If you want to start earning money from dental content writing, it stands to reason you need to get clients. So, how do you land clients who are willing to pay for your services?
Through clever marketing and advertising, of course.
If you’ve read my recent blog about things I suck at as a dental content writer, you’ll know that marketing was one of them.
You see, for a very long time, I did little marketing, not because I didn’t know how to do it, but because I genuinely hated doing it. Instead, I relied on my website to bring in clients with the idea that they come to me rather than I go hunting for them.
For a very long time, that kinda worked but as the years rolled by, I started to notice more and more competition. It suddenly dawned on me that I had to start doing the very thing I hated, promoting myself and my business. So I bit the bullet and started marketing.
So why am I telling you this?
Because I don’t want you to fall into the same trap.
In truth, with more and more people turning to freelancing, you’re going to have to hit the ground running from day one, and that means selling your services.
So, if you’re wondering how best to market your dental writing business, I’ve got you covered.
In this post, I’ll show you the exact steps I use to land clients through strategic marketing. So here goes…
Step #1 – Get Blogging
Ah yes, the humble blog post. The one single tool that does more for content marketing than any other.
You see, that innocent-looking blog post is really a multipurpose marketing tool on steroids:
- Firstly, you can use it as an effective way to showcase your talents.
- Secondly, you can use your posts to build up a solid portfolio of work.
- Thirdly, if you incorporate relevant keywords, it becomes a ranking page in its own right where others can find you online.
- Finally, people love reading blogs, so there’s a good chance they’ll read yours. In a recent survey by HubSpot, for example, 83% of people stated that they actively read and followed posts, while 35% of people said that their blog consumption had increased in 2023.
Now if that’s not a reason to be blogging, I don’t know what is!
So now you know how essential blog posts are to marketing your dental writing business
what subjects should you write about exactly?
Anything and everything to do with dentistry, particularly topics that people want to know – “Five Foods You Didn’t Know Stain Teeth”, “Teeth Straightening Options Explained”, “Why Dental Implants Work”… that type of thing.
Ensure they’re informative, factual and detailed, and include a strong call to action and you’re golden!
Now, I know what you’re thinking…
That’s great but what do I do once I’ve written my blog post?
Well, you can put it directly on your writer website or upload it to your online portfolio.
But there’s another thing about blog posts that you should know…Once you’ve written one, it can be used as material for a whole bunch of other stuff. Don’t worry, I’ll go into that in a minute.
Oh, and if you aren’t sure how to write one, check out this post on how to write a blog post from scratch.
So now you’ve nailed step one, let’s get interactive:
Step #2 – Getting Connected
Perhaps the best thing about social media is that it gives you the chance to put yourself front and centre where your potential clients hang out. So, as a freelancer working online, it would be churlish not to take advantage of that, right?
But where are you likely to find potential connections?
In reality, that means LinkedIn. Yep, you need to be on LinkedIn.
You see, where platforms like Facebook are more about friendly banter and cute cat pictures, LinkedIn is a business-orientated networking site that enables users to connect with other like-minded individuals.
Moreover, LinkedIn allows you to upload your online portfolio to your profile where potential connections can see it.
But there’s more…
LinkedIn also has a section to upload articles, so you can also present your best work (remember those blogs) directly onto LinkedIn.
Finally, you can use the stuff you’ve already written about on your blogs to make interesting posts.
For example, I came across a stat the other day, when I was writing a blog post that said…
“73 million Americans have one or more missing teeth, yet less than 1% have undergone a dental implant restoration.
I thought that was interesting, so I used it to start a post on LinkedIn and it sparked some engagement.
From that, I had a periodontist connect with me and now, we’re currently talking about how I might be able to help him with his online content.
So, you see how it develops.
The bottom line is to be active, post regularly and make it interesting. Keep doing this and things will happen.
Step #3 – Get Emailing
The third and final step I use is to contact dental businesses directly utilising an approach I like to call a ‘letter of introduction’.
It’s basically an email that says:
“Hey, my name is Dale and I’m a dental copywriter and content creator.
Do you need help with blogging/copy etc?
If not that’s cool.
I really wanted to introduce myself and say hi, but if you do need some help, get in touch and let’s talk.”
This approach isn’t perfect but it’s short, sweet and to the point and besides, it gets my name out there and in front of potential clients who may or may not need content at that time.
Once I’ve sent out the email, If I haven’t heard anything, I’ll send out a follow-up email. Something along the lines of:
“Hi, I sent you an email a few days back asking if you needed blogging help. If you don’t that’s fine, but if you do, you can get in touch with me on xxxx. I look forward to hearing from you.”
Sometimes this second email will garner a response, but sometimes it doesn’t. If I’ve had no answer, I just move on to the next contact.
So, there you have it, these are the three 3 simple steps that I use to market my dental writing business.
Of course, there’s a ton of other stuff you can do to market or advertise your services including:
- Guest posting
- Paid ads
- In-person networking
- Cold calling
But this post would be way too long if I included every one of these. Besides, these methods either involve a great deal of time, money, or in the case of cold-calling, a lot of courage and conviction.
That’s why I prefer to stick to blogging, social interaction and pitching as these are by far the best ways I’ve found to successfully land new clients.
Hopefully, this post has given you some inspiration to move your business forward, but if you are suffering from analysis paralysis and have yet to get started, don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.
Hop over to the Dental Writers Club Website where you’ll find a ton of useful information, plus my free detailed guide on how to become a well-paid dental writer from scratch. Simply fill in your details for instant access.
Here’s to your success!