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Taking the leap into being an independent writer and consultant after years working in the media, government and corporations is all about living my work with purpose — bringing who I am to what I do. Which is fine when I’m actually fully engaged on a project. But when work is thin on the ground, that’s the time to get out and knock on doors by following up on qualified leads and referrals.

In approaching clients with our writing/consulting services and offerings, we’re often advised to “sell ourselves.” For many people, including me, this has a whiff of unpleasantness, conjuring up images of a sleazy salesperson, willing to say anything to get a sale. Naturally, this approach has me cringing, because the aim of the sales pitch is not to deceive or mislead, but to instill trust in our client.

So it came as a revelation at a recent IABC workshop on No pressure prospecting - the 25 most powerful rules, with guest speaker Tim Rooney of Rooney Earl Associates that when selling to a new client, being oneself to get to the root of a client’s problem is the best strategy.

I have to admit, that for years I’d been treating selling as a performance, which is completely the wrong direction. Ouch! According to Rooney, the best approach is to listen. But listen in a particular way – to their pain.

Here are some examples of scenarios I’ve encountered. My clients in the health care sector are usually sensitive people with tons of soft skills. This helps when getting down to the root problem. Too little capacity for large projects is often the story they tell. Running on empty as far a resources are concerned is mission critical in the E-Health sector. With implementation taking off, telling the E-Health story to multiple audiences means putting on one's running shoes to keep up. In the corporate world, there’s often a specialist skill set or an overflow of projects requiring a specific consultant/writer’s services. Government clients usually issue an RFP before making their decision. Each of these client’s scenarios is its own particularly bothersome situation.

And we have our own too. Rooney has put his finger on the pain many writer/consultants experience when selling our services. Protracted decisions, budget restrictions, getting information out of the client, and not getting to the decision-maker, often plague us. This means that selling becomes a chore. It certainly isn’t about having fun!

If no one’s enjoying this, why continue with a behaviour that doesn’t work? Working for oneself has it’s own rewards, a balanced life, autonomy and the freedom of choosing the right clients with the right fit. So why not risk one’s authenticity when entering the selling arena? Rooney as some good news, there are innovative rules of engagement. This means more listening, more intimacy. But mostly it provides the tactics for choosing to work with the right projects and people. Which brings me back to my opening remarks. Isn’t the reason most of us went independent in the first place, because with this approach comes joy and freedom of knowing we have found purpose in our work?

With Wrinkle Rap as a Nom de Plume, it's easy to speculate on my age. I'm old enough to remember churning out copy on a manual typewriter, long before faxes were invented. But I'm proof positive that an old dog can learn new tricks!

Recently, I attended an IABC Toronto seminar with Tod Maffin, the technology futurist. Maffin didn't invent blogging and social media, but he is one of those people who figured out early how social media affects business communicators and the way it impacts and changes our mindset.

Listening to Maffin describe the world of blogging, also known as the blogosphere, as “wild, highly viral, uncensored and unedited”, it's easy for a writer to get into some anxiety about navigating this blogosphere. I found it easy to imagine a swarm of bees congregating, abuzz and feral with activity, but was feeling a little perplexed about taking my first step. After all, writers are by definition critical readers. We read for truth, style, content, value, zing. As a writer I create order, sense and meaning where others often blanch and recoil from doing so.

Theories of collective behaviour and the social interactions that bind individuals to one another are familiar to communicators in the field of corporate communications. Using the image of a flock of geese with a solitary leader to illustrate his idea, Maffin illustrates the interaction between corporate messaging towards our audiences with journalists conveniently following behind. Our strategy? To be the top bird.

He is convincing in urging us to consider that messaging within social media is much more complex, and in its social interactions is more like a swarm of bees, operating by handing off leadership to other trusted leaders. In the blogosphere, a trusted leader is someone who is already in the swarm.

This is good news and bad news for writers. Some of us will likely never join the swarm, let alone become a leader! Because we're conditioned to writing top down messaging to stakeholders, customers and publics in corporation speak. If we're really honest - it often misfires more times than meets its mark.

The good news is that we're now given an opportunity to write to bring these strengths to many audiences in a new tone and with a new voice that reaches these new, younger and technologically savvy audiences. It will be a challenge, but I think a mighty adventurous one. As writers we come from the tradition of publishing that gives the printed word credibility, and thus value. That tradition involves ethics, editorial review, criticism, fact checking — all steps to keep it real. Perhaps the challenge for writer-bloggers is to pass that discipline on to e-readers?

Of course, this will mean new practices based upon a new model of trust. The blogosphere is a place to print whatever goes through your mind, like a diary or journal. But learning new ways to trust is a necessary phase of any coming of age. There's a burgeoning new identity that's giving the old one a swan song. Here's an opportunity for writers with courage to get into the blog buzz. After all, isn't it the business of writers to define trends and practices as well as reach and motivate our readers?

WRINKLE: A line or crease in the skin, as from age. A clever trick, method, or device, especially one that is new and different. A problem or imperfection; a fault.

RAP: To talk or have a discussion. Thesaurus: talk, chat, converse, discuss, commune, confabulate. To perform a fast rhythmic monologue to music with a pronounced beat.

Wrinkle Rap here, rapping about writing; the craft, the practice, the tradition and the market. By day I push a pencil for a living. I want to bring some insights and experiences of the occupational hazards of working as a writer to the blogosphere to keep it real. This may include something old, something new and something offbeat to explore writing and the business of writing in all its wonderful and zany manifestations.