How to Find Content Writing Clients

Content creation is the backbone of content marketing and inbound marketing. Any business that has an online presence requires content (be it in any form). This means there are a lot of opportunities for content writers out there. If you are a content writer and looking for ways on how to find content writing clients, this actionable guide is for you.

Finding content writing clients can turn out to be a challenging yet never-ending task. If you don’t know where to find the right clients for your content writing business, you’ll keep struggling for ages.

Let’s put an end to it and get straight to the point…

How to Find Content Writing Clients?

When you make money as a content creator, you need clients. You must be in a position to choose clients. If you are struggling to find new clients, your clients will exploit you. On the other hand, when you have a decent number of clients, you are in a position to pick the most suitable ones.

Here are the best ways to find high-paying content writing clients:

1. Create your website
2. Send cold emails
3. Guest blog.

1. Create a Website

The first thing you need to do is create your website.

A lot of content writers I know don’t have a website, blog, or any kind of online presence. If you are hiding yourself from the world (and potential clients), you won’t be able to find new clients.

Create a website (even if it is a single page). This will open unlimited doors for you. A whopping 85% of B2B customers search the web before making a purchase decision:

Your potential clients will be able to find and contact you via your website. And since you are a content writer, what’s better than having your own blog where you can publish content?

It will serve as your portfolio and help your potential clients gauge your writing skills and style.

Not sure how to create a website?

Check out this article on how to create a professional website for your business. It will cost you less than $100 to have your professional website up and running.

You can then share its URL with potential clients, add links to your writing samples, and use digital marketing to attract new clients.

2. Send Cold Emails

This might sound old-school, but cold emails still work.

The average cold email response rate is 1% which is somewhat discouraging. But don’t ignore the fact that follow-ups and personalization can significantly improve cold email response rates.

So, how do cold emails work?

Here is how to do it like a pro:

1. Define your writing niche by identifying the type of content you write best. I’d recommend sticking with just one content type (e.g., blog posts, case studies, white papers, copywriting, etc.). Pick just one to stay focused
2. Identify your target audience. What industry you’ll target. Again, be specific and pick just one niche. It could be finance, health, SaaS, or any other sector that you have ample experience in
3. Find top companies in your niche. Prepare a sheet with the name of the company, URL, email address, email sent, follow-ups, etc.

4. Send your proposal or pitch to the companies via email. It is best to use a cold email app such as Woodpecker or MailShake. These tools automate cold email campaigns and save a lot of time by sending follow-ups automatically.

Sending cold emails to your target companies is the best way to get new content writing clients. And this lets you target the companies you want to work for instead of a company reaching out to you.

3. Guest Blog

Guest blogging is a proven way to reach and connect with your ideal clients. You don’t have to do guest blogging to get paid rather find new writing clients.

You need to identify ideal clients. Then figure out what publications they read. You need to submit your guest posts on websites and blogs where your ideal writing clients can read them.

For example, if your ideal clients are marketing agencies, you need to find top websites that marketing agencies visit a lot. In this case, your options will be HubSpot, Moz, Semrush, Search Engine Land, etc. These are some of the top blogs where you should guest blog.

Yes, it isn’t easy to get yourself published on such top publications. You need to start with blogs that are easy to target.

And then gradually move up the ladder.

Buffer’s co-founder, Leo Widrich, used this strategy and published more than 150 guest blogs. It grew his company from $0 to $5 million:

Leo explains that initially when he reached out to big publications, nobody listened to him. Then he switched to lesser popular relevant sites for guest blogging. And later, big publications talked about Buffer happily.

You need to follow this exact strategy to get writing clients.

Here is how to do it:

1. Identify relevant niche websites where your ideal writing clients hang out and spend time on
2. Reach out to these blogs with guest post ideas
3. Don’t try to sell your services via the guest blog rather try solving a genuine issue. Help your ideal clients. Solve a problem
4. Repeat.

When your ideal clients read your content with your byline, they will contact you. This means your guest blogs must be epic. They must deliver exceptional value to your clients.

Nobody will contact you if your guest posts aren’t impressive.

Build Relationships with Your Clients

Client retention is a key step in your content writing business. Once you acquire a new writing client, you must retain it. Retain all your existing clients.

This is the only way to have a sustainable business.

It requires less time, effort, and resources to retain an existing client than to find a new one. Build connections and long-term relationships with your clients.

Look for repeat business opportunities instead of one-off writing projects.

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