At a friend’s recommendation, I wrote a letter of introduction – LOI in freelance lingo – to the editor of a just-launched personal finance website back in February 2008. Never heard back, forgot about it, and months later read somewhere the editor I’d written to left to do other things.

Flash forward to this week. The editor I’d first written to 17 months ago contacted me to inquire about my availability for an assignment for another soon-to-be launched personal finance website. After some initial back and forth on terms, etc., I’ve just agreed to accept. If things work out, the opportunity could lead to a steady stream of assignments.

Lesson learned: LOIs matter, though it could be months – or even years – before you see the pay off.

What to put in a LOI? At the very least, a description of who you are, what type of writing you do, what publications you’re written for, and the types of work you’re available to do for the editor or market you’re writing to.

What to emphasize and how much detail to go into on any of those points depends on who you’re contacting and why. If it’s a magazine you’d like to write features for, you’d want to mention similar pieces you’ve done in the past for similar markets. If it’s a website looking for bloggers or other regular contributors, you’d want to emphasize any relevant experience you’ve had working with a publication on an ongoing basis, particularly if you did the same type of work.

If you’ve got more ambition than experience – nothing on your resume or in your clips file quite matches the work you’d like to do – play up any strengths you do have. Explain how they could translate into the opportunity you’re now seeking. Don’t leave it to an over-worked editor to put two and two together – do the math for them.

LOIs should also always include links to your resume and a few clips. If you’ve already got these on your website or blog, all the better. If you don’t have a website or blog, send them as attachments. But why make an editor work that hard? It’d be in your best interest to start a simple blog if only to warehouse these types of documents, so an editor can see them with one mouse click.

Do LOIs have to be long? No. Here’s the one that landed me the assignment I mentioned earlier (with some information removed for privacy purposes):

Hi XXX:

My name is Michelle Rafter and I’m a freelance writer and friend of XXX. She told me recently that she’d passed my name onto you as someone you might be interested in working with on XXXX’s new Website, XXXX. I’d love to talk to you about possible writing opportunities. Or if you’re looking for pitches, I’d be interested in the types of stories you have the most urgent need to fill.

I’m a long-time business and technology reporter and first met XXXX when we were writing for XXXXX. I now write for several Websites she edits, including XXXX, XXXX and XXXX. I am also a contributing editor at XXXX, where I cover a variety of issues, including careers, hiring, retirement, pensions and recruiting.

You can read my resume and clips at my Website. I also have a blog for freelance writers called WordCount. You can see everything there at http://michellerafter.wordpress.com.

Thanks,

Michelle

Susan Johnston, has this example of a LOI on her blog, The Urban Muse Writer.

Got your own LOI secrets? Let’s hear them.