Success! In-person prospecting pays off for writer

Remember the story of the health writer who approached the hospital mar-com folks at a local street fair?

Today she reports:

Good news on this end. I met with the hospital marketing guy and his custom publisher. Basically, they need a writer for their new newsletter (which may lead to work in their consumer health pub). I gave him a quote (I thought he'd negotiate lower, so I upped the rate) and he accepted it. Should start working on it next week! Yay!

You can't see it, but I'm giving her my "mad props" hand signal.

This is a great example of how meeting prospects face-to-face can drastically increase your chances of getting hired.

Have you had success prospecting in person, especially in non-business venues? Tell us about it!

Survived: First Client Meeting

So nearly threw up from nerves over first client meeting today. I'm mediocre at best face to face and really hate to sell myself.

But it actually went well.

The client was marketing director for a small independent hospital. He gave me some great feedback on my portfolio and talked about the types of projects he hires writers for.

He said he doesn't use freelancers very often, so it will be an irregular gig at best. However ...


He's been in health marketing for decades (all in this area) and knows everyone and anyone who might want to hire me. So I left with a list of leads and phone numbers and permission to use his name to get my foot in the door.


Really, he was so generous with his time and expertise, I was extremely grateful. Just sent him a gushing thank-you card.


Now taking day off from cold calling to reward self for going to scary meeting.

FIELD GUIDE: Health Systems

While I think hyper-analysis is usually the enemy of cold calling, I do want to talk about some of the different clients you're likely to encounter out there. I'll offer just a few quick pointers on how to approach them on the phone and what they might be looking for in a writer.

Since it's the one I'm most familiar with, I'll kick off with:

HEALTH SYSTEMS

Nature of the beast: One large umbrella company that operates hospitals, doctors' offices and often extras like a charitable foundation. Some local health systems are owned by even larger conglomerates, but generally each regional system does its own marketing.

Approachability Level: Excellent. Most health marketing folks know all about freelancers, so very little education will be required on your part. 


What they need from freelancers: Anything and everything. Press releases, articles for their newsletters, advertorials, brochures, patient letters, TV and radio spots, grant support, fund raising materials and internal communications.

Two off-beat projects I received through hospitals/health systems include an award speech and a ghostwritten fiction book. Both were exceedingly fun to work on.

Ask for: The marketing department (check online press releases for a name and contact info).

Potential to Become a Regular: High. I've heard of several folks making well over $1,000 a month from health system/hospital gigs. 

Caveats: The good news in Fort Collins is we have a large health system that produces tons of writing. The bad news: it owns just about every health facility in a fifty mile radius, which cuts down on the number of potential health system clients.

Some health systems (particularly smaller ones) write in-house, hire agencies or simply don't have the budget for freelancers.