Everything You Wanted to Know about Freelance Writing

Anatomy of landing a client on the Web

About 70% of my new training and writing gigs come to me through my website. (The rest are from referrals or my marketing.) Recently, I wrote a business letter for a client in Russia who is trying to land distribution deal with an American company. Other writers have asked me how a client from Russian found me. My answer: no differently than how a company down the block found me.

Let’s take a look at the anatomy of landing clients on the Web. This is a short blog post, but a fair amount of work goes into making it all come together. Call this the tip of the iceberg, if you will …

So let’s look at what happened:

• A business person in Russia had a business need or problem
• In looking for a solution, he converted the problem into a search term–one that would help him find someone who could satisfy his need/solve his problem
• He entered that search term into Google
• My website is optimized for that term, i.e., Search Engine Optimization (SEO)* brought him to my site
• Within seconds of landing on my website, he saw a link (in this case copywriter) on my home page related to his search term (which, as we recall, was meant to help him solve his problem)
• He may have scanned my home page a bit, but within seconds he clicked on the link
• The writing on my copywriting page, I must assume, convinced him I could do the job (or he would not have contacted me)
• He easily found how to contact me on my website; didn’t have to look hard for contact information
• My stellar personality (after he emailed me, we set up a phone meeting) reinforced his web-based impression that I could do the job
• My quote sealed the deal

If he did not have a business problem he would not have searched the web. If my website was not optimized for search terms related to business writing and copywriting, he would not have found me. If my website was optimized, but filled with nothing but keywords, i.e., the writing on my site was not compelling, he would not have clicked on the link. If he could not easily find a link to the services he was looking for, he would have gone elsewhere.

Yes, we still had to chat (that is not always the case with some clients). And yes, my quote had to meet his budget. But if I did not get him to land on my website initially, nothing would have happened. In short …

SEO + solid website writing = opportunity.

Is your website as well written as it could be? Is it optimized for key search terms related to your services or products? If not, you have some work to do. If so, all the best in landing clients who land on your website.

Of course if you are doing mailings to prospects or meeting them in person, a personalized BIC stic pen is a cost effective and simple way to promote yourself as a freelance writer. It helps potential clients remember who you are.

* As detailed in Do you Know Where Your Website Ranks? How to Optimize Your Website for the Best Possible Search Engine Results