PREFACE

Who this ebook is for?

Freelance writers.

“But,” you may be thinking, “I am a freelance writer, how can this ebook be for me?”

The answer is, this ebook is a marketing template; an in-depth sample of the type of free marketing report you can distribute to clients to land more freelance writing jobs.

Why Distributing Free Reports Works So Well to Land Freelance Writing Jobs

Writing and distributing free reports work because they:

(i) set you apart from the competition, as most freelancers never invest the time it takes to pull together in-depth marketing pieces like this;

(ii) demonstrate your skills, knowledge and expertise to your client base; and

(iii) pre-sell clients.

And, if you specialize in a niche, writing and distributing free reports can be extremely effective.

For example, I do a lot of writing in the real estate niche. An easy report to pull together would be one that gives stats on new home sales, foreclosures, average home price in the United States, etc.

Every year, I could distribute the same report with updated stats.

No matter what niche you're in, you can create special reports that can be updated monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. This can keep your pipeline full of freelance writing jobs seamlessly – if you stay consistent with it.

This is content marketing at its best.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is an umbrella term encompassing all marketing formats that involve the creation or sharing of content for the purpose of engaging current and potential consumer bases.

Content marketing subscribes to the notion that delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable information to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer action. Content marketing has benefits in terms of retaining reader attention and improving brand loyalty. [Source: Wikipedia.com]

Content Marketing Report Tip: Name your report after your firm, eg, The Inkwell Editorial Annual Home Statistics Report (you get the gist). Why would you want to do this?

It helps to brand your firm; set it apart from others, which is exactly what one savvy entrepreneur did – and she would up selling making millions!

Read on for who, how and why.

The $70 Million Report

Ever heard of Barbara Corcoran? Or, the Corcoran Report? She is who gave me the idea to write and distribute free reports to land clients. And, this is long before the advent of “content marketing.”

Barbara Corcoran’s Story

In the 1980s Barbara Corcoran was a real estate broker in New York City. She owned The Corcoran Group, and the growth of her company – which she eventually went on to sell for upwards of $70 million in 2001 – was built by writing and distributing an industry report which she titled The Corcoran Report.

What did the report consist of? Basically, it was a “state of the industry” report on the real estate market in New York. Once she wrote it, she sent it to reporters at The New York Times, as well as other media outlets.

And, when they needed a quote about real estate in New York, who do you think they called? Ms. Corcoran, of course. Her report got mentioned in the coveted real estate section of The New York Times one week. This began her meteoric rise to the top of the NYC real estate market for she had, in fact, branded herself with this published report.

Now, years later, it is still published annually and is a “bible” of the NYC real estate market – and also a couple of other cities (eg, Miami).

See how writing and distributing free reports can work so well.

The Free Report That Earned Me Thousands of Dollars

My Story

I’ve been an SEO copywriter since 2007. When I first started out, I knew absolutely nothing about this form of writing, beyond what “SEO” stood for (search engine optimization).

Furthermore, I knew next to nothing about the foundation of SEO – internet marketing itself. And to my great surprise, neither did a lot of my clients!

At this point, I was at a critical fork in the road. I could either shy away from the challenge this presented and stick with offering basic web copy. Or, I could seize the opportunity to expand my SEO writing business.

But, it meant educating my clients so that I could sell them more services.

This is the option I chose. So, I did some studying and learned what I needed to know to gain “expert” status. Then, I prepared a tutorial (a report) for prospective clients and put it on my site as a free download. There's a free link to it inside.

The report was picked up and distributed by many others, and earned me thousands of dollars in business. And the reason is, it proves to clients that my firm knows its “SEO writing stuff.”

I don’t have to “prove” it to them; it’s there in black and white. So, by the time many prospects contact my SEO writing firm, it’s just a matter of working out the particulars of the type of work they want us to do, not IF they want to hire us.

Conclusion

While investing the time upfront to research, write and distribute reports can seem like you’re “working for free,” it’s really not. You’re investing in your freelance business – for the long haul. But boy, can it pay off big – for years.

And if you’re one of the few freelancers who are willing to think creatively like this and work differently than the competition, you’ll always have a full pipeline as a freelance writer.

Are You a Small Business Owner?

If you’re a business owner who’s stumbled across this report, it’s great insight into how a freelance writer can help you increase sales and leads.

So, although this report is for freelance writers, it’s ABOUT how every business can benefit from the expertise of a good copywriter.

Sincerly,
Yuwanda Black
Freelance Writer Since 1993

P.S.: You can use this e-book as a free giveaway to potential clients, as an incentive to build your subscriber list and/or as a free marketing tool to entice seminar, workshop and/or classroom subscribers.

P.P.S.: Want to start a successful freelance writing career, work from home and set your own rates? See all Inkwell Editorial Titles on e-Junkie.

Order your copy of this prospect-converting ebook today and grow your freelance writing business that much faster. Length: 12 hard-hitting, convincing pages.