8/18/2009
A Writer Finds a Winning Formula in a Bad Economy – Guest Post
Note to readers – Today we have a guest post from friend and writer Kristina Rake, who picked a tough time to launch her writing business: this year. Here she describes her struggle to gain clients and make it as a solo entrepreneur. I think there’s plenty we can all relate to, and the marketing plan she hit upon … well, to me it proved once again that honesty is the best policy. Thanks for sharing your story, Kristina!
Kristina Rake
Now, faced with the prospect of paying for my own rent, car, health insurance, and other sundries, I found that I could no longer afford for the timid deer to come to the stream.
I had to go out and hunt big game in order to survive on my own.
I am, by nature, a writer and, fortunately, by profession a writer, as well. We aren’t all so fortunate to be able to do what we love and get paid for it, but I am one of those enviable few who does just that. I am a standardized test item writer and correlations expert. I write SATs, ACTs, TOEFLs, ISATs, etc. as well as state tests, boards of examination and curricula. I have read the educational standards for K-12 in all fifty states and have correlated them all to some form of text or program. I have written for dozens of top publishers in the field (Houghton-Mifflin, Riverside, McGraw-Hill, Pearsons) as well as state boards of education. My resume was hard-hitting if not a little spaced between the experiences I touted (dates aside, I am impressive – on paper, anyway).
But it’s the economy, stupid. And it isn’t pretty. How would I break in?
My marketing strategy was simple: get them to ask for my rates and my samples. I work cheaply because I have little overhead and my work is stellar and seasoned. In short, I have to get a call back to land a contract.
I began in earnest. First, I prayed. Then I emailed. I came up with a customizable form email that introduced me and my experience. I proceeded to research test prep companies by engaging in a state by state search on Google. I would begin a search in a particular state and then email every company that looked like it might need a writer to come up with new tests and materials. My email explained what I did and what I could do for them.
I landed several contracts and was able to live on what I made. I even had a little extra money from time to time to purchase real coffee (I am an anti-Folgers snob. Sorry.)
Flushed with victory, I began to set up a business. I purchased a domain, set up a web-site (it’s a work in progress – in other words, I work like heck and it never progresses), went for counseling at Elgin’s Small Business Consulting Center (which was very helpful). I even sought out paperwork for incorporation.
As a couple of contracts wound down, I began to do my next state search. I emailed 15 companies. This time, however, I introduced myself as a company that could do what I did. I was a company of one, but the materials I created looked otherwise. I was Faulkner Consulting, a company of one lone writer and a couple of experts who helped me from time to time. But my prospective clients didn’t know that. To them, I was a Consulting Firm cold calling them.
For the first time since beginning my great hunting expeditions, I fared badly. Not a single response. I had a contract that came to a head so I was too busy to worry about more work. But I wondered what happened.
A month later, I re-emailed those same companies using my old marketing method: here I am, Kristina Rake, solitary writer and expert, who can help your business grow by providing new and exceptional material for your students.
I got five responses and landed one tremendous contract that will feed me for months.
The difference? What I said in my materials was essentially the same. However, my first offer of help came from my company; the other from an individual.
And therein lay the rub: perception.
To the presidents and owners of these prep schools, which range in size from small and competition weary to huge national franchises, I was more marketable as an individual writer. I believe, and I’m only theorizing, that their perception of A) what my rates would be and B) their control over the process of creation was entirely different when I was a company than it was when I was an individual working out of my home.
When I receive an impressive piece of literature from a corporation, I often judge their prices by their materials. Apparently, my own prospective clients did the same. They also may have assumed that it was better to have a “contract employee” than a “contract firm” because they have a greater flexibility in retaining or expelling me from their stables of writers.
I also don’t discount personality. One firm forgave a lackluster writing sample (I had sent the unedited version by mistake) because of my “ease to work with and responsiveness.” Again, that perception that I was more valuable as an individual who could do what I do than a company was a powerful one.
My new marketing strategy is simple. My customers don’t know I own a firm until they receive an invoice. By then, they are happy and satisfied and the fact that I am actually a professional enterprise only makes them feel secure in a decision they’ve already made. The days of searching for the most expensive-looking option have gone with the SUV. I’m no economist by any stretch of the imagination, but I can’t help credit the current financial state of the country with our new-found frugality and need to have control.
What companies want is responsiveness (control) and reasonable rates (financial flexibility). They take a risk, hiring an individual, as do I in being hired, but they stomach that risk for their perception of control over the process of creation.
In the last month, my business has grown to the point where I need to subcontract in order to keep on deadline. I believe many factors have contributed to my success. But, in particular, I believe that perception of a lone professional who works for you and is reasonable because she has no overhead is key to my marketability in an economy that is the worst I have ever seen in my years (yes, Virginia, I am under 80). I have molded my marketing strategy to compensate: I market myself and my skills. I approach people personally and in a friendly manner. I offer a little free advice and don’t go for the hard sell. I lose some prospects sometimes, but what I manage to net fills my goals and surpasses my expectations.
And the prayers help, too.
__________
Contact Kristina
Kristina Rake
P.O. Box 3935
St. Charles, IL 60174
Email – kristinarake [at] gmail [dot] com
13 Responses to A Writer Finds a Winning Formula in a Bad Economy – Guest Post
What a fantastic article! As someone who is venturing into the business world on my own, it’s interesting to discern between the perceptions of working with an individual or a firm. I will use this information wisely in my decisions of marketing my business to others.
Thanks again for the insight!
Kristina, I have known you since you were a young energetic girl. Silent and steady, you rose like crean to the top of that high priced coffee. What you say here in this article is a matter of being there at the right time in the right place. People have had enough of the high priced bs and are looking for brilliance just like yours.. I wish you continued success and loved your article. MRS.I
Kristina,
Interesting read, your narrative of the process you went through in developing a business model. While I agree that being open – I prefer that term to honest in describing your change in approach – is important, have to believe that the adjustment in tone inherent to your new approach made you more effective and readable, less aloof. Prospects could more easily identify with and see the value of your newly modified content, a process that can’t help but take place when we are ourselves. Anything to that?
Yes, size may matter in a reverse sense these days – but I choose to feel it is due, more than anything else, to a shedding of pretense,. You were able to create and amplify a resonant frequency with the revised approach. That, in my mind, is the critical factor.
Bill
Bill-
I would also hesitate to call an attempt to sell one’s business “a pretense.”
I think my phrasing may have betrayed me a little. The pretense I had was in my mind more than the presentation (though some may have bled over, I’ll allow you.) I merely thought I was more marketable as a business rather than an individual because that is what conventional wisdom implies. Branding is king. But I would argue that, in order to stay in business, one must create fans instead of customers.
I would agree that being authentic is important, but any honest and successful salesperson will tell you that the trust comes first in the person, then in the product. Authenticity is key, but in the individual first, and the product second.
What I learned is that I tried to reverse that: trust the product, which has produced these results in the past and then trust me. When I returned to the, “Trust me and try my product” approach, I got a better response.
The materials I used were merely my resume with a different heading, so the those weren’t really the issue. What was at issue was a matter of trust, control and cost.
Just my thoughts.
This seems like the appropriate time to employ my favorite Aussie expression, Kristina. No worries! Covers lots of ground and tends to wrap up, for me, the commenting process.
Thanks for sharing!
Funny how our perceptions of what people want sometimes gets in the way of what is going to work. A lot depends on the structure of how work is bought. Some places let decisions about freelancers happen at the lowest level, but company relationships have to be pushed up the decision tree. Your ‘experiment’ in changing your materials is very interesting and something a lot of start-ups should be doing. Thanks for sharing.
Kristina, Like other commenters, I think your strategy is inventive. It’s also bold! Many times, we entrepreneurs have an inferiority complex and try anything we can to look bigger. You were smart enough and bold enough to look past that. When I wrote my original website several years ago, I always used “we” when it was really “me.” I hope new writers just opening shop will find your post.
Worthy of a RT – the interesting bit is how a writer writes about writing says more about the writer than you might want. Kristina came off well – and I am long-tiem reader of you too Brad
Hi Dennis, Thanks for the support, and of course for being a reader and commenter here. I’ve known Kristina for several years, and she is marvelous. A great resource for any firm in need of her talents – no matter how she represents them.
Brad-
I really like the way you’ve framed the dilemma: to be or not to be big. That’s the material question; marketing one’s company, or self, is about perception. As human beings we are perception engines.
The question of perception of size also changes from industry to industry. I can only comment on my own niche market.
As an aside, I find that growth presents wonderful challenges, but how does one grow and maintain that individual component? I find myself in that position in a shorter span of time than anticipated. Perhaps something to consider for another article: Walking the Line between Big, Bigger and Big Enough, Already.
Thank you all for commenting. It’s really interesting to read various perceptions of perception. Although, I think to speak through our own perception on the subject of perception is like looking for your eyeglasses when they’re on your face.
All my best to you all!
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Kristina, your insight into the consumer mindset is right on target! I also believe that we have become cautious of “big business” and overly polished marketing messages because we perceive that they are largely to blame for the current economy. Your tips are so helpful to large and small businesses and remind us to put a face and personality to our businesses. Thank you so much Kristina for sharing your story and the great tips. Congratulations on your success!
Great Post! Really goes to show that with a little determination, a lot can be achieved!
I think that it is really important when marketing to add a personal touch- businesses want to engage with their customers after all.