When someone posts an ad on a job site, Craigslist or even FWJ, they usually receive many responses. People who place ads here have commented many times about how quickly they start getting responses and are very impressed at the caliber of applicants they are getting.

If think about the fact that there may be at least 100 responses to an ad (and there may be two or three times that many), you may be intimidated by that. Some people may choose not to apply for something that they may be well suited for because of it.

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We spend a lot of time here at Freelance Writing Jobs talking about “where” to find potential clients. I’ve been giving this some thought and I think the first question we should be asking ourselves is “who” the potential clients are. Here’s my take on it:

Your potential clients are everyone you talk to, e-mail, IM, follow on Twitter, etc. When you pick up a magazine or a newspaper, you can find potential clients. Local businesses can give you work, as well as ones that you find when you are surfing the Internet. Once you get into the mindset the everyone you come into contact is either a potential client or can put you in touch with a potential client, your outlook will start to change. You start to see opportunities everywhere, and you will be more willing to talk to people about the services you offer.

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When you are looking for freelance work, are there some potential clients that you don’t approach because you feel intimidated in some way? Sometimes it can be easy to talk yourself out of throwing your hat into the ring. You might consider that there may be several other people who are applying for the opportunity. You may also have doubts about your abilities, even if you have written for pay before (and will again). Mostly, though, you just plain don’t feel good enough to write for [fill in the blank here].

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The idea of being in sales may bring to mind images of men in plaid sports coats pressuring the poor, hapless customer into buying something that they don’t want or need. The reality is that if you are offering a product or a service, you need to be able to present it to the potential customer or client, give them the information they need to make a decision, and overcome any objections they may have about hiring you. That is selling.

The Freelancer as a Problem Solver

I used to think that I got hired to write. That is partly true, but it’s not the whole story. I am someone who gets hired to solve a problem. The “problem” in question may be that the client wants to have interesting content to drive repeat visitors to their web site. They may need copy written to tell potential customers about their business and how they can help to solve their customers’ problems by providing a product or a service.

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