WritingThoughts

I recently posted a list of sites that list jobs for writers.

The comments on my post (I love comments, btw, keep them coming) were interesting. Two successful writers whose work I admire, Carson Brackney and Deb Ng, expressed similar sentiments in their comments to my article.

Carson said:

“…the best way to stay neck-deep in work is by effectively marketing your services and word of mouth.”

Deb echoes the sentiment with:

“Provide consistently good work and throw out a bit of shameless self promotion and they’ll come to you.”

Their comments reminded me of a great movie called “Field of Dreams” that was popular some years ago. In the movie a baseball-loving farmer out in the middle of nowhere becomes convinced that he is supposed to build a baseball field in the middle of his cornfield.

I won’t spoil the rest of the plot by telling you what happens. If you haven’t seen the movie or can’t remember it, then I suggest you rent it. You’ll be in for a treat.

So, are Carson and Deb right? Is simply producing good writing enough to bring in new writing business?

I think the answer is both “yes,” and “no.”

Let me explain.

If you are a writer who:

• always writes under your own name
• writes for visible media such as web content or print publications
• is beyond those initial start-up months

Then, I think the answer is “yes.” There is a good chance that “word-of-mouth” will generate sufficient business for you. (This is one reason why I think that all writers, no matter what type of writing they do, should try to create some type of web presence.)

On the other hand, if you are a writer who:

• always ghostwrites or does business writing that is published in the name of your client company
• writes for narrow niche markets
• is just starting out

Then, I think the answer is “no.” There is a good chance that you need to do more than rely on “word-of-mouth” to sustain your business.

That’s what I think. What do you think?

Contents (c) Copyright 2007, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.