Business cards are one of the most essential tools in a freelancer's tool kit. You should make a point of carrying a few in your wallet and purse at all times and hand them out at the drop of a hat -- preferably in exchange for cards from whoever you're talking to.
Those cards are the freelancer's equivalent of bread upon the waters and you should spread it freely.
Of course this is doubly true of places where you're likely to run into editors, other writers, interview sources, etc. Take plenty of cards and keep your card case full at all times.
(Also take a minute to jot down information on cards you've collected from others.)
While you can have your cards printed commercially, typically in quantities of 500 or 1000, I find I have better luck with custom cards I run off before each event I attend. It costs more on a per card basis, but it offers invaluable opportunities for customizing.
Why invaluable? Because by customizing your cards you can indicate specific interests that tie into the nature of the event. When you do everything from science fiction conventions to technology conferences and trade shows this is extremely useful.
For example I just returned from Infrastructure Management World, a conference for fairly high level IT and datacenter geeks. Shows like this are always a problem because in order to get in as press you have to be representing someone and who you're representing will be printed on your name badge. When you're writing for several clients in the same general field this is limiting, plus it gives the impression that you're on staff and not available for assignments.
My solution is to print up business cards stating that I'm a freelancer and listing several of my clients in the field. This gets the message across and it gives potential clients some idea of who I have worked for.
I'll do the same thing next month for Storage Networking World, except the list of clients on the card and some of the other details will be different. I do my cards in OpenOffice and I keep a series of templates, complete with graphics that I make up by cards from.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
QUERY OR COMPLETE ARTICLE?
I just ran across a pretty good entry at another freelancing blog on submitting articles for beginners. Mostly good, that is, except for one piece of advice: That beginning freelance writers should submit a complete article rather than a query to a magazine.
Don't. Unless the magazine specifically requests it in its writers guidelines this is a bad idea for several reasons.
First, it wastes the editor's time. Editorial time and attention is the most valuable resource a freelancer has. Editors want queries because it lets them make a no-maybe decision on an article in a few seconds. They don't want to take the time to read through an unsolicited article to decide whether it goes in the 'maybe' pile.
Second, it wastes your time. A good query takes a lot longer to write on a per-word basis, but much less time overall than an article.
Third, you almost certainly won't get it right. Magazines have nuances in what they want that even the most careful analysis won't reveal. In addition to things like length there will be subtleties in approach, what information the editor wants, sidebars, etc. At best you will end up having to rewrite the article as well.
Fourth, you'll waste your sources' time. Most articles require some interviewing. Until you have an assignment from an editor you can't honestly claim to be representing the magazine when you interview people. Not only that, you can't be sure what the magazine is going to want you to cover in the interviews.
Fifth, it marks you as someone who doesn't understand the system. Editors' time is valuable and they don't want to waste it on someone who doesn't understand how things work in the industry. That promises trouble (read: The need for more editorial attention) and increases the chances that you're a flake. (Did I mention editors hate flakes?)
Yes, as a rank beginning you have a higher barrier to getting an editor's assignment, but the way to surmount it is to demonstrate professionalism. That means a well-crafted query that shows you understand the magazine and its audience.
Don't. Unless the magazine specifically requests it in its writers guidelines this is a bad idea for several reasons.
First, it wastes the editor's time. Editorial time and attention is the most valuable resource a freelancer has. Editors want queries because it lets them make a no-maybe decision on an article in a few seconds. They don't want to take the time to read through an unsolicited article to decide whether it goes in the 'maybe' pile.
Second, it wastes your time. A good query takes a lot longer to write on a per-word basis, but much less time overall than an article.
Third, you almost certainly won't get it right. Magazines have nuances in what they want that even the most careful analysis won't reveal. In addition to things like length there will be subtleties in approach, what information the editor wants, sidebars, etc. At best you will end up having to rewrite the article as well.
Fourth, you'll waste your sources' time. Most articles require some interviewing. Until you have an assignment from an editor you can't honestly claim to be representing the magazine when you interview people. Not only that, you can't be sure what the magazine is going to want you to cover in the interviews.
Fifth, it marks you as someone who doesn't understand the system. Editors' time is valuable and they don't want to waste it on someone who doesn't understand how things work in the industry. That promises trouble (read: The need for more editorial attention) and increases the chances that you're a flake. (Did I mention editors hate flakes?)
Yes, as a rank beginning you have a higher barrier to getting an editor's assignment, but the way to surmount it is to demonstrate professionalism. That means a well-crafted query that shows you understand the magazine and its audience.
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