How Should I Brand My Writing Business

I would certainly not try to compete on price as you will never win that battle.

In fact you might be better branding yourself as a premium price service that only writes for selected clients.

The market is overflowing with low cost writers but if I was going to get some content wrote for my website or advertising material I would look for someone who charged a reasonable rate for the time and expertise needed.

I am a writer myself and here are my suggestions.
You brand yourself for the quality that YOU produce. Develop a reputation for quality by getting good customers over time. Have a home website which you can also write posts so people can get to know you.
Building a successful writing business takes time. You'll find some customers will be great and others won't. Regardless of them, be the best YOU possible at all times. Overdeliver when you can. Never be late with deadlines.

I hope this all helps as a starting point.

How effective are you?

Niche down as much as you can. I write technical articles for scientific and testing equipment firms, and they get me to do it because I understand what the equipment is and its applications are. An everyday writer could not do that. The readers, who are engineers and technicians, know that I know my stuff. Consequently, I'm well paid.

We are paid in proportion to the size of problems we solve for other people.

Never forget that. Make me a fast food burger, and you get $8/hr. Lots of people can do that. Write me a sales letter that brings in $500,000 in revenue, and you get $5,000 - $50,000 depending on the deal structure. Far fewer people can accomplish this. Keep me out of jail and you get more. We're down to a small portion of the population now.

If you're targeting local, take a look here:

http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...rtunities.html

(Offline biz owners wouldn't even give you the time of day if you said you charged $5 for writing. You can charge so much more.)

This is a different answer from all the excellent advice you received above. In fact, pay attention and follow it and you should be making a decent living. My advice is merely a suggestion.

I had a column in two CA newspapers. I got them because I was an expert in financial matters and accepted their paltry $25 per column payment. That's all they paid but I didn't care. My goals were much loftier and it provided instant credibility.

And, you can't beat it for becoming instantly known to the locals. For example, one of my columns talked about teachers. Before I wrote the column my kid's teacher didn't know me. After the column, the whole faculty knew me.

Why not write a column for your local newspaper? It is easier than you think. All you have to do is approach them with your proposal. Even if you have to do it for free, you now have instant credibility and visibility with your business base.

Just 2¢ from a guy who did it...

Tom

hat's all they compensated but I didn't health care. My objectives were much loftier and it offered immediate reliability.

Make yourself known and then indispensable to market you want to serve.

Connect with one or two people and LISTEN to what is going on in their industry.

Maybe it's a business that sends a lot of mail (packages, letters, etc) ... could you do a little research and find a few cost cutting measures that would save them money?

... The answer is YES, in about 10 minutes online you could jot down enough ideas to write an easy to understand email that would outline places they could save X% on their postage (as an example).

Then simply shoot that email off to a few potential customers, who are decision makers in the company, with the brief footer quickly mentioning who you are, what you do, and you hope this information helps them.

You'll be surprised how many top decision makers will email you a "Thank you" back... even more if you tell them you have ideas for other ways to improve their business that you'd like to discuss over a lunch that you're paying for.

Thanks All for sharing great ideas as Myself also have team of experienced writers and will be willing to brand it.

One thing per sure money is not the factor main thing matters is the quality you provide.So focus on quality is must and never ever compromise with the price.

fated82,
You've been fortunate to receive some good advice so far. By now, hopefully you've come to the conclusion you DON'T WANT to compete with folks selling their services for $5. So then, how to market a new business and build a brand? Here are a few ideas:

First, I would consider your story. Why do you do what you do? Why are you personally invested in your clients' success? Why have you chosen to make this your personal mission and what can you tell us about your personal mission? What is your 'why'?

Further, what sets you apart from the other guy or gal? Why would people pick you? What makes you so special? Something does, so what is it? By answering these questions, you are beginning to develop your "value proposition".

Testimonials are another useful tool. Go to past clients and ask them why they chose to work with you, what problem they were seeking to solve and how you provided the solution. There is a template here that helps with that:

Marketing Idea #89: Collect Testimonials | Marketing Ideas 101

Don't have any past clients yet? You may want to do some free work to build up your client portfolio. Once people can see others have trusted you in the past, it becomes easier for them to trust you. Think of this as building social proof.

Case studies are very similar to well-constructed testimonials in that they offer a description of the problem and then tell how you provided the solution and finally communicate the happy result.

Best recommendation: Share before-and-after stories. If you're a writer, show the ad copy in its miserable state prior to you and then show the revised ad copy after you finished with it. Feel the difference? Here is how we saw conversion rates improve... (if you're not tracking this yet, you need to start!) Another example could be for an orthodontist; here is the patient's mouth before we fixed their snaggle-teeth, and here is the patient's sparkling smile after the procedures were
completed.

Finally, since we're on the topic of building a brand, you may want to work through this short brand archetype quiz:

Branding 101: Discover Your Brand Archetype (Quiz!) | Marketing Ideas 101.

The quiz results will provide you with three archetypes, listed in order of relevance. This will definitely help you determine the "flavor" you want your brand to exude. For instance, if you are a rough and tumble pioneer type, the Explorer archetype may be the archetype you identify with most. Once you know your archetype, you can ensure your ad copy, imagery and brand all align with that archetype, which strengthens your position in the mind of the consumer.

Okay, this should keep you busy for a while. ;o]

In support of your efforts,

Matt