3. Advertising and Promotion

As a copywriter, I would be among the first to underline the power of advertising and promotion. However, I have to say I do not know of anyone who has been able to rely on these methods alone to drum up an income from writing. Although I am willing to be proved wrong, my view is that advertising and promotion can be used only to supplement networking as a way of bringing in new work.

In addition, the success of any promotional campaign is largely based on two factors: whether the medium you use reaches people who will be interested in your service; and then whether the promotional message appeals to these people and induces them to contact you for more information. Finding what works is often a process of trial and error, so, in theory, you can end up spending a lot of money without generating any business.

For that reason, if you are going to try advertising I would recommend looking at low-cost options that are guaranteed to reach a useful audience. Here are some suggestions:

• Try advertising in local business publications (rather than the local paper or Yellow Pages) such as the Chamber of Commerce magazine.
• Get listed on as many freelance directories as possible. A good one to start with is at www.mad.co.uk, the marketing, advertising and design website run by Centaur, publisher of Marketing Week, Precision Marketing and other relevant trade magazines. (For more on promoting yourself on the web, see below.)
• Consider a direct mail campaign, writing to local businesses to offer your services. Needless to say, your letter will need to have all the ingredients of a great mail-shot: good writing, creativity and an alluring offer. There are pointers to all this in Part 2 of this book.