Some of my highest paying clients have come through LinkedIn.A couple of times I’ve spotted these opportunities while ‘passively’ scrolling, but I’ve also had great success in reaching out directly to people who commission freelance writers. In this post I share how I landed one gig that paid $2/word.
If you’re keen to find high-paying clients on LinkedIn here is a resource I’ve created for freelance writers, content writers and copywriters. This resource has the EXACT scripts of what I said to land lucrative gigs.
How I got a $2/word writing job on LinkedIn
I’ve spent most of my freelance career writing for
magazines and newspapers, but since going full time at the beginning of 2017, I’ve wanted to expand my repertoire into writing content for companies, businesses and organisations. I do think it’s possible to earn a living as a freelance feature writer, but this year I’m supporting my family of four and I really wanted some stability or predictability to my income, so I looked to get into content writing.
I have to say I had no idea how to go about getting into it.
Jennifer Gregory has enormous success as a content marketing writer, but despite reading copious blog posts and
listening to podcasts, I couldn’t see a clear way through. So I developed my own way.
Using LinkedIn to find writing clients
I think writers can underestimate LinkedIn and prefer Twitter or Facebook, but they are missing a great opportunity. Yes, you do have to be prepared to play the long game with LinkedIn. Sometimes connections and conversations can pay off quickly, but really it’s about developing a relationship and trust, and that takes time.
1. Google organisations in your niche
There’s a
lot of talk in freelance circles about having a specific niche, but it’s something I’ve always struggled with. I can see the benefit in saying that I’m a healthcare technology writer or a food systems writer, but the truth is I’m not ready to niche-down just yet.
If you don’t have a niche, don’t panic. Pick something that you like writing about or that you have experience in, and Google that.
Initially, I drew on my background as a social worker and looked to find corporate clients in the health field.
I searched on the Internet for Australian health organisations that produced blogs or fact sheets. After about 15 minutes, I had a list of 20 organisations that produced regular content in the form of newsletters, fact sheets or blogs.
2. Go to LinkedIn armed with a list of organisations and job titles
I focused on one organisation at a time – in this case, a professional health body. I did a quick search on LinkedIn for “Organisation + Content Marketing Manager” and a name popped up.
I looked at her profile and noticed she had previously worked with friend (let’s call her Chloe Smith) who works out of the co-working space I belong to so I decided to send her an invitation to connect.
TIP: Search for people who have the ability to commission content (e.g. content managers, heads of communications, brand managers etc) via LinkedIn.
3. Send them an invitation to connect with a brief message
This is the message I sent the content marketing manager:
Hi Adele (not her real name),
My name is Lindy Alexander and I am a freelance health writer and social researcher.
I live in X (and work out of the same co-working space as Chloe Smith).
I’m just writing to see if you’d like to connect here on LinkedIn?
Thanks,
Lindy
She accepted my invitation to connect the next day and replied with a brief:
Hi Lindy, nice to “meet” you!
Kind regards,
Adele
4. Once they accept your invitation ask whether the organisation uses freelance writers
I wrote back and queried whether the health organisation ever used freelance writers to create any of their web content.
She responded saying they didn’t, but she’d get in touch if anything came up. She also asked for samples of my work, which I sent her. Of course, I appreciated her reply but knew that this was not an immediate opportunity for work.
TIP: Send an invitation to connect and query whether they use freelance writers and demonstrate that you know the kind of content they produce or may be looking for.
5. Repeat the process – multiple times
I kept reaching out to people who have the ability to commission content (e.g. content managers, heads of communications, brand managers etc) via LinkedIn and sent them a message much like the one I sent Adele. I think I’ve sent out about 50 messages like this one.
6. Don’t be disheartened – this takes time
I didn’t hear from Adele for five months, until I got a message from her asking if I would be available to write a 1000 word fact sheet. The rate was over $2000.
That’s a word rate of more than $2/word.
Writing is a numbers game. @@Don’t just send out one invitation to someone on LinkedIn and expect to get a job from it@@ – you have to integrate this as part of your daily, weekly or
monthly marketing efforts.
7. Once you’ve found the right people via LinkedIn, there are tools you can use to email them directly
While I use LinkedIn to find the right people to contact for corporate and content writing opportunities, I have actually started reaching out to them via their email. If we are already connected I
download their email address and if we are not, I use a
Hunter extension to source their email address.
Do you use LinkedIn to find clients? What strategies do you use?
17 thoughts on “How I got a $2/word writing job on LinkedIn”
This is great Lindy, thank you. I will definitely give it a try. I find the marketing / searching for work the hardest part. But it has to be done, so this is another great avenue to go down.
Thanks Collette! I agree that looking for work and finding (good) clients is hard. Initially I thought there was a silver bullet but the deeper I go into freelancing the more I’m realising it’s about persistence and building relationships. Let me know if you try any of these techniques!
Very informative article Lindy. I was lucky enough to start out with steady clients but now that all have shut shop I am finding it really hard to go back to marketing my skills. Yes LinkedIn has been helpful but off-late people just ask for resume/samples and disappear. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
Thanks for your comment Rita. It’s something that I struggle with a bit – when I have steady work I have to remind myself that I still need to market myself because I know eventually that those connections will leave or the opportunity may dry up. It’s great that people are requesting your resume – do you follow up with people a set amount of time after they’ve received your samples?
Very thoughtful article Lindy, thanks! Can I ask what plan you have with LinkedIn and whether it is worth the investment? I have been very basically using the basic version but I can’t send more than a couple of ‘in mail’ messages each month without upgrading. However, I really don’t want to sign up for a $50/month plan… Your thoughts would be appreciated!
Thanks for your comment Vivienne, that’s really kind of you. I’m on a free plan with LinkedIn. I find that it’s more than enough for what I need to do. I don’t tend to send many ‘in mail’ messages, preferring instead to connect with people in the ‘people you may know’ option and also using the hunter tool that I mentioned to get their email addresses and then email instead of reaching out through LinkedIn.
Ooo, can you tell me more (when you have time – not rush!) how to connect with people in the ‘people you may know’ section? And does this mean that once you’ve accepted a connection request that you can’t do this anymore? I tried Hunter the other day and it’s really helpful – thanks for that tip!
If you go into My Network on your LinkedIn dashboard there will be a list of ‘people you may know’ – you can send any of them invitations to connect. I’m not quite sure what you mean about accepting a connection request and not being able to do that anymore?
Ahhh, just the information I need right now. Thanks so much for sharing your strategy.
No worries Jennifer! There’s also lots more info in my downloadable resource about LinkedIn.
Thank you for the tip about Hunter! I hadn’t come across that before.
No worries Louise!
Wow. I am overwhelmed with this wonderful story of yours. I am excited to be like you and to have a client with big offer too. However, I am just starting, and the tips you placed here in your blog will be very much of help for me to land a job as a freelance writer. Wow, I am really amazed, and asked myself will I be able to have a client that offers high and guides me as I become one of their team members. I sure would love to hear more of your guide and tips Lindy. I want to hear more from you and from your experiences. I am sure I will learn a lot. Here’s the website I created while we’re on training to acquire skills and knowledge in Freelancing. https://johannafaithcutay.wixsite.com/mysite
Thanks Johanna and welcome!
Hi Lindy!
Thanks so much for this article. I’ve started reaching out to some potential clients within my niche on LinkedIn, two of which have accepted my invitation to connect.
I have a question regarding the follow up question as to asking the client/business if they work with freelance writers.
Shouldn’t there be more in that message about providing proof that I am a capable freelancer? Straight up asking them if they work with freelance writers seems like a stripped down approach, like it’s not enough (but maybe that’s the point!). I just look at more traditional methods of cold email outreach and it involves a message to the prospect about what value you bring, what your content will provide to them. So I’m a bit conflicted. I really like your method and want to try it but am hesitant based on other things I’ve read.
Thanks so much,
Lindsay
Hi Lindsay,
Thanks for your comment. That’s great that you’re making some good connections.
I think it’s really up to you to do what feels right. I’ve had success with a simple request asking if they use freelancers and I’ve also written more of a complete letter of introduction (I teach exactly what should go into a much more thorough and detailed follow up in my course Write Earn Thrive).
I’m not sure if that’s super useful, but my advice would be to follow your gut!
Thank you Lindy for sharing this article specially for me that I am a newbie in freelancing career, definitely, I will do good on my LinkedIn and hoping that I may able to impart my retail knowledge to my future clients. Such an inspiration.