Hey Samer!

Most of my clients have come through referrals, with about 25% coming from cold emails and outreach. When I started freelancing, I told everyone I knew that I was starting a content business. Based on that initial announcement, I ended up with several big clients right out of the gate (all from former colleagues who now work elsewhere; the nature of journalism!). Those clients ended up referring me to other clients, who ended up referring me to other clients. So that’s about 75% of my workload.

However, I’m part of a few Facebook groups where editors and companies post content needs, and I send 1–2 emails per week to those people offering to help, once I’ve seen their posts. A few of my clients have come from that kind of outreach, although not as many. I’ll typically email with my name, website, a little bit of information, and work samples.

Only one of my consistent clients came from sending story pitches. The editor took my first story pitch, then passed on the next 10, then offered me the column I now run! So sometimes it pays to fail a bit :)

Hope that helps!