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Warm Leads are Quality Leads
Warm leads know they want what you offer and are ready to buy. When your website helps someone solve a problem, or they are referred to you by people they trust, they’ve become a warm lead. Job boards can also be considered warm leads when the posting matches your expertise.
Here we share three ways to find new (warm) leads.
Use Your Website to Attract New Leads
Having a website is not a prerequisite to starting a business or finding clients, but a website will give you a place to showcase your work and give prospects a way to contact you 24/7.
Using your website to attract clients will not happen overnight, so be prepared to nurture your content over time. Focus on SEO, adding new and helpful content regularly, creating pop-ups and lead magnets to collect email addresses. Most importantly,don’t give up!
To create or improve your site, review successful writer websites. Discover what makes them stand out and attract new leads so that you can emulate those elements. If you’re not tech-savvy, reach out to someone you know that can help. Or, see what inexpensive talent you can find on a job board like UpWork or Fiver.
Make sure people know you have a website by adding the link everywhere you can – your email signature, networking groups, local chamber, community pages, Google my Business and social media sites. You never know where your next new lead may come from.
Network to Get Leads, and Ask for Referrals
Networking is more than attending functions to meet new people. Just about everyone has a network of friends and family to tap into. Let your network know the types of clients you’re looking for, what problems you solve, and the best way to share your contact info. Ask them to refer you when they meet someone that would be a good fit.
Don’t forget about people you’ve worked with before, both professionally and as a volunteer. Maybe you wrote the newsletter for an organization, or created marketing materials for different events. Check with the organization to see if you can use these as examples of your work, and make sure the people you worked with know you are open to new opportunities.
When you do attend networking events, try to listen more than you talk. Find people that you’re genuinely interested in and learn more about their businesses. How can you help them find new leads? Your confidence and willingness to help others will draw the same type of people to you. That’s when networking really works.
Social media is also a networking tool. Make sure you take advantage of various social channels and LinkedIn so that potential leads know how you can help them.
Don’t forget about your existing client network; make sure they know you have room in your schedule for more work. Happy clients are the best marketing you can ask for. Follow up on all referrals and send a thank-you for the referral, whether it leads to a new contract or not.
Visit Writer Job Boards
There are several job boards like BloggingPro, Mediabistro, ProBlogger, and the International Association of Professional Writers and Editors that are tailored to writers. There are also sites like FlexJobs and Freelance Writing that curate listings from several sites. Not all of these sites are free, but they are worth looking into.
There are also sites like Help A Reporter Out, Help a B2B Writer, Terkel, and Qwoted that can help pair you up with someone looking specifically for your expertise.
Have you taken an online course or follow writers that blog online? Sometimes you will have access to smaller job boards through their offerings or Facebook Groups. These leads are even ‘warmer,’ usually from potential clients that are specifically looking for a writer and ready to hire.
