If you’re reading this, you want to know how to become a dental content writer.
Congratulations on taking the first step.
It could be that you’re looking to make changes in your life.
Maybe to:
- Ease the pressure financially by supplementing your current income
- Transition away from your day job Into doing something you genuinely love
- Passing on your knowledge to help others, or
- Feeling the urge to become your own boss.
Whatever your reasons, becoming a dental content writer that lands paying clients doesn’t have to be complicated – that is, if you know where to start!
The issue is that people become overwhelmed, and where there’s overwhelm, there’s doubt!
- What If I’m not good enough?
- What if I don’t have the business acumen?
- What if I can’t get clients?
- What if I fail?
The good news is that if you follow this 3-step procedure, you’ll be on track to land your first paying client.
So, if you’re ready, let’s roll up our sleeves and get stuck in!
Step #1 – Show people you can write
Here’s the thing, before anybody hires you, they’ll expect you to demonstrate some writing skills.
So what’s the best way to do that?
Show that you have relevant samples.
Potential clients need to know that you can write an informative dental blog post, a patient-friendly service page or a treatment guide. So having those samples readily available is an excellent way of demonstrating you can do that.
At this point, they don’t need to be written for specific clients; just generalise them for now. Then, as you write for paying clients (and you will), you can add those to the mix.
So what samples do you write?
Try to aim for a variety of posts or articles that demonstrate flexibility.
Here are some content ideas:
- A blog post on ten foods that help keep teeth whiter for longer
- A product review on water flossers or the best toothpaste for gum health
- A how-to guide to getting dental implants.
If you feel a little daunted about getting started, then
Here’s a great article on, well… how to write a great article.
So how long should each piece of content be?
There is no golden rule here. Make each post as long as needed to get the relevant information in without needing to waffle to fill the word count.
To give you an idea, here’s a rough guide:
- 500 and 1000 words for a typical dental blog post
- 1500 – 3000 words for a long-form ‘guide-to’ or ‘top 10’ list-type article
- 200-300 words for a catalogue-style product review
Essentially, I would aim for between 5 and 10 pieces of quality content you can show clients.
Once you have these pieces of content written, you need to get them online. There are several ways to do this.
You could create your own writer website and place your best content here,
or
You could use one of several online portfolios.
While I would recommend you get a writer website, online portfolios serve the same purpose, are free and immediately accessible.
For these reasons, I would recommend the following:
Journo Portfolio or Clippings.Me
Both Journo and Clippings give you that all-important online presence where you can direct potential clients. Simply customise your pages, follow the instructions and upload your samples.
So, now you have some written content uploaded to your portfolio; you’re well on your way to becoming a dental content writer, so let’s take the next step.
Step #2 – Finding paying clients
If there’s one question I get asked frequently by anyone looking to become a dental writer, it’s this…
Where do I find clients to write for?
The answer is multiple places.
They include:
- Word of mouth (think family and friends)
- Old employer connections in the dental industry
- Social media platforms like LinkedIn
- Dental groups on social media
- Online job boards and bidding sites
- Cold pitching
The easiest way to start is to ask family, friends and acquaintances if they know anyone requiring dental content. You might even want to start with your very own dentist.
You don’t need to give them the hard sell. Instead, keep it informal and low-key and just let them know what you do and how you might be able to help.
The same goes for old employers in the dental industry. They might not know that you’re now a dental content writer, so why not drop them a friendly line telling them.
How about something like
Hey Mike,
It’s been a while. How’s life at the dental practice? I hope you’re doing well.
I don’t know if you know, but I’m now a freelance content writer in the dental niche. Essentially, I help dental businesses with their content needs, like blogs, service pages, newsletters etc.
Here’s a link to my portfolio
Do you have a current need for content? If so, I can help.
If not, that’s cool, but I just wanted to re-introduce myself anyway.
Incidentally, if you hear of anyone needing dental content, it would be great to mention my name.
Thanks
All you’re doing is re-introducing yourself, telling them what you do and asking them if they need help. Short, simple and to the point.
Platforms like LinkedIn are also an excellent resource for finding clients. People (meaning dentists) will be active on LinkedIn, so that’s where you should be too.
It’s worth spending time ensuring you have a flawless profile so that when you connect with potential clients and make insightful comments on their posts (and you should), it gives you a solid platform to build a relationship.
Here’s a post on how to make LinkedIn work for your freelance writing business
Next up are online job boards and freelance marketplaces.
The most popular of which are
While the latter sites are all job boards where writers send pitches directly to clients, the former (Upwork) is a meeting platform that connects clients looking to outsource their work with freelancers.
Quite simply, a client posts a project on the Upwork site, and if a writer sees a project they like, they can put in a proposal.
The advantage of Upwork is they have their fair share of dental projects. The downside is that you can also face a lot of competition. So you have to sort out the good from the bad.
You can select by keyword, though, so put in, say, ‘dental’ and see what comes up.
Just today, for example, I noticed these:
- Blog Writing For UK-Based Fitout Expert Specialising In Dental Clinics
- Dental Educational Content Writer
- Content Writer for Comprehensive Dentistry E-learning Module
- Dental Blog Writer for UK Dental Practice
All job boards and outsourcing platforms like Upwork are free to use, or at the very least have a ‘free’ element, so you can sign up, follow the instructions and start prospecting.
The final way to find clients is through cold pitching.
Essentially, you find a contact for a dental practice or dental business and shoot them an email introducing yourself and asking them if they need any content written. Do bear in mind that many people get cold pitching wrong.
As a result, they end up sending a ton of emails with little or no response.
So here’s a helpful post I wrote on how to send cold pitches that get noticed.
Essentially, avoid generic template emails and opt for personalised pitches tailored to the company or individual you’re pitching to.
Step #3 Refine and repeat
The final step to land paying dental clients is to refine and repeat
So what do I mean by this?
Essentially, look to refine your marketing processes and repeat the successful ones.
For example, track all your pitches and note what’s worked and hasn’t.
If you had responses from one method, then do more of that.
Essentially, you need to be consistent because pitching is a numbers game. Repetition wins the day.
In addition, and finally, keep refining your writing skills by adding more samples. The more you write, the better you’ll get.
So, to recap:
If you want to know where to start when looking to become a dental content writer, then you need to do these three things:
- Create a series of quality samples
- Look for opportunities – job boards, cold pitching, etc
- Refine and repeat your processes
Do these things consistently, and you will get clients.
If you want to learn more about how to land your first dental client, I have an extensive guide you can download for free. This guide walks you through the entire process of getting started
Visit my website, Dental Writers Club.com, click on the link and download the information.
Here’s to your success!