Freelance Marketing Jobs

If you want to line up more work you need to do two things:  apply for lots of jobs and have some experience. 

I cover the first part with Freelance Marketing Jobs daily listing of freelancing and telecommuting options for marketing, communications, writing and blogging jobs.  So, let’s focus on the second part. 

Here are Freelance Marketing Job’s Top Five Ways to Enhance Your Writing Portfolio and hopefully increase your chances of landing some work:

1. Start a blog.  Blah, blah, blogging.  Sometimes it feels that way and honestly how many more blogs does the world need?  We may be nearing the limit, but it’s a fantastic opportunity for marketers or writers to showcase their wordsmithing prowess.  Not only can it serve to market you directly, it can also be used as a writing sample when applying to blogging jobs.  (more…)

I think I may be a traditionalist at heart when I sit down to write.  While I use the computer for everything, when I first start a marketing or communications project, whether it’s an article, direct mail, or a business plan, I must start first with pen and paper. 

While I have improved from my college days when I hand wrote all of my journalism and English papers before typing them, I still find that my ideas and outlines flow better when recorded on paper.  But I don’t know if this is true for all writers.  (more…)

The answer is pretty simple:  marketing spends the money. 

Whether you’re a marketing communications or public relations professional, a writer or graphic designer, when the economy slows down or is careening into a recession the fate of your job depends on the people managing the company budget. 

Marketing and communication folk are always looking for ways to get the most bang for the buck, and the pressure is even more intense when the budget gets smaller and smaller.  Sacrifices are made in the campaign, results suffer, and those at the top ask what went wrong.  

It’s a vicious cycle.  How can the campaign have great results when the budget is inadequate?  How can the company put money into the budget when there’s no money coming in? Unfortunately some companies make cuts and find out the hard way that marketing, communications, writing, designing, pr, are all necessities for a business to do well. 

But, there may be a silver lining.  (more…)

Freelancing is great, but it is not for everyone.  Before you start freelancing cold turkey, you may want to consider if it’s right for you.  If you are a freelancer, there are probably some things you love about it, and some things you aren’t crazy about. 

I freelance because I like my line of work, I appreciate the flexibility that freelancing affords my family, and I enjoy a challenge.  I really love marketing communications, writing, advertising, etc. so I feel pretty lucky that these areas lend themselves to freelance, contract and telecommuting work. 

All things considered I’m a big fan of freelancing.  Here are some reasons why:

• Flexibility – I still live and die by deadlines, but when I work is mostly determined by me.
• Opportunity – It’s largely a virtual environment so there’s no geographic limit.  Thanks to the Internet, there’s abundant opportunity to work with people and companies all over the country, even the world.
• $$$$$ – Freelancing is not easy.  But I have found that if you dedicate time to finding new projects, while retaining clients you already have, you might be able to pay a bill or two.  The potential is there to earn as much as you’re willing to invest in time.  Again, it’s not easy, but perseverance and talent goes a long way. (more…)

There’s nothing that really sums up qualifications like a portfolio sample.  Whether you’re a marketing professional, an advertising or public relations specialist, or a writer, samples are powerful tools in lining up the next job.  They silently reflect what we know how to do (hopefully.)

Just looking for freelance work can consume a lot of our time.  But, every so often, it’s a good idea to take a look at samples (along with resumes and cover letters) with fresh eyes to make sure that they are indeed effective.

It seems more and more job listings ask that applicants include a link to samples.  I have yet to put my portfolio on a Web page, but I am planning on making the move soon.  And there are certainly benefits to it.  When done well it can look very professional.  There’s the opportunity to showcase a large amount of work and range.  And it helps when applying to jobs that aren’t local.  (more…)