Ebook Review: ‘How to Find Unpublished Freelance Writing Jobs’
Marketing is a big deal for freelance writers (because without knowing how to market, you will not be able to bring in work!). That’s why it’s so important to know how to find clients.
The title of ‘How to Find Unpublished Freelance Writing Jobs’ says it all. It sets out to provide freelance writers of all levels with a number of techniques to find the jobs which other writers are not looking for, and which are never advertised.
This allows you to ‘decrease the competition and increase your chance of landing more gigs’, according to the title.
When I first read this I was slightly annoyed that not all of the techniques covered were easy to do, and that some actually involve quite a bit of effort. But then that is one of the reasons that they work so well, because you are almost certain to encounter less competition.
But although some of them you will be able to do without getting up from your computer, this isn’t true of all of them.
Also, most of the book is aimed more at an American audience, but people from other countries should not be put off because the same techniques can easily be adapted to wherever you are based by making slight alterations.
Yuwanda Black knows a thing or two about marketing. I have reviewed a number of her products and used some of them (including this one) to build up my own freelance writing business, and it is clear she has a lot of experience.
If you read her website (InkwellEditorial.com) you’ll notice that marketing is one of the themes which comes up over and over again. I love the way that she goes beyond the basics to find new opportunities, and perhaps that is the main reason why she is so successful.
This ebook is packed full of original ideas. I certainly had not heard of at least five of the seven techniques discussed, so it was a great of inspiration. And the best thing is that they work. I’ve used at least four of the ideas in this book and had success with them, but even one of the ideas may provide you with enough work to keep you busy.
I’ve also used the ideas to give me inspiration to devise other ways of finding work which have been useful as well.
Also, one of this author’s strong points in all her books is that she explains things very clearly, so there’s not really much room to get confused.
The promise of the title is to help you to find unpublished writing jobs, and that is exactly what it does. The whole idea of the book is that only a small percentage of jobs are ever actually advertised, and they are generally the worst ones. To find the best jobs you have to go hunting for them, but when you find them it will have been worth the effort.
The techniques are split into online and offline methods of finding jobs, so you can use whichever works best for you. The offline ones are particularly useful because less people know about them or at least are less inclined to try them out.
I like the fact that it doesn’t just say what the techniques are and describe them, but actually goes into details about how to go about finding new clients and generate business, how to approach the clients differently depending on where they are located, how to be more proactive, how to take advantage of referrals, and how to follow up. You will also find an example of a phone script and a query email which are very helpful.
There was very little in the book that I didn’t actually like. I thought it was informative, very useful, and it certainly gave me plenty of food for thought.
Some of the techniques are not free and will require a bit of investment. However, the majority do not require anything more than time and effort.
Some of the techniques have also been covered before in different places, but then you’d have to go searching for them and it’s very useful to have a list of them all in one place.
You’ll also notice that some of the techniques are given more prominence than others, but there was only one which seemed a bit basic to me (perhaps that’s just because I’d already used it). However, in general all of the areas are covered in enough detail.
I would definitely recommend this product, and for the price, $19.95, it is well worth it even if you just get a few ideas from it. However, put even one or two of these into action and it will be a very good investment.
I first bought this near the beginning of my freelance writing career, and it is still as relevant today years later. And I’m sure that enough freelance writers still don’t use the techniques outlined in the book that you will still have just as little competition as when it was written.
I strongly agree that marketing is one of the most important things for any freelance writer, and that you can beat the competition by looking where they are not. Although you should be aware that marketing is hard work and that there is no magic bullet, this book will arm you with a few tricks of the trade which should certainly help you to find more clients and more work.