Article: Published on www.homebusinessmag.com - Fall 2001

 

Looking for a lucrative, home-based business opportunity? Can you write? Well, according to Peter Bowerman, author of the best-seller “The Well-Fed Writer,” you can make a handsome living as a commercial freelance writer – writing for Corporate America. We asked him to tell us about the field and his best-selling book. And by the way, the industry buzz on the book has been very positive. Check it out!

 

Write From Home for$50-100+/hour?

Commercial Writing Could Be the Answer!

 

 

The PR firm had hired me to work on this 12-page brochure for the big local  telecommunications giant. Nine one-hour interviews which I then transformed into the same number of one-pagers along with an intro piece. The fee? $6000. Hours? Probably about 50-55 or so spread out over a total of 2-3 weeks. You do the math.

 

The brochure was an “audition” piece of sorts for the PR firm. If it went well, they’d get the contract to produce a six-page monthly newsletter for at least the next year. Well, it went well but the client decided they wanted to manage the monthly project themselves, minus the PR firm and their extra fee. “However,” they added, to the PR firm, “we want your writer.”

 

So, I got the deal, and for the next year, my monthly income from this single account was $4000. Time invested in writing the piece, on average? 30-35 hours. Again, you do the numbers.

 

This is the field of commercial writing. Are deals like this common? Not everyday occurrences, but hardly rare. Have you dreamed of becoming a full-time writer but never took it too seriously because after all, the words “starving” and “writer” are pretty much joined at the hip? Well, start taking it seriously.

 

A Lucrative and Growing Opportunity

In the last decade, prolific downsizing and outsourcing in Corporate America has eliminated or scaled down many creative, marketing and communication departments. And in many cases, well-paid freelancers are picking up the slack in this lucrative arena of commercial writing. Why not you? So, who and where are these people? 

 

What’s “commercial writing”? Marketing brochures, ad copy, newsletters, direct mail campaigns, video scripts, speeches, sales sheets, web sites and so much more. And, there are two main groups of prospects: End Users (EU) and Middlemen (MM).

 

End Users

EUs are the corporations, large and small that will be the end-users of the writing. For starters, approach Corporate Communications, also known as “MarCom” (marketing communications). No “MarCom”? Try marketing, sales, or finally, HR.

 

A manager with a huge telecommunications firm in Atlanta noted, “Most people would assume that a company of our size would do the bulk of our writing in-house, and they’d be wrong. It’s amazing how much writing we outsource. My writing needs these days are pretty steady, and I pay anywhere from $65-85/hour, depending on the writer’s experience.”

 

Middlemen

MM are companies often hired by EUs to execute these projects: advertising agencies, graphic design firms, marketing companies, PR firms, event production companies and writing brokers (who place writers in contract jobs), to name the key ones. Few of these entities staff writing talent, preferring instead to hire the right talent for a specific job, and only when needed.

 

·         Ad Agencies/PR Firms  These companies, which can be huge, do staff copywriters for high-profile ad campaigns but will often bring in freelancers to handle “collateral” (marketing brochures, newsletters, sales sheets, etc.)

 

·         Graphic Design Firms  These entities tend toward the smaller end, and include many “lone rangers” - one-person shops. Get to know these solo flyers. Several of them have put many tens of thousands of dollars in my pocket over the years. Cultivate relationships with the most talented designers at the larger firms. It’s only a matter of time till they’ll go freelance and if they’re confident with you, you can pick up a lot of work.

 

·         Event Production Companies  These firms handle all aspects of huge corporate conventions, conferences, product launches, etc. That may include show literature, videos, speeches, web content, signage, and more. They hire a lot of writers and usually operate in more or less constant crisis-mode. Translation? Stay “visible” (i.e. phone, mail, in person) and you’ll get work.

 

Who to Contact?

For all the above MM clients, contact CDs (Creative Directors - often hard to reach), ACDs (Assistant CDs - easier), AEs (Account Executives), PMs (Project Managers). Find them through the actual category listing in the Yellow Pages or through an annual business listing publication.

 

·         Writing Agents/Brokers  These folks place freelancers in large contract writing jobs (both technical and creative) with corporations, taking 10-20% in the process. They won’t fill your dance card, but 30% of my first year of work came from my agent. Look in the Yellow Pages under “Writers” or ask around the network – other writers, clients, etc.

 

Beyond the Yellow Pages…

Where else can you find your prospects? 

 

 

1) Most good-sized metropolitan areas have a weekly business publication ending in “… Business Journal (i.e. Los Angeles Business Journal, Philadelphia Business Journal, etc.) Check www.amcity.com for the full nationwide listing. Get their Book of Lists, an invaluable annual resource listing of the top businesses in dozens of categories.

 

2) If your city has a monthly publication serving the creative industry, it’s likely that they too publish an annual creative resource guide, a contact gold mine featuring detailed listings for ad agencies, design firms, event production companies and many more.

 

3) Atlanta has BusinessWise, an encyclopedic directory of local businesses from small to massive, broken down eight different ways, and providing more detail and contact info than you’ll ever need. Check with your librarian for an equivalent.       

 

Whatever your goals or circumstances, the commercial writing field offers a lucrative and growing opportunity for those with even modest talent. Isn’t it time for a raise?

 

Peter Bowerman is the author of the award-winning book The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency as a Freelance Writer in Six Months or Less, a detailed how-to for breaking into freelance commercial writing. The book is a selection of Writer’s Digest Book Club (July 2000), Book-of-the-Month Club (Winter 2000-2001) and Quality Paperback Book Club (Early 2001). Visit his web site at www.wellfedwriter.com.