Power Freelancing

by Roy Sheppard

Every freelancer can earn more, keep more and work with better clients if they know how. Roy Sheppard, conference presenter and founder of The Freelance Centre shares some of the secrets of successful self-employment.

Self-employment is tough. Freelancers certainly know this - those on a salary almost certainly don't, nor do they usually care. That is, until they are affected by a ‘downsizing’ or company consolidation programme! Then it’s a different matter all together.

Competition is intensifying as more individuals are forced or choose to join the ranks of the self-unemployed (sic). As a freelancer since 1984 (for 5 years reading the evening TV news in London for the BBC in the South East and presented programmes for Radio 4), I know at first hand how frustrating it can be to attract new business and better fees.

Today, it is difficult to imagine ever working for a company full time. I’m happily unemployable!

A year ago I attended a meeting for freelancers. Sitting near the back of the room I found myself becoming increasingly concerned about the low level of personal marketing knowledge and self-confidence amongst the assembled audience. It simply isn’t good enough any more to rely on the quality of your work and hope the phone rings. Whingeing about it won’t help either - quite a few at the meeting failed to realise this. One freelancer in despairing tones, stated emphatically that writing letters simply did not generate business. He went on to explain that he had written eight letters the previous week and had received no work as a result.

Another freelancer, who knows how I operate, then turned to me rather than the invited speaker and asked how many letters I had sent out recently. He was the only person present who didn't take a sharp intake of breath when I said that I regularly mailed out up to 1,000 letters. "But I can’t afford to do that." said Mr. 8 Letters. I was encouraged to explain exactly why I couldn’t afford not to do it.

In direct mail, expect up to a 2% response rate. For 1000 letters that could mean no more than 20 responses. Of these 20 responses, only 5-10% of them will result in business from a new client. A staggering 98% will ignore you - if you are lucky. Writing more effective letters can increase that 2% response rate.

My best response over 12 years freelancing so far is just over 20% - I had sent out 1200 empty VHS cases inviting anyone who was interested in seeing my presenter showreel to return a business reply paid card for the video cassette - it saved a fortune in wasted video cassettes and higher postage costs whilst identifying those producers most interested in booking a presenter. The resulting business it generated more than paid for the mail out. Each time I was re-booked by those clients represented clear profit.

Some mail outs generate work years later. One producer kept a letter of mine when he moved to another company and booked me to facilitate a massive conference for Unilever, that job resulted in 4 further conference bookings.

So writing letters definitely definitely works - so long as you obey some basic direct mail rules. The most important rule relates to your ‘offer’ - the problem is, most freelancers never make one - they just write asking for work. This approach practically guarantees that your letter will be ignored.

When you can convey what result you can deliver to a prospective client which is better, faster and possibly cheaper than any one else - you should at least attract the clients’ attention. But that isn’t enough. Tests have shown that you must write regularly if you want good results - this means sending a minimum of 7 letters, newsletters and/or brochures over an eighteen month period. People always employ those they know first - taking this approach means you are ‘buying a place in their lives’ and increasing your chances. But it takes time and a certain financial investment.

Therefore writing 8 letters and expecting a rush of work the following week is simply not going to happen - unless you are very lucky indeed. Successful freelancing should never be left to ‘luck’.

At the end of the freelancer meeting, I was invited to put on a seminar for The International Visual Communications Association (The IVCA). Putting together "The Secrets of Successful Freelancing Seminar" was far more time-consuming than I originally expected. I was keen to make sure that the information was detailed, practical and relevant to the needs of the audience. Eventually it was held at the end of March for about 50 freelancers.Feedback has been particularly encouraging.

One delegate, during an exercise on developing more effective networking skills told me he wanted to direct more videos for charities - another delegate ran a charity and has since put him in touch with a number of possible clients. Interestingly, another delegate, a barrister made contact with the charity worker during the coffee break, providing her with an introduction to the head of a government department which may provide much needed funds for the charity - not bad for a 10 minute seminar exercise!

Another result from the first seminar involved TV presenter Penny Mallory. She used a couple of the seminar ideas - and landed regular presenting work on BBC2’s Top Gear and some corporate video bookings! She is now the anchor presenter of Channel 4's motoring programme.

We know the ideas in this programme work - because so many freelancers have told us they do. We guarantee your mind will be buzzing with so many new and profitable ideas when you listen to this programme. 

We look forward to sending you this programme.

Roy Sheppard can be contacted on:

Tel/Fax 00 44 1761 414676

Centre Publishing, Croft House, Clapton, Midsomer Norton, Somerset, BA3 4EB, England

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