Write From Home--Using Advertising to Generate Leads of Prospective Clients

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Using Advertising to Generate Leads of Prospective Clients
by Brian S. Konradt of BSK Communications and Associates

Advertising
Instead of locating prospects and pitching your services to them, why not have prospects come to you?

Advertising accomplishes this task—but usually not as effectively as you might think. If all you do is use advertising to blatantly ask for work, you may not have anyone calling you, unless in rare situations if the prospect is looking around for a freelancer.

How To Use Advertising Effectively
To use advertising effectively, you must use your advertising space to solicit responses, not work. Advertise an incentive in your ad, such as, "Call me for a free consultation" or "Call for my free report on 10 Ways to Improve Your Ad Headlines."

When prospects begin to call you to receive your free incentive, you can then add their names to your mailing list for repeat selling. And repeat selling is the best way to turn prospects into paying clients.

You also must advertise for at least six consecutive times, preferably monthly, to build up momentum. A large percent of prospects usually respond after your third or fourth ad.

Advantages of Advertising
The biggest advantage of advertising is that you pull in qualified leads—these are prospects who seem interested in your freelance services. Instead of spending time and wasting money trying to gather leads and inquiries on your own, advertising can do this slave work for you.

Disadvantages of Advertising
Advertising is not a recommended choice to secure clients, compared with other marketing strategies, though advertising can be used effectively to gather leads and inquiries—and that's the next best thing to securing clients.

Brian Konradt is the owner and operator of FreelanceWriting.com, a Web site dedicated to help writers master the business and creative sides of freelance writing. Mr. Konradt is also the principal of BSK Communications & Associates, a communications/publishing business in New Jersey, which he established in 1992.