Tag Archives: Clients

I normally don’t send out follow-up emails

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With the exception of a few messages that I get from LinkedIn, most of the messages come from my website.

People who are looking for a content writer or a copywriter land on my website, go to my contact form, submit it, I receive it, and then I respond.

When I send a reply, I assume that they need my services. Sometimes I briefly describe what they need, hoping that as we interact more, they will be able to share more information with me. I even send them sample links.

In many cases the client doesn’t get back. The reasons can be myriad. Maybe she doesn’t like my reply. Maybe she gets busy. Maybe she had contacted multiple content writers and copywriters and someone else responded and there was no need for her to get back to me.

Until a few years ago I used to send a follow-up email after 3-4 days. I would ask, “I hope you received my reply – just making sure. In case you’re looking for more information, do let me know, I will be happy to provide it…” and so on.

Then I stopped.

Initially it was because I got busy. I started getting enough assignments and unless someone’s name appeared in front of me (in the form of an unread message), I wouldn’t reach out.

Sure, when I am already working on an assignment and when I send the first draft and when the client does not respond, I do a follow-up, but that’s because I already know that the client is interested in my work, and she may have not got a chance to look at my document.

Gmail (Google Workspace) has this feature that highlights older messages if it feels I should have followed up but I haven’t.

In such cases, I go with the flow. If I feel I should write back to the prospective client, I do, otherwise I don’t bother.

As I have written above, initially it was because I was busy. Then my attitude towards my clients changed.

Almost all the clients with whom I end up working seek me out. I’m not saying I don’t value all my clients, but the clients who really want my services, follow-up. If I don’t respond for a couple of days, there is an email from them, or a message on WhatsApp or Telegram.

This works well for me as well as my clients. I prefer to work with clients who pursue me rather than me pursuing them.

The clients who don’t respond once I send them a reply either don’t need my services, or the initial offer that I have made isn’t acceptable to them. In both the conditions, I should neither waste my own time, nor theirs.

Although I’m quite better than many content writers and copywriters, I don’t delude myself into believing that I am among the best. I’m not arrogant about my abilities.

Nonetheless, there are some clients who benefit a lot from writing, and once they start getting the written text from me, they stick with me. There is a client who claims that his business picked up only when I wrote his website content.

I want to work with SUCH clients.

I remember that client pursued me for weeks. I was busy in disability activism as well as my current assignments those days. Eventually I wrote for his website.

The clients who really need my services get back to me. The clients who don’t, I don’t bother with them. And the clients who think I should pursue them multiple times before they give me their work, well, they’re not the right fit for me.

Why most of my clients are happy with my content writing work

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Blowing my own horn? It may seem like that but this is more of an active thinking and constantly keeping in mind what works when it comes to delivering services your customers and clients really appreciate, and not just appreciate, but also profit from them.

Professional content writing is not just writing; you’re helping a person do business. You’re helping the person make a living by making an impact. And you cannot make an impact out of thin air. You really need to know people you are addressing via your content. In order to write convincingly, primarily I try to gather the following bits of information:

  • What exactly is the product or service my client intends to promote
  • What are the benefits delivered by that product or service
  • Why his or her customers or clients should choose that service or product rather than something from his or her competitors
  • Who is the target audience – its educational and professional background, money spending abilities and age group
  • What are the catch words or phrases the client thinks his target customers and clients respond to
  • A targeted list of keywords, if possible, and if needed
  • What should be the style – formal, informal, hard sell or suggestive

This list can be as comprehensive as you want but more information may overwhelm your client and also distract you. Detailed content writing work such as case studies and white papers requires more in-depth knowledge of the demography of the market as well as why the product or service exists, but for normal business pages, this information is sufficient.

Once I have gathered all the information I start writing for my client as if I’m writing for my own business. If I’m writing for my own business, my primary concern would be to write in such a manner that more and more business comes to me. Not just traffic, but real business. Higher search engine rankings can definitely be a plus, but it is of no value if that traffic doesn’t convert. So conversion first, and then search engine friendly content.

So when I understand the needs of my clients and also the nuances and dynamics of their target customers and clients, and then write content for them as if I am writing it for my own business, I am able to deliver what the clients want.