How I landed my dream client as a (remote) freelance copywriter. Step by step.
By ELENA VIVALDO
How I landed my dream client and became a regular blog contributor to the world’s biggest diving organisation (aka PADI)?
Pitching yourself to dream clients is tough.
…for anybody looking for work. But perhaps nobody has it worse than freelancers who regularly have to scout for new clients.
Because it’s hard to find long-term, well-paying gigs.
And if you’ve been following me, you know that I’m a freelance SEO copywriter and content writer. I write for different industries, but as a qualified PADI scuba diving instructor, I specialise in writing about travel and scuba diving.
But since I started working online in 2018, I never contacted PADI with my writing services. In my mind, they were too big and too good to approach.
So what changed?
This is how I landed my dream client.
[If you don’t know what PADI is, here is an article that, fittingly, I wrote for them: What is PADI?]
Background info – Overcoming my fear of rejection
In the Summer of 2023, I thought “To hell with this, I’m going to send PADI an email anyway.”
I had to remind myself that rejection is part of freelancing. Whenever you send a cold email to a potential client, you’re going to be ignored, said no to or even receive a rude reply. It’s inevitable.
And pitching your writing services is a numbers game. Yes, some clients find me through Google, social media or referrals, but I still need to “put myself out there”. And the more emails I send, the more positive replies I’m likely to receive.
By the way, have you seen the TedTalk about the fear of rejection?
If not, here’s the video – 100% worth watching as it helps take the fear, self-doubt and shame out of the whole pitching process (or anything you want to do in life).
Research – Finding the right person to contact
Anyway. I want to point out that I took my time in planning my pitch to my dream client. I wanted to send a cold email that would get my foot in the door.
So I looked up my PADI regional manager on LinkedIn and asked him who I should contact at PADI to send my email pitch. (PADI has regional managers spread throughout the world that individuals and businesses can contact for help).
As they say, it’s not what you know, but who you know. Because, honestly, I could have found the email online myself, but I wanted to use the manager’s name as a sort of referral.
Ready to pitch – Writing the email
From there, I wrote a short and to-the-point email outlining:
- Who I was
- What I could offer
- My past/current clients
- My portfolio
The email I sent was intentionally short. I figured that a company that hired thousands of employees worldwide, wouldn’t have time to read a long-winded email. If they wanted to contact me, they had all the information they needed.
And they got back to me within four days.
[Related: if you need help writing your professional and professional letters and emails, check my letter writing services]
From there, I was asked to write a test article, which got immediately published on their blog. And before I knew it, I signed a contract and was formally onboarded as a guest blogger!
How does it feel to work for your dream client?
There are clients – and then there are dream clients. You know, the ones with a supporting team, great values and remote working opportunities. So, PADI’s work culture ticks all my boxes as a remote freelance copywriter.
The feeling of seeing my name on their website is akin to swimming alongside a whale shark or seeing the northern lights or tasting a rare whiskey – a surreal, spine-tingling experience.
I love working for PADI. And not just because I’m a PADI diver, but also because of the trust and freedom that they give me to write an article when, where and how I want.
Six months on, and I now write one blog post per month for the PADI blog. This number could increase in the future, but to be honest, I want to make sure I can consistently deliver original, engaging and accurate work. With PADI as a client, I don’t want to leave room for mistakes. Plus, I have other loyal clients I love working with.
By putting my fear of rejection aside, doing my research and sending an email to the right person, I got to work with my dream client as a regular freelance writer.
Hopefully, this will help me land more quality leads in the future. And to you – I hope this inspires you to (finally) reach out to your dream clients too!
About the author
Hi! I'm Elena Vivaldo. I'm a freelance SEO copywriter, business writer and PADI scuba diving instructor.
Yes, I wear many hats, but it's what makes me a resourceful writer for creative and dynamic clients in any industry. In fact, I've been helping small and big companies connect with their target audience for over four years.
How I work? Well, I'm organised and easy to talk to, but I also like to keep things real. So if you're looking for a word-spitting robot that lacks emotion OR personality, you're in the wrong place. I'm all about quality over quantity.
Through Vivaldo Copywriting, I've attracted readers from over 140 countries and have worked with clients from 35+ countries.
