3 Ways to Find Remote Freelance Writing Jobs Using Cold Calls and Emails
Stop relying on job boards and freelancer platforms to take your writing business to the next level… we’ll show you how.
In order to find remote freelance writing jobs and take your writing business to the next level, you will need to get comfortable with various business development tactics. In short, business development is the activity of pursuing strategic opportunities for your business, or finding new leads and customers out of thin air!
These tactics include outbound marketing, such as cold calling and cold emailing potential customers. For many writers, this is something that they prefer not to do or are unsure how to do effectively. However, it is an essential step in growing a writing business and monthly revenues and to find remote freelance writing jobs.
When we started our freelance writing biz, we relied on freelancing sites, such as Upwork, or writing job boards, to find remote writing jobs. This was an easy way to find steady jobs, especially when starting out. We quickly realized, though, that these types of platforms would limit our potential and that we needed other ways to find clients that paid well.
With past experience in sales and marketing, we knew that cold outreach works for many types of businesses and decided to test it out. Within a few days, we started receiving replies and were able to secure our first “cold” client through an email in under two weeks time!
Not only was that client more aligned within our niches, they also were willing to pay us a higher rate than we were receiving on freelancing sites. This success motivated us to continue using cold calls and cold emails to “pitch” our services to our target market, even if they weren’t advertising the need for a writer.
Remember: remote freelance writing jobs are not always advertised
As we continued to find success with cold outreach strategies, we realized that many remote freelance writing jobs were not even being advertised!
How is that? Why would a business hire a freelance writer if they are not actively advertising that need or position?
In short, businesses may not have the time, staff, money, or resources to do so or don’t even know that they need a writer. Others just have not gotten around to it.
As an example, one client we work with is a smaller sized business, with under 25 employees. They have a great website within the financial niche and serve clients nationwide. We noticed that their blog had not been updated in over a year and that there was room for a solid content strategy that could produce leads and most importantly, sales.
With that in mind, we crafted our cold email to the founder of the company that mentioned the outdated blog and ideas we had to help. This cold email got a reply and got us a gig as the owner agreed that the blog had been “abandoned” for quite some time. He was recently thinking of starting it again and we happened to show up at the right time!
This is just one of many examples of how business development, including cold emails and cold calls, will expand your portfolio and increase your writing profits.
If you are new to business development and sales, push your fears and doubts away, don’t overthink, and don’t be afraid of rejection! Sure, you will get email replies asking you to “unsubscribe” them or not to contact them again. You might have someone hang up the phone on you. Don’t take those personal, they are just a sign you are one step closer to getting a great response.
With that all being said, here are 3 ways to find remote freelance writing jobs using cold calls and cold emails so you can get started today.
1. Make a list of businesses and their contact info in your desired niche
Ready to find remote freelance writing jobs today? Now that you are motivated to get started and give it a try, first make a list of businesses in your desired writing space, or niche. For example, if you are, or wish to be, a writer in the interior design industry, search for interior design businesses in your area (ex. “Interior design firms San Diego”).
If using Google, you will see relevant results at the top (likely advertisements), results from Google Local/Maps, and then pages and pages of additional potential companies. Click on their websites and do a quick scan of their site. Look for “Blog” in the header, menu, or footer to get a feel of their content. Do they have buyer guides? White papers? List articles?
Most importantly, do they seem like a great client that you would love to write for?
If so, find the right contact(s) by using the “About Us” or “Our Team” type pages. If not available, look for their general email address on the “Contact” page. Another secret is to use LinkedIn to find the company, along with the names of the founder or marketing team.
Add the name of the business, their contacts, and contact information to your sheet. We also like to add a few notes to help remind us of why we might be able to help them (ex. blog page hasn’t been updated in 6 months).
Rinse and repeat this process until you have a solid list of 50+ businesses that you would like to contact. As you can imagine, you can put together hundreds or thousands of potential businesses, between your local area and by searching nationwide.
2. Craft your cold email and cold calling scripts
Now that you have a solid list of ideal clients in your niche, it is time to craft well written scripts for your emails and calls. One script should be for your email outreach while the other for calling.
First and foremost, you want to keep your scripts brief, to the point, and personalized to the individual and/or company you are reaching out to. You do not want to sound spammy, like you never researched their particular needs, or are desperate for the business. There are tons of resources online to help, like Harvard Business Review’s Guide to Cold Emailing. Get familiar with the best practices and get a feel of what can work for you.
Let’s take a look at some examples that can help you get started:
Cold Email Script Example for Writers
Using the interior design niche example from above, a cold email to find remote freelance writing jobs could look something like this:
“Hi NAME, I wanted to touch base quickly to introduce you to my writing services. I help interior designers educate readers, gain website traffic, and ultimately book more business. I have LOVED interior design since I was 13 years old and enjoy writing about it now.
To give you an idea, you can check out a recent article I wrote for ABC COMPANY (link to the article) and my portfolio here (link to your portfolio). I also loved your recent post “NAME OF POST- link to post” and found the tips to be inspirational for designers.
Lastly, I crafted 3 blog post titles that your website visitors would love to read. Please shoot me a message if you’d like to see those blog post ideas or if you have any questions.
Thanks again, I am grateful for your time!”
YOUR NAME/WEBSITE/PHONE #
As you can see, we tailored the message to the recipient (do not send emails without a personal touch, it looks spammy). Next, we validated ourselves with relevant articles and a portfolio link. We also are clearly stating how we can provide value to their business and have kept it short and to the point. Finally, we put a teaser in there (how we have 3 blog post titles ready for their website).
Send this to an interior designer that needs help with content and we guarantee you will get some replies. As with any sales initiatives, it is somewhat of a numbers game. Perhaps this email being sent to 25 interior designers will land you a new client. It might take 50 emails, maybe 100.
Regardless, these clients can turn into long-lasting relationships and referrals so the time it takes up front to research and email is worth it.
Cold Call Script Example for Writers
Although many find cold calling harder to do than emailing, it can be just as effective if used properly. Here is an example of the email script being reworked for a phone call: to
“Hi, can I speak with NAME (your target- owner, marketing person, etc.)?
or
Hi NAME!
I’m sure you are busy but I wanted to touch base quickly to introduce you to my writing services. I help interior designers educate readers, gain website traffic, and ultimately book more business. I have LOVED interior design since I was 13 years old and enjoy writing about it now.
I was reading some articles on your site and would love to contribute in any way needed. I also crafted 3 blog post titles that your website visitors would love to read.
Would you find it helpful to have a writer like myself available to assist with your content strategy? Would you be interested in me emailing over those 5 blog post ideas, samples of similar work, or my portfolio?
Obviously, phone calls are very fluid and can go in many directions. This script is concise and gets to the point but can quickly change depending on what your callee says. For example, if she asks what type of blog post titles you have in mind, that is a buying signal and good sign. You would then want to go into those and try to get commitment for a future project.
You might also not reach the person that you feel is the right contact, or decision maker. In these cases, you need to keep note of that, leave a message, or ideally get his/her email to follow up with.
As with anything, much of cold emailing and calling is trial and error. You know your target audience and niches, you understand the particular needs within the industry. Show that expertise, be confident, and test various script versions to see what works best for your personality and clientele.
3. Bring cold emailing and cold calling into your daily routine to find remote freelance writing jobs
Finding remote freelance writing jobs can be time consuming and difficult. It is imperative that you have a daily routine for building up your clientele. Unless you are consistently busy with assignments and repeat customers, adding cold emailing and calling to your routine will bring results.
Set aside an hour or two each day, or one day per week to concentrate on these efforts. Once you have success and find that customer out of thin air, you will realize there is a ton of potential using this strategy.
Additionally, we have found that we can get better rates for our writing than we could on freelancing platforms. On these common platforms, you might see assignments like “Interior design content writer needed for 1000 word blog posts. Pay is $0.05 per word, or $50.” When cold emailing and calling, you set the rates that work for you. Instead of receiving $0.05 per word, perhaps you quote the new client $125 for each 1000 word post.
Even better, if you could get the customer on a monthly retainer for a certain amount of posts or other projects, your writing and hourly rates can increase significantly.
What we have seen happen with many writers though, is they give this a try but give up too soon or do not continue to put the effort in. Instead, they resort to easier platforms that are advertising jobs, even though the pay is usually subpar.
Hopefully these tips will help you implement this strategy moving forward and land great clients!
What is your take on cold calling and emailing to find remote freelance writing jobs? What has or has not worked for you?
About the Authors
Hi there! We are Mike & Michelle, freelance writers, business owners, and parents to two young girls. Thanks for reading and joining us on your freelance writing journey. Whether you are beginner or a seasoned vet, we hope to help you grow your earnings and writing potential.