“I wish I’d started marketing later.” ??

We can’t know in advance which marketing moves will work, so we have to put ourselves out there and make a lot of them.

Take one of my marketing strategies, being a guest on podcasts.

Finding shows focused on freelancing was easy enough, and Ed Gandia’s High Income Business Writing would be at the top of any freelance writer’s list.

Still, did I have any way of knowing that one email sent on January 22, 2021 would generate $34,700 for my business?

Nope.

Forming a partnership and friendship with Ed has been one of the highlights of the year.

That little email started a chain reaction:

• I recorded?this episode?for Ed’s show, which dropped in August 2021.
• The response was so enthusiastic that I offered a workshop that September, and 6 people paid $249 to attend.
• Then, I delivered a workshop to Ed’s high-ticket Boardroom mastermind in October.
• Then, he and I launched my How to Sell Strategy program in February 2022.
• Then, we launched it again in September 2022.

Along the way, numerous freelance writers have found that episode and reached out to me about coaching.

I didn’t know going in that any of this would happen, and this isn’t an isolated case.

My relationships with podcast hosts have created all sorts of opportunities from speaking to consulting engagements.

A B2B marketing writer sent me this question in a LinkedIn DM:

What I told him is that freelancers can’t ever stop marketing because, even after closing a few deals that will pay you in 3 or 6 weeks, you still need to market yourself to produce the project leads that will pay you in 3 or 6 months .

Sales cycles vary, and it’s better to have a surplus of leads than not enough.

“But I’m too busy right now for marketing,” you say.

“You need to start telling yourself a different story,” I say back. “There’s always enough time in the day to do what’s most important.”

We never know which swings, which incremental marketing moves, will unlock that next relationship, that pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming project.

That’s why we need two things:

1. 1-page marketing plan to remind us of what we’re committed to
2. Morning Marketing Habit

That best way to ensure you stay consistent with marketing is to make your deposit in the minimum viable marketing piggy bank before you get swept up into client work, admin, email, and all the other time sucks that push marketing to the periphery.

I’ve never heard a freelancer say, “I wish I’d started marketing later.”

To have more feast than famine, you have to stay consistent with marketing even when you’re “too busy.” A surplus of project leads isn’t a faucet you can turn off and on.

To make 2023 your best year of freelancing yet, you need a marketing plan and a marketing habit.

If you lack either, I invite you to invest in your Morning Marketing Habit.

P.S. How's marketing going for you right now?

Let me know in the comments.

Do you need a fresh start with your freelance business?

I've got a free 6-video course called Freelance Business Blueprint that comes with worksheets. Go through the exercises, and I think you'll walk away with clarity around your freelance niche, how exactly you want to serve that audience, what you need to charge, and how to market yourself.

• Eagranie Y. had this to say about FBB: "You're saying things in a way that finally make sense to me. I really appreciate all that you do for the writing community."
• And Annie Foster had a similar response: "This will give me clarity. I never saw anything like this before."

(You can even print the worksheets if you want to go old school.)

To get the first lesson delivered to your inbox,?go to the Freelance Cake hompeage and put in your name and email address.

About Austin L. Church

Hi, I'm Austin, a writer, brand consultant, and freelance coach.

I started freelancing after finishing my M.A. in Literature and getting laid off from a marketing agency. Freelancing led to mobile apps (Bright Newt), a tech startup (Closeup.fm), a children's book (Grabbling), and a branding studio (Balernum).?

I love teaching freelancers and consultants how to stack up specific advantages for more income, free time, and fun. My wife and I live with our wrecking balls and two cats in Knoxville, Tennessee, near the Great Smoky Mountains.

You can learn more at?FreelanceCake.com. You can also connect with me on?Twitter.