It's All in the Follow Up

I recently had a conversation with a friend about the status of her job search. She admitted it’s been frustrating. One of her biggest issues? A lack of response from the companies she's applied to.

“Have you done any following up?” I asked innocently.

Silence.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. I’ve been in the freelance writing game for two decades. Early on, I learned a key element for success: you’ve got to follow up. The same applies to non-writing, non-freelance positions.

Editors are busy. Business owners are busy. Potential sources and clients are busy. If you are a freelancer who would like to stay busy but wonder why your phone isn’t ringing or your email isn’t pinging, try a simple but effective method to bring business your way—a polite, professional follow up message.

Here are a few tips for writing a brief but surprisingly successful follow up email:

· First, check the time stamp on your initial message. If you reached out to an editor or client two days ago, give it a few more days. Ideally, I’ll send a follow up a week to 10 days after my initial message if the recipient hasn’t gotten back to me.

· Include your original message in the follow up. It might help to jog the recipient’s memory (let’s assume they really did mean to respond sooner). It also saves time on rewriting the entire introductory email.

· Watch your tone. Even if your workload is drier than a desert, do not under any circumstances let on to the recipient. Keep the tone light, casual, and—above all—not desperate. Avoid sentences like “I really want to work with/for you”, or “Please please please respond ASAP”, or anything else that is practically begging them to hire you. Or at least respond they’re not interested in working with you.

· Watch your timing. I’ve adopted a “three strikes” approach to following up. I send an initial message. I will follow up 7-10 days later if the person has not responded. I will send a second follow up a few days after that to give the person one final chance. After three attempts, I assume the person is not interested and will move on. If they want to reach out to me, they can do so on their time table.

I’ve had great luck with following up. A large portion of my work over the years has come from a casual follow up to an editor or client. As I said, people are busy, and getting busier all the time. In most cases, the person apologizes for the delay and, if they want to work with me, what that time frame looks like (“I just assigned the next issue but have you on the list for spring”) and when I can expect to get started.

Following up on a lead shows you are proactive, professional, and best of all, not afraid to ask for what you want. Give it a try if you aren’t getting the amount of work you want.

Do you follow up on leads? What does your process look like?