A Recession is the Best Time to Build Your Writing Business

Because we are definitely in the middle of a recession and many businesses are feeling desperate, marketing is essential. This applies to all businesses, including yours, especially now that many businesses have closed their doors because they could no longer afford the overhead. You can stay in business because you can write at home, so no additional overhead. What could be better? But you want to make sure clients and prospects know you are in business.

I first started my writing business in the middle of the ‘80s economic downturn. I didn’t really hope to make much money at first, if ever, but I figured it was a good time for on-the-job training. How could I know my business would snowball, especially knowing that so many businesses were shutting down every day, and so many people becoming unemployed as their companies merged with others. What I didn’t realize at first was that many of those unemployed were deciding to start their own businesses. That’s what they did then, and it is likely what thousands of the currently unemployed will do now. And what an opportunity that presents to writers!

Back then, I joined a couple of business organizations that met regularly to network and exchange business leads. Each meeting would include a speaker who would speak on a topic that would interest attendees. Also, everybody present would stand up and introduce themselves and tell a little about their own business. The leader of the meetings would encourage everyone to think of possible leads for each person in attendance. That was where many of my clients came from—either the meetings themselves or somebody would give me the name of a friend in business that needed my services.

I also gave talks at some of the meetings about press releases and a number of other marketing tools that I produced for clients. I stressed that a recession was no time to stop marketing, and that those in attendance should definitely keep their names before the public while their competitors were ducking into their shells to await an economic upswing or their eventual demise, whichever came first.

Those networking meetings, plus some other marketing tactics I used meant that when anyone in the metropolitan area of thousands of businesses needed the services of a writer, many were bound to think of my business. When they needed someone to write a proposal, a brochure, an article for the newspaper or a magazine, or effective business letters, my business was often the one they called. I wrote a regular business column for the business newspaper, which also got me leads and kept my name before the public. But even if I hadn’t stumbled upon that opportunity, I would have offered to write articles for the newspaper for free.

You could research a topic relevant to the business community and write an article on that. I can remember writing about banking, office design, environmentally friendly offices, and of course, marketing for businesses. For the articles that didn’t pay, I made sure that my name, business name, and phone number appeared at the end. Free advertising in exchange for my articles, what could be better?

So if you are just starting out, or worrying that you won’t get much business during this recession, here’s what you can do. First of all, attend a meeting of local business networking groups, and then join if they look promising. Maybe there is a homebased business group near you, or another group that focuses on exchanging leads. If not, why not start your own?

Approach your local newspaper with some business article ideas. If your community has a business newspaper, they almost always welcome articles in exchange for free publicity. Research topics and make notes for future article ideas to impress the editor or publisher. You could write about home offices, marketing material for businesses, marketing on a budget, leasing commercial office space, or any other subject that would interest typical business owners. The list is endless, and who knows, you could end up getting paid for writing them.

A recession means opportunities for writers who can turn a marketing message into magic. That would be you, dear writers! While I know the holiday season means that you may be too busy for awhile to be very productive, it still would be a good time to start compiling lists of ideas to pursue immediately after the holidays, and researching some topics that you might want to write about.

Hey, this might also be the right time to check out some business meetings to see if they're planning some holiday parties where you can mingle and start building credibility. Of course, other than your waistline, the party treats never hurt, either.