by Rachel Smith
26 February 2016
We talked last week about the reasons why a new editor might not be as jazzed by you and your work as his or her predecessor, and it got Leo and I talking. One of the best strategies of successful freelancing is, obviously, retaining clients for the long term because (if they’re not troublesome), it can up to regular work and a somewhat stable professional life. Not always easy when you work for yourself.
The thing is, we’ve all been in the situation where an editor or client we loved moved on. I can think of at least ten off the top of my head. Comms managers who’d hired me as a copywriter for a number of years. Editors who left one magazine to go to another. Editors who left print entirely to go to digital.
And when this happens, I’ve done my level best to let that person know I love working for them, and I hope they’ll take me with them. Of course, not in a creepy stalker way – but freelancers have to be direct about these things. There’s no being coy and pussy-footing around the issue when you want to be the go-to person in that editor or client’s little black book. How to do this? 3 ways:
1. Offer congrats. As soon as you’ve heard the editor is moving on, give them a buzz or drop them a line. Congratulate them on their new role and shoot the breeze for a bit about how great it’s been working with them over the months/years. Thank them for all the work they’ve put your way. Ask, ‘I’d love to help you out on X title if you need anything – maybe I could get in touch in a few weeks after the dust clears and you’ve settled in?’ If the editor loves you and your work, chances are they will jump at anything that will help them in their new role.
2. Connect, connect, connect. If they’re not a contact on LinkedIn, find them, send them a nice, breezy note about how you’d love to stay in touch. Follow them on Twitter. Keep in touch every month or so. Send pitches if that’s appropriate. If it’s a comms client, network occasionally to let them know you’re there and you’d love to help them out if they have a project they’re outsourcing.
3. Buy the new mag / pore over the website they’ll be working on. Know it well so that when you do get in touch you already have a pitch ready to go that suits the readership. If it’s a comms client who’s moved to a new company, read up on the company.
I would say I’ve been successful at holding onto fast-moving editors and clients around half the time. Sometimes, the job the editor or client goes to is different and they have no need for me. Or they have an in-house team of writers. Or an existing stable of freelancers and there’s no busting my way in. But when I do get taken along for the ride, it’s meant working on fresh new titles or for new brands/companies I might not have otherwise had in my portfolio. So in my view, well worth the effort to stay connected, and it’s much easier to do if you’re in the habit of creating relationships with editors/clients rather than treating each project as a transaction and moving onto the next.
What do you think List members? Do you have any strategies for staying in an editor/client’s A-team when they move to a new position?
