7 tips for HOW (not where) to find writing assignments

Clients are looking for a writer like you… [The Writer’ s Life]( February 23, 2023 "Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits." – Thomas Edison Hi {NAME}, One of the questions we frequently get asked is, "Where do I find clients?" It's an important question because the answer is critical to your success as a well-PAID writer. That's why every program we create not only teaches skills … but also HOW to find clients who will gladly PAY you for your newfound skills. White Paper expert Gordon Graham says THAT is an important difference in the question to ask when you're starting out … HOW rather than where. He says that simply reframing the way you approach finding clients makes all the difference. Today he explains why, and then outlines a seven-step checklist you can follow to virtually guarantee your success. Of course, he's the one to listen to — he's literally called That White Paper Guy … writing 300 white papers and counting over the last 20 years. Gordon charges around $1,000 per page for each white paper he writes — making this one of the highest paid writing opportunities around. And he is constantly turning away clients — over 75 a year … Because the demand for white papers is much higher than the supply of trained white paper writers! Marketers struggle to find writers who can handle this critical piece of their content marketing strategy. With the proper training, you could help them … and master a perfect writing gig that could set you up for life. To help aspiring writers, Gordon has dedicated a lot of energy to setting up best practices and formulas for writing successful white papers. When you join our newest White Paper Certification program, you'll have access to what he's developed over his 20-year career. Plus, over the course of the four-week program, you'll be guided by two experienced mentors, Pam Foster and Lisa Christoffel, as well as guest expert Steve Slaunwhite, all of whom have made great money writing white papers. Learning directly from experienced mentors is the fastest way to get up and running as a certified White Paper Specialist who commands the highest fees. >> [Go here now]( to see exactly how you can become a well-paid White Paper Specialist, and have all the clients you could ever want looking for you. If you're interested, make sure you sign up today … enrollment closes at midnight! To your success, [Rebecca Matter’ s signature] Rebecca Now Accepting New Members Ready to claim the ultimate "YES" writing career? - Yes! Take charge of your projects. (Goodbye, bosses!) - Yes! Schedule your day as you see fit. - Yes! Work from the comfort of home. - Yes! Give yourself a raise every month. - Yes! Take a vacation whenever you please. - Yes! Be there for the moments that matter. Thousands of others have already done it. Now it's your turn. [Claim Your Freedom Now]( 7 Tips on How — Not Where — To Find White Paper Clients By Gordon Graham [Female writer working from home office] It happened again the other day. An aspiring writer, Tim was his name, told me how he's interested in writing white papers. And then he popped the same old question, "So … where do you find white paper clients?" Ask any novelist and they'll tell you they hate the question, "Where do you get your ideas?" Ask any doctor and they'll tell you they hate going to a party and getting asked for medical advice. As for me, I hate the question, "Where do you find clients?" And I know why. It's the wrong question. Believe me. I'd love to give you the secret GPS coordinates for the Happy Hunting Grounds for White Paper Clients, the lodge where dozens of clients stand around the polished bar under the watchful eye of the stuffed moose head, wishing a writer would show up so they could shower them with work. But it just doesn't work like that. The proper question is not "where" but "how." How do you find clients? Funny, no one has ever asked me that. So here are seven tips to help answer the proper question. Hope that helps, Tim! Tip #1: Learn your craft. Does any actor land the very first movie role they ever audition for? More often, they wait tables while they take acting classes and build up their skills in small productions. Why would writers be any different? You've got to pay your dues, learn your craft, and practice writing every single day. Even if no one is paying you. It's profoundly unrealistic to expect to earn thousands of dollars for something you've only dreamed about and dabbled at. Who's going to pay you? Would you hire you? Need some prompts to get started? Pick an object and describe it. Tell a story about something that happened to you. Write down your dreams every morning. Then craft this raw material into a post for your blog. If you don't have a blog yet, start one. Even better, find a company doing a poor job of explaining themselves, and see if you can do any better. Tip #2: Realize you're starting a business. I first heard this from my buddy and mentor Steve Slaunwhite, "Finding clients for a writer is the same as finding customers for any other business. So writers have to do the same things any other business does to get the word out." Yep, writing for money is a business. Now, in the writing business we're blessed with low overhead. All we basically need is a laptop, an internet connection, and a phone. But don't be mistaken. Just because it looks easy, you're still starting a business. You'll still face all the same challenges, risks, and pressures as any other small business. Tip #3: Know your clients. Pssssttt … don't tell anyone, but I'm about to spill the beans. The person who most often hires me to write white papers is Caroline, a marketing executive in a medium-sized B2B software company in Chicago. Her company sells to other fast-moving sectors like automotive and e-commerce. Her main problem is standing out from a crowd of competitors. Caroline is 40 years old, smart and ambitious, with a strong marketing background and a competitive drive. But no one in-house and none of her agencies understand how to create an effective white paper. So she comes to me for help. You should look up Caroline. She's great. But you may have trouble finding her, because she's only a persona: a composite character that represents a typical market segment. Caroline and hundreds of thousands of others like her are the prospects who need white papers the most. Tip #4: Pick 3 marketing tactics to focus on. There are two basic approaches to marketing. - You call them, aka outbound marketing aka the megaphone aka "push." If you tell enough people, a small number will be looking for someone like you. - They call you, aka inbound marketing aka content marketing aka the magnet aka "pull." If you create great content, you will impress a lot of prospects, and a small number will be looking for someone like you. All successful companies do some of each. You should too. So here's what you do. Look at the lists below and pick three marketing tactics that you commit to do. At least one has to come from each column. Outbound marketing Inbound marketing Advertising (Google AdWords) Blog Cold calls Buzz piece/White Paper Conferences Guest blogs Direct mail Industry forums, posts, and comments Email Newsletters Networking Seeking recommendations, referrals, and testimonials Social Media → LinkedIn Social Media → LinkedIn Trade Shows Website/SEO Match your choices to your own interests and personality. If you love to yack on the phone, call up potential prospects and yack. Just don't waste their time. If that notion makes you want to hide under the covers, choose something else. Hint: Facebook doesn't count as a marketing tactic. It may feel like networking and reaching out to prospects, but it's not. Not for white papers anyway. LinkedIn, maybe. Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, not so much. Tip #5: Play the numbers. Don't despair if you send out 30 emails and don't get a nibble. You may have to send out hundreds of emails and phone calls and everything else before you land a client. If cold-calling is one of your tactics, don't make one call in the morning, go to voicemail and leave a message, and think you're done for the day. Oh no no. Keep calling. It's a numbers game. Get the numbers working in your favor. Same for every other tactic. Tip #6: Do such a fantastic job your client tells everyone about you. Once you land a client, treat them like gold. Put your heart and soul into the project. Do such a fantastic job that your client either (a) wants to hire you full-time or (b) wants to put you on retainer so you have no time left to work for any of their competitors. Of course, the best result is (c) your client tells everyone they know about you, and gives you a recommendation on LinkedIn that you copy over to your website. And then (d) comes back to you often with further work. Tip #7: Be so easy to work with your client tells everyone about you. Similar to Tip #6. Don't be a prima donna. Be pleasant, agreeable, and positive. Have a few laughs with your client. Take it from me, Caroline has a great sense of humor. And by the way, these tips work for any kind of writing project, not just white papers. Marketers struggle to find writers who can help them with the white papers they need written. That's why they're willing to pay $1,000 per page to get these projects done! With some proper training, you could help them out. This is your chance to be personally mentored in how to write white papers by a team of experts who have been "in the trenches" for years. But enrollment is closing tonight … [so check out the details now](. The rare combination of premium fees, high demand, and zero competition makes for a writing opportunity that's as good as it gets. What's Hot at AWAI … 👀 LAST CHANCE: [Grab our White Paper Mastery & Certification here!]( 🤔 So, just how big is the opportunity for white papers? [Find out here!]( 👉 Check out these [five strategies to identify keywords for white papers](. 🧐 [The importance of feedback.]( 🤩 [Former commercial contractor swaps three-hour commute.]( From Service Management to Copywriting Expert … [Lisa Christoffel] Lisa Christoffel Today, Lisa Christoffel enjoys writing white papers and other content projects in the B2B training and educational niches, and helping members as the Managing Editor of B2B Writers International. But she didn't start out as a copywriter at all … For over 30 years, Lisa worked for Eastman Kodak in service and support. But when she got laid off in 2015, she decided to learn copywriting. When Kodak asked her to come back in 2016, she agreed, so long as they understood she was keeping her growing copywriting business on the side. Three years later, Kodak offered her the chance to begin writing for their Advanced Materials and Chemicals division, doing web copy, case studies, white papers, key message copy platforms, tons of one sheets, trade show materials, and so on. Lisa wrote her first two white papers in 2020 — for specialty chemicals, not at all her area of expertise. Her favorite part of those white papers was the research: talking to the experts, trying to understand what the industry problems were, etc. She discovered that interviewing people and digging into new areas of understanding is a lot of fun. Now she's excited to be mentoring other copywriters in the skill of writing effective white papers. Join her and expert Pam Foster for their live Certification program starting soon. [Check out the details here.]( Have your own story to share? Email us at mysuccess@awai.com, or [post it over in the Facebook group](, so we can celebrate your win too! Your ALL-ACCESS Key — Just $1! Get instant access to this exclusive B2B writing community and ALL their private resources, including … All the success roadmaps … All the writing templates … All the articles … All the how-to videos … All 150+ training webinars … The Forum, the Job Board, the tutorials, the tools … And much more! [Go Here For More Details]( Featured Jobs You can find these jobs and thousands more on [WritersWanted.com](: --------------------------------------------------------------- Content Writer — Worldwide Clinical Trials Full-time, Remote Write collateral and copy for internal and external paid, shared, and owned content channels — including but not limited to emails, social media, blog posts, landing pages, etc. Write long-form pieces such as white papers, case studies, and articles. --------------------------------------------------------------- Content Writers — Concord Full-time, Austin, TX You will be in charge of all content to position Concord as the number one CLM for small and medium businesses. You will write actionable content with the goal of increasing conversions and generating pipeline. 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