Freelance Writers: Is it Time to Change Your Advertising?

The only constant in life is change - and this applies to advertising and marketing as well.

Even if the advertising/marketing you're currently doing works, there still comes a time when you should shake it up a bit. Do so, adhering to the following guidelines:

A Personal Story

My website, InkwellEditorial.com, has been live since 1999. But, I was pushed into getting it by the circumstances of my business. What do I mean?

At the time, Inkwell Editorial was an editorial staffing agency in New York City. Clients and candidates alike were asking things like:

Can I view resumes from your site?

Can I download the timesheet from your site?

Can I fill out your application online?,

Etc.

When I'd sheepishly say, "We don't have a website," the silence was deafening.

Once Inkwell got a site, I couldn't imagine how I'd done business without it. Candidates were able to download timesheets; I put up an informative Q&A section for clients and candidates alike; a sample client contract was there; etc.

The Direct Benefits Received from Changing My Marketing Efforts

Having all of these things online did four things for my business: i) it propelled me into the 21^st century, hence improving my professionalism in client eyes; ii) it saved me time in that I could always direct answer seekers to the website; iii) it built my client base - over the years I received untold inquiries from clients who just happened across my site on the web; and iv) I was able to fill job orders quicker because I e-blasted job openings to my entire database - many of which came from candidates who signed up for this via the website.

The moral of this story: To keep pace, I had to get a website. Even if it was on a static/brochure site, having one was critical to the success of my business because the age of the Internet was upon me - and I was stuck in the stone ages.

And, staffing is one of those industries where online interaction is a must.

Before having a company website, I'd done a lot of fax blasting to get clients. This method was quickly replaced by email marketing because now I had a destination for them to go to - InkwellEditorial.com - for further info.