6 Things I Learned at the ASJA Content Connections Conference
After spending two whirlwind days at the ASJA Content Connections Conference in Chicago, I am both exhausted and very excited about the future of content marketing writing for freelance writers. The conference was FANTASTIC with lots of interesting sessions and opportunities for networking with both writers and people looking to hire writers. To say that I learned a lot would be an understatement.
I’m going to be writing blog posts over the next few weeks about what I learned and the questions that I heard other writers asking at the conference. But for now, I wanted to post a quick of list of my major takeaways from the conference.
- There is work out there for freelance writers. A LOT OF WORK. I heard this from all of the agencies represented at the conference as well as other writers that I talked with. The clients that I heard other writers mention they were working for included lawyers, hospitals, and everything in between. Most of the agencies I talked with said that their full-time writing staff has shrunk considerably over the past few years, but their stable of freelance writers has grown. The common theme I heard was that there is a big demand for content marketing writers.
- Many of the large B2B and B2C brands are using content marketing agencies to create their content. Both large and small agencies are now creating content marketing deliverables for clients. This list of clients I saw from the agencies at the conference was very impressive.
- Brands/agencies are not looking for queries, but instead are looking to establish relationships with writers for ongoing work. The best way to do this is through a letter of introduction. Click here to see my sample LOI and tailor it to your niche.
- The most important quality that brands/agencies are looking for is experience writing about their client’s industries, such as technology, healthcare and finance. To be successful in content marketing writing, it is essential that you have a niche and emphasize it when marketing yourself to brands/agencies. This was probably my biggest takeaway from the conference.
- Many writers are struggling with ethical questions over writing both content marketing writing and journalism on the same or similar topics. This was the question that I heard most from other writers through the conference. I think this a larger conversation that will continue over the next few years and a very important one, at that. I am going to explore this topic much more in-depth over the past few weeks.
- Writers are wondering what to title use to describe themselves. Is the title Journalist or Freelance Writer no longer as relevant? Are we Content Creators, Producers or Content Marketing Writers? Most writers I talked to were contemplating at least adding a title for content marketing on their website, LinkedIn and business cards.
If you are new to the blog and want to learn more about content marketing writing, please subscribe to the blog using the box at the right of the post. I blog regularly on all things content marketing writing, including where to find work, how to get the gig, and then how to do a great job on content marketing assignments.
If you went to the conference, what did you learn? If you didn’t go, what topics from the conference do you want to learn more about?
It was a great experience all around. The workshop on SEO was excellent. The presenter made a murky subject clear and easy to understand.
Kathleen, Thanks so much for stopping by the blog. Be sure to subscribe on the right side of the main page so you can get notified of new posts.
I totally agree about the SEO workshop. I THOUGHT I understood SEO before I attended, but realized halfway through that I really hadn’t. I learned so many specific pointers for SEO that I had no idea about. I’m going to write a detailed post in the next few weeks about that specific session because it was so helpful. I also think that as the content marketing movement expands even more writers will be more responsible for educating clients on SEO and content marketing, so this skill will be even more important in the future.
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks so much for sharing these tidbits from the conference. I wasn’t able to attend so I appreciate this information. Here are a couple of ideas for future conferences/posts:
1. What rates to charge for content marketing writing
2. How best to educate businesses on what content marketing is and how it can be helpful to them (I find that many business owners don’t know what it is)
3. Networking ideas for business development
Jennifer, thanks for continuing to share your knowledge with the rest of us!
Great post ideas! I will definitely address those in upcoming weeks. Many writers asked me about rates at the conference so that is something I will address more in my blog. Love the other two ones as well. Thanks so much for reading and commenting!
I too was unable to attend the conference this year and very happy to come across your blog with the re-cap! I just subscribed and looking forward to future updates. I have been freelancing for almost five years and my business has slowly evolved from journalism to content marketing and I like that you pose the relevancy of our titles as writers today. On another note, I have battled with the idea of specializing in a niche and always tried to keep my business broad (which has been attractive to some clients), but I think I’m ready to tightly focus my work in the New Year.
Thank you so much for stopping by! I’m so glad to have you as a subscriber.
The issue about specializing and being broad is one that a lot of writers struggle with. The good thing is that you can be both. I have like 10 different niches! To the clients that want me to be broad, I emphasize my variety of experience. And to clients who want a writer specializing in loss prevention (one of my 10 niches, lol), I market myself that way. I have found that it only takes 3-5 clips for a client to consider you as experienced in their niche. Let me know if that helps!
Great blog post. I’ll subscribe to learn more. Thanks for this post!
Hi Jackie, Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting. I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Let me know if you have any specific questions that you want me to blog about in the coming weeks. I want to make sure that my blog is addressing the needs of writers transitioning from journalism/traditional consumer pubs to content marketing.
Jennifer
Thanks for your review of the conf. It’s good to hear that there’s a strong new marketplace for content.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I was also very happy to hear such positive news after years of doomsday predictions for journalism. Please let me know if you have any specific questions about content marketing or topics that you would like to see on the blog! – Jennifer
Hi Jennifer, thanks for posting! I wanted to attend but was unable to.
I am returning to freelancing after six years in corporate comms and this is very encouraging.
I’m looking forward to reading your upcoming posts and have subscribed.
Thanks again! Susan
Susan, Thanks for stopping by and for commenting. You are rejoining freelancing at a great time. And your experience in corporate communications is really going to set you apart from others. What field where you in when you worked in corporate communications? I would try to target brands/agencies working in that field since industry knowledge is one of the big keys. I’m not sure if you saw this post (https://www.jennifergregorywriter.com/2013/11/11/8-steps-to-make-money-as-a-content-marketing-writer/) but it gives a great overview of the steps to go through to become a content marketing writer.
Thanks for subscribing. I look forward to seeing you around on the blog. Please let me know if you have any specific questions or topics that you would like to see on the blog.