No-bullshit strategies for creating leads through your blog, without even trying

Last week I put in my month’s notice in my full-time job. Without having another source of income to rely on. Ouch.

No, this isn’t an article to say you should do the same, nor it is one of announcing I am going into freelance writing full-time.

Instead, I will show you how my blog landed me my first freelance client in a time of crisis. Giving me enough peace of mind to look for my next adventure.

Before we start, I must say, I am well aware this is likely just a blend of cosmic coincidence and I am by no means guaranteeing this will work for every writer, looking to land a freelance client. But it will likely help the rest of the writers, who are not looking for clients, land one eventually.

1. Write to educate, write to inspire. Don’t try to sell yourself.

I started writing on Medium because I wanted to keep a tab on the things I know, the things I learn, and the things that inspire me enough to have a discussion about them. I hoped that this could one day help me better track my personal and career journey and help others better navigate their own.

This leads to a crazy mix of articles, which I have tried organizing via collections or via a publication. I was even called out for this by my mentor just a couple of weeks ago. Fair criticism, might I add.

Even though I stick to marketing, technology, and personal growth, my subtopics vary greatly, as one might expect from such different domains.

The thing is — this criticism doesn’t hurt me or would likely not change my strategy in any way. Why? Because writing is something I love to do for the purpose of educating. I love sharing what I’ve learned with the hope to inspire and educate. I love writing tutorials, guides, case studies, tips from my personal growth journey, and many other different style pieces.

I never intended to write to sell myself as a writer. If anything, I wanted to sell myself as an educator, for the most part, or perhaps, just a friend you can come to for advice when in need.

So my tip for you is:

Don’t try to sell yourself. Sell your craft instead. Provide value.

The only way to do this by believing it would serve a unique and specific purpose: to educate, to inspire, to move.

2. Write about topics that you are truly passionate about.

This one is, as you would imagine, very much related to my first advice. Write about topics you are passionate about. It really shows.

It truly does.

When we write about topics that we are passionate about, there is a spark. Where is my spark, you might ask? In data. Data science, visualizations, machine learning, and automation. But, writing about a topic without adding your personal flavor is boring. You need to be able to make a concept applicable at least to some degree to at least one more person, otherwise, you are just creating content spam. Niche down, so to speak.

That is where having a personal outlook on the things you write about helps. A twist, if you will. A little lemon zest to finish off a good cocktail. To me, this is my experience of working in the marketing industry. This allows me to add a degree of depth or a different outlook on the advanced tech concepts I discuss. Making the somewhat dry theoretical things a bit more enticing for others to try. Making a broad concept super helpful for a niche group of individuals.

So my tip to you is:

Write about topics you are passionate about. Always put in your work something that will make it stand out from other articles written on the topic. Ask yourself:

• how does my article advance what has already been written on this topic?
• how does my unique perspective help readers better navigate this topic better?

Then, just write!

3. Write how you talk, remain authentic.

On the topic of writing, though. I am not going to give you writing advice as I am sure that there are many more competent writers than myself who can do a much better job than me. What I must say is: write how you talk, always keep it authentic.

If you want to move outside of the Medium blogging realm, you will have to interact with prospective clients. This could mean anything from pitching (or being pitched), negotiating your rates, going on an interview, or anything in between.

Imagine someone getting so excited over your writing style and your personality (that, obviously, shines so well through what you write) that they invite you to work with them on their content strategy. They are getting ready to meet you, they already imagine how you will talk, perhaps even what will make you smile, they are one step closer to knowing you than you are them.

Then they meet you.

And, yikes, it is totally different from what they imagined from reading your blog!

Not a good look.

Of course, you are totally allowed to grow, change, and evolve your content, but do so in a way that is inclusive to your readers. Don’t be deceitful with what you write simply anticipating a flood of clicks, as it will hurt you in the long term.

So, my tip for you is:

Write how you speak. Remain authentic and true to yourself. Get people a chance to know the real you before they meet you through your writing.

Faking an online persona to get ahead really isn’t worth it, nor will it be beneficial if you want to become a professional writer.

4. Share your work in interested communities.

Last, but definitely not least — promote your work in interested communities. Emphasis on interest.

If you have identified with what I’ve said thus far, you will likely know how hard and perhaps unnecessary it might feel to promote yourself. Especially when you are just starting out.

Sharing on Facebook that article I worked on for 10 hours that got 12 views, so I can get 1 like (from my mum) can sometimes be a humiliating experience. And sometimes it is.

But sharing it to a designated group of people, interested in the topic you’ve written about, who have opted in by joining the group to seeing exactly the type of content you’ve created? That is a whole other thing entirely! Introducing Facebook groups.

There are a few important steps you need to follow to promote your work in groups:

1. Find groups that are centered around a topic and have a high member count
2. Read the rules and follow them— they should allow self-promotion and educational content posting (don’t be burning bridges — getting kicked out is the last thing you want to do)
3. Select groups that are active, i.e. at least 4-5 posts per day
4. Write beautiful posts that are descriptive enough for the people reading to get an idea about your article’s key insight without having to click (bonus points if you create a professional page instead of sharing via your personal profile)
5. Engage in the community, become an active member, sharing authentically your expertise on the topic.

Now, I know what you are thinking: ‘Facebook views are external views. How is this going to benefit me?’ This article is about landing clients, not getting clicks. Clients that will most likely amount to more dollars over time, if you harness the relationship with them than your posts on Medium.

Why groups are the perfect place to attract clients? Because these groups of interests will likely have brand people with big budgets lurking around, looking for content developers. These are the people that will be truly impressed by the fact that you are sharing to educate, becoming an active community member, and using your knowledge and expertise to teach others about a topic. These are the people you want to dazzle.

So my tip to you is:

Create a professional page on Facebook, join and become active in groups with people genuinely interested in the topics you tackle. Share your work there with the aim to help, educate, and start a conversation. Serve, above self. Your efforts will be noted.

Bonus points if you can recommend other platforms with such communities. (I, myself, can think of a few others, too! Same rules apply.)

5. Interlink your articles to enhance discoverability.

Okay, so your dream client has landed on your article via your beautifully crafted and insightful post. You have dazzled them with your writing — they want more. You want to capitalize on this opportunity.

Interlinking is an absolute must for the discoverability of your articles. It helps not only with guiding the user experience when landing on your articles but also to get a solid grasp on your expertise in a given topic. Not to mention the value it has for search engine discoverability.

The best way to interlink is to use a link of high-value to the user, which is informative and matches the context of the content they are reading. That is a surefire way to get them to click. — me, A Step-by-step Guide on Optimizing Your Articles Via Interlinking

See what I did there? I interlinked one of my SEO guides with this article. Of course, when you do it you don’t have to be so obvious with it, I was just trying to prove a point.

There are two important things when interlinking:

1. Choosing an article that is relevant to the one you are linking from
2. Choosing a rich, descriptive, and enticing anchor text that will get the reader to click and continue reading.

So, my tip for you is:

When writing, always try to find other material you have that is relevant to the topic you are tackling and try to incorporate it if you feel it will add value to the experience of the person reading. Choose context-rich and informative anchors to link from one story to another.

If at the start you struggle with this, then use the tips provided for finding relevant articles across Medium to give other writers a boost. This has nothing to do with landing clients, but will certainly indicate you are a decent human being.

The Takeaway

Here is a summary for those skimming really fast through this article. There is nothing new here, so if you have been paying attention — you already know what you need to do and you can safely click away.

1. Write to educate, write to inspire. Don’t try to sell yourself.

Don’t try to sell yourself. Sell your writing instead. The only way to do this by believing it would serve a unique and specific purpose: to educate, to inspire, to move.

2. Write about topics that you are truly passionate about.

Write about topics you are passionate about. Always put in your work something that will make it stand out from other articles written on the topic. Ask yourself:

• how does my article advance what has already been written on this topic?
• how does my unique perspective help readers better navigate this topic better?

Then, just write!

3. Write how you talk, remain authentic.

Write how you speak. Remain authentic and true to yourself. Get people a chance to know the real you before they meet you through your writing.

Faking an online persona to get ahead really isn’t worth it, nor will it be beneficial if you want to become a professional writer.

4. Share your work in interested communities.

Create a professional page on Facebook, join and become active in groups with people genuinely interested in the topics you tackle. Share your work there with the aim to help, educate, and start a conversation. Serve, above self. Your efforts will be noted.

5. Interlink your articles to enhance discoverability.

When writing, always try to find other material you have that is relevant to the topic you are tackling and try to incorporate it if you feel it will add value to the experience of the person reading. Choose context-rich and informative anchors to link from one story to another. Stand on the shoulders of giants, if you struggle to find such articles of your own.

~Thank you for reading and happy writing!