This is the story of how a LinkedIn message turned into 4 months of freelance work, and a new friendship✅
Read magazines and publications
I was searching for Pharmacy Magazine’s editor on LinkedIn and came across a CEO’s feature article about launching a new product to improve women’s access to healthcare.
Send a direct message (DM)
I was immediately inspired and messaged the CEO to connect.✅
The CEO accepted the connection request and asked if I was available to work for a brand launch for her company. I said yes!
The CEO then gave me the email address of their marketing manager (who was there on a short-term contract). I emailed them and they got back to me with a time and date to meet on Zoom ✅
Have a portfolio ready
After 2 Zoom chats and sharing my portfolio, I was told they’d get back to me in a few weeks. But the new permanent marketing manager got back to me in a few days ✅
Negotiate your project rate
I negotiated my rate with them and they offered me 8 weeks of work to manage their project and work with a designer I’d never met before.
After the first 8 weeks the project was extended for a further month, and then another month after that. The designer and I got feedback along the way and made sure to listen to what they wanted so we could continue to perform our best. ✅
The designer and I were paid regularly throughout our time on the project.✅
A friend in the end
In the end the project was “cut short” due to the company making changes to their finance department.
Unfortunately, this meant we would no longer be working together, but we can carry on with our friendship and know that we can recommend each other for jobs in future – whenever the opportunity comes 🙂
Keep up contact for future work
The marketing manager also asked if I would still be available for work in future, so I look forward to working with them again.
Network with people that inspire you
As a final note, I hope you take action and connect with people that inspire you! Reading someone’s story is a great reason to reach out to them, as you’ve shared a moment in their life and they’ll appreciate the time you’ve spent learning about who they are and what they do 🙂
Practise putting yourself out there
Even if they don’t get back to you for weeks or months, at least you took a chance and you’ve practised putting yourself out there and got into the habit of networking.
Learn more about how to find freelance clients as a medical writer