FIRE: Blogging for New Business

Posted on May 2, 2008
Filed Under Fire |


The only way to get business in some markets is to prove yourself by writing about it. This is where blogs come in really handy as a marketing tool, even for the beginning writer.

Write about ten to fifteen articles (200-400 words each) about marketing for that specific industry. Set up a blog, either as part of your current domain, or set up a free blog at wordpress.com or typepad.com. Add your articles to the blog, and create an about page tailored to this industry, as well as links to your main writing site.

If you’ve done some work in the industry already, then go ahead and put the applicable pieces in your portfolio. If you don’t have many pieces for that industry, go ahead and beef it up with some of your other pieces. If you don’t have any paid work at all, yet, you can either throw up some spec pieces, or just let your articles suffice for the moment, until you get some.

You can use some of the articles you wrote for Article PR at submission sites if you want, but you don’t have to. A better strategy is to take a day or two out of your schedule and just start making phone calls. As always, you’re not calling to beg for work. Just to approach companies in this industry to see if they use copywriters, and if so, let them know you’re available and ask if they’d mind a follow-up call in a week or two. In the mean time, point them at your new site.

The fact that you have a site devoted specifically to marketing for their industry now puts you in a “specialist” category that not only puts you ahead of the competition, but also allows you to command a higher fee for your work. Now, take two or three hours once a month to write ten to twelve new posts for the blog, and schedule them to post throughout the month, every three days or so, and within a few months, you’ll have one of the most comprehensive marketing sites in that industry. Assuming you’re writing quality articles with helpful content, people in the industry will spread your name around, and you could soon be a recognized industry expert.

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