Adventures In Freelancing

Whew! It's been awhile since I've updated here at Adventures In Freelancing. My apologies, but the reason I've been absent has primarily been because I was out of town this week at an AMAZING social media conference. Social Media Today was held in Rochester, NY and was organized by Ana Castro of Premier Social Media.

The Back Story

My relationship with Ana is a case study in itself, which began on Twitter as I was preparing to launch this very blog. I wanted to make the launch big, by offering prizes that freelance writers could use. So I put out the word on Twitter, asking folks to reply if they had a product or service they could donate. Ana was one of the first to respond and offered some educational courses from her social networking site for families, Family Eden. After speaking on the phone, we just seemed to click. When Ana was looking for bloggers for the Family Eden blog, she included me.

The Conference

When Ana invited me to the conference, I was excited, but also a bit nervous. The nearly five-hour drive by myself to Rochester was not something I was looking forward to, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to network and to learn more about social media simply because of a little fear. I'm so glad I didn't let my nervousness hold me back! You can check out the conference site for a more in-depth list of speakers, but let me give you just a bit of the highlights.

Chris Brogan was there! Chris is well-known on Twitter as a social media guru. He's all about community and building trust. In fact, he and his co-author Julien Smith, wrote a book on the topic called Trust Agents, which is now a New York Times best seller. After his informative and entertaining speech, Chris took some time to sign our books. Here's a picture of us.

I had the pleasure of introducing Jeffrey Hayzlett, the Chief Marketing Officer of Kodak. What a knowledgeable, fun, and entertaining guy! I also got to connect with other great people from Kodak including Jenny, their Chief Blogger, and Shruti, Kodak's Community Manager. It was wonderful talking to them. I was able to get a view of corporate blogging and to have the opportunity to get involved in future Kodak campaigns, as a blogger. Very cool. Here's a picture of Jeffrey in action. You can see his energy!

There were so many other wonderful, insightful, and creative speakers. There were presentations on the use of social media in corporations, measurement of ROI, legal aspects of social media, and panel discussions giving personal answers to audience questions. Speaking of these panels, I've saved the best for last!

The Surprise

As a panel of bloggers was introducing themselves, I immediately recognized one of the names - Yvonne DiVita. "Wait", I thought to myself, "that's @y2vonne from Twitter!" I wanted to jump up out of my seat and shout to her. Instead, I turned to Ana's husband sitting next to me and tugged on his arm like a little kid, saying,"I KNOW her from Twitter! I talk to her all the time!"

Finally, when it was time for questions, I raised my hand. When I introduced myself to Yvonne as @marybabysteps, she got excited too. You see, Yvonne and I really connected through social media, and it was like seeing an old friend. Actually, she wasn't even supposed to be at the conference that day, but due to unforeseen circumstances, she was able to make it. You know I always say that things happen for a reason. I'm convinced Yvonne and I were meant to meet at the conference, if only for the brief time we had together. I so look forward to getting to know her more and to any future collaborations. Take a look at the marvelous conference recap Yvonne wrote on her blog and the touching things she said about me. Thank you, Yvonne!

The Takeaway

I could go on and on about the conference, but my hands are starting to hurt from typing. I will tell you that I came away with a couple of writing jobs and the opportunity to obtain others in the future. But that's not even the biggest thrill. Having the opportunity to connect with others who get what you do is beyond words. I highly recommend attending a blogging or social media conference if you get the opportunity. If you're unable to travel to a conference, look for local events as a means of networking and meeting people. Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau events are good ones to start with. You'll be surprised at the connections you can make, and you may even end up with some leads on writing gigs.

Do you have any examples of great networking experiences? Do tell; I'd love to hear your story!

You may know that I took some down time this summer. Frankly, it was just too hard to juggle caring for the kids and writing, particularly when the money I was bringing in wasn't especially mind blowing. So I took some time off and enjoyed my summer. I'm back and refreshed. And I was totally scared out of my mind that I wouldn't be able to dig up any paying work. Sure, I've got enough to keep me busy with my three blogs and writing for Type-A Mom, but I also want to balance that writing with some regular paying gigs. And I was really afraid that I had jinxed myself by not keeping busy this summer.

To my delight, I was able to get back in touch with an editor whom I had worked with a while back, and she passed a couple new assignments my way. Whew! What a relief. Now I feel like I can get myself back in the swing of things. Those few paying jobs will really help to motivate me to move forward with my goals. And the paycheck will come in handy, too!

As I started thinking about the best way of going about getting more paying leads, I decided to take the approach that has worked best for me so far. I'd like to share that approach with you.

Introduce Yourself

I've already written about how I've used networking to find paid blogging jobs. I swear by networking, both in real life and online, to make the connections that may eventually lead to opportunities. But what happens when your networking leads have run dry? I've learned that it's often helpful to make new connections by introducing yourself. I've read about letters of introduction in the past.  A letter of introduction is simply a letter to an editor of interest introducing yourself and informing them of your desire to write for their publication, as well as your qualifications to do so. I don't think writing a letter of introduction would work in all situations, but it has worked for me.

Target Your Letter

I've made connections that have led to paying work by finding publications that are in my target niche. I've found that if I can offer the editor some expertise on the topic, I feel more confident in approaching them, and I have a better chance of success. For example, when I come across websites for college students, I often look to see if they print articles or blogs. Since I have a degree in College Student Personnel and a professional background in academic advising, I already have the informational credentials. So I find the contact information on the website's home page and send off a nice email introducing myself, my professional qualifications, and some online clips. There are times I've gotten nothing back, but there are also times that I've received paying work.

Follow Up

Sometimes, rather than an offer to write for the website, I've gotten an invitation to send my resume or to come back later when they may be accepting freelancers. You can bet I put those emails in a folder for future reference and that I will indeed follow up with them later. You can even follow up with those you don't hear back from.

Have you ever tried this method for obtaining freelance writing jobs? Has it worked for you? Let me know! I'd love to hear about it. What do you think? Would you give it a try? What have you got to lose? Please come back and comment if you try it and find this method to be successful.