of a free edit/proofread, BOGOF (buy one get one free) deals, or discounts for clients and any referrals they make.

~ You could offer, as standard, a free sample edit/proofread for independent authors so that they can assess your work.

The deal/offer you choose should be carefully thought out. You need to be sure that you are not giving something away for nothing. If you are looking to gain experience and testimonials that count then you need to be making the appropriate offer to the appropriate sector of the market. Be creative, but keep your focus.

7.14 Other ways to use the internet

As I’ve already said, there are no right or wrong methods when it comes to business promotion. Some of the most effective techniques to getting noticed come from those with the most creative imaginations.

7.14.1 Video

Editorial freelancers are using the internet to broadcast videos of their services. Go to YouTube and enter ‘proofreading services’ in the search box. Some business owners have chosen to star in their shoots; others have used clients, and still others have gone for a pictorial approach with a voice-over.

Nick provides one of my favourite examples of using the internet creatively. He decided to combine the power of the testimonial with video – some of his clients share their experience of Nick’s proofreading, copy-editing and copywriting services. Nick’s visitors can watch these videos on the Full Proof website but they’re also available on YouTube.

7.14.2 Downloadable CVs/brochures

A somewhat less flamboyant idea is the downloadable CV. Having a website is a great space in which to detail the services you offer, but some clients may prefer a one-page summary that they can download and print, particularly if they want to compare a number of different service providers. Remember to present the core elements as discussed at the beginning of the chapter: your USPs, the services you provide, any training relevant to your target client group, experience to date, some glowing praise from a satisfied client and your contact information. Keep the copy tight so that it sits comfortably on one page, and add colour for visual interest.

Louise decided to create a PDF summary of her services so that prospective clients could download something to hold on file. Somewhere between a brochure and CV, the one-page leaflet features her business name, a quote from a client, a summary of services, qualifications, formats in which she works, recent clients, a selected list of recent projects and her contact details. Thumbnail book jackets of projects she’s completed add visual interest. It’s simple but attractive, and the embedded Scribd file on her website generates an average of twenty-five downloads a month (though she acknowledges that some of these are from curious colleagues!).

7.14.3 Online portfolios

Once you start to build up a portfolio of work, you’ll want to promote this on your website. There are various approaches you can take. Some editorial freelancers opt for clarity over clutter, providing a selected list of works completed; others, like me, opt for a comprehensive listing; and others use article-style presentation, telling the story of their editorial work past and present. Do what feels comfortable for you and your presentation style.

KEY POINTS

~ Use the information you’ve already considered in your business plan regarding your USPs and your pitch to decide where you will focus the elements of your promotion strategy.

~ Build a promotion strategy around multiple tactics, not just one, so that potential clients can find you across a variety of platforms.

~ Savvy promotion is about being active (e.g., making direct contact, attending events/meet-ups) as well as passive (e.g., directory listings/website).

~ Emphasize what you can do for your client, not what you can’t.

~ Test! See what works and what doesn’t. There’s no such thing as failure when it comes to marketing, only lessons learned.

~ Be creative – you’re only limited by your imagination.

~ Utilize the power of testimonials to develop a sense of trust with potential clients, whatever your promotional platform.

~ Don’t forget to network – colleagues are not just competitors; they’re friends, too.